Volume XIX, Number 263 1st Waning of Pyatho 1373 ME Monday, 9 January, 2012

Established 1914

True patriotism * It is very important for every one of

the nation regardless of the placehe lives to have strong Union Spirit.

* Only Union Spirit is the truepatriotism all the nationalities willhave to safeguard.

NAY PYI TAW, 8 Jan—A Myanmar Tatmadaw good-will delegation led by Commander-in-Chief of DefenceServices General Min Aung Hlaing left here by Tatmadawspecial aircraft at 9.30 am today to pay a goodwill visit toThailand at the invitation of Commander-in-Chief General

Commander-in-Chief of DefenceServices General Min Aung Hlaing

and party leave for ThailandVice-Admiral Nyan Tun, Commander-in-Chief (Air) Lt-Gen Myat Hein, senior military officers of the Office of theCommander-in-Chief and the commander of Nay Pyi TawCommand.

The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services was

Tanasak Patimapragorn of the Royal Thai Armed Forces ofthe Kingdom of Thailand.

The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Servicesand party were seen off at Nay Pyi Taw Airport by DeputyCommander-in-Chief of Defence Services Commander-in-Chief (Army) Lt-Gen Soe Win, Commander-in-Chief (Navy)

accompanied by Daw Kyu Kyu Hla, wife of the Com-mander-in-Chief of Defence Services, Lt-Gen Hla HtayWin of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief and wife DawMar Mar Wai, Lt-Gen Thet Naing Win and Lt-Gen KyawSwe of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army),Chief of Staff (Navy) Rear-Admiral Thura Thet Swe, Chief

of Staff (Air) Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint, Commander ofEastern Command Maj-Gen Soe Htut, Commander of South-East Command Maj-Gen Tin Maung Win, Commander ofCoastal Region Command Maj-Gen Khin Maung Htay andsenior military officers of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief.—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 8 Jan—In order to build peace asoffered by the government of the Republic of the Union ofMyanmar, an initial peace agreement was signed betweenState level Peace-making Group from the Chin State Govern-ment and Chin National Front (CNF) Peace-making Group atthe meeting hall of Chin State on 6 January. Present on theoccasion were Union Level Peace-making Group LeaderUnion Minister for Rail Transportation U Aung Min, UnionMinister for Environmental Conservation and Forestry UWin Tun, Chin State Chief Minister U Hong Ngai, StateMinister for Security and Border Affairs Col Zaw Min Oo,General Staff Officer (Grade-I) Lt-Col Ko Ko Gyi of North-West Command, State Advocate General U Katpati L andofficials and Dr Shwe Kha of CNF Peace-making Group andmembers.

In the presence of Union Minister U Aung Min,Union Minister U Win Tun, State Chief Minister U Hong Ngaiand peace-making groups, the State Level Peace-makingGroup and CNF Peace-making Group singed some agreementsfor initial peace talks and souvenirs were exchanged.

Then, State Minister Col Zaw Min Oo and Dr ShweKha exchanged the documents and they posed for adocumentary photo together with the Union Ministers.

MNA

Initial peace agreement inked betweenState Level Peace-making Group and CNF

Commander-in-Chief of DefenceServices GeneralMin Aung Hlaing

being seen off at NayPyi Taw Airport by

Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence

Services Com-mander-in-Chief

(Army) Lt-Gen SoeWin and seniormilitary officers

before his departurefor Thailand.

MNA

Chin State Minister for Security and BorderAffairs Col Zaw Min Oo and Leader of

Chin National Front Peace-making GroupDr Shwe Kha exchange notes ofpreliminary agreement.—MNA

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2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012

PERSPECTIVESMonday, 9 January, 2012

Role of ICE in youthsIn Myanmar tradition, a maxim says youths

of today are adults of future. They are definedas human resources of the mankind and goodsons of the future. Whatever it may be, today’syouths are future generations.

Youth and ICE is playing a crucial role inbuilding a developed nation. Nowadays, everyyouth must have skills in ICE. Those who haveno skill in ICE will be lagged behind theprogressive world. Thus, all the youths need toapply ICE at full capacity.

Long time ago, those who had completed ineighteen manly skills were reliable in buildingthe nation. At present, all younger people musthave skills of ICEs. In fact, the youths and theICE are in pairs.

ICE is a compulsory art for the youth. “I”means Internet. All youths must have proficientskills to apply the Internet. Various websites allover the world are posted on the Internet toshare information, knowledge, sports and so onto global people. All happenings across theworld can be seen on the websites in the realtime. The youths may seek general knowledgeon the website. Only when they study and analyzevarious items of knowledge on the website, canthey catch up the advancement of the world.

The word “C” means computer science. Theyouths must be well-versed in applications of e-mail, Gmail, blog, face book, twitter, etc. Theyall should understand the applications concerningthe software and hardware in computer science.

The last word “E” is the most important,defining English language. All youths must haveclever in English proficiency with four skills.They must have good command in English as itis a global language. If possible, they shouldstudy more languages.

In reality, the youth can enjoy fruits ofaccomplishments in their life by studying theabbreviation ICE.

NAY PYI TAW, 8 Jan — Kachin State Video IndustryScrutinizing Supervisory Committee held its first workcoordination meeting at Kachin State General AdministrationDepartment in Myitkyina on 6 January.

Chairman of the committee Commissioner of KachinState General Administration Department U Min Chit Ooclarified the tasks of the committee and measures forprevention of pirate VCDs in Kachin State.

Secretary of the committee In-charge of the Kachin StateBranch of Myanma Motion Picture Enterprise U Saw Lin Tunreported on organizing the Kachin State video industrygroup and participants of the meeting discussed works of thecommittee.—MNA

Kachin State to crack downPirate VCDs LOCAL SPORTS

Football tourney commencesin Tatkon

TATKON, 8 Jan—The Nay Pyi Taw Tatkon TownshipAdministrator’s Cup U-21 Inter-Ward/Village FootballTournament 2012 kicked off at the township sports ground inTatkon on yesterday afternoon.

First, football teams took positions at the designatedplaces. Township Administrator U Aye Lu made a speech andgreeted the football teams.

The footballers took the sports oaths. In the debut,Bayintnaung Ward team beat Myawady Ward team 1-0.Altogether nine football teams are taking part in thetournament.—Zinbo-Kyemon

DALLA, 8 Jan—Dalla Township General AdministrationDepartment of Yangon South District organized the chesstournament in commemoration of the 64th AnniversaryIndependence Day at Thiri Zeya Nawrahta Hall in Dalla on2 January afternoon.

Township Administrator U Tun Tun Win made a speech,and an official explained rules of the tournament.

The administrator launched the tournament. Playersfrom various wards of the township are taking part in thetournament.—Myanma Alin

SHWEGYIN, 8 Jan—The mass walk activities in Decemberwas held in Shwegyin Township of Bago District on 31December.

