Obama has links to Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: Dr Konrad Ng is amused that his Malaysian roots got noticed halfway round the world, thanks to his link to Democrat candidate Barack Obama.
An assistant professor at the University of Hawaii in Manoa (UHM), Ng, whose family originally comes from Sabah, is married to Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro.
Not too long ago: Watching an Independence Day parade in the US four years ago were (from left) Michelle Obama, her daughter Sasha, Obama, Malia, Maya, Ng, and their daughter Suhalia. - AP

Not too long ago: Watching an Independence Day parade in the US four years ago were (from left) Michelle Obama, her daughter Sasha, Obama, Malia, Maya, Ng, and their daughter Suhalia. - AP

Maya and Obama have the same mother.
In an e-mail interview with The Star, Ng, 34, said that his father, Howard, was born in Sandakan and his mother, Joan, in Kudat.


“I have many relatives who live throughout Malaysia, especially in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and the two towns where my parents came from,” he said.
His parents subsequently settled in Canada and Ng was born there.

The family tree: Dr Konrad Ng, Maya, Howard and Joan posing for a picture. Maya, who is Obama’s half sister, is married to Ng whose parents originally came from Sabah.
Maya was born to Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian businessman, and Ann Dunham, a white American cultural anthropologist, who is also Obama’s mother.
The family tree: Dr Konrad Ng, Maya, Howard and Joan posing for a picture. Maya, who is Obama’s half sister, is married to Ng whose parents originally came from Sabah.

Ng said his parents return to Malaysia once every one to two years.
“It remains an important place of origin to them. In addition to a large, extended family, they have many good friends in Malaysia. I try to visit Malaysia every few years; it is a special country and feels familiar to me,” said Ng.

Maya, who was born in Jakarta, also cherishes her Indonesian roots.

According to Ng, she is active in the local Indonesian community and continues to speak Indonesian when she can. She visits Indonesia every few years.

Ng described Obama as exceptionally brilliant.

“He has a thorough understanding of the challenges we face and sound judgment on how we should address these challenges.

“Barack is a dedicated family man and cares deeply about transforming the world into a better place so that all families will have the same opportunities to do better.

“South-East Asia is a place of connection for him and a region that he understands well. It gave him numerous examples of alternative modes of communication and perspective.

“Maya, Barack and I have talked about the beauty of South-East Asia and our mutual desire to visit again,” he said.

Thestar




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Indian President Abdul Kalam And Google Earth

Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam has expressed concern over the security threat posed by Google Earth's free mapping program available on the internet. 

Speaking at a top-level meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday, President Kalam voiced concern regarding "sensitive areas clearly marked on Google Earth". He asserted that terrorists and other subversive elements would use these images for their nefarious activities. Kalam also said that present laws are inadequate and that stringent laws are required to restrain the use of these pictures. 

Reflecting concerns expressed by countries like South Korea, Thailand and Netherlands, Kalam expressed regret that some developing countries, already under the specter of terrorist attacks, have been chosen to provide high resolutions. As regards India, the Google site depicts among others, clear images of Army headquarters, Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhavan and other defense establishments. 

The Ministry of Science and Technology has apparently woken up to the alarm sounded off by President Kalam. Reportedly, the Ministry has started evaluating images of sensitive locations, in close conjunction with security agencies. 

However, the defense arm of the government appears divided over this issue. Last month, the armed forces said that they had already factored into their plans, the threat of satellite imagery of their military bases, available freely on the Net. 

Similarly according to sources, frontline IAF bases are said to have "adequate protection systems" in place, while satellite images of say "INS Viraat" berthed at Mumbai, do not make any difference, as ships are supposed to be "mobile platforms - here today... gone tomorrow".

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Greatest Race on Earth

Standard Chartered’s Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) athletes Amos Mutai and Salina Kosgei, both Kenyan, today ran course record times of 2:15:01 and 2:31:55 respectively to win the men’s and women’s Singapore Marathon. The high standard of the unique relay series’ field of athletes was further shown by the top three places in both races being filled by GROE runners.

The victory for Kosgei, who was accompanied to Singapore and supported by her family, maintains her team Cyclone’s position as leaders of the GROE Women’s Team Challenge. They now have a cumulative time of 5:04:41, putting them over nine minutes ahead of their nearest rivals Grazy Girls, with both the first leg in Nairobi and now the second leg in Singapore complete.

