Rise in Type 1, 2 diabetes among US youths: study

WASHINGTON: Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are rising significantly among young people in the United States, according to new research that warns of a growing epidemic in American youth.

Type 1 diabetes rose 21 percent among children and teenagers from between 2001 and 2009, said the study in based on three million children and adolescents.

Type 2 diabetes increased 30 percent over the same period, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Saturday.

Type 1 diabetes appears most often in children and is a disorder in which the pancreas does not make insulin, leading to too much glucose in the blood. Those with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin for the rest of their lives.

Type 2 diabetes is more common, and occurs when blood sugar levels are too high and the body doesn´t make insulin well enough. It can be controlled through healthy diet, exercise and medications.

The population studied came doctor-diagnosed cases from five centers in California, Colorado, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington state, and included some American Indian reservations in Arizona and New Mexico.

Type 1 diabetes was studied in youths aged 0 to 19, and Type 2 in those aged 10-19.

Researchers said more study is needed to determine the reasons for the rise.

Previous studies have found similar rises of Type 1 diabetes, and some scientists have projected that the population with this disease would nearly triple -- from 179,387 in 2010 to 587,477 in 2050.

The JAMA study also found that type 1 diabetes was on the rise among minority youths as well as whites.

"The increase in prevalence among US minorities documented herein is of concern, given that minority youth are more likely to have poor glycemic control, known to be associated with the serious complications of type 1 diabetes."

The study also projected that type 2 diabetes would increase four-fold -- from 22,820 in 2010 to 84,131 in 2050.These increases "are important because such youth with diabetes will enter adulthood with several years of disease duration, difficulty in treatment, an increased risk of early complications," the study said, cautioning that the disease could be even more common in generations to come. (AFP)

Around 2,500 people feared dead: Badakhshan Governor

MAZAR-I-SHARIF: More than 300 people were killed and hundreds of others feared dead after a landslide buried an Afghan village, officials said, as rescue teams on Saturday rushed to the scene in the hope of finding any survivors.

Local people used shovels to search for anyone trapped under a massive river of mud and rocks that engulfed the village in Badakhshan province, leaving little sign of the hundreds of homes it destroyed.

The United Nations confirmed that 350 people were dead, and provincial officials said more than 2,000 were still missing more than 20 hours after the disaster.

Emergency workers arrived at the scene on Saturday morning to be confronted by the enormous scale of the landslide, hundreds of homeless families and the risk of more earth sweeping down the hillside.

Badakhshan governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb told AFP that 2,500 people were missing. "Our initial findings based on local people´s reports show around 2,500 people, including women and children, might be dead," he said late Friday. "It is difficult to get confirmed information from the scene and we are seeking to determine the facts.

"Provincial officials said that two successive landslides hit Aab Bareek village within one hour. Villagers were at Friday prayers in two mosques when they were entombed by a tide of debris, and the second landslide hit many who had rushed to assist those in need.

"The number of deceased has increased to 350," the UN mission in Afghanistan said. "A response is being mobilised for those who survived but were displaced, with some partners already on the ground."

The NATO military Regional Command in the north (is) in contact with the Afghan National Army in regards to search and rescue efforts.

"Badakhshan is a remote, mountainous province in northeast Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan. It has been relatively peaceful since the US-led military intervention began in 2001, but has seen increasing Taliban activity in recent years.

President Hamid Karzai expressed his condolences to those affected and said immediate action was being taken to find any survivors. Local officials said that the landslides occurred at about midday (0730 GMT) in the Argo district of Badakhshan after days of heavy rain. Between 350 and 400 houses were destroyed, they said. "It is a disaster.

The landslide has affected around 1,000 families," Sayed Abdullah Homayun Dehqan, provincial director of the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority, told AFP. "Around 300 families are missing, that could involve around 2,000 people. People are working to remove the rocks. "Around 700 families were rescued, we have sent in some basic assistance such as tents and blankets.

"The UN was helping to coordinate relief work, but warned that roads to the area could not take heavy machinery. "The foremost priority at the moment is saving as many lives as possible of those still beneath the rubble," Mark Bowden, UN humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, said.

