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Tel Aviv, March 8 (DPA) A Palestinian gunman entered a Jewish religious seminary in Jerusalem Thursday night, made his way to the library and opened fire in all directions, killing eight students before being shot dead, the police said.

Nine students were wounded in the attack, three of them seriously.

Initial reports that there had been two gunmen, and one had fled the scene, proved to be incorrect.

Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said the gunman had arrived at the seminary, located in a West Jerusalem suburb, shortly before 9 p.m.

He opened fire in the seminary’s library, where dozens of students were studying. According to one witness account, he sprayed the room with bullets for about 10 minutes.

An army officer who was nearby the seminary heard the shooting sound and rushed to the scene and shot and killed the gunman.

Though none of the main militant groups claimed responsibility for the shooting, a previously unknown group called the Free People of the Galilee, dubbing itself squad of Gaza, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to al-Manar Hezbollah television in Lebanon.

In Gaza City news of the attack was greeted with joy, as militants, mainly from Hamas, fired in the air and honked their car horns in celebration, while other Palestinians handed out candy to passers-by in the street.

Hamas Gaza spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters that the attack was a “a selective operation, which is a reaction to the Israeli occupation’s crimes and the massacres committed against civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

US President George W. Bush, who called up Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to express his condolences, said in a statement: “This barbaric and vicious attack on innocent civilians deserves the condemnation of every nation.”

In decrying the attacks, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there was “no cause that could ever justify this action”.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the attack and extended his condolences to the families of those killed.

“The secretary general condemns in the strongest terms today’s savage attack on a Jewish seminary in west Jerusalem, and the deliberate killing and injuring of civilians,” a UN statement said.

It is unclear how the attack will impact the troubled Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, which only restarted in December after a seven-year hiatus.

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party, the most hawkish of Olmert’s coalition partners, has been demanding the talks to be frozen following the rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, for his part, suspended Palestinian participation in the talks last weekend, to protest an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip which left over 120 Palestinians dead. He recanted Wednesday when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the region.

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Athens, Jan 5: Living like a monk may have more than spiritual benefits, with a recent study into one of the world’s most isolated monastic communities in Greece revealing that such dietary and healthy living habits resulted in lower cancer rates.

The dietary and lifestyle habits of monks on the all-male community in Mount Athos have shown that the regular consumption of olive oil, daily portions of fish, seasonal fruit and vegetables are among the main contributors towards keeping prostate cancer below international averages, data presented by urologist Haralambos Aidonopoulos showed.

“It is not just the Mediterranean diet that helps but generally a diet consisting of old, traditional standards,” Aidonopoulos told DPA.

Aidonopoulos said he had examined hundreds of monks living on Mount Athos since 1994 and found that the incidence of prostate cancer was four times lower than the international average.

The study found that in the last 13 years, there had been 11 reported cases of prostate cancer among the more than 1,500 monks living in the 20 different monasteries in the segregated community in northwest Greece from which women are banned.

Other factors in the same study shown to keep prostate cancer at bay were the stress-free existence of the monks away from women, proper sleep patterns and the lack of air pollution.

The lifestyle habits and traditions of the various monasteries on the peninsula, which the Prince of Wales visits regularly and which are only accessible by boat, have not changed in 1,000 years.

Meals on Mount Athos are simple and do not contain meat, but fish is a regular fare on holidays and feast days such as Christmas and Easter.

The staple foods are bread, olives, vegetables, rice, pasta, soya dishes and fruit. In fact, the monks grow much of what they consume themselves.

Monks usually indulge in a glass of red wine, which is made locally from mountain grapes, with their dinner but on fast days - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - they abstain from wine, olive oil and dairy products altogether.

Many of the monastic communities on Mount Athos eat twice a day, and have bread and tea for breakfast and a supper of lentils, salad and fruit, except during the rigorous fasting periods of the Orthodox Church, when some will eat only at midday.

