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Gaza rockets kill man in Israel, cloud peace moves
03/18 | 22:24 GMT
JERUSALEM (AFP) - A Middle East diplomatic flurry was given a sense of urgency after a rocket fired from Gaza killed a farmworker in Israel Thursday while the EU foreign policy chief visited the Palestinian enclave.
JERUSALEM (AFP) - A Middle East diplomatic flurry was given a sense of urgency after a rocket fired from Gaza killed a farmworker in Israel Thursday while the EU foreign policy chief visited the Palestinian enclave.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had spoken by phone to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and mooted "mutual confidence-building measures" that could be carried out by Israel and the Palestinians,
It gave no details and also did not reveal if he answered US complaints about Israeli settlements in east Jerusalem.
A Palestinian group claiming responsibility for the rocket attack which killed a Thai labourer working near the Gaza border linked it to clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police in Jerusalem earlier this week.
A police spokesman, meanwhile, said thousands of officers were being kept on alert in case of more unrest on Friday when Israeli police are to bar men aged under 50 from attending weekly prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
A second rocket slammed into open ground elsewhere in southern Israel after dark, causing no casualties, a military spokesman said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the killing. "All such acts of terror and violence against civilians are totally unacceptable and contrary to international law," his office said.
The attack, claimed by the Al-Qaeda-inspired Ansar al-Sunna Brigade, came as EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton was visiting the impoverished coastal strip which is still struggling with the aftermath of the 22-day offensive Israel launched in December 2008 in a bid to halt rocket fire.
"I'm extremely shocked by the rocket attack," Ashton told journalists.
She also made a plea for Palestinian-Israeli talks to get under way "as quickly as we can."
She later flew to Moscow for a meeting of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet also attended by Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the UN chief.
Ban is to visit the Middle East, including Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, this weekend.
US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who brokered a now uncertain deal for indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians on a previous visit, is due back in the region on Sunday and is expected to meet Netanyahu before the Israeli premier leaves on a US visit.
Related article: US-Israel ties 'unassailably solid': ambassador
Mitchell's return, initially scheduled for last Tuesday, was postponed when a major row blew up between Washington and the Jewish state over Israel's announcement of 1,600 new settler homes to be built in annexed east Jerusalem.
The Americans were made all the more irate as the announcement came while Vice President Joe Biden was in Jerusalem promoting the talks. President Barack Obama, however, insists that there is no crisis.
"We and the Israeli people have a special bond that's not going to go away," he said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday night.
But the prospects for a swift resumption of peace negotiations, halted when Israel launched its devastating Gaza offensive in December 2008, appear dim.
Related article: Peace with Israeli government 'impossible': Assad
The diplomatic flurry comes at a time of heightened religious and political tension that saw dozens injured in clashes between Palestinians and police in east Jerusalem on Tuesday.
An already charged atmosphere intensified over the opening this week of a rebuilt 17th century synagogue in the Jewish quarter of the Old City, a few hundred metres (yards) from the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
The Ansar al-Sunna Brigade said Thursday's rocket attack was "an answer to Zionist aggression against the Al-Aqsa mosque and holy sites and our people" in the Holy City.
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British boy arrives home after Pakistan kidnap ordeal
03/18 | 23:33 GMT
MANCHESTER (AFP) - A five-year-old British boy whose 12-day kidnap ordeal in Pakistan sparked an international police operation that led to arrests in Europe arrived home Thursday.
MANCHESTER (AFP) - A five-year-old British boy whose 12-day kidnap ordeal in Pakistan sparked an international police operation that led to arrests in Europe arrived home Thursday.
Sahil Saeed was brought out onto the doorstep of his Oldham home by his mother Akila Naqqash to applause from well-wishers, shortly after his father brought him back from Islamabad.
Looking tired, Sahil rubbed his eyes and refused to raise his head from his mother's shoulder.
A banner reading "Welcome Sahil" hung from windows outside the house, which was surrounded by steel barriers to keep dozens of reporters and television crews at a distance.
"We are ecstatic, everybody is over the moon... all we have done is non-stop praying. Now the mood's totally changed," said his aunt Naila Wasseem, part of the young boy's extended family who had gathered to celebrate his return.
His father Raja Naqqash Saeed had flown back with the boy from Pakistan hours earlier.
Sahil was smiling and in high spirits as he boarded the flight for the reunion with his mother, who had promised a "big party" on his return.
