Pilgrims wait for smoke after three votes

EYES are riveted once again on a simple chimney pipe rising above a sublime Renaissance chapel after Catholic cardinals failed to elect a new leader for their 1.2 billion-strong Church in three ballots.

The 115 cardinals kicked off their conclave in the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday to find a successor to Benedict XVI, who brought a troubled eight-year papacy to an abrupt end by resigning last month aged 85.

The chimney disgorged black smoke after Wednesday's first two voting sessions and after Tuesday's first ballot, indicating that no one had gained the two-thirds majority needed to become the 266th pope.

A successful result would be signalled immediately by white smoke and followed soon afterwards with the famous announcement in Latin, Habemus Papam (We Have a Pope).

The failed ballots deepened the suspense as no clear frontrunner has emerged, although conjecture has coalesced around three favourites: Italy's Angelo Scola, Brazil's Odilo Scherer and Canada's Marc Ouellet, all conservatives like Benedict.

Some analysts suggest that Benedict's dramatic act - the first papal resignation in over 700 years - could push the cardinals to take an equally unusual decision and that an outsider could emerge as a compromise candidate.

Hopes are high in the Philippines for the popular archbishop of Manila, Luis Antonio Tagle, and on the African continent for South Africa's Wilfrid Napier, the archbishop of Durban, but in practice their chances are slim.

Whatever hopes Vienna Archbishop Christoph Schoenborn may have, his mother did him no favours by telling the Austrian press that the job of pope "would be much too difficult" for him.

US President Barack Obama also chimed in on Wednesday, saying an American pope could be just as effective as any other, before quipping: "But the (US) conference of Catholic bishops ... don't seem to be taking orders from me."

Tens of thousands of people gathered in a rainy St Peter's Square on Wednesday, huddled under umbrellas to gaze up at the chimney pipe for the only information obtainable from the secret voting conclave.

"There's a great atmosphere, we're not just waiting for white smoke, we're waiting to see a leader emerge who can open up the Church to the modern world," said Jean Chiche, who had come with his wife and daughter from Paris.

The scandal of sexual abuse of children by pedophile priests going back decades - and the cover-up of their actions by senior prelates - has also cast a long shadow on the Church.

The US group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) called for over a dozen cardinals to be excluded from the conclave either for covering up abuses or making tactless remarks about the scandals.

The Vatican on Wednesday defended the cardinals and accused SNAP and other activists of showing "negative prejudices".

"None of us are surprised that they have tried to take advantage of these days to repeat their accusations and give them greater resonance," Lombardi said.

"These cardinals should be respected and have every right to be in the conclave," he said.

23.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Shining red mice help fight bowel cancer

INJECTED with a fluorescent protein to make them glow bright red, laboratory mice are helping Czech scientists better understand the causes behind intestinal cancers and skin diseases while leaving the rodents unscathed.

A research group at the Institute of Molecular Genetics at the Czech Academy of Sciences is using proteins obtained from sea organisms like coral to light up mice and observe cell development under their skin without having to kill them.

"We can take the mouse every day and place it under a camera monitoring the light," the group's head Radislav Sedlacek told AFP Wednesday.

"We can use it several times without killing it, and the data are very objective," he added.

So-called transgenic mice have their genetic backgrounds switched through simple injections or with the use of stem cells.

Sedlacek also plans to use glowing mice treated with several proteins at the same time, for a better monitoring of cellular processes.

"The red-green-blue combination is very good," he said, adding such mice would be used for example to monitor processes in the intestine to help with research into intestinal cancer, a disease that kills thousands of Czechs every year.

"The intestinal wall is very dynamic, you have different processes there, and you can monitor them by switching one colour on and another one off," Sedlacek added.

Unlike traditional research techniques, this method does no harm to the mice if "we make sure the gene we insert does not harm another gene", Sedlacek said.

23.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Malawi politicians in 'coup plot' charged

TWELVE Malawian politicians who were arrested for plotting to oust President Joyce Banda have been formally charged with treason which could carry the death penalty.

The men appeared at Lilongwe Magistrate's Court amid tight security following rioting over their arrest.

Their lawyer Kalekeni Kaphale said the case would be transferred to the High Court on Thursday for bail hearing, as the "Magistrate's Court has no jurisdiction over treason cases".

The plot is alleged to have taken place amid the chaos following president Bingu wa Mutharika's death on April 5 last year, before Banda, then his deputy, was installed as president after backroom dealings.

Among the arrested is Mutharika's brother Peter, a former foreign minister whom the deceased president had groomed to succeed him.

Goodall Gondwe, current minister of economic planning, is the only member of Banda's cabinet arrested.

Gondwe, Peter Mutharika and Bright Msaka, the chief secretary to the government, face additional charges of inciting mutiny, conspiracy to commit a felony and giving false evidence to a commission of inquiry into the death of the late president.

Last week an inquest ruled that Mutharika died of a heart attack on the way to hospital after collapsing at State House.

23.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cardinals allowed cigarette and a tipple

THE cardinals locked inside the Sistine Chapel for deep meditation and reflection until they choose a new pope can break off for a smoke or enjoy a glass of wine, the Vatican spokesman says.

Federico Lombardi expressed the hope however that the 115 cardinals - average age 72 - who were spending a second day choosing a successor to the retired Benedict XVI would show restraint and not harm their health by chain-smoking.

"I think the cardinals are allowed to smoke where they think appropriate. As long as they follow the normal rules of politeness. We would hope they follow (them)," Lombardi told a press conference.

"We know that some smoke. We would hope that they are doing that reasonably and taking care of their health."

Wine, he said was "a normal part of the menu in Rome".