The average day begins with an hour of prayers before dawn and meal times are conducted in silence while one of the monks usually reads a passage from the Bible. The monks normally have to eat at great speed because once the reading is over the meal is officially completed.

The rest of the day is spent doing chores such as cleaning, tending to crops and cooking followed by evening prayers.

Source : DPA

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When she married Prince Charles in 1981, Diana, Princess of Wales, was a virgin, a status infamously tested by the Royal Family before they would allow the heir to the throne to step down the aisle.

But by the time her marriage had disintegrated around her, Diana was already well adept at spreading her … wings, despite the fact she once claimed to have been a nun in a previous existence. Until her final, passionate affair with Dodi Al Fayed, it appears that Diana was not interested in a long term link up but merely craved close human contact. “If I fall in love,” she said, “the sparks will fly and god help us.”

In a unique LondonNet guide, we bring you the ten men, from bodyguard to rugby star, who may or may not have shared physical intimacies with Diana, one of the most apparently untouchable icons of them all.

Princess Diana was “almost certainly” nine to ten weeks pregnant when she died, it has been claimed.

French investigative journalist Chris Laffaille says he uncovered evidence of the pregnancy from official archives of the Paris hospital where the princess was taken after the crash on the night of August 31, 1997.

If genuine, says Laffaille, it would mean Diana’s unborn child would not have been fathered by Dodi Fayed because she had not met him nine weeks before her death.

Instead, he said, the baby may have been conceived while she was seeing London doctor Hasnat Khan.

Laffaille makes the claim despite a categoric statement by John Burton, former royal coroner present at the post-mortem examination on Diana, who said: “She wasn’t pregnant. I have seen into her womb.”

Laffaille, a former reporter with the magazine Paris Match, says he has conducted a detailed re-examination of all the evidence surrounding the crash.

The resulting book, Diana: The Inquiry They Never Published, is being released on August 27.

It is being described as one of many attempts to cash in ten years after Diana’s death but it also revives conspiracy theories that have plagued the investigation into how she died.

Laffaille agrees with the verdict of the official French inquiry in the crash, that Diana and Dodi were the victims of a high speed drink-driving accident.

But he also says there are still “many unanswered questions” surrounding the death, especially the issue of whether Diana was pregnant.

He said: “It is a near certainty that Diana was nine to ten weeks pregnant at the time she died, according to papers from the Paris Public Hospitals archives.

“The letter dated August 31, 1997, was sent to the then minister of the interior Jean-Pierre Chevenement, and copies sent to health minister Bernard Kouchner, foreign affairs minister Hubert Vedrine and the Paris police chief Martine Monteil.”

Laffaille added: “This document has never been claimed or proved to be a fake.”

However, a spokesman for the Paris Public Hospitals last night dismissed the letter as a forgery, which had first been circulated shortly after Diana’s death.

“Examination of this document has established with absolute certainty that it is a fake,” he said.

“It is ridiculous. Many of the medics who treated Diana remain at the hospital, and all deny the claims contained in this forged letter.”

Now the question is, if she was pregnent, then by whom….?

Her lover list is long… these are few men she shared her bed (is it women birth right ? i just wonder )

Prince Charles - big ears, big ego, big trouble
Barry Mannakee - body to body guard
David Waterhouse - man in uniform
James Gilbey - loyalty gets its reward
James Hewitt - Di: “I adored him”
Oliver Hoare - paints a nice picture
William Carling - scrum down with rugby star
Doctor Hasnar Khan - knew how to care for a woman
Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For Di
Dodi Fayed - true love at last

Its upto you to decide who may be the Father…

Source : >>.1.2

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A test that can prove a woman has been raped even if no sperm are found should be widely adopted, the first large-scale study suggests.

After the trauma of rape, women who report it have to undergo a medical examination to look for sperm. But the test can fail, and as a result the woman’s claim to have been raped may not be believed. Now a French study has confirmed that a back-up test can often detect the male Y chromosome even if no sperm are found.

