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Tuesday, November 17, 2009
EU admiral warns against ‘crafty’ pirates
BRUSSELS: Pirates operating in waters off Somalia are becoming increasingly “crafty”, a commander of the EU’s naval mission warned Monday, urging merchant vessels to cooperate more closely with his warships. “The pirates are getting crafty, they are extending their horizon,” Rear Admiral Peter Hudson said. They are showing “a level of sophistication that we have not seen. We have to respond to that.” “These are reckless individuals, they are not afraid of spending days and days at sea in an open skiff,” he said, noting that 10 ships and 244 people were currently in the hands of pirates. “It is vital that the merchant community listen to our warnings and don’t attempt to cut corners,” he told members of the European parliament in Brussels. His warning came a week after pirates launched two of their longest-range attacks yet, fully 1,000 nautical miles from the Somali coast.
Fearless kids likely to be criminals
WASHINGTON: Children who lack a normal fear response are more likely to commit crimes when they grow up, a study published on Monday in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggested. Researchers assessed the “fear conditioning” of nearly 1,800 three-year-olds by measuring skin activity such as sweat secretion, which is part of the fear reflex, after the children had been blasted by a short, loud, unpleasant sound or a neutral tone. Then, 20 years later, the researchers looked at the official court records of the study participants. They found that, by the age of 23, 137 of the study participants had committed serious crimes. None of the adults with a criminal record had shown a normal fear response at age three. Participants who had not committed a crime by age 23, on the other hand, had a normal fear reaction to the loud, unpleasant noise when they were toddlers.
SL air chief
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s president on Monday promoted his air force commander to be the country’s top military officer to replace General Sarath Fonseka who quit following a rift with the government, an official said. Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetileke, 53, was made the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) from Monday in addition to his duties as head of the air force, an official from the president’s office said. “He will function as the CDS in addition to being the air force commander,” the official said.
BD twins
MELBOURNE: A marathon and risky operation to separate Bangladeshi twins joined at the head, which they have only a one in four chance of both surviving, was going well on Monday, surgeons said. The 16-strong team was on “tenterhooks” over the delicate bid to separate Trishna and Krishna, aged two, which will take about 16 hours, plastic surgeon Tony Holmes told reporters at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.
Missile plan
PRAGUE: The Obama administration hopes the Czech Republic will play an important role in a reworked US missile defence plan, a top American official said on Monday. Ellen Tauscher, the US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, held talks at the Czech Foreign Ministry to discuss ways for the Czech Republic to participate in the new system. “This is ... the opportunity for the Czech Republic to play a very significant role,” Tauscher told reporters after meeting with Foreign Minister Jan Kohout and his deputy Tomas Pojar.
Tony Blair
LONDON: Former British premier Tony Blair remains Britain’s candidate for the post of European Union president just days before a decision on the issue, Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s spokesman said. ’The prime minister has been absolutely consistent on this. Tony Blair remains, and will be, the candidate,’ the spokesman told journalists. Brown shares Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt’s wish that European leaders will have decided on a candidate for the job by the time they meet at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, he added.
Iraq polls
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq: Iraq’s general election in January was thrown into doubt on Monday when the war-torn country’s presidential council demanded a greater say for minorities and nationals living abroad.
Kirkuk blast
KIRKUK: A car bomb exploded in a crowded market place in northern Kirkuk on Monday, killing two people and wounding 10 others, Iraqi police and hospital sources said. The death toll is expected to rise, police said. Violence has dipped sharply in Iraq over the past 18 months but attacks remain common in volatile areas like the oil city of Kirkuk.
Doctor blamed for Michael’s death
NEW YORK: Janet Jackson blames Dr. Conrad Murray for her brother Michael’s death. She told ABC News in an interview to air on Wednesday that Murray should no longer be allowed to practice medicine. Murray faces manslaughter charges for the pop star’s death this summer. A spokeswoman for the doctor, Miranda Sevcik said on Monday he continues to maintain he neither prescribed or administered anything to Jackson that should have killed him. Jackson told ABC’s Robin Roberts that she was at her home in New York on June 25 when her assistant called to say Michael had been taken to the hospital.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