Departmental officials, local authorities, members ofsocial organizations, teachers and students participated inthe up and down activities from the monument on NyazayRoad in Shan/Kyay Ward to Shwegyin-Madauk SittoungBridge. They then took physical exercises. Later, a luckydraw programme was performed for participants.

Myanma Alin

Mass walk activitiesorganized in Shwegyin Chess tournament opened in Dalla

The opening ceremony of 64th Tipitakadhara Tipitakakovida Selection Examination in progress atWizaya Mingala Dhamma Thabin on Kaba Aye Hill in Yangon on 7 January.

(News reported)—MNA

53rd Kayin New Yearwas celebrated in Nweni

street in ward (e) ofNorth Okkalapa

Township in YangonRegion. This year's

Kayin New Year,coincided with

Christmas was widelycelebrated in the whole

nation.—MNA

MYAUNGMYA, 8 Jan—In commemoration of the 64th

Anniversary Independence Day, the Myaungmya TownshipMaternal and Child Welfare Association organized the bestmother and baby contest at Mya Shwewa Hall in Myaungmyaon 4 January morning.

Chairperson of Myaungmya District Maternal and ChildWelfare Supervisory Committee Daw Thuza Tun explainedscrutiny for prize winners.

Chairperson of the District MCWSC Daw Thuza Tun,Township Association Chairperson Daw Win Win San andwellwisher gave prizes to the winners and special prize andconsolation prizes to the respective winners.

District IPRD

Development of cooperativestimulated

YAMETHIN, 7 Jan—Staff Officer of Yamethin TownshipCooperative Department and inspection team of CooperativeDevelopment Branch met members of Lokthar SaikhtokeCooperative Society in Ingyinkan Village of YamethinTownship on 23 December.

The staff officer and party viewed thriving paddyplantation of the society. Next, they micro-credit tasks ofShwe Kan Moe Farming General Cooperative Society.

Myanma Alin

Best mother and baby contest held

SALINGYI, 4 Jan—A newbuilding for Basic EducationPost-primary School inMintaw Village, SalingyiTownship was opened andhanded over to the educationdepartment at a ceremonyheld at the new schoolbuilding on 23 December.

Sagaing Region SocialAffairs Minister made aspeech on the occasion andHeadmaster U Myintexplained the purpose ofopenning of the newbuilding.

Afterwards, SagaingRegion Forest, Energy andMines U Than Htaik, SocialAffairs Minister Dr MyintThein, Region Hluttaw

mdnnf

Representatives UAung ZawOo and U Nay Win formallyopened the new building.

After that, SagaingRegion Deputy HluttawSpeaker U Thaung Seinunveiled the signboard of thenew building, and Chairmanof the School Board ofTrustees U Paw Khine handedover the related document toRegion Education Officer UMyint Soe.

The new facility is 90feet long, 30 feet wide and 12feet high completed with CIsheet roof and concrete walls.It was built at a cost of over9.8 million contributed bythe State and the people.

Township IPRD

New building for BasicEducation Post-primary School

opened in Salingyi Township

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012 3

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Haiti), 8 Jan—Days after the earthquakekilled his little girl and destroyed much of his house, MeristinFlorival moved his family into a makeshift tent on a hill in theHaitian capital and called it home. Two years later they’re stillthere, living without drains, running water or electricity.

A few kilometers (miles) away, Jean Rony Alexis has leftthe camp where he spent the months after the quake andmoved into a shed-like shelter built on a concrete slab by theRed Cross. But he’s not much better off. The annual rentcharged by a landlord who lives in a nearby camp jumped from$312 to $375, and he too has no running water.

“This is misery,” said Florival, whose 4-month-olddaughter was crushed to death in the quake-stricken familyhome. “I don’t see any benefits,” said Alexis, whose shed isflooded with noise at night from a saloon next door that’sappropriately named the “Frustration Bar.”

The two men are among hundreds of thousands of

VIENNA, 8 Jan—A majoreast-west railway route inwestern Austria was shutSaturday following heavysnow in the popular Alpineskiing region.

Railway operator OeBB

KABUL, 8 Jan—The USmilitary is testing arevolutionary new drone forits arsenal, a pilotlesshelicopter intended to flycargo missions to remoteoutposts where frequentroadside bombs threatenaccess by road convoys.

Surveillance drones formonitoring enemy activityand armed versions forlaunching airstrikes havebecome a trademark ofAmerica’s wars inAfghanistan, Iraq andelsewhere in the Middle East.But this is the first time achopper version designed fortransport has ben usedoperationally.

Two unmanned modelsof the Kaman K-MAXhelicopters and a team of 16company technicians and 8Marines are conducting a6-month evaluation

FRESNO, (Calif), 8 Jan—This is the timeof year when residents who often live withthe nation’s worst pollution often can drawa breath of fresh air.

But this winter has not been kind topeople who want to play outside inCalifornia’s Central Valley.

A dry December and January hasstagnated air across California, but nowhereis the situation more serious than betweenModesto and Bakersfield, where nearlyevery day dirty air has exceeded federalhealth standards.

It’s the worst air quality recorded in a

In this 5 Jan, 2012 photo, Meristin Florival, amechanic, centre, stands with friends as they look at

portraits of loved ones in the Beaubin camp for peopledisplaced by the 2010 earthquake in Petionville, Haiti.

INTERNET

PHNOM PENH, 8 Jan—Death toll from lightning strikes inCambodia had increased by 45 percent to 165 deaths in2011 from 114 deaths in a year earlier, Keo Vy, chief of theCabinet of National Committee for disaster Management,said on Saturday.

“Among the 2011’s deaths, 23 were children,” he toldXinhua by telephone, adding that besedes the deaths, other139 people were injured. “Most of the victims are in ruralareas,” he added.

Three provinces with the highest death toll fromlightning last year are Battambang, some 300 kilometresNorthwest of Phnom Penh, Pursal, some 175 kilometresWest of Cambodia and Kampong Cham, about 120kilometres East of the country.

MNA/Xinhua

KABUL, 8 Jan—At leastthree Taleban militants havebeen killed and 11 detained incleanup operations launchedby Afghan forces and NATO-led troops in Afghanistanover the past 24 hours, theAfghan Interior Ministry saidon Sunday.

“Afghan National Police(ANP), Afghan NationalArmy and NATO-ledInternational Security

Haiti 2 years later: Half a million still in camps

Heavy snow hits Austria, shutsdown key rail line

Cargo drone makes debut in Afghanistan

In this 17 Dec, 2011 photo provided by the US MarineCorps, a K-MAX pilotless freight helicopter, a

detachment from Marine Unmanned Aerial VehicleSquadron 1, transports cargo in Camp Dwyer, Helmand

Province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan.—INTERNET

Cars getting out of a tunnel on a snowy street near Fissin Tyrol, eastern Austria, on 6 Jan, 2012. Heavy

snowfalls captured Austria and southern Germany andcaused traffic problems.

INTERNET

programme for the new craftat Camp Dwyer, a MarineCorps airfield in the Garmsirdistrict of southernHelmand Province.