The standard test, in which technicians use microscopes to look for sperm in vaginal, oral or anal swabs, is very sensitive. But it can fail if the swabs are taken more than two days after the rape, if the assailant has a low sperm count or does not ejaculate, or if the woman is menstruating or using spermicide. It can also fail if the rape involved oral or anal sex, because salivary and bacterial enzymes can rapidly destroy sperm.

But an attack by a man will usually leave traces of skin cells, which will carry the telltale Y chromosome. These chromosomes can be detected even if there’s only one male cell for every 5000 female cells.

Eight days later
Philippe de Mazancourt, a forensic biologist at the Raymond Poincaré Hospital in Garches, France, and his colleagues used this test to examine 79 women who said they had been raped. The researchers found fragments of Y chromosome in nearly 30 per cent of the cases for which standard sperm tests were negative.

What’s more, they detected the Y chromosome in a third of the cases in which the women were examined more than two days after being raped, and in two cases nearly eight days later. I would recommend the test when the sperm test is negative and when you have some indication that there was a rape, says Mazancourt. The results will appear in Forensic Science International.

This is a very important paper, says Howard Baum, deputy director of the forensic biology laboratory at the medical examiner’s office in New York City. It is the first systematic study of the detection of Y-chromosome DNA collected many hours after intercourse. While several countries have started using the test, it’s not yet in widespread use.

The method has already helped convict rapists, but it does have limitations, however. Y chromosome tests cannot uniquely identify an individual suspect because many men share the same set of markers. They’ll point more to a group than to a specific individual, says Baum. If the markers found don’t match those of a suspect, of course, he is definitely innocent. Exclusion is 100 per cent, says Baum.
New Scientist - Report

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The root of the wild Mpesu tree (Securidaca Longepeduculata) found in the villages of the Venda district near the Kruger National Park along the border with Zimbabwe, is said to be the source.

The compound extracted from its root and consumed with tea and other traditional drinks has been shown to relax the muscles of the male sex organs, sending a rush of blood that results in enhanced erections, according to researchers quoted in news media.

“You just have to see the local male population roving about with a spring in their step to realise their claims to being ‘the most sexually potent men on earth’ might be valid,” the Johannesburg-based Sowetan newspaper said in an article published Friday.

Botanists have confirmed the effects of the tree that has reportedly long been known to and exploited by traditional healers in the area.

A teaspoon of the medicine sells for around 50 rand (about 7 dollars), DPA reported.

“Though the active ingredients differ from Viagra, our tests showed it is just as effective,” Marion Meyer of the botany department at the University of Pretoria was quoted as saying.

Villagers jealously guard the trees and only local tribal chiefs have authority to sell the crushed roots, the newspaper said.

Many of the trees in and around the area’s Brackenridge Nature Reserve have, however, been mutilated or were dying, according to the Sowetan.

Village elders warn of the dangers of the tree’s powers, recommending that men who use its root, refrain from ingesting large quantities and do so only when they are sure their sexual partners are available for intimacy and when they are close to home.

What is Securidaca Longepeduculata
The effects of Securidaca longepedunculata root extract on ionic currents and contraction of cultured rat skeletal muscle cells.

The effects of the primary extract roots of Securidaca longepedunculata were tested on sodium, calcium and potassium currents in rat skeletal muscle cells developed in culture. In addition, they were tested on depolarisation-induced contraction and resting intracellular calcium levels. S. longepedunculata extract (10(-6) g/l) increases sodium current at all potentials. No clear effect was observed on calcium current except for a slight increase at negative potentials (-30, -10 mV) revealing a 5 mV shift towards negative potentials of the I(Ca)/V curve, as with potassium current. In contrast, at the same concentration, S. longepedunculata enhanced the contractile response elicited by durable depolarisation. This was not attributable to the slight increase in resting intracellular free calcium concentration which did not change during and following S. longepedunculata application. These results strongly suggest that S. longepedunculata root extract contains one or more components acting on the voltage-sensor of excitation-contraction coupling (dihydropyridine receptors), regardless of its implication as a calcium channel.