US President Barack Obama described the deaths as "an awful tragedy" and pledged to help the relief effort. The landslides follow recent severe flooding in other parts of northern Afghanistan, with 150 people dead and 67,000 people affected by floods in Jowzjan, Faryab and Sar-e-Pul provinces. Nearly 3,500 houses were damaged and destroyed by the floods, creating an urgent need for shelter, clean water, medical supplies and food. Flooding and landslides often occur during the spring rainy season in northern Afghanistan, with flimsy mud houses offering little protection against rising water levels and torrents of mud.

In the last major flooding in Afghanistan, 40 people died in August in flash floods in eastern and southeastern provinces and some districts of the capital Kabul.

Car bomb kills 2 soldiers in Libya's Benghazi

BENGHAZI: A car bomb targeting a Libyan special forces barracks in the restive eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday killed two soldiers and wounded another two, medical and military officials said.

The attack, which took place at the entrance to the barracks on road to the airport, appeared to have been carried out by a suicide car bomber, an army officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Benghazi was the cradle of the 2011 uprising that ended Moamer Kadhafi´s four-decade rule and has since been plagued by violence that has killed dozens of members of the security forces, judges and foreigners.

According to the army officer, the blast killed two soldiers and wounded two more. An official at Benghazi´s Al-Jala hospital confirmed a death toll of two.

The government has struggled to consolidate control in the vast and mostly desert country, which is effectively ruled by a patchwork of local militias and awash in heavy weapons looted from Kadhafi´s arsenals.

On December 22, a suicide car bomb targeting a security post 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Benghazi left 13 people dead.

Militants have also attacked foreign missions in Benghazi, including a September 2012 assault on the US consulate in the Mediterranean city that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.

Kolkata beat Bangalore by 2 runs

SHARJAH: Vinay Kumar kept his nerve to defend 9 runs in the last over as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Royal Challenger Banglore by 2 runs in a nail bitter at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Winning the toss and electing to field first Bangalore must have been happy with their effort after keeping Kolkata to 150/7 in 20 overs.

Main contributors for Kolkata were J.Kallis(43) and CA Lynn (45).

V.Aaron finished with 3-16 in his 4 overs for the Royal Challengers.

In reply Bangalore were going comfortably towards the total with a 67 run 1st wicket partnership.

But after the dismissal of skipper V.Kohli (31), Yuvraj once again struggled to maintain the scoring rate and when he was dismissed in the 19th over for a slow 34 ball 31, Kolkata started smelling victory.

Still with 9 runs needed in the last over Kolkata needed some brilliant bowling by Vinay Kumar and one of the best catches taken so far in the tournament by Lynn to record a 2 run win.

SP Narine bowled some tight lines to finish with 1-17 off 4 overs with the prize scalp of V.Kohli.

CA Lynn was declared player of the match.

2 dead as South Korea ferry with 476 passengers sinks

AP/Yonhap Helicopters try to rescue passengers from a sinking ferry off the southern coast in South Korea on Wednesday.

Dozens of military boats and helicopters scrambled on Wednesday to rescue more than 470 people, including 325 high school students on a school trip, after a ferry sank off South Korea’s southern coast, killing at least two and injuring 14, officials said.

The ferry with 476 people was sailing to the southern island of Jeju when it sent a distress call on Wednesday morning after it began leaning to one side, according to Ministry of Security and Public Administration. The government said about 95 per cent of the ship was submerged.

Two Coastguard officers said that a 27-year-old woman named Park Ji-yeong and another unidentified person had died. One of the officers said 180 passengers had been rescued so far, but gave no further details, including what caused the ship to sink or the conditions of the other passengers.

A student, Lim Hyung-min, told broadcaster YTN from a gym on a nearby island that he jumped into the ocean wearing a life jacket with other students and then swam to a nearby rescue boat.

“As the ship was shaking and tilting, we all tripped and bumped into each another,” Mr. Lim said, adding that some people were bleeding. Once he jumped, the ocean “was so cold. ... I was hurrying, thinking that I wanted to live.”

Local media ran photos showing the partially submerged ship tilting dramatically as helicopters flew overhead and rescue vessels and a small boat covered with an orange tarp over it floated nearby.