Mutai’s spirited run for Marathon Centre Kericho has lifted his team’s position from 14th in the GROE Main Team Challenge to lead position. Previous leaders Run for Fun team dropped to 20th position, despite being represented by one of the pre-marathon favourites Joseph Ngolepus.

The Standard Chartered GROE, with a total prize pool of US$1.5 million, is a team relay of four challenging marathons in Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong. The field of elite athletes and emerging talent sped away from the start-line at 6am along the Esplanade Drive, all taking on Singapore’s heat and humidity.

The 2006/07 GROE Series sees participation from over 30 countries, the focus of which is the Nations Challenge. Zimbabwe’s Oliver Kandiero shone in Singapore, as he stormed through the course to finish with a time of 2:21:23. This puts them in third place in the Nations Challenge, closing the gap to Kenya in second to just half a minute. Uganda remain first thanks to a strong run by Ugandan Joeseph Nsubuga with a time of 2:23:56, leading the chase for the coveted GROE Gold Baton trophy at the halfway stage.

The regional competitions within the Nations Challenge are poised for a highly competitive second half to the competition after the first two marathons.

India still leads the South Asia region with national representative Ajeet Sing completing the course in 2:33:23. Close rivals Sri Lanka, only 1 minute and 13 seconds behind, are in second, with Pakistan in third spot.

A tremendous marathon by Todd Ingraham in a time of 2:35:14 has taken Australia to lead position in the Oceania & Europe region. Previous leaders Ireland drops a place to second but are only 1 minute 20 seconds behind. Finland has moved up into third place.

In the South East Asia region, Indonesia leads Thailand by a massive 15 minutes, with Vietnam in third place.

In the North East Asia region, Taiwan maintains their lead over South Korea by a margin of 20 minutes, while the Hong Kong team are in third place, a further 28 minutes behind.

In the Americas region, a truly brilliant race by Juan Escalante, who trains at altitude, finished for Mexico in a time 2:31:51, taking them above Argentina. The gap between the two is 34 minutes 10 seconds.

In another increase on last year’s turn-out, it was estimated that nearly 28,000 runners participated in the Singapore Marathon event.

fom: http://www.thegreatestrace.com/
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He’s 33, but his wife is 104

HE IS 33 and single while she claims to be 104 and has been married 20 times.

When Muhamad Noor Che Musa tied the knot with Wook Kundor in February, it was his first marriage and her 21st.

The 71-year age gap did not seem to pose any barrier to the unusual couple from Kuala Berang, Terengganu, Harian Metro reported.

The ex-serviceman was quoted as saying that he had found peace since marrying Wook and did not have any qualms introducing her as his wife.

“Before meeting Wook, I never stayed in one place for long.

“However, about a year ago I secured a job at a sawmill in Kuala Berang and stayed at Wook’s house for months without paying a single sen,” he said.

Muhammad admitted that many did not understand his decision to marry Wook and felt that their marriage was weird. Some even questioned his motive for marrying a woman old enough to be his great grandmother.

“But this is Allah’s will. My intention towards Wook is very sincere. I am not after her money as she is poor. Her only asset is her deep religious knowledge.

“Through her, I can deepen my knowledge of the religion while at the same time help her master the Romanised script,” he said, adding that their love was based on mutual respect and care.

Initially, Muhammad said he sympathised with Wook as she was all alone in the world, but over time, that feeling turned into love.

Wook, who is childless, hoped that people would not judge them.

“I hope people will view our marriage in a positive light as we have not done anything that is against the religion,” she said.
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How to find out whether your tyre has expired?

There is a 4-year expiry (from the year of manufacture).

Thereafter, the tyre may burst whilst in use

Check for this sign: ( *2603* )

There is an asterisk at the beginning and at the end of this

serial number.

The first two numbers 2 6 will tell which week of the year has

it been manufactured.

NB: One year has 52 weeks. The last two numbers represent the

year of make.

Therefore, *2603* shows that the said tyre is manufactured in

the 26th week of the year 2003.

*2699* This shows that the tyre is made in the 26th week of

1999.

Check all your tyres for safety purposes. Do not use expired tyres.

They are likely to burst (especially when running in hot weather)

because the rubber component may have hardened and cracked.

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Trip Travel Journey

Trip: travelling from one place to another

and usually back

To the place where you started, and it takes you a shorter

Time than journey.

Travel: moving from one place to
another, usually over a

Long distance.