Securidaca Longepedunculata Fers (Polygalaceae) is commonly used as a traditional medicine in many parts of Africa as well as against a number of invertebrate pests, including insects infesting stored grain. The present study showed that S. Longepedunculata root powder, its methanol extract, and the main volatile component, methyl salicylate, exhibit repellent and toxic properties to Sitophilus zeamais adults. Adult S. zeamais that were given a choice between untreated maize and maize treated with root powder, extract, or synthetic methyl salicylate in a four-way choice olfactometer significantly preferred the control maize. Methyl salicylate vapor also had a dose-dependant fumigant effect against S. zeamais, Rhyzopertha dominica, and Prostephanus truncates, with a LD100 achieved with a 60 l dose in a 1-l container against all three insect species after 24 hr of exposure. Probit analyses estimated LD50 values between 34 and 36 l (95% CI) for all insect species. Furthermore, prolonged exposure for 6 days showed that lower amounts (30 l) of methyl salicylate vapor were able to induce 100% adult mortality of the three insect species. The implications are discussed in the context of improving stored product pest control by small-scale subsistence farmers in Africa.

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India records highest AIDS deaths in the world.

One fact went unnoticed in the UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic released last month: the figure of estimated AIDS deaths in India was over 4 lakh in 2005.

This is the highest in the world,South Africa had an estimated figure of about 3.2 lakh for the same period.The report had also highlighted that India led the HIV/ AIDS table with 5.7 million people living with the disease.

The government is not willing to accept the figures easily. Before commenting on the figures, we need to study the methodology UNAIDS has adopted. We are going to study the projections in a week or so and then only can react to it, said Sujatha Rao, DG, NACO.

According to UNAIDS, the death figure shows the actual magnitude of the problem. This represents the real face of the problem as we need to assess what is the cost of the epidemic to the society, said Denis Broun, Country Representative of UNAIDS. The total deaths show the magnitude of the problem. The 4-lakh (figure) is a major catastrophe in a country where only less than one per cent adults are suffering from HIV/AIDS, said Broun.

Broun says the 4-lakh figure, however, like the 5.7 million HIV/AIDS cases, is a mathematical derivation and not a headcount. Scientists have used factors like Indiaâs average age of survival after the infection, data on the average age of people with HIV and the number of people on Anti-Retoviral Treatment.

The Indian government, too, is preparing a report on the number of deaths in the country. Likely to be out this month, itâs being prepared by the National Institute of Medical Statistics. The model for estimation is based on assessing the mortality of the population without HIV and comparing it with the mortality rates.

Another survey funded by the Gates Foundation and the Canadian government is basing its results on actual interviews and counts. Though the official figure of the number of people living with HIV is 5.2 million, the UNAIDS report put the figure at 5.7 million, the highest in the world. While the government gave the estimates for adult population (15 to 49 years of age), UNAIDS went ahead and estimated that an additional 1 lakh children and 4 lakh people above 50 years needed to be added.

Estimated AIDS deaths in India over 4 lakh in 2005

South Africa next with estimated 3.2 lakh deaths

India led HIV/AIDS table with 5.7 million infected

NACO doesn`t accept figures, says methodology needs to be studied

With millions of people worldwide living with AIDS and the HIV virus, a new U.N. chart paints a grim picture of the epidemic spreading not only through Africa, but also through parts of Asia and Latin America.
Five countries have at least 2 million people each living with AIDS or the HIV virus - Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, according to a chart released Thursday by the United Nations Population Division.

In five other African countries - Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe - at least 20 percent of the adult population is infected.

By 2005, life expectancy will have dropped by at least 17 years in these five countries as well as in Kenya, Namibia and South Africa, the chart showed.

Outside Africa, AIDS deaths will decrease life expectancy by at least three years in the Bahamas, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti and Myanmar by 2005.