The students are from a high school in Ansan city near Seoul and they were on their way to the Jeju island for a four-day trip, according to a relief team set up by Gyeonggi Province, which governs the city. The ship left Incheon port, just west of Seoul, on Tuesday evening, according to Busan Regional Maritime Affairs & Port Administration.

At the high school, students were sent home and parents gathered for news about the ferry.

A total of 16 helicopters, 34 rescue vessels and Navy divers were sent to the area, Lee Gyeong-Og, a vice minister for South Korea’s Public Administration and Security Ministry, told a televised news conference. He said President Park Geun-hye ordered a thorough rescue operation to prevent deaths. He said 14 had been injured so far, including one described as serious, and taken to hospitals.

Mr. Lee said that Navy special forces and an underwater demolition team would help rescue passengers who’d jumped into the water as the ship sank.

Bomb attack in Cairo wounds 2 police, civilian

CAIRO: Two Egyptian policemen and a civilian were wounded in a bomb attack targeting a security checkpoint in central Cairo on Tuesday, officials and a medic said.

The device, which was placed between two cars near the checkpoint at Al-Galaa Square in Dokki neighbourhood, exploded at about 7:15 am (0515 GMT), a security official said.

Previously, security officials said that assailants threw a homemade bomb at the checkpoint.

Egypt has been rocked by a series of bombings and shootings carried out by militants since the military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July.

The military-installed authorities say militants have killed about 500 people since the overthrow of Morsi.

Most militant attacks have been in the restive Sinai Peninsula, but in recent months brazen attacks have also been launched farther afield in the Nile Delta and in the capital Cairo.

'Divergent' film finale to be released in 2 parts

LOS ANGELES: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. says the final book of its "Divergent" trilogy will be made into two parts, following the lucrative formula it has used for "Twilight" and is repeating for "The Hunger Games.

"The first film in the series based on Veronica Roth´s novels has grossed $117 million in its first three weeks of release.

Part I of the finale, called "Allegiant," will be released on March 18, 2016, followed by Part II on March 24, 2017."Insurgent," the second film in the series, begins production next month. It is set for release on March 20 next year.

2 dead after attack on police in China

Recent clashes, including an attack on police last month, have killed in far west China.

Police in China’s restive western region of Xinjiang shot an armed assailant for attacking an officer, who later died, state media said on Wednesday.
The suspect used unspecified weapons to injure a police officer in the city of Urumqi on Monday night, the official China News Service reported. Officers who arrived at the site shot the attacker dead.
The injured officer, who was 29, later died, the news agency reported. The report did not identify the ethnicity of the assailant, but it was the latest in a series of attacks pointing to a growing unrest in the sprawling region.
Xinjiang is home to a simmering rebellion against Chinese rule among parts of the native Turkic Uighur population who chafe against Beijing’s rule. Recent clashes, including an attack on police last month, have left dozens of people dead.
Officials have also said an attack on March 1 at a train station in the southern city of Kunming, hundreds of miles outside Xinjiang, was carried out by Xinjiang separatists. That attack left 33 people dead, including four assailants who were killed by police.

2 States music review: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy deliver a refreshing album!

Music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy

Lyricist: Amitabh Bhattacharya

Singers: Aditi Singh Sharma, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Benny Dayal, Arijit Singh, Chinmayi Sripada, K. Mohan, Yashita Sharma, Shankar Mahadevan, Siddharth Mahadevan and Rasika Shekhar

Ever since the film on Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States was announced we were waiting for the film with bated breath. Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt have managed to grab eyeballs after the first trailer of the film was released a few days ago. Producer Karan Johar has roped in this favourite trio to compose the music of this north meets south love story. So do Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa manage to live up to the expectations? Read on to find out…

The album opens with Offo sung by Aditi Singh Sharma and Amitabh Bhattacharya. Offo is a youthful and peppy number with quirky lyrics which makes it worth listening to! As usual Aditi does a fantastic job but it’s Bhattacharya who surprises us as we are more used to hearing him in romantic ballads. Though this isn’t one of the best numbers, but it is one of those numbers which will lift your spirits instantly. Listen to it and you’ll agree with us.

Next up is Locha-e-ulfat which has been sung by one of our favourites – Benny Dayal. The video picturised on Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt have different instances where the lover boy is seen staring at his ladylove. Though it’s a situational number, we won’t be surprised if guys use this number to woo the girls in college campuses. After crooning for several dance numbers like Badtameez dil, Shake it like Shammi and Disco deewane, Benny impresses us yet again with this soulful yet energetic offering.