Before he left, Sahil kicked a football around the lawn of the British High Commissioner's residence in Islamabad and was cuddled by his relieved father, who had flown out earlier in the day to collect him, video footage showed.
The boy's release on Tuesday followed the payment by his uncle of a 110,000-pound ransom in Paris, which has since been largely recovered in a police operation that sparked five arrests.
"I am completely overjoyed that I have been reunited with my son after such a long ordeal," the father said in a statement released by the High Commission.
"Sahil is doing well, is in good spirits and can’t wait to return to the UK to see his mum, his family and join his friends back at school," he added, thanking British and Pakistani authorities for assisting in his son's return.
The father, son and an uncle took off for Manchester aboard Pakistan International Airlines flight 701 at 3:15 pm, an official said, and arrived in Britain at about 6:30 pm.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking in Oldham, said everyone was "very, very happy that this potentially tragic story is ending in Sahil coming back to our country".
Sahil was snatched at gunpoint from his grandmother's house in the town of Jhelum, about 100 kilometres south of Islamabad, in the early hours of March 4 at the end of a family holiday.
Pakistani authorities, helped by British officials, launched a hunt for the boy, and 12 days later Sahil was recovered safe and well in a field not far from Jhelum as the focus of the investigation switched to France and Spain.
A Pakistani man and a Romanian woman, both awaiting trial on murder charges, were among five people arrested by police Tuesday.
The couple travelled from the northeastern Spanish town of Constanti, which has a large Pakistani community, to Paris to collect the ransom. They were arrested on their return to Spain.
Another Pakistani man was arrested in Constanti while French police detained two relatives of the man who went to Paris as alleged accomplices. They had put up the couple at their Paris apartment.
The authorities made the arrests once they were informed that Sahil had been recovered in Pakistan and was safe, said the head of the Spanish police's economic and violent crime unit, Commander Serafin Castro.
Police found nearly 104,000 pounds and over 3,000 euros in the couple's flat in Constanti.
Pakistan's ambassador to London, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, said the kidnappers are thought to have known Sahil's family, telling Sky News they had "some kind of grudge against them".
UK News
British boy arrives home after Pakistan kidnap ...More, younger US kids are 'extremely obese': study
03/18 | 21:29 GMT
WASHINGTON (AFP) - More US children are becoming extremely obese at a younger age, putting them at risk of dying decades younger than normal-weight children and of suffering old-age illnesses in their 20s, a study warned Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - More US children are becoming extremely obese at a younger age, putting them at risk of dying decades younger than normal-weight children and of suffering old-age illnesses in their 20s, a study warned Thursday.
Extreme childhood obesity, which was defined only last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), affects 7.3 percent of boys and 5.5 percent of girls, the study by leading US health care provider Kaiser Permanente showed.
That translates into more than half a million children in California alone, where the study was carried out, being classified as extremely obese, or having a body mass index (BMI) -- calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared -- greater than 35.
A 12-year-old boy standing five feet (1.52 meters) tall and weighing 180 pounds (82 kilograms) would be considered to be at the lower limit of extreme obesity under the CDC criteria.
He would be carrying around 50 percent excess body weight, "which is really a lot," said Corinna Koebnick, a researcher at Kaiser Permanente's department of research and evaluation and lead author of the study.
"This study is all about health, not about looks," Koebnick told AFP.
"Extreme obesity is a serious health problem, and we want these children to have long and happy lives.
"But without major lifestyle changes, these kids face a 10 to 20 years shorter lifespan and will develop health problems in their 20s that we typically see in 40- to 60-year olds," Koebnick said.
"We know that obesity in children or adults leads to a higher rate of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and fatty liver disease, and these are serious issues that we can expect extremely obese children to face at a higher rate and probably much earlier than other children."
Researchers looked at the health records for 2007 and 2008 of 711,000 children and teens in California, aged two to 19, for the study, which is the first to provide a snapshot of just how prevalent extreme obesity is in US children today.
"Seven percent of boys and five percent of girls are extremely obese, and in some ethnic subgroups, we found as many as 12 percent of kids were extremely obese. I think those are scary results," Koebnick said.
Around 12 percent of black teenage girls and Hispanic teen boys were extremely obese, the study published online in the Journal of Pediatrics, found.
Boys tend to become extremely obese younger than girls -- at age 10 rather than 12 -- but girls have two peaks of extreme obesity, the second coming at 18 years of age.
