Study finds link between pesticides and autism

WASHINGTON: A California study out Monday found that pregnant women who lived near farms where pesticides are applied had a two-thirds higher risk of having children with autism. The findings in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives examine the association between living near commercial pesticide applications and having offspring with autism, but do not show cause-and-effect.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that ranges in severity and has been on the rise in recent years. Health authorities say it now affects as many as one in 68 children in the United States.

The latest research was based on data about commercial pesticide applications in California, combined with residential addresses of about 1,000 participants in a study of families with an autistic child.

"We mapped where our study participants´ lived during pregnancy and around the time of birth," said principal investigator Irva Hertz-Picciotto, vice chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences at University of California, Davis. California law requires detailed records on what kinds of pesticides are applied, where and when and how much. "What we saw were several classes of pesticides more commonly applied near residences of mothers whose children developed autism or had delayed cognitive or other skills."

About one-third of study participants lived within 1.25 to 1.75 kilometers (about a mile) from a site where commercial pesticides were applied.

Researchers found risks of autism were highest when the chemicals were applied during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

The study authors said the developing fetal brain may be particularly vulnerable to pesticides.

"This study validates the results of earlier research that has reported associations between having a child with autism and prenatal exposure to agricultural chemicals in California," said lead study author Janie Shelton, a UC Davis graduate student. "While we still must investigate whether certain sub-groups are more vulnerable to exposures to these compounds than others, the message is very clear: Women who are pregnant should take special care to avoid contact with agricultural chemicals whenever possible.

Musharraf’s trial a test case between civilian, military supremacy

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is presently going through a cold war between its civilians and the military as General (retd) Musharraf’s high treason trial has become a test case on whether the country is heading towards civilian supremacy and the rule of law.

“It’s a transition from military supremacy to civilian rule and rule of law,” a top PML-N leader told The News on condition of not being named.

He added that if the government gives a safe exit to Musharraf then how could you justify trying thousands of others, including former President Asif Ali Zardari, ex-Prime Ministers Yusuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Amin Faheem.

Key PML-N leaders agree that Musharraf’s treason trial has become the main irritant between the civilian and military leadership.

Despite top PML-N leaders, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan, having confidence and trust in General Raheel Sharif, rarely does anyone in the party deny tensions in the civilian-military relationship.

It is said that some influential pro-Musharraf elements are putting pressure on General Raheel to get Musharraf off the hook at any cost.

The PML-N, which has always been demanding Musharraf’s trial under Article 6 for twice abrogating the Constitution, today stands divided on the issue.

Amongst the senior PML-N leaders, many are now in favour of letting Musharraf go abroad to save the system. A small minority, however, insists that letting Musharraf off the hook means seriously compromising the transition to civilian supremacy and badly denting the struggle for rule of law and constitutionalism.

Informed sources said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wants to leave Musharraf’s fate to the legal course and believes that any concession by the executive of the former dictator would mean compromising the rule of law.

The sources said that for the same reason, the prime minister decided to challenge in the SC the SHC decision of removing Musharraf’s name from the ECL in 15 days.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan are said be the leading voices in the PML-N demanding leniency in Musharraf’s high treason trial.

These voices fear that Musharraf’s case may lead to the cropping up of serious misunderstandings between the civilian and military leadership which may endanger the future of democracy as was pointed out by Mahmood Khan Achakzai in the National Assembly.

Many politicians and media observers believe that certain pro-Musharraf elements are allegedly behind the recent but sudden emergence of the anti-government, anti-system alliance of the PML-Q and PAT and the possible joining in of Sheikh Rashid to exert pressure on the PML-N government.

As highlighted by editorials in leading newspapers, a campaign has been launched recently to suggest that the PML-N government has failed to deliver and unless removed Pakistan will collapse. These editorials term this view as “nonsense” and rightly point out what they call the “so-called sins” of the NS government which prominently include Musharraf’s trial.

It is suggested by the PML-Q-PAT, Shaikh Rashid and others, including some in the media, the last one-year rule of Nawaz Sharif has been the worst in the history of Pakistan. They argue that the government must be removed and the system be overhauled to save the country from collapse.

The last one-year rule of the federal and provincial governments may not be up to the mark, but it is generally believed and even authenticated by the international agencies that Pakistan has improved as against what it was under the previous regime. Transparency International reported less corruption in Pakistan and there have been no mega scandals of corruption during the last one year. The World Bank, IMF and other international institutions see an improvement in Pakistan’s economy.

Accountability and governance have been the weak areas of the government but still, they have not been as bad as was the situation during the previous regime.

With the recent emergence of the thoroughly known trio—the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, Allama Tahirul Qadri from Canada and Sheikh Rashid of Lal Haveli—warnings are being issued by the likes of Raza Rabbani, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, I A Rehman and others that if the present system is derailed it would be a serious blow not merely to the system but to the Federation and its unity.