Journey: going from one place to another,
often one-way,

Usually when the two places are far apart and when it

Takes you a long time and is often difficult. It implies

Moving on land rather than by sea. It also refers to a

person's life from birth to death. Well, life is but a dream

Because 'journey' comes from a Latin word that means

'one day' !

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MAS to go ticketless for domestic travel from May 1

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will go ticketless for domestic transactions beginning May 1, 2006.

The move will help save 15 per cent in distribution costs annually, the national carrier said in a statement.

Also, the move is in line with "Flying to Win Customers", which is one of the five thrusts of its business turnaround plan.

MAS said transactions via this facility are expected to increase from the current annual average of 5 per cent to 30 per cent over the next one year.

The airline will cease all conventional ticketing at its offices for domestic travel.

Customers have the options of booking and payment via the airline's corporate website www.malaysiaairlines.com, its 24-hours call centre (1-300-88-3000) and at both airport and city ticketing offices in Malaysia.

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Text when you can’t talk

PETALING JAYA: For some, SMS-ing has become a part of life. For others, it’s merely a convenience.

“I’d rate SMS a nine out of 10 in terms of importance,” said Maureen Tan, 26, a brand planner in advertising.

“It’s cheap and convenient, especially since I need to keep in touch with people overseas all the time in my job.”

Tan started using SMS almost 10 years ago, while she was still a college student.

Engineer Ho Wei Chong, 28, admitted to starting late.

“I only started SMS-ing after I got a phone capable of T9 predictive text input, which made it a lot easier.

“Now I SMS very often, but only for personal matters. I don’t use it for work because it’s faster to just call a person, especially if it’s urgent.”

Ho said the only time he ever sent a work-related SMS was when he did not really want to talk to the person.

“Sometimes, it’s better to SMS your boss if you want to call in sick. I’d rather not have him interrogate me about why I’m unable to come to work,” he said with a grin.

Generally, Ho did not think much about SMS-based information services but liked the one offered by his bank, which sent him text notifications if cheques had cleared.

“I don’t really believe in other SMS-based information services because some of them are expensive while others don’t provide clear instructions on how to unsubscribe.”

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China GDP grows 10.2 percent - Fantastic

China's gross domestic product grew by 10.2 percent in the first quarter of this year on the back of fast-paced trade growth, Chinese President Hu Jintao said in a televised speech.
"The mainland economy maintained good developmental momentum with our GDP in the first quarter rising by 10.2 percent and import and export trade up by 25 percent," Hu said in a meeting with Taiwan's former Kuomintang opposition leader Lien Chan.
"Frankly speaking, we do not hope to pursue extreme high speed (growth), we are paying more attention to the efficiency and quality of development," Hu said.

"We are paying more attention to the transformation of the mode of growth, resource conservation, environmental protection and more importantly the improvement of the lives of the people."

The robust first quarter GDP figure comes ahead of Hu's visit to the United States this week where a growing US trade deficit that hit 202 billion dollars last year is likely to be at the top of the talks agenda.

Washington has also become increasingly impatient with Beijing for allegedly seeking to boost exports by keeping the yuan at artificially low levels, and for failing to adequately open its markets and protect intellectual property rights.

On Tuesday, the commerce ministry announced that China's trade surplus had surged 98.5 percent in March from a year earlier to 11.19 billion dollars.

The trade surplus for the first three months of the year was up 41.4 percent from the same period in 2005 to 23.31 billion dollars, it said.

This came on the back of booming foreign trade in March with exports rising 28.3 percent year-on-year to 78.05 billion dollars and imports growing by 21 percent to 66.86 billion dollars.

First quarter exports grew by 26.6 percent to 197.3 billion dollars, while imports were up 24.8 percent year-on-year to 174 billion dollars, the ministry said.

China has not yet released the full range of first quarter economic statistics including the latest numbers on booming fixed asset investment and growing consumer spending.

"The 10.2 percent GDP growth in the first quarter is realistic because we saw that electricity consumption grew by 11 percent in the first quarter," Andy Xie, Hong Kong-based chief economist for Asia Pacific for Morgan Stanley, said.

"China's GDP growth in previous years has been understated substantially so this is a reflection of what is going on," he said. "China's economy is growing fast and there will be a lot of demand from China."

In December, China overtook Italy as the world's sixth biggest economy when Beijing said it had massively underestimated the size of its own economy, mainly due to miscalculations in the services sector.