“The numbers show a worsening of the impact of the HIV (news - web sites)/AIDS epidemic in terms of increased illness, deaths and population loss - and we’re not even at the peak of the deaths,” said Joseph Chamie, director of the U.N. Population Division.

In 1999, the disease killed 310,000 people in India, more than any other country. Ethiopia was second with 280,000 deaths followed by Nigeria with 250,000.

“We’ve had wars before, and a great number of people have died in those wars, but it hasn’t had the impact on average life expectancy that we observe in some of the countries hardest-hit by HIV/AIDS,” Chamie told The Associated Press.

In Botswana, the United Nations projected that at the end of the 20th century, life expectancy should have been about 68 years. But because of AIDS, life expectancy was around 44 years. Similarly, in South Africa, without AIDS, life expectancy should have been around 63 years but instead it has fallen to around 57.

The chart was produced ahead of the U.N. General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS June 25-27, which is expected to adopt a global agenda to combat the disease. It includes AIDS statistics from every country, including life expectancy with and without AIDS, condom use, and health expenditure per capita.

U.N. figures indicate that the use of condoms - the cheapest and most effective form of protection against transmission of the HIV virus during sexual contact - is rare in most regions.

Despite the devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic, however, the population of the most affected countries is expected to increase by 2050, Chamie said.

“We project that the African population which is today around 800 million is likely to be 2 billion by 2050, even with AIDS,” he said.

[Lakh = 100,000]

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BHARATPUR Jul 9: Khakranagla village is only about 200 km from Delhi. Yet, the village is a microcosm of rural India ramshackle houses, non-functional primary school and no healthcare facilities.

Electricity arrived here just two years ago. But what makes it different is that it s inhabited by a number of families of the Bedia caste who have, for long, been identified with prostitution.

Traditionally, Bedias and Nats were dancers in Rajasthan and MP. Being entertainers, it was customary for the women and girls to perform for feudal lords.

When the zamindari system was abolished, they lost their patrons. Over time, a number of Bedia women were compelled to take up prostitution for economic reasons and the men lived off their earnings.

Adolescent girls are initiated into the family tradition , while their brothers become agents . They may practice locally, on highways or in big cities such as Delhi and Mumbai as bar girls or in brothels. Marriage is rare for the girls, but once married, they aren t permitted to take clients.

According to Prof K K Mukherjee, former head of department of social work, DU, There are 91 families in Khakranagla. Of these, 75 are of Nat, Bedia and Gujjar castes 46 of them engage in sex work.

Mukherjee heads an NGO that s trying to prevent young girls from taking up prostitution in eight villages in Bharatpur district.

In a 2004 study of sex workers in India, which he undertook on behalf of the Department of Women and Child Development, Mukherjee found that the number of Bedia sex workers in Delhi s red light area, G B Road, was increasing.

He attributes this to loss of livelihood, established networks and men s interest in continuance of the system because of easy availability of money.

Classified as a Scheduled Caste, Bedias may be deemed poor. But in Khakranagla, there are signs of a consumerist lifestyle coming up multi-storied houses, linoleum floors, young girls in capris and mobile phones.

However, more than the need for income, the community is worried about social ostracism. Villagers say they don t receive any benefits of the reservation policy.

Ravinder Kumar, an unemployed graduate, says, The moment they (employers) see the Bedia name, they set aside our job applications. Kumar says no person from the village has been able to get a job with the Rajasthan government. Bedia children are taunted and discriminated against in schools, he adds.

Kumar s brother, Om Prakash, a former panchayat samiti member, says, “on t give us money. Give us work. Give us our own leader. We don t have any political representative to speak for us. He asks, Why are we being stigmatised when there are other castes doing the same work?

They claim that mindsets are changing some girls in the village have got married, while some 80 young girls from nearby villages study at a residential school run by Mukherjee s NGO in Roopvas village. There are parents too who want daughters sheltered from their lifestyle.

But gaining social acceptance is another battle altogether.

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