Following this is Mast magan – a duet rendered by Arijit Singh and Chinmayi Sripada. The composers have infused a beautiful sufi feel to this romantic number and the singers do complete justice to this track. The shehnai makes difference to this otherwise mushy duet. While the song did sound quite similar to Sajda from My Name Is Khan, we aren’t complaining coz Arijit’s passion makes all the difference in this one.

Iski uski is the next one in the album crooned by Shahid Mallya and Akriti Kakkar. Though this techno bhangra number isn’t one of best dance numbers; the singers do an okay job due to the peppy music and fun Hinglish lyrics. Though it is a loud number, it has very little impact once the track is over.

Chandaniya by K Mohan and Yashita Sharma is a beautiful guitar infused track perfect for long drives. While the beginning of the song did remind us a lil of the famous Dooba dooba number, the duo offers freshness to this romantic number which has been missing when it comes to lovey-dovey songs. The country feel of this track will makes you leave everything to get lost in this soothing composition. This number will surely remain in your playlists for a while.

The last track of the album is the shaadiwala number in the form of Hulla re sung by Shankar Mahadevan, Siddharth Mahadevan and Rasika Shekhar. This one is a full on Punjabi number complete with dhol and Punjabi lyrics. While we like the energy levels by all the singers, we were a lil disappointed that the song is more Punjabi and less of south.

Verdict: The music of Alia and Arjun’s much awaited love story is quite refreshing. Though this album isn’t one of the best ones by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, it is a relief to see the trio back in action.

PS: Locha-e-ulfat, Mast magan and Chandaniya are worth listening to!

2 States song Locha-e-ulfat: Arjun Kapoor is madly in love with Alia Bhatt!

It’s love at first sight for the Ishaqzaade actor

Arjun Kapoor just cannot take his eyes off sexy Alia Bhatt in 2 States. The actor who is going crazy in love hums and grooves to Locha-e-ulfat song, which is best described as ‘sweet’. Unlike the promos where Alia and Arjun indulge in kisses and some steamy love making sequences, this song is more about Arjun aka Krish Malhotra loosing his mind after he meets the pretty Alia Bhatt aka Ananya Swaminathan and is head over heels in love with her.It is the chemistry between the two lead actors that’s crackling. Sonam’s brother proves that he has the expressions and dance moves to make it big in Bollywood. Arjun does remind us of a younger and more flexible version of Abhishek Bachchan. Alia Bhatt on the other hand is refreshingly different from her previous two films Highway and Student Of The Year. AK is a fabulous dancer and extremely light on his feet, his dance moves are simple looking, but that is because the Kapoor lad adds ease to these steps.

The music is light, it’s not what we would call as Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s best composition. The song gels well with the movie and is apt for a college number where the hero talks about his first love and the aftermath.

Watch Locha-e-ulfat song for Alia Bhatt‘s cute looks or then Arjun‘s cool moves or then this duo’s sizzling chemistry in 2 States but definitely do not miss it!

‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2′ to release in India a day before US

Andrew Garfield is returning as Peter Parker aka Spider-Man with his real-life girlfriend Emma Stone playing his onscreen love too as Gwen.

Spider-Man will cast his web into Indian theatres on May 1, a day before the film releases in the US.
‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2′, the Marc Webb-directed sequel of the superhero reboot will release on Thursday, 1 May release in India in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The fans can enjoy the film in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D.
“The release date will take advantage of the fact that most states have a public holiday on May 1. As it is, ‘The
Amazing Spider-Man 2′ releases during the opportune school and college vacation period which is ideal for our audience,” said Kercy Daruwala, MD Sony Pictures India.
The most successful franchise in the history of Columbia Pictures, the four Spider-Man films to date have taken in over USD 3.2 billion worldwide.
Andrew Garfield is returning as Peter Parker aka Spider-Man with his real-life girlfriend Emma Stone playing his onscreen love too as Gwen.
This time Spider-Man is up for a bigger battle as he encounters formidable villain Electro (Jamie Foxx), who is far more powerful than he is.