Sheep genome shows links between wool, health: study

WASHINGTON: Scientists have mapped the entire genome of sheep, paving the way to improve the health of the humble farm animal for better meat and wool.

After eight years of work on the entire genetic makeup of the species, the researchers also found the secrets of the sheep´s digestive system and unique fat metabolism process that allows it to produce and maintain its thick coat.

Sheep became a species distinct from goats and other ruminants about four million years ago, with a four-compartmented stomach that can convert rich plant materials into animal protein, according to the study.

That digestive feature allows sheep to easily feed on a diet of low-quality grass and other plants.

The study published in the journal Science was the culmination of a project involving 26 institutions from eight countries that is part of the International Sheep Genomics Consortium.

Researchers hope their findings will help develop DNA tests to improve stock through accelerated breeding selection programs, and to further research to mitigate diseases affecting the animals.

"Given the importance of wool production, we focused on which genes were likely to be involved in producing wool," said Brian Dalrymple, project leader at Australia´s national science agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.

"We identified a new pathway for the metabolism of lipid in sheep skin, which may play a role in both the development of wool and in the efficient production of wool grease (lanolin)."

There are about a billion sheep around the world -- including around 70 million in Australia alone. So the researchers predicted their work could have a "massive impact" for the rural economy due to the sheep service as a significant source of meat, milk and wool products.

Researchers from Australia, Britain, China, France, Denmark and New Zealand participated in the study. (AFP)

Afghan election run-off between Abdullah and Ghani: results

KABUL: Afghanistan´s presidential election is set for a second-round vote, preliminary results showed Saturday, as opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah and former academic Ashraf Ghani both failed to secure a decisive victory.

"Based on our results, it appears that the election goes to the second round," Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani, head of the Independent Election Commission, told a press conference in Kabul.

Abdullah, a former foreign minister, secured 44.9 percent of the vote, with his main rival Ghani on 31.5 percent, according to the preliminary results.

The final official result is set to be announced on May 14 after a period for adjudication of hundreds of complaints over alleged fraud.

As no candidate gained more than 50 percent, a run-off between the two leading names is required under the Afghan constitution.

Nuristani, who announced that the second round would be held on June 7, said nearly seven million people voted in the April 5 election out of an estimated electorate of 13.5 million -- well above the 2009 turnout.Of those who voted, 36 percent were female -- a figure likely to be seen an impressive sign of women´s improving status in Afghanistan, a deeply conservative Muslim country.

The eventual winner will have to oversee the fight against a resilient Taliban insurgency as 51,000 US-led NATO combat troops leave Afghanistan this year, as well as strengthen an economy that relies on declining aid money.

- Disputes over fraud claims? -
Another expensive and potentially violent election could be avoided by negotiations between the candidates in the coming weeks, but Abdullah has dismissed talks of a possible power-sharing deal.

Ghani, a former World Bank economist, has also vowed to fight on in a run-off.Serious fraud allegations are being investigated in the vote to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who has ruled Afghanistan since the Islamist Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.

The 2009 election, when Karzai retained power, was marred by fraud in a chaotic process that shook confidence in the multinational effort to develop Afghanistan and also marked a sharp decline in relations with the United States.

Votes involved in alleged ballot-box stuffing and other cheating have not been counted, and Saturday’s announcement is expected to be followed by fierce debate over disputed voting papers.

Preliminary results were delayed by two days due to fraud investigations, with officials vowing to sift out all suspect votes before they were counted.

Five NATO soldiers died on Saturday in a helicopter crash in the south of the country, officials said, adding that the cause of the incident was being investigated.

Karzai, who is constitutionally barred from serving a third term, has pledged to stay neutral in the election.

But he was widely thought to have backed former foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul, who took just 11 percent of the vote.

Rassoul could still play a key role in power-brokering before the next president is chosen, as could former Islamist warlord Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, who collected a seven percent.

All leading candidates have pledged to explore peace talks with the Taliban and sign a deal with the US that could allow 10,000 US troops to stay on after this year on a training and counter-terrorism mission.

Karzai´s surprise decision to refuse to sign the bilateral security agreement last year after agreeing to the draft text plunged relations between Afghanistan and its biggest donor to a new low.

The outgoing president has had several public disagreements with Washington in recent years, underlining efforts to establish his reputation as an independent, nationalist leader despite relying on US aid and military power during his reign.

Striking similarities between Taliban, FARC Like Pakistan, Colombia is talking to its rebels too

LAHORE: As is the case in Pakistan where the sitting Nawaz Sharif regime is talking to the warring Taliban for the sake of peace, the incumbent Colombian government is also holding a dialogue with a violent guerilla organization at war within the territory of this Spanish-speaking South American state since 1964.

However, numerous Colombian politicians and military commanders stand divided over holding peace parleys with this terrorist outfit known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Locally, this militant group is called the “Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia” or FARC.