The government found that the economy at the end of 2004 was worth 16.8 percent or 284 billion dollars more than previously assessed.

By January, China's economy had become the world's fourth biggest, overtaking France and Britain, after the government announced economic growth of 9.9 percent in 2005.

The 2005 growth rate followed the revised growth rates of 10.1 percent in 2004 and 10 percent in 2003 that came with the new economic reassessment.

In his annual work report to parliament last month, Premier Wen Jiabao said the economy would grow by around 8.0 percent for the year, a forecast widely seen as overly cautious.
China's gross domestic product grew by 10.2 percent in the first quarter of this year on the back of fast-paced trade growth, Chinese President Hu Jintao said in a televised speech.
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Hopes for cheaper malaria drug

The malaria parasite is spread by mosquitoesScientists are perfecting a cheap way to synthesise a highly effective malaria drug.
Artemisinin is currently expensive to manufacture, and so is denied to many in the developing world.
US researchers have created a yeast which can churn out large quantities of a related chemical, which can be easily converted into the drug.
Writing in Nature, they say their work may eventually help slash the cost of artemisinin, and improve access.
It would be very valuable if the cost of manufacturing the drug could be cut
Professor David Warhurst
Malaria infects as many as 500 million people a year, and kills more than 1.5 million, mainly in Africa and Asia.
Artemisinin is the drug of choice for treating those infected with multi-drug-resistant strains of the parasite. In combination with other drugs it has proved to be nearly 100% effective.
Sweet wormwood
It is currently extracted from a plant called Artemisia annua (commonly known as sweet wormwood), grown by farmers in Asia.
But natural supplies are limited, and synthesizing the drug is very expensive.
A team from the University of California, Berkeley, succeeded two years ago in engineering bacteria to make a chemical precursor of artemisinin.
They have now gone one step further by developing a strain of yeast that can churn out large quantities of artemisinic acid - a chemical just one tiny change away from the drug itself.
They did this by adding two genes from A. annua to the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Other researchers have shown that this precursor can be converted into artemisinin in a handful of chemical steps.
So in theory, it should be now be possible to manufacture the drug much more cheaply.
Bacteria factory
The Berkeley team now hope eventually to drive down costs still further by using a similar process to stimulate bacteria to produce artemisinic acid.
Bacteria grow much more quickly than yeast, and so could potentially offer a much more productive source of the chemical.
The researchers say it could still be several years before a microbe-produced version of artemisinin will be widely available.
Lead researcher Professor Jay Keasling said: "While we have made a lot of progress in the past two years, there still are a lot of unknowns."
But he added: "Now that we've got all the parts, I feel it's just a matter of time before we have a microbe ready for scale-up to production."
Professor David Warhurst, an expert in malaria at the Health Protection Agency, told the BBC News website the research was "very interesting and significant".
He said: "Artemisinin and its derivatives are the best available drugs we have got for treating malaria, particularly resistant strains.
"However, the cost is too high for many African governments to cope with, and to get it down to grassroots the price is going to have to be reduced.
"It would be very valuable if the cost of manufacturing the drug could be cut."
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Just Sayin' That elusive thing called Asian values

SOMETIMES I have to wonder at how weird things can get. A couple has been charged for kissing and hugging in public? It’s outrageous that they were even confronted by City Hall officers, but now they’re in court, and in the national — and, most likely, international — news.


Let’s not make it seem as if this is a legitimate debate about our values and mores, because it isn’t. It’s simply a case of those in power over- reaching their authority. After all, is their "indecent behaviour" an issue even if the general public doesn’t think it is?

Again, the concept of Asian values is brought up, because Asians constantly need to be told what values are important to them. To be frank, I loathe that term. Like bad traffic, "Asian values" has too often been used as an excuse for bad behaviour. To be Asian, it seems, means being meek, unassertive and for the most part, tremendously dull.

I don’t remember anyone going on about Asian values when they should matter, like in relation to justice, corruption and poverty eradication.

Likewise, the invasion of foreign, usually Western, cultural elements raises alarm bells from time to time, though those usually doing the raising seem more concerned with projecting themselves as some sort of guardian of all that’s sacred.

Yet there are few qualms about building something as clearly foreign as the Arab Square in the middle of KL.

But this whole concept of foreignness is, well, foreign to me. What exactly is foreign, really?

Is it Indonesia, with their Playboy-allowing liberalism? Sure, they might be the world’s most populous Muslim state, but their pop stars dress sexily, they have local beers, and, apparently, religiously mixed marriages are tolerated.