The craft have flown 20transport missions since theinaugural flight on 17 Dec,

said Maj Kyle O’Connor, theofficer in charge of thedetachment. They havedelivered nearly 18 tons ofcargo, mainly thousands ofMeals Ready to Eat and spareparts needed at the forwardoperating bases.—Internet

In this 23 Aug, 2011photo, a stretch of theCalif. State Route 99corridor in the San

Joaquin Valley is shownbusy with traffic in

Fresno, Calif. This is thetime of year when

residents of the valleywith the nation’s worst

pollution often can drawa breath of fresh air. Butthis winter has not beenkind to people who want

to play outside inCalifornia’s CentralValley.—INTERNET

Lightning Kills 165Cambodians in 2011, up 45%

Three militants killed, 11 arrested in Afghanistan

Record air pollution hammers Calif’sheartland

Haitians whose lives have barely improved since those firstdays of devastation, when the death toll climbed toward300,000 and the world opened its wallets in response.

While UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former USPresident Bill Clinton and others vowed that the world wouldhelp Haiti “build back better,” and $2.38 billion has been spent,Haitians have hardly seen any building at all.

At the time, grand ambitions were voiced for a Haiti rebuilton modern lines. New housing would replace shantytownsand job-generating industry would be spread out to ease thehuman crush of Port-au-Prince, the sprawling capital with its3 million people.

But now the government seems to be going back tobasics, nurturing small, community-based projects designedto bring the homeless back to their old neighborhoods tobuild, renovate and find jobs through friends.

Internet

said the line between Oetztaland Bludenz — part of a routethat connects Vienna andInnsbruck with Austria’swestern tip and Switzerland— was expected to remainclosed until Sunday

afternoon. Two other rail linesconnecting Tyrol provincewith southern Germany alsowere shut down. Overheadwires in the area have beendamaged by falling trees.

Heavy snow hasblanketed Tyrol andneighbouring Vorarlberg,Austria’s westernmostprovince, over recent days,leading to several roadclosures and an elevated riskof avalanches.

A military helicopter wasbrought in Saturday to pickup 52 people who had beenstranded for two days at amountain refuge inVorarlberg, provincialgovernment official ErichSchwaerzler told the AustriaPress Agency. Schwaerzlersaid they had been unable tomake the descent from theLindauer Huette refuge,which is 5,720 feet (1,744meters) above sea level, byany other means because ofthe avalanche risk.

Internet

Assistance Force (ISAF)launched eight jointoperations in Helmand,Uruzgan, Khost and Farahprovinces over the past 24hours,” the ministry said in apress release. “As a result ofthese operations, three armedinsurgents were killed, onewounded and 11 othersarrested by the ANP,” it said,adding the joint forces alsofound and seized a handful of

weapons besides defusing 30anti-vehicle mines in the sameperiod. “The ANP alsodiscovered and defused six 5kg drums full of explosives,five anti-vehicle mines, oneBM-1 rocket, and one rocketlauncher as a result of separatesecurity operations inKandahar, Logar, Khost, andHerat provinces in the past 24hours,” it added.

Internet

dozen years, and it’s the unhealthiest kind—microscopic, chemical-laden particles thatcan get into lungs and absorbed into thebloodstream to create health risks ineveryone, not just the young and infirm.

The southern San Joaquin half of thevalley stretches 200 miles from Stockton toBakersfield and is home to 4 million people.It traditionally records the highest level ofparticulate matter and ozone pollution in theUnited States and has a rate of asthma threetimes the national average, according to theAmerican Lung Association.

Internet

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4 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012

Belgian doctors carry out country’s first face transplantBRUSSELS, 8 Jan—

Belgian surgeons havesuccessfully performed thecountry’s first-ever facetransplant, the 19th in theworld, doctors announcedon Saturday.

Officials at theUniversity Hospital ofGhent said a team of 65surgeons and medical staffhad performed the 20-houroperation a week earlier ona Belgian man with aseverely mutilated face.

“He’s fine, he’s doingvery well after six days,”surgical team leader PhillipBlondeel told Belgiantelevision. “He’s alreadyswallowed a little water.”

Blondeel said the patient,whose name was notdisclosed, was already ableto speak, surpassing doctors’expectations.

“We didn’t think hewould be able to speak sosoon.” The patient had beenmissing skin around the

central part of his face, as wellas lips, facial muscles andnerves.

The operation brings to19 the number of facetransplants carried outworldwide. The first was apartial face transplant onFrenchwoman IsabelleDinoire in 2005.

Belgium is the thirdEuropean country afterFrance and Spain to havecarried out the operation.

Internet

A person holds areproduction of a patient’sskull with prosthesis at aPress conference on the

first facial composite tissueallotransplantation inBelgium, at the GhentUniversity hospital, in

Ghent.INTERNET

Bristol to buy Inhibitex forhepatitis C treatment

NEW YORK, 8 Jan—Bristol-Myers Squibb Co hasagreed to acquire Inhibitex Incfor about $2.5 billion to gainaccess to its promisinghepatitis C treatment, thecompanies said on Saturday.At $26 per share, the deal is ahuge 163 percent premium toInhibitex’s closing price of$9.87 on Friday.

Recent years have seensignificant advances for

treating hepatitis C - a seriousliver disease that afflicts anestimated 180 million peopleworldwide - while setting offa scramble among largedrugmakers to secure themost promising products.

The Bristol-Inhibitexdeal comes on the heels ofGilead Sciences Inc’s $11billion acquisition inNovember of PharmassetInc, which has its ownpromsing hepatitis Ctherapies. That deal was atan 89 percent premium.

Inhibitex’s lead asset isINX-189, an oral drug inPhase II or mid-stagedevelopment. Bristolenvisions combining INX-189 with products in its ownpipeline to create an all-oralregimen that would eliminatethe need for interferons,which often cause flu-likeside effects that lead manyhepatitis C patients to stopor delay treatment. Bristolexpects the transaction tohurt earnings through 2016.That includes an expectedhit to earnings per share ofabout 4 cents in 2012 and 5cents in 2013.—Reuters

People with cholera waitfor relief in a hospital

near Port-au-Prince, in2010. Nearly 7,000

people have now diedfrom cholera in Haiti inan epidemic which has

become one of the worstof recent decades, a top

health official saidFriday.—INTERNET

China plans to increase nurses to 2.86 mln by2015

according to the blueprint.China also plans to

provide more training for headnurses in large hospitals andmake nursing servicesaccessible to households andcommunities, according to theblueprint.

The five-year nursingdevelopment plan said thegovernment will furtherstandardize its nursemanagement system anddeepen health care reform inpublic hospitals over the nextfew years.

The total number ofregistered nurses reached 2.05million in 2010, marking a 52percent jump from 2005,according to the blueprint.

Xinhua

BEIJING, 8 Jan— Chinawill bring its nurse populationto 2.86 million by 2015,meaning there will be 2.07nurses for every 1,000 people,according to a blueprint onnursing issued Friday by theMinistry of Health (MOH).