While a former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is known as a fierce opponent of the on-going talks, two dissenting Army generals were relieved of duty for the duration of the investigation quite recently in February 2014, according to the esteemed news agency “Reuters.” One of these two generals was the head of the Colombian Army intelligence.

According to a study by Colombia’s National Centre for Historical Memory, over 220,000 people have died in this conflict till date, most of them being civilians.From 1999 to 2008, the FARC, together with the ELN guerrilla group, was estimated to control up to 40 per cent of the territory in Colombia. This insurgent group, which claims to be a peasant army, has often said it was just striving to help country’s farmers get their due rights.

The FARC has been alleged by the June 17, 2002 edition of the BBC and the January 27, 2011 edition of a prestigious globally-prescribed American magazine “The Economist” to have been involved in kidnappings for ransom, illegal gold mining, killing innocent civilians, production and distribution of illicit drugs.

However, as history has it, the dispossession of Colombian farmland had produced 40,000 landless families by 1961 and by end 1969; their number had crossed the 400,000 mark throughout Colombia.

But these figures neither justify FARC’s claims of being a farmer-friendly revolutionary force, nor do these statistics allow it to wage a war against the state and play havoc with the lives of the local citizens and the law enforcement agencies.

While the violent FARC has been classified as a terrorist organization by the governments of Colombia, the United States, Canada, Chile, New Zealand and the European Union. It still derives a lot of moral support from the governments of Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Nicaragua etc.

The extent of support that FARC enjoys from the neighboring countries can be gauged from the fact that in 2008, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had recognized it as a proper Army and a belligerent force that was fighting against the state for a right cause.

On the contrary, successive Colombian regimes have condemned this organization for kidnapping numerous government ministers, governors and senators etc, and killing many in captivity.

For example, in 2003, FARC had assassinated a governor called Guillermo Gaviria Correa, his advisor for peace and a former defense minister Gilberto Echeverri Mejia.In December 2009, another local state governor Luis Francisco Cuellar was killed by FARC.

And now, since November 2012, it is involved in yet another round of peace talks with the Colombian state.Research shows that for the last many decades, many talks were held between Colombian governments and the FARC militants, but then the dialogue process had somehow hit snags and communication had broken down.

As it is happening in Pakistan currently, numerous Colombian governments over the years and the FARC commanders have been agreeing upon the exchange of prisoners held in captivity on either side.

Just to cite one example in this context, in December 2004, the government of Colombia had announced to pardon 23 FARC prisoners in a bid to encourage a reciprocal move. Earlier in November 2004, the FARC had rejected a state proposal to hand over 59 of its captives in exchange for 50 guerrillas imprisoned by the government.

The year 2006 had seen FARC releasing a few civilian hostages including a German citizen, after holding him captive for five years.In November 2012, the FARC had released four Chinese oil workers. The hostages were working for the Emerald Energy oil company, a British-based subsidiary of China’s renowned Sinochem Group.

And in January 2008, former Colombian vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas and a former Congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez were freed after nearly six years in captivity.In February 2008, innumerable rallies were held in Colombia and across the world, whereby FARC was slated by the protestors and was pressed to release hundreds of hostages.

In November 2013, the Colombian government and FARC had announced that they had come to an agreement regarding the participation of political opposition and would begin discussing their next issue, the illicit drug trade.But talks continue to be held despite an acute shortage of trust and belief on both sides.

Apollo asteroid to hurtle between moon and Earth today

The asteroid 2014 DX110, is expected to make its closest approach on Wednesday. (Reuters)

A newly discovered asteroid will hurtle between the moon and the Earth on Wednesday. It will be passing by Earth on March 5 at around 21:06 Universal Time (UT)/ 4:06 PM EST close enough to dip inside the orbit of the moon.
The asteroid, named 2014 DX110, was revealed just four days ago by the Pan-STARRS 1 survey and astronomers tracking it already have a good idea of its size and its orbit around the sun.
It is about 20-30 metres wide and about 16,000 metric tons. It’s specifically an Apollo asteroid — so called because its orbit is larger than Earth’s orbit and takes it on a path that crosses Earth’s orbit.
It is approximately 217,000 miles from the Earth.
The asteroid is no threat to Earth or the Moon – it makes a pass 232,800 miles from our natural satellite one hour and 22 minutes after its closest passage from the Earth.
But if 2014 DX110 actually did hit Earth at some point, it would be comparable to the asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, back in February of last year.
Both the Slooh Space Camera and the Virtual Telescope Project will be broadcasting their flies of the asteroid on Wednesday starting at 4 am ET from the Slooh site, and at 3:30 pm ET from the Virtual Telescope page.
Fortunately for the moon, though, it’s not in the path of 2014 DX110 — the asteroid actually misses the moon with a wider margin than it does the Earth.
Since October 2008, dozen of asteroids have passed through the Earth. Although the closest one was found to be the asteroid 2011 CQ1 passed within 7,294 miles of us on Feb 4, 2011.