Or is it Amber Chia who subscribes to foreign values, for posing in that very issue of Playboy? Then again, the photo spread looks very much like what you’d find in magazines here anyway. So why all the fuss over a brand name?

Is it Singapore with its blatantly consumerist society, where citizens are mall rats who shop, eat and drink their time away, spending to fill all that’s missing from their lives? Then again, I could’ve just been describing KL. Or virtually any metropolitan city in the world.

Is it Brokeback Mountain, with its empathetic portrayal of the love between two gay men? From what I’ve heard, the pirated DVDs are doing very brisk sales. So many people obviously don’t have a problem with that film or its Asian values-forgetting director Ang Lee.

Or maybe it is socialism that’s foreign, making the for- mation of Parti Sosialis Mala- ysia "a threat to our national security"? Perhaps. After all, it’s been eight years since PSM applied for registration, which continues to be denied. But that begs the question: If socialism is as foreign as kimchi, then how would the party appeal to enough people to be deemed a threat?

Is it the English language, once widely and well spoken here, but is now like bitter medicine that needs to be forced down students’ throats? No, not really, considering it’s the language of choice for most middle-class KL-ites. And that includes everyone from ministers to businessmen of all races.

Or is it the national language, with its Roman characters and imported words like motorsikal, kompromi and yes, roti? I’m still not quite sure what inforia is, though.

Or is it Mak Yong, once local, but now deemed foreign and unacceptable in Kelantan? How easily our heritage can be erased, and how easily we let them erase it. What’s next? The rewriting of history?

Was P. Ramlee foreign, too? The legendary actor-director did feature cabaret girls and drinking in his movies.

Is it freedom of speech and assembly? Even though without speaking up and organising against British colonialism we might not have the KLCC towers today?

Is it the imported Korean cars that Malaysians are preferring to local ones? Those Koreans sure have a plan to sap Malaysia’s economic strength.

Flood the country with affordable cars so traffic will become so bad that people will spend more time cursing in traffic jams, and less time being productive.

Or, finally, is it the concept of a secular democracy, even though that’s what our Constitution states this country is? As we creep towards what I think is a permeation of religious morality into every aspect of our lives, from law to uniforms to discourse, perhaps even the document Malaysia is founded on is foreign.

This isn’t too surprising, actually. After all, those hugging and kissing English had a hand in it.

The columnist is a writer at a monthly Klang Valley magazine, KLue. E-mail him at brianyap@mac.com.
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New Red, Blue Rings Found Around Uranus

Two outer rings, one red the other blue, have been observed around the distant planet Uranus. While Uranus had been known to have inner rings of neutral color, the newly discovered outer rings show color contrasts that researchers think are caused by light reflected off particles that differ in size from one ring to the other.

And the outermost ring is only the second blue ring to have been observed, a team led by Imke de Pater of the University of California, Berkeley, reports in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

Also blue is Saturn's outermost ring, the researchers said. And they noted that both of the known blue rings have a moon embedded within them, while the red rings do not.

They speculated that the moons swept up larger pieces of debris, leaving only dust and tiny items that reflected more blue light than the red ring which could have larger pieces of debris.

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Garmin BMW Motorrad Navigator III

Garmin appears to be getting ready to release the Garmin BMW Motorrad Navigator III, a GPS navigation system designed for BMW motorcycles in the USA. The Garmin BWM Motorrad Navigator III features turn by turn directions, voice prompting, and uses Bluetooth to transmit audio to Bluetooth receivers.

Previously the Navigator II was available in the USA and the Navigator III was available in parts of Europe. We have seen indications the BMW Motorrad Navigator III will soon be available in the USA.

The Navigator III features Bluetooth connectivity that will allow simultaneous connections to both a helmet with integrated Bluetooth audio as well as a cellular phone to offer hands-free communication.

Traffic information can also be obtained through an optional service and FM traffic receiver. There is also an optional remote control which works via IR. No word yet on exactly when the Garmin BMW Motorrad Navigator III might be released in the USA.

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Singapore attacked over blog gag

The Singapore government has been condemned for gagging political discussion on the web in the run up to the country's parliamentary elections.

The government has extended censorship laws to ban podcasts and videocasts that carry political content.

Websites and blogs are already under strict control and must be registered with the government.

Media watchdog Reporters without Borders said the ban would prevent democratic debate on the net.