"So I would expect that it would be on the menu. They are free to drink if they wish."

Cardinals take a solemn oath at the start of conclaves to never reveal the contents of their discussions.

But according to one anecdote that leaked out after the election which chose Pope John Paul I in 1978, one cardinal asked the new pontiff if he could have a cigarette to relieve the tension.

John Paul I thought carefully before replying: "Eminence, you may smoke, just as long as the smoke is white." White smoke is used to signal that a new pope has been elected.

Austrian cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, who is taking part this year, revealed before the conclave that the spartan rooms at the cardinals' residence contained "no TV and no minibar".

23.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

G20 economies grow in late 2012

ECONOMIC growth in G20 countries climbed by 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012, slowing only slightly from the 0.6 per cent pace recorded in the previous three-month period despite heavy contractions across Europe, preliminary estimates from the OECD show.

For the full year 2012, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that gross domestic product (GDP) in the G20 group of 20 major global economies expanded by 2.8 per cent, down from 3.8 per cent a year earlier.

The OECD said that as economic trends were still diverging widely within the G20 - with China posting the strongest growth in the quarter and Italy dipping deep into negative territory - the aggregate growth rate "continues to mask" mixed patterns among the world's largest economies.

China's economy grew by 2.0 per cent in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter, while Italy's contracted by 0.9 per cent.

The OECD said that the economies of all of the G20's European members, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy, contracted in the last quarter of 2012 compared with the previous three-month period.

Japan and the United States remained stable however, while emerging economies such as Brazil, India, Korea, Mexico, and South Africa showed higher growth, it said.

23.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Projects must consider walkers: govt

CANBERRA Mar 14 AAP - Cycling, walking and access to public transport will have to be considered in major infrastructure projects that want to get federal funding, Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says.

The minister told the Bus Industry Confederation dinner on Wednesday active forms of transport such as walking, cycling and catching public transport were now becoming mainstream - although the car still dominates.

This meant they should be provided for in future infrastructure programs.

Mr Albanese said the provision of safe and active travel options would have to be built into the design of any projects that got federal funding under the next tranche of the Commonwealth's nation building program.

"This will mean that federally funded urban transport infrastructure projects must consider whether provision has been made for appropriate cycling and walking paths," he told the dinner.

"When we build a bridge we shouldn't consider it only as a carriageway for car traffic, we should also ensure that it caters for walkers and cyclers."

That would avoid the hefty cost of retrofitting infrastructure in the future.

The policy of taking active transport needs into consideration during project planning is known as positive provision.

Cycling Promotion Fund spokesman Stephen Hodge said this was the first time leadership had been shown at a national level on positive provision.

"There is such strong evidence now for the benefits of putting in these relatively cheap and easy to install bits of infrastructure when you're doing big projects, that there was some leadership needed," he told AAP.

His group is a member of the Moving People 2030 Taskforce, whose report on transport in Australia was formally launched at the dinner.

The taskforce is made up of a range of transport, planning and health groups.

It said congestion in Australia's major cities would cost the country $20 billion by 2020.

The taskforce recommended a range of solutions governments should look at including congestion charges and aiming for a third of all passenger trips in 2030 to happen via public transport, walking or riding.

23.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Putin, action actor Seagal promote sports

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has teamed up with American action movie actor Steven Seagal to promote the Soviet-style regime of rigourous physical training for Russian schoolchildren.

Accompanied by the black-clad star of Under Siege and Above the Law, Putin, himself an avid sportsman, toured a newly-built complex at a prominent sambo martial arts training centre in Moscow.

After attending several training sessions, the Russian strongman said too many Russian children were sickly, noting they should take up sports to be able to defend themselves - and the country.

"We should not have any children who, as they say, sit on the bench during physical education classes. Everyone should practice sports, everyone without exception," Putin said at the Sambo-70 sports complex.

Sambo, a mixture of judo and wrestling, was the official in-house martial art of the KGB security services which Putin practised before switching to judo.

Saying that two-thirds of Russian teenagers suffered from chronic illnesses by the age of 14, Putin called on the government to reintroduce the Soviet-era national fitness program that used to be known by its abbreviation GTO, or Ready for Labour and Defence.

"Children should become strong, they should be healthy, love sports and have an opportunity to practice them, should know how to defend themselves, their loved ones, their family," Putin said in remarks released by the Kremlin.

"Ultimately, they should be able to defend their motherland."

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian reporters that the Russian president and Seagal have been friends "for a long time" and regularly meet.

23.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Afghan suicide bomb kills six at game

A SUICIDE bomb has exploded in crowds at a traditional horse-back game of buzkashi in northern Afghanistan, killing at least six people, police say.

"The suicide attacker detonated himself at the end of the match in Imam Sahib district this evening. Six people have died," Abdul Khalil Andarabi, police chief of Kunduz province, told AFP.

Andarabi said that among the dead were the district police chief and the father of the speaker in the national parliament. At least seven other people were wounded in the attack.

Buzkashi is Afghanistan's national sport in which riders use a headless goat in place of a ball in a ferocious version of polo.

Kunduz, which borders Tajikistan, has been beset by insurgent violence in recent years. In 2010, the provincial governor was killed by a bomb blast that tore through prayer services at a mosque.

Afghan soldiers and police are taking over responsibility for security across much of the country as international coalition forces, which have been deployed since 2001, pull out by the end of next year.

The attack on Wednesday came after twin suicide explosions on Sunday, when 19 people were killed in blasts in the capital Kabul and in the eastern province of Khost.

The bomb in Kabul, outside the defence ministry, struck as US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visited a US military base nearby.

23.48 | 0 komentar | Read More