By the end of 2010, Chinahas registered 2.05 millionnurses and there were 1.52

nurses for every 1, 000Chinese.

Even by 2015, the ratio ofregistered nurses for 1,000people in China is five timesfewer than countries in theEuropean Union and theUnited States by currentstandards. By 2015, the ratioof licensed doctors to nurseswill climb from 1:1 to 1:1.2,

LOS ANGELES, 8 Jan—Red wine may reduce one risk factor for breast cancer, challengingthe widely-held belief that alcohol increases breast cancer, US researchers say.

Study co-author Dr Chrisandra Shufelt, assistant director of the Women’s Heart Centerat the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, said doctors long ago determined all alcohol increases thebody’s estrogen levels, fostering the growth of cancer cells.

The study, published online ahead of the April print edition of the Journal of Women’sHealth, found chemicals in the skins and seeds of red grapes slightly lowered estrogen levelswhile elevating testosterone among premenopausal women who drank 8 ounces of red winenightly for about a month. The effect was not found in white wine.—Internet

Red wine may reduce breast cancer risk

Aluminum traders to producers: Cut like it’s1994

Pieces of aluminium are pictured afterthe production process at AluminiumMostar (Aluminij Mostar) factory in

Mostar, on 12 October, 2011.—INTERNET

Three years ago, with the globaleconomy convulsing in the throes of a seriousrecession, smelters worldwide started cuttingback production — temporarily. As pricesquickly rebounded, nearly doubling within ayear, those companies were just as quick tofire up their furnaces again.

With the overhang of high inventoriesand a 28-percent drop in prices since Maylast year, they’re responding again, withPittsburgh-based Alcoa announcing onThursday plans to shut down 12 percent ofits capacity, some of it permanently.

But traders may not be so readilyappeased as three years ago. Many say thatmuch deeper, longer-lasting cuts — moreakin to the post-Soviet government pact ofthe mid-1990s — will be required in order torebalance a market.—Internet

NEW YORK, 8 Jan—To find a precedentfor the deep, lasting output cuts thataluminum producers must make to put a floorunder prices, traders are looking a lot furtherback than the last recession.

International Monetary FundManaging Director Christine

Lagarde (L) greets South Africa’sPresident Jacob Zuma ahead of the

upcoming African NationalCongress (ANC) centenary

celebration in Bloemfontein on 7January , 2012.

INTERNET

S Africa faces big downside risk from Europemacroeconomic regime, astrong financial sector anda flexible exchange rate, shesaid. “The ongoingdifficulties in the euro area,one of South Africa’s mainexport markets, presentsignificant downside risksto the economic outlook,”Lagarde said in a statementafter meetings withPresident Jacob Zuma andsenior officials.

“In this context, weagreed that the challengenow is to ensure thatmonetary policy remainssupportive and competi-tiveness improves.” Thecountry has lost about amillion jobs in the past twoyears, positions analystssay will be difficult to reopenbecause unions have pricedlabour out of the market.

Internet

BLOEMFONTEIN, 8 Jan—The euro zone crisis couldhurt South Africa’s economyand the country shouldmaintain a supportivemonetary policy to ensuregrowth in the medium term,the head of the InternationalMonetary Fund said onSaturday.

Christine Lagarde, in

South Africa as part of herfirst tour of the continent sincetaking the IMF post, said theAfrican economicpowerhouse would do well toalso moderate wage growth.

Although well integratedinto the global economy,South Africa mitigated theworst impact of 2008’srecession through a sound

Government, Exxon reach deal on disputed Gulf leasesWASHINGTON, 8 Jan—

Exxon Mobil Corp and thegovernment struck a dealon Friday that would allowthe company to moveahead with developmentof a field in the Gulf ofMexico estimated to yieldtens of billions of dollarsof oil.

Exxon sued thegovernment last year afterthe Interior Departmentcanceled three of fiveleases for what is calledthe Julia field. “The

settlement will allow ExxonMobil to develop this verylarge, but technicallychallenging resource asquickly as possible using aphased approach,” ExxonMobil spokesman PatrickMcGinn said in a statement.

In its lawsuit, Exxonargued that the departmentarbitrarily deprived thecompany of its rights underthe canceled leases and tookaway Exxon’s ability toproduce a reservoir believedto hold billions of barrels of

oil. The dispute arose afterthe government rejectedExxon’s October 2008request for a “suspension ofproduction.” Followingseveral appeals, the InteriorDepartment concluded in adecision last May that Exxonlacked a “commitment” toproducing oil at the time theleases expired.

The Interior Departmentsaid the proposed settlementpreserves the “importantregulatory progress” madein the decision last May that

A view of the ExxonMobil refinery inBaytown, Texas.

INTERNET

was challenged by Exxon.Internet

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012 5

Silk made with spider silk sequences.—INTERNET

Car exhaust pipe.—INTERNET

World’s smallest silicon wire brings quantumcomputers closer to reality

WASHINGTON, 8 Jan—World’s thinnest silicon wire,which is just one atom tall and four atoms wide, may playa vital role in developing quantum computers in future,researchers say.

The wire created by a team of researchers from theUniversity of New South Wales, Melbourne University andPurdue University has the same current-carrying capabilityas copper wires.

Experiments and atom-by-atom supercomputer modelsof the wires have found that the wires maintain a lowcapacity for resistance despite being more than 20 timesthinner than conventional copper wires in microprocessors.

Bent Weber, the paper’s lead author and a graduatestudent in the Centre of Excellence for QuantumComputation and Communication Technology at theUniversity of New South Wales, was thrilled with thefinding. “It’s extraordinary to show that Ohm’s Law, such abasic law, still holds even when constructing a wire from thefundamental building blocks of nature - atoms,” he said.

The innovation of the Australian group was to buildthe circuits up atom by atom, instead of the current methodof building microprocessors, in which material is strippedaway, said Gerhard Klimeck, a Purdue professor of electrical

Wires just one atom tall have been created by insertinga string of phosphorus atoms in a silicon crystal by ateam of researchers from the Univeristy of New SouthWales, Melbourne Univeristy and Purdue University.

INTERNET

and computer engineering and director of the Network forComputational Nanotechnology.

“Typically we chip or etch material away, which can bevery expensive, difficult and inaccurate,” Klimeck stated.

“Once you get to 20 atoms wide you have atomicfluctuations that make scaling difficult.—Internet

GM silkworms spin spider silkstrong enough to make parachutes

WASHINGTON, 8 Jan—Transgenically-engineeredsilkworms produce stronger silk, which could possibly beused to make sutures, artificial limbs and parachutes,researchers say.

The silk that exhibits the highly sought-after strengthand elasticity of spider silk was produced in the laboratory ofMalcolm Fraser, Jr, professor of biological sciences atUniversity of Notre Dame.

“It’s something nobody has done before,” Fraser said.The project, which used Fraser’s piggyBac vectors to

create transgenic silkworms with both silkworm and spidersilk proteins, was a collaboration of his laboratory withDonald Jarvis and Randolph Lewis at the University ofWyoming.