The ban was outlined by Communications and Arts minister, Balaji Sadasivan of the People's Action Party (PAP) in a parliamentary speech.

It is enforced under a 2001 law that seeks to prevent overt advertising by political parties.

New technology

The ban will come as a blow to PAP opponents, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).

It has used both podcasts and videocasts in an attempt to get round traditional media censorship laws in their campaign.

The party said on their website that the latest announcement was aimed "squarely at the SDP's efforts to harness the new technology to advance its platform in the upcoming general elections".

For its part, Reporters without Borders said: "Once again the Singapore authorities are showing their determination to prevent the holding of a genuinely democratic debate on the internet."

No date has yet been announced for the election.

Outside of election periods, bloggers and website managers have to register with the Media Development Authority (MDA) if they want to write about party politics.

However during elections even registered users are prohibited from open political discussion.

The government said that anyone breaking the ban faces legal action.

The announcement is an extension of the Singapore government's strict censorship policy that applies to all media.

Recently the government relaxed some of its laws in an attempt to market the country as a hub for arts and culture.

The film, Brokeback Mountain, passed film censors this year, in spite of the country's stringent laws against homosexuality.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/4882746.stm
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Disney offers teen-tracker mobile

The childrens' mobile phone market is growing rapidly

Disney is launching a US service that will enable parents to monitor how their children use their mobile phones.

They will be able to track voice, text, video and picture messages and set limits on their children's calls.

The phone will also allow parents to locate where their children are via a global positioning system.

The entertainment giant hopes to target what is a niche but rapidly expanding market of mobile phone using children between 10 and 15 years old.

"This is still a growth stage market," said George Grobar, general manager of Disney Mobile.

Disney is targeting 20 to 30 million children with the new service.

There is certainly a big market for teenagers and parents adding them to their [mobile] phone plan Julie Ask, analyst at Jupiter Research

The decision follows market research showing that parents wanted to be able to find out where their children are at specific moments and to talk to them.

'Big market for teenagers'

While the US mobile phone market is well established with 70% of the population already owning a phone, this figure is lower among teenagers.

About 45% to 50% of 13 year olds have a mobile phone, according to technology analysts Jupiter Research.

Just under two thirds of parents pay for their teenagers mobile phones.

"There is certainly a big market for teenagers and parents adding them to their [mobile] phone plan," said Jupiter analyst Julie Ask.

The new phones for parents, which will be sold over the internet, are expected to be available from June.

Disney has not yet revealed what it will charge for this service, but monthly fees from other providers are as little as $10 per month for each new family member.

This is the second specialised mobile phone service Disney is developing. The company launched a sports-based service in February at the annual American football extravaganza, the Super Bowl.

Mobile phone company Nokia predicted that the global mobile phone market will increase by 15% this year.
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Chocolate

Chocolate has been said to cause acne and tooth decay, and has a reputation for being a fattening, nutritionless food. On the other hand, chocolate is also known for being everything from an anti-depressant to an aphrodisiac. While there's still much we don't know about chocolate, recent research is helping us better understand how chocolate consumption affects our health.

The good news is that most of the bad effects of eating chocolate are either overstated or entirely false. Eating chocolate neither causes nor aggravates acne. Two studies -- one by the Pennsylvania School of Medicine and another by the U.S. Naval Academy -- showed that eating chocolate (or not eating it) did not produce any significant changes in the acne conditions of the study's participants. These results are further backed by research which shows that acne is not primarily linked to diet.

Chocolate also has not been proven to cause cavities or tooth decay. In fact, there are indications that the cocoa butter in the chocolate coats the teeth and may help protect them by preventing plaque from forming. The sugar in chocolate does contribute to cavities, but no more than the sugar in any other food.

Obviously, eating too much of any food may cause health problems. The cocoa butter in chocolate does contain saturated fat, which can increase blood cholesterol levels, and high cholesterol can contribute to heart disease. However, recent research at the University of California, Davis, has found that chocolate carries high levels of chemicals known as phenolics, some of which may help lower the risk of heart disease. Plants such as chocolate, coffee, tea, and others contain high levels of phenolics.

Andrew Waterhouse, the lead researcher from U.C. Davis, is a wine chemist. For several years he has been studying the possible health benefits of antioxidant phenolics found in red wine. Waterhouse told us that phenolic compounds are found in all plant products, and that the plants "probably make them as protective agents and for improving their success at reproduction." The bitter, astringent taste that these plants have is an indication of the phenolics found within.