In addition to finding a worryingly high level of extreme obesity in US children, the researchers found that 37 percent of US kids were overweight -- defined by the CDC as having a BMI greater than 25 -- and 19 percent were obese, or had a BMI over 30.
And the trend seems to be for kids to become extremely obese rather than just moderately obese or overweight, Koebnick said, although she stressed that more research needs to be done to confirm the trend.
Kaiser Permanente is a founding member of the non-profit Partnership for a Healthier America, which was set up earlier this year to generate support for First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign to push back childhood obesity in a generation.
Health/Medicine
More, younger US kids are 'extremely obese': ...Fulham stun nine-man Juventus to reach last Europa League eight
03/18 | 20:02 GMT
LONDON (AFP) - Fulham staged a stunning fightback to reach the Europa League quarter-finals with a 4-1 victory against nine-man Juventus that clinched a 5-4 aggregate triumph over the Italian giants on Thursday.
LONDON (AFP) - Fulham staged a stunning fightback to reach the Europa League quarter-finals with a 4-1 victory against nine-man Juventus that clinched a 5-4 aggregate triumph over the Italian giants on Thursday.
Roy Hodgson's Premier League side went into the last 16 second leg clash as heavy underdogs after losing 3-1 in Turin last week and their European adventure looked almost over when David Trezeguet gave Juve an early lead at Craven Cottage.
But Bobby Zamora's strike gave the hosts hope and, after Juve defender Fabio Cannavaro was sent off, Zoltan Gera struck twice to draw Fulham level on aggregate.
Juventus, twice European champions, gave a dismal display and American forward Clint Dempsey came off the bench to score a superb late winner before Jonathan Zebina was dismissed for kicking Damien Duff.
If Fulham needed any encouragement to believe they could over-turn the first leg deficit, they only had to look at Juve's last match - a 3-3 draw with Siena which saw Alberto Zaccheroni's team squander a three-goal lead.
Juventus were also without Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and deputy Alex Manninger, forcing Zaccheroni to field 39-year-old third-choice Antonio Chimenti.
Fulham had eliminated holders Shakhtar Donetsk in the previous round and Dickson Etuhu's priceless away goal in Turin last week ensured they still harboured hope of a famous victory.
The raucous atmosphere before kick-off set the stage for a Fulham assault, yet Trezeguet seemed to have delivered a massive blow to the home side's dreams in the second minute.
When Hasan Salihamidzic floated a cross into the penalty area, Juventus midfielder Diego stumbled as he tried to shoot and Brede Hangeland had a chance to clear the danger.
Instead the Fulham defender could only scuff the ball towards Trezeguet and the Juve captain made him pay by steering his low shot past Mark Schwarzer.
Hodgson's side responded superbly and Zamora gave them a lifeline in the ninth minute.
Paul Konchesky whipped over a cross from the left and, as veteran defender Cannavaro lost his footing, Zamora controlled expertly on his chest before driving a first-time shot past Chimenti for his 16th goal of the season.
Cannavaro was showing his age as Zamora and company buzzed around him.
The 36-year-old World Cup winner was caught out again in the 25th minute when he clipped Gera after Zamora's pass sent the Hungarian clear and referee Bjorn Kuipers, ruling the offence a professional foul, was quick to flash the red card.
It took a superb save from Chimenti to deny Zamora from the resulting free-kick. Then Simon Davies went even closer with another free-kick, this time an inswinging effort which deceived Chimenti and hit the bar.
Only the woodwork saved Juve again when Etuhu met Duff's corner with a powerful header that stuck a post.
But the Italians were unable to stem the tide and Fulham got the second goal their pressure deserved in the 39th minute when Zamora's flick gave Davies the chance to slide over a low cross that Gera lifted into the roof of the net.
The half-time interval offered Juve a chance to regroup but they didn't take it. In the 49th minute Diego gave away a penalty as he stuck out a hand to block Duff's cross and Gera stepped up to send Chimenti the wrong way from the spot.
Fulham's relentless tempo had been too much for Juve and Dempsey had a chance to win it when Davies's cross picked him out, but his header was pushed away by Chimenti.
Dempsey didn't need to rue that miss for long. In the 82nd minute, he took Etuhu's pass on the edge of the penalty area, looked up and lofted a sublime chip over Chimenti to seal arguably the greatest result in Fulham's history.