Jarvis’s lab made the transgene plasmids, while Fraser’slab made the transgenic silkworms and Lewis’s lab analysedthe fiber from the silkworms.

Results showed that the fibers were tougher thantypical silkworm silk and as tough as dragline silk fibersproduced by spiders, demonstrating that silkworms can beengineered to produce such improved fibers.

Commercial production of spider silk from spiders isimpractical because spiders are too cannibalistic and territorialfor farming. Researchers have experimented with producingthe stronger material in other organisms, including bacteria,insects, mammals and plants, but those proteins requiremechanical spinning – a task the silkworms perform naturally.

Internet

New materials remove carbondioxide from Smokestacks,Tailpipes and Even the Air

WASHINGTON, 8 Jan—Scientists are reporting discoveryof an improved way to remove carbon dioxide — the majorgreenhouse gas that contributes to global warming — fromsmokestacks and other sources, including the atmosphere.

Their report on the process, which achieves some ofthe highest carbon dioxide removal capacity ever reportedfor real-world conditions where the air contains moisture,appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Alain Goeppert, GK Surya Prakash, chemistry NobelLaureate George A Olah and colleagues explain thatcontrolling emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of thebiggest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century.

They point out that existing methods for removingcarbon dioxide from smokestacks and other sources,including the atmosphere, are energy intensive, don’t workwell and have other drawbacks.

In an effort to overcome such obstacles, the groupturned to solid materials based on polyethylenimine, areadily available and inexpensive polymeric material.

Internet

Facebook takes action after computer wormsiphons 45,000 login details

LONDON, 8 Jan—Socialnetworking giant Facebookhas acted to stop the spreadof a new computer wormthat has stolen over 45,000login credentials.

According to compu-ter security experts, theRamnit worm has beenspreading since April 2010,but was only recentlyadapted to target Facebookdetails. A “worm” is distinctfrom a normal computervirus in that it can reproduceitself without needing toattach itself to an existingprogramme.

The new threat to

Facebook users washighlighted recently bySeculert, an Israeli computersecurity firm. It said most ofthe users affected so far areBritish or French, TheTelegraph reports.

“Our research labidentified a completely new‘financial’ Ramnit variantaimed at stealing Facebooklogin credentials,” the firmsaid in a blog post.

“It was fairlystraightforward to detect thatover 45,000 Facebook logincredentials have been stolenworldwide, mostly from usersin the United Kingdom and

France,” it added.Facebook, that learned

of the new attack on its userslast week, said it has alreadytaken action to defend them.

It said it had studied the45,000 stolen login details andconcluded that most of themwere out of date. However allaffected users will be forcedto reset their passwords toimprove security, the socialnetwork said. “Last week wereceived from externalsecurity researchers a set ofuser credentials that had beenharvested by a piece ofmalware,” a Facebookspokesman said.—Internet

Will upcoming Google tabletcompete with Apple iPad or

Amazon Kindle Fire?LONDON, 8 Jan—Google

has planned to launch itsown-brand tablet,prompting speculationswhether the new productwould compete withAmazon Kindle Fire orApple’s iPad.

Earlier, Google’schairman Eric Schmidtrevealed that the companywould be launching itsAndroid tablet in the nextsix months.

Schmidt said it wouldbe “of the highest quality”with industry experts sayingit would challenge Apple’siPad while using its Nexussmartphone strategy thatrivalled the iPhone.

But according toDigitimes, the new gadgetwould include a seven-inchpanel, the same size asAmazon’s Kindle Fire, andwould cost less than 200dollars to compete with theonline retailer.

A staff member showshow to use a wearable

computer designed by acompany in southwest

China’s Yunnan Province,6 Jan, 2012. The wear-

able computer, designedand made by a sci-techcompany in Yunnan,

includes an eyeglasses-shaped mainframe, amouse and a foldingkeyboard.—INTERNET

New tools help map 3-Dworld of vision in mice

WASHINGTON, 8 Jan—Mapping the 3-D world in ourbrains – the landscape that mimics the outside world, wherethe objects we see exist as collections of neural circuits andelectrical impulses – would be not too far. Scientists at theSalk Institute for Biological Studies are using new tools theydeveloped to chart that world, a key step in revolutionizingresearch into the neurological basis of vision.

For the first time, they have produced neuron-by-neuron maps of the regions of the mouse brain that processdifferent kinds of visual information, laying the groundworkfor decoding the circuitry of the brain using cutting-edge,genetic research techniques only possible in mice. “We’velearned a lot about how our eyes feed information to ourbrains, and a huge portion of our brain is devoted toprocessing this information,” said Edward Callaway, aprofessor in Salk’s Systems Neurobiology Laboratory,whose laboratory conducted the research. “Vision is aterrific system for understanding how the brain works and,ultimately, for studying mental diseases and consciousness,”he stated.

Until now, little was known about what areas of themouse visual cortex - the high-level brain region thatcomputes the meaning of signals from the eyes - wereresponsible for processing different elements of the visualinformation. To find this, Callaway and his colleagues setout to chart a map of the mouse’s visual processing system.They injected mice with a calcium-sensitive fluorescent dyethat glows when exposed to a certain colour of light. Theamount of calcium in nerve cells varies depending on theactivity level of the neurons, so the scientists could measurethe activity of brain cells based on how brightly theyglowed.—Internet

Digitimes’ sourceshave also predicted thetablet would be unveiledin March or April, TheTelegraph reports.“Sources from Google’supstream supply chainbelieve that Google,instead of Apple, mayactually be targetingAmazon’s 7-inch KindleFire as its majorcompetitor,” the Digitimesreport said.

“However, GoogleTaipei commented that thecompany has never heardabout the plan oflaunching an own-brandtablet PC,” it said.

“The sources believethat Google will launch theown-brand tablet PC inMarch-April, featuring a7-inch panel and Android4.0 with a price less thanUSUSD 199 to competeagainst Amazon,” itadded.—Internet

P5(9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:55 AM5

6 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012

CARACAS, 8 Jan—Iranian President MahmoudAhmadinejad is courtingLatin America on a four-nation tour starting Sundaythat will let him tout some ofIran’s few friendships whiletensions grow over thecountry’s threats to block oilshipments in retaliation fortighter US sanctions.

His government findsitself largely isolated in thestandoff over its nuclearprogram, and the newsanctions targeting Iran’sCentral Bank and oil industry

FORT WORTH, 8 Jan—It’s official: 2011 was thedriest year on record inTexas, according to theNational Weather Service. Itwas also the second-hottestever.

That won’t surpriseTexans who lived through ayear in which wildfires roaredthrough the Lone Star State,cattle went thirsty and manyFourth of July fireworksshows were canceled.

The weather servicesaid the average rainfall inTexas in 2011 was 14.89inches. The previous record

WELLINGTON, 8 Jan—A cargo shipgrounded off the New Zealand coast sinceOctober has split in two, spilling sea containersand debris and sparking fears of a fresh oilspill, maritime officials said Sunday.