So how might phenolics prevent heart disease? Apparently, phenolics prevent fat-like substances in the bloodstream from oxidizing and clogging the arteries. Said Waterhouse: "It's now believed that atherosclerosis, or the formation of plaque in the arteries, is caused by oxidation of LDL (low-density lipoproteins) -- that's one of the cholesterol particles. At first, this leads to subtle damage, and then eventually to the formation of advanced plaque." The buildup of plaque can lead to clogging of the arteries, a major cause of heart attacks.

While phenolics have chemically been proven to reduce oxidation, Waterhouse cautioned that: "It's not known if the phenolic compounds, like the flavenoids that are present in chocolate, can reduce disease. It's well known that these substances are antioxidants in a chemical sense. But we don't have strong, large-scale, controlled human studies." More research still needs to be done, but certainly the initial research is encouraging.
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Merged stars whip up magnetic super fields

Corpses of massive stars that have collapsed and exploded Typical masses little more than our Sun; radii about 10 km Superdense objects - more dense than atomic nuclei Neutron star binaries are focus of intense scientific study Now being observed for their gravitational waves Colliding binaries thought to be source of short GRBs Neutron star collisions with black holes also a possibility GRBs signal the most violent events in the Universe.

The collision of two superdense stars would produce the strongest magnetic fields in the Universe, scientists say.

These would be more than a thousand million-million times the strength of Earth's magnetic field, the UK-German team reports in Science magazine.

Its computer simulations fit with the theory that mergers of neutron stars drive some of the bursts of high-energy radiation that sweep across space.

However, the group says more work is needed to explain the link in detail.

Dr Daniel Price from the University of Exeter, UK, and Professor Stephan Rosswog from the International University Bremen, Germany, carried out their modelling on a supercomputer.

The simulations required many months of programming. (Follow the internet links for the team's simulation movies).

The study gives fresh insight into the mechanisms that could lie behind extremely powerful, split-second flashes of light called short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).

Quick start

The space-borne telescopes Swift and Hete-2 have indicated the source of at least some of these 100-millisecond bursts could result from two compact, magnetised objects falling on to each other.

Theory suggests these objects could be two neutron stars, the remnant cores of massive stars that have imploded after running out of nuclear fuel.

Although about the same mass as our Sun, neutron stars would be little more than 10km across.

Some such objects known as magnetars are expected to have intense magnetic fields anyway but the new simulations show that a collision between a pair of them could produce something altogether more spectacular - and sufficiently intense to launch a GRB.

Key to this link is the very rapid speed with which the giant magnetic fields are seen to develop in the modelled collisions.

This has to be so if neutron star mergers are to explain the short gamma-ray bursts.

"Our simulations are of the first 12 milliseconds but all the action goes on in the first couple of milliseconds the stars hit each other. You get this very strong shear that rotates and winds the magnetic field up," Dr Price told the BBC News website.

Professor Rosswog added: "This is an incredible result. Magnetic fields that we are familiar with, say from a magnet at your refrigerator, have a strength of about 100 Gauss. Such a collision produces fields that are an incredible 10-million-million times stronger."

In tandem

GRBs have been one of the great unexplained phenomena in astronomy since they were first detected in the 1960s.

It is only in recent years, with the launch of new space telescopes, that scientists have had the tools capable of studying in detail these very bright, but fleeting, events.

Computer modelling of the type carried out by the UK-German team is essential companion work to the observations, as it helps to unravel the extreme physics involved.

"There were certain speculations about how you could grow the magnetic fields, but now we know they develop very quickly. This means we have a firm theoretical basis on which to push forward with this model of how binary neutron stars produce gamma-ray bursts," Dr Price said.

The results of the simulations are being presented this week at the UK Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Leicester, and at the Nuclear Astrophysics conference at Ringberg Castle, Tegernsee.

By Jonathan Amos
BBC News science reporter, in Leicester

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'Good' food provided in childcare

Most childcare providers offer a nutritious, balanced diet to those in their care and are knowledgeable about healthy eating, inspectors say.

Education inspectors Ofsted visited 110 day childcare providers in England including nurseries, crèches and childminders.

Almost 70% were good or outstanding - no childminders and 4% of day care providers were judged inadequate.

Most offered food low in sugar and fat, but 11 often served sweets and crisps.