The wreck of the Greek-owned Rena wasdescribed as New Zealand’s worst maritimeenvironmental disaster even before the rearsection of the ship, lashed by pounding seas,broke away overnight. The ship previouslyspilled heavy fuel oil that fouled pristine NorthIsland beaches and killed up to 20,000 seabirds,and despite salvage efforts nearly 400 tons ofoil remain onboard.

Maritime officials said the front sectionof the wreck remains stuck in its originalposition, but the stern section slipped at least100 feet (30 meters) away from the bow and is“moving significantly,” pounded by 19-foot(6-meter) swells.

The storm that split the vessel will

Residents row a boat in the flooded area in Campos dos Goytacazes, in northernRio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 6 Jan, 2012. —XINHUA

Iran’s leader looks to Latin America forsupport

have triggered an abrupt dropin the nation’s currency.

Iran’s growingeconomic ties with LatinAmerica could give it somebreathing space from thesanctions, and by embracingVenezuelan President HugoChavez and his allies,Ahmadinejad also gets achance to join like-mindedleaders in denouncing USforeign policy.

“Iran needs all thefriends it can get, and thefurther away it goes the easierit seems to be for it to be ableto find them,” said DanPlesch, director of theUniversity of London’sCentre for InternationalStudies and Diplomacy.

Both Iran and Venezuela,he said, “seek to provide

mutual support in the face ofperceived US aggression.”

It will be Ahmadinejad’sfifth visit to Venezuela, to befollowed by a trip to Nicaraguafor Tuesday’s inaugurationof re-elected President DanielOrtega, and then stops inCuba and Ecuador.Ahmadinejad has been to allthe countries before, and thevisit seems aimed atreinforcing ties with leaderswho speak up for Iran.

Tensions have beenrising as Iran has warned thatit could retaliate against USsanctions by blockingshipping lanes in the PersianGulf. A large share of theworld’s oil tanker trafficpasses through the Strait ofHormuz, which runs along theIranian coast.—Internet

A brown and parchedcorn field shows the

effects of a long Texasdrought in Farmersville,

Texas in this 12 July,2011 file photo.

INTERNET

ISLAMABAD, 8 Jan—Pakistan’s Anti NarcoticsForces (ANF) seized a total of77,865 kilograms of narcoticsfrom different parts of thecountry in 2011.

Of all the narcoticsseized in the country last year,heroin accounted for 1,502.3kilograms, opium for 7,875kilograms, hashish for 6,752.42kilograms, morphine for 961kilograms and cocaine for 2.5kilograms with remaining tobe balanced by other types ofnarcotics, said ANF onSaturday.

In the past year, ANFalso organized a variety ofactivities including lectures,seminars, workshops, freemedical camps, speechcompetitions, stage drama,photo exhibitions and drugburning ceremonies topromote drug-freeenvironment in the countrywith special focus on theyouth, it said.

XinhuaBANGKOK, 8 Jan—Thai Government is confident that

the nation record a 7-percent economic growth this year,according to Saturday’s Bangkok Post which quoted deputyPrime Minister Kittiratt Na Ranong.

Kittiratt said various projects which have been initatedto increase the purchase and production capacity as well asconstruction of basic infrastructure in flood preventionprojects would held spur the overall economy, accordingto the newspaper.

The revesed masterplans for management of river basinswould be implemented with a budget of about 915.41million US dollars once the 2012 Budget Bill has beenapproved by Parliament.

Morever, laws would be issued to mobilize a fund of11.05 billion US dollars. Of this, 9.5 billion US dollarswould be for the management of eight Chao Pharya riverbasins, 1.3 billion US dollars for the 17 other river basins,and 315.66 million US dollars for the SCRF’s long-termdevelopment projects.

Virabongsa, meanwhile, stressed the necessity for thegovernment to restore foreign investors’ confidence byspeeding up flood prevention projects to make sure theywould not move their investment and production basesfrom Thailand.—MNA/Xinhua

In this 8 Jan, 2012, photo released by Maritime NewZealand, the cargo ship Rena, grounded off Tauranga

Harbour, New Zealand, is seen split into two pieces afterbeing lashed by pounding seas. —INTERNET

A boy fills tanks of water from a water pump near awater channel in a residential area on the outskirts ofnorthwest Pakistan’s Peshawar, on 6 Jan, 2012. An

estimated 250,000 children die annually in Pakistan dueto water-borne diseases, reported local media APP on

Wednesday. Unsafe drinking water is the source of manydiseases including diarrhea, typhoid, intestinal worms

and hepatitis, the report quoted a local health expert assaying.—XINHUA

Grounded cargo ship breaks apart on NZ reef

Thai Govt vows 7% Economicgrowth in 1012

LONDON, 8 Jan—TheBritish Foreign andCommonwealth Office (FCO)on Saturday issued an alertover fears of terrorist attacksin Kenya, saying that therewas “a heightened threat fromterrorist attacks in Nairobi.”“The Kenyan authorities havealerted the public to aheightened threat fromterrorist attacks in Nairobi.We believe that terrorists maybe in the final stages ofplanning attacks,” the FCOsaid in a statement on itswebsite. The statement addedthat “attacks could beindiscriminate,” and thereby

Britain issues alert over terroristattack fear in Kenya

77,865 kg ofnarcotics seizedin Pakistan in

2011

2011 was the driest year on record in Texas

continue for another three to four days,Maritime New Zealand spokesman RossHenderson said. Officials said up to 300 of theroughly 880 containers that had been onboard were lost when the ship broke apart. Ofthose, about 30 percent had been fitted withmonitoring devices and some 30 containershad already been located.

Oil has been seen leaking from the brokenship. Alex van Wijngaarden, on-scenecommander for the national response team,said oil from the vessel could come ashorearound midnight Sunday.

“While reports at this stage indicate therehas not been a significant release of oil, withthe Rena in its current fragile state, a furtherrelease is likely,” he said. “While it is unknownat this stage exactly how much oil may bereleased, teams have been mobilized and willbe ready to respond to anything that maycome ashore.”—Internet

the FCO “strongly advisesBritish nationals to exerciseextra vigilance and caution inpublic places and at publicevents.” The alert came afterKenyan authorities said theyfeared that the Al-ShabaabIslamist organization was inthe final stages of planningterror attacks in the capitalNairobi. Kenyan forcesentered Somalia in October topush back Al-Shabaab, whichcontrols large sections ofsouthern and central Somaliaand is blamed by Kenya for aseries of cross-borderkidnappings.

Xinhua

of 14.99 inches of averagerainfall was set in 1917.

The averagetemperature in 2011 was 67.2degrees. The warmest yearon record was 1921, whenthe average temperaturewas 67.5 degrees, theweather service said.

The prolonged Texasdrought is to blame fordevastating agriculture andlivestock losses, estimatedin the billions of dollars.

The historic droughthas killed as many as half abillion trees, not includingthose that died in wildfires

that scorched some 4 millionacres in 2011, the TexasForest Service has reported.

While some parts ofTexas received substantialrainfall during December,97.83 percent of the stateremained in severe droughtthis week, according to aThursday report by the USDrought Monitor.

In addition, 32.4 percentof Texas lingered inexceptional drought, themost extreme category,according to the DroughtMonitor.

Reuters

P6(9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:55 AM6

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012 7

BUENOS AIRES, 8 Jan—Argentine President CristinaFernandez didn’t have cancerafter all.

After having some ofArgentina’s leading cancersurgeons completely removeher thyroid gland, testsshowed no presence of anycancerous cells.

“Tissue studies ruled outthe presence of cancerouscells in the thyroid, thusmodifying the initialdiagnosis,” presidentialspokesman AlfredoScoccimarro said Saturday.

Fernandez doesn’t evenhave to swallow the LONDON, 8 Jan—Police investigating a string of deaths

at a hospital caused by contaminated saline drips wereSunday questioning a male nurse on suspicion of murderingthree patients.

Victorino Chua, 46, was initially arrested Thursday onsuspicion of tampering with medical records at Stepping HillHospital in Stockport.

But Greater Manchester Police said late Saturday he hadnow been arrested on suspicion of three murders and 18instances of causing grievous bodily harm between 1 Juneand 15 July last year.

“We have taken the decision to arrest this man onsuspicion of murder in close consultation with (prosecutors),”said Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney.

“It is important that no one jumps to any conclusionsbecause of these steps or second guesses where ourinvestigations will take us.”

The nurse is being questioned over the contamination ofsaline drips, which caused patients’ blood sugar to fall tounusually low levels. Three patients, all on acute wards for theseriously ill, died shortly after such episodes.—Internet

MANILA, 8 Jan— ThePhilippine government hasturned over its donations tothe flood victims in Thailandand Pakistan, theDepartment of ForeignAffairs (DFA) said onSaturday.

The department saidthat 100,000 US dollars and10,000 US dollars were givento Thailand and Pakistan,respectively, in ceremonieson Friday.

The donations wereturned over to ThaiAmbassador to the PhilippinesPrasas Prasasvinitchai andPakistani Ambassador to thePhilippines Mohsin Razi.

“The Philippine donationto both countries will be usedfor rehabilitation programsfor the flood victims,” theDFA said.

In this 10 Dec, 2011 filephoto, Argentina’sPresident Cristina

Fernandez smiles duringher swearing-in ceremony

in Buenos Aires,Argentina.—INTERNET

Argentine leader’s thyroid wasn’tcancerous

A general view of Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport.Police investigating a string of deaths at a hospitalcaused by contaminated saline drips were Sunday

questioning a male nurse on suspicion of murderingthree patients.—INTERNET

This image provided bythe Colusa National

Wildlife Refuge showsvisitors watching for amale falcated duck at

Colusa National WildlifeRefuge, Calif, on 8 Dec,2011. The bird, commonin China, is an extremerarity for California.Since it was spotted,thousands of visitors

from the US and Canadahave flocked to the

refuge to see it.INTERNET

FRESNO, (Calif), 8 Jan—A rare duck normally onlyseen in Asia has somehowturned up in California,drawing excited bird watchersfrom all over the US andCanada to a wildlife refuge inthe state’s Central Valley.Wildlife officials say a malefalcated duck, a bird commonin China, was first spotted atthe refuge on 8 Dec. Since

Rare Asian duck draws bird watchers to Calif

Police quiz male nurse overtriple patient murder

Philippines extends assistanceto flood victims in Thailand,

Pakistan

then, thousands of birdershave observed it paddlingamong mallards, pintails andgeese, said Lora Haller, whoworks at the Colusa WildlifeRefuge’s visitor centre. Morethan 2,000 cars packed withvisitors have streamed intothe refuge over the last month— double the usual visitornumbers. “It’s very exciting,”she said. “It’s extremely rare

to see this kind of duck inCalifornia.” Most falcatedducks breed and live in China,and smaller populations livein Japan, North Korea andSouth Korea. The ducks canalso sometimes be found inAlaska’s Aleutian Islands,Haller said.

The celebrity bird has asilvery plumage withiridescent green and bronze

on its head. “Falcated” or“curved and tapering to apoint” refers to the maleduck’s long wing feathersnear the body that overhangonto the tail.

There have only been afew previous sightings inCalifornia: One was spottedin Orange County in 1969 andone in Lassen County in thefar northern part of the statein 2002 and 2003.

Internet

radioactive iodine thatpatients usually take afterthyroid cancer surgery, tomake sure any remainingcancer cells are killed, herspokesman said. But she willhave to take hormonemedicine for the rest of herlife.

Fernandez returnedSaturday to the presidentialresidence in suburban Olivos.She underwent the surgeryWednesday, just 25 days afterbeginning her second term.

The 58-year-oldpresident, through herspokesman, thanked themedical team led by the

hospital’s surgery chief, Dr.Pedro Saco, an expert incancers of the head and neck.Later Saturday, she added herown thoughts in a tweet,saying: “Now from Olivos,we thank all the people,citizens, activists andpersonalities, for the signs ofaffection and concern.”

The announcement thatshe is cancer-free promptedraucous cheers and chantsfrom several hundredsupporters holding vigil fordays outside the hospital,carrying signs saying “BeStrong Cristina!”

Internet

HONOLULU, 8 Jan—Two Hawaiian monk seals were foundbludgeoned to death on a remote coast of Molokai — one waskilled in mid-November and the other shortly before Christmas.Earlier this month, a dead seal showed up on Kauai. A fourthpossible killing on Molokai is also under investigation.

No one knows who is killing the seals — a criticallyendangered species — or why. But the deaths are coming asthe federal government steps up its efforts to protect the seals,

Hawaii hit by number ofendangered seal killings

In this 15 Dec, 2011photo, a nearly blind,endangered Hawaiianmonk seal swims at theWaikiki Aquarium in

Honolulu. Hoailona, alsoknown as KP2, has spent

the past two years at aCalifornia research lab.

He was first rescued whenfederal officials foundhim suckling on a rock

three days after hismother abandoned him

on Kauai.INTENRET

leading to simmering resentment among somefishermen who fear new regulations will trampleupon their right to fish. The killings are alsohappening as the misguided notion spreadsthat the animals aren’t native to Hawaii anddon’t belong here.

“It’s really serious. This attitude, thisnegative attitude toward the seals hasoverpowered the concern that this is a speciesthat’s going to become extinct,” said WalterRitte, a Molokai resident and longtime activistwho has sounded an alarm about the killings.

Like pandas, the seals are adored by manyhumans for being cute, though their lazydemeanor and pudgy appearance belies thestrength of a wild animal. Also like pandas, theanimal is dangerously close to disappearing.There are only 1,100 left in the world, andscientists say the seal is on course to vanish in50 to 100 years.—Internet

KITGUM, (Uganda), 8Jan—Scientists are to launcha series of other investigationsafter previous ones failed toidentify the cause of amysterious disease that haskilled over 100 people and leftover 2,000 others infected inseveral districts in northernUganda.