Such foods should be available in moderation, or as an occasional reward, Ofsted recommends.

Rosy picture

Ofsted's director of Early Years, Dorian Bradley, said that amid the debate around the standard of school meals, little had been said about the food offered to very young children.

"I'm pleased to say the picture looks rosy," she said. "Child carers, in the main, have embraced the concept of healthy eating and the wider benefits gained from it."

The best providers found out about children's likes and dislikes, presented food well and worked with parents to encourage children to try new foods, Ofsted said.

However, some carers were reluctant to question parents when they gave children fatty or sugary foods in their lunchboxes, inspectors found.

Childcare providers already have to adhere to national standards on the quality of food they provide. They stipulate that every day, at least one item from the following groups of foods should be available:

• Bread, potatoes, rice or pasta
• Fruit and vegetables
• Milk and dairy products
• Meat, fish and other non-dairy sources of protein

Schools will have to meet standards provided by the Department for Education and Skills from this September.

Cultural issues

Ana Palenciano is co-director of Polkadot Day Nursery in Stratford-upon-Avon, which is rated outstanding in the quality of food it provides.

She said teaching children to eat a balanced diet was about more than just offering them healthy choices.

"Children need to know how to respect and value food," she said.

"We teach them that some children don't have food and then they can learn to appreciate it.

"Here children learn how to behave at the table, to use cutlery and to have good table manners. If they don't learn these things, their food will just end up on the floor."

But Ms Palenciano, who is from Spain, added that food was "a cultural issue".

"A lot of people in this country miss out on learning to eat properly, but the children here become used to eating at the table with us as a family."

She aims to introduce children to healthy food from day one, and the menu for weaning babies includes lamb, apricots and pulses.

Menus for all their children, from babies up to five-year-olds, include lots of fish, meat, vegetarian food and pulses, and dessert is usually fruit.

Sweets and biscuits are not completely banned, but are given sparingly.

"There is no point in depriving children, but they get enough of that type of thing at home," she said.

"It is nonsense that children just don't like some foods. If they have been eating it from day one, they don't know any different, do they?

"But you have to use common sense and moderation."

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Power-strip with hidden GSM phone-hardware

This power-strip is actually a listening device that can be monitored from anywhere in the world. It contains a concealed GSM cell-phone and a mic; insert the SIM card from a mobile phone, plug the strip in somewhere with mobile coverage, and call the phone number for the SIM -- it will transmit the conversation over the phone-link. It's 950 Euros though: surely it's not all that hard to build one of these out of the guts of an old phone and a power-strip... To monitor, simply dial the number of the SIM card inserted in GSM transmitter from your phone and you are immediately and clearly listening to all of the audio activity in the area of our professional concealed GSM monitor AGS-01.
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Jill Carroll Released

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 30 — Jill Carroll, the reporter who was kidnapped in Baghdad in early January and whose case generated widespread international attention, was freed today, according to a correspondent for her newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor.

Delphine Minoui/EPA

Jill Carroll, a freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor.

"We can confirm that she has been released," said Scott Peterson, a correspondent for the paper in Baghdad. He offered no information about the circumstances of her release or her well-being.

Ms. Carroll, 28, was abducted Jan. 7 in western Baghdad and appeared in three videotapes released by her captors. The kidnappers issued a statement through a Kuwaiti television station in February demanding that the Americans and Iraqis release all imprisoned women by Feb. 26 or she would be killed. That date passed without the governments’ compliance, and there was no further word of Ms. Carroll.

On Feb. 28, Iraq’s interior minister told ABC News that the kidnapped American reporter Jill Carroll was still alive and that he knew who had kidnapped her and believed she would be released soon.

Ms. Carroll was kidnapped less than 300 yards from the office of Adnan Dulaimy, a prominent Sunni Arab politician, whom Ms. Carroll had been intending to interview that morning. Her interpreter, Allan Enwiyah, 32, was shot dead at the scene.

In an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, Mr. Dulaimy repeatedly expressed his concerns about Ms. Carroll. In recent months, he made public appeals for her release.

Though many other Americans have been kidnapped in Iraq since the invasion, and some remain in captivity, Ms. Carroll’s kidnapping garnered unusually widespread international attention, not least because her plight hit close to home for the journalists in Iraq who covered it.

Ms. Carroll, who grew up in Michigan and speaks some Arabic, had been reporting in the Middle East since late 2002, mostly in Iraq.

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