The disease which wasfirst reported in September2009 has since been dubbed‘nodding disease’ because itleaves its victims nodding. Ithas since spread to fivedistricts in the region whichinclude Kitgum, Lamwo,Pader, Agago and Amuru.

Richard Nduhura,

Mysterious disease kills 100 peoplein northern Uganda, leaves

scientists perturbed

Thailand sufferedsevere flooding in almostthree months - from Augustto October 2011 - affectingabout 2.5 million people, andcausing more than 350deaths.

The Thai Chamber ofCommerce’s Centre forEconomic and BusinessForecasting estimated theeconomic loss due to theflooding, which includedbusiness and opportunitylosses in the capital, to reach550 billion Thai bhat.

Seven Thai majorindustrial estates wereaffected, disrupting supplychain and leavingthousands of workerswithout work especially inthe automotive andelectronics industries.

Xinhua

minister of state for healthin charge of general duties,said that the two previoussamples and tests carriedout by Centres for DiseaseControl (CDC) scientists inAtlanta US failed to identifythe cause of the disease.Nduhura, who is leading afact finding mission in theaffected areas which are alsorecovering from a two decadelong insurgency, told theresidents on Friday that ateam of scientists from theministry of health, WorldHealth Organization andCDC is going to carry outnew tests.

Xinhua

p7(9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:55 AM7

8 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012

Everybody has responsibility to help curb traffic accidentsArticle: Mar Mar Soe (Kyemon): Photos: Khin Maung Win (Kyemon)

Students observing booths at fourth Nay Pyi Taw Traffic Rules Exhibition-cum-Contest.

“Only when the entirepeople help reduce the

numberconscientiously, will it

be lowered,” saysPolice Major Myo

Nyunt Oo.Modernization brings

increased usage ofvehicles on. To cut trafficaccidents, Nay Pyi TawTraffic Rules EnforcementCommittee is holdingfourth Nay Pyi Taw TrafficRules Exhibition-cum-Contest from 7 to 11 Januaryin Aung Mingala BusTerminal in Pyinmana.

Departments related tothe traffic rules enforcementdisplayed 13 booths at thefive-day event. Quizzes ontraffic rules will be organized

automobiles and electricmotorbikes at home, figure ofthese vehicles on road hasenlarged. “The number ofaccidents has risen, followingthe increase in vehicle usage.Only when the entire peoplehelp reduce the numberconscientiously, will it belowered,” Police Major MyoNyunt Oo of Nay Pyi TawTraffic Police Corps said.

number of accidents,following lack of trafficknowledge among the public,

for schoolchildren, expectantleaders of the country as themotto goes, “Discipline of thenation has its origins inschools.” Students fromTatkon, Pyinmana, Lewe,Zeyathiri, Pobbathiri,Ottarathiri, Zabuthiri andDekhinathiri Townships willfight for the first prize in thecontests.

The country is

Schoolgirls taking questions at quizzeson traffic rules.

Accidents by faults ofdrivers outnumber any othercases. Drivers without drivinglicences, lack of awareness,and drunken and who havenot complete driving trainingare mostly involved inaccidents. In addition to errorsof drivers, lack of maintenancecontributes to so many

developing with sweepingreforms. With increasedmanufacturing of

accidents.The danger of traffic

accidents is posed not onlyto Myanmar but to the wholeworld.

Many global nationsadopted 5Es—Education,Engineering, Environment,Emergency Medical Careand Enforcement—system in curbing trafficdangers.

NAY PYI TAW, 8 Jan—Union Minister forEnvironmental Conservationand Forestry U Win Tunvisited 200-acre commercialteak plantation in PintaungForest Reserve in KaniTownship, Monywa District,Sagaing Region on 4 January.

On 5 January, UnionMinister for RailTransportation U Aung Min,

Union Ministers, Chin State Chief Ministerinspect construction of inter-village roads

Union Minister U Win Tunand Chin State Chief MinisterU Hong Ngai inspected thechosen site for constructionof 8-mile Talanzawl-Lati inter-village road, and progress inconstruction of Falam-Kunliinter-village road and Laiva-Laylet inter-village road.

On 6 January, the UnionMinisters and the State ChiefMinister attended the

donation ceremony for ruraldevelopment and povertyalleviation at Haka TownshipPeople’s Hospital in whichhospital equipment, TV andcomputers were donated forhospitals, schools andlibraries in Haka, Thantlang ,Falam, Tonzang Townshipsand Kyikah and Reedkawdahsub-townships.

MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 8 Jan—Chief Minister of SagaingRegion U Tha Aye attendedthe cornerstone layingceremony for new building ofAffiliated Basic EducationMiddle School in YwananVillage of Wetlet Townshipon 5 January.

Wellwishers donated

Region Chief Minister looks intodevelopment tasks in Shwebo District

cash to the funds for the newbuilding.

In the afternoon, theRegion Chief Minister andparty looked into harvestingof Shwebo Pyawhsan paddystrain on three-acre model plotin Taganan Village of ShweboTownship, extension ofpavement along Shwebo-

Mukangyi road section andconstruction of Mu RiverBridge (Yangyiaung).

After meeting with localfarmers in Okshitgyi Villageof Ayadaw Township, theChief Minister inspectedconstruction ofNainggyiaing-Thitkyingyi-Thazi Road.—MNA

Union Minister for Cooperatives and for Livestock and Fisheries U OhnMyint meets members of Mya Sein Yaung Agricultural Production and

Micro-Credit Cooperative Syndicate, members of Board of Directors andlocal people at Maha Wihara Monastery in Pyankapyay Model Village of

Zabuthiri Township on 5 January. (News reported)—MNA

Taninthayi Region Minister for Development Affairs U Aung KyawKyaw on 27 December 2011 inspects the bridge of Dawei Port to be

upgraded by Myeik Township Development Affairs Committee.MNA

Gathering pace todevelop, Nay Pyi Taw CouncilArea is witnessing mounting

outnumbered motorbikes onroads due to comparablylesser number of bus lines in

the area in its infancy ofurbanization, and straight andsmooth roads.

Figures of accidents in Nay Pyi Taw CouncilArea from 2009 to 2011

Accident Injury Death

2009 279 469 1172010 332 563 1782011 401 935 212

While the respectiveinstitutions are takingmeasures to disseminatetraffic rules among thepublic, the people should inturn do their bits to helpwipe out the traffic accidents.

*****Translation: HKAKyemon: 8-1-2012

P8(9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:55 AM8

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012 9

NAY PYI TAW, 8 Jan—The masswalk activities for December was held inHpa-an of Kayin State on 31 Decembermorning.

Over 10,000 people includingChief Minister of Kayin State U Zaw Min,authorities and students participated inthe mass walk.

The state ministers and theirwives awarded the winners in the sportsevents.

The Chief Minister and partyinspected harvesting of bean and thriving

NAY PYI TAW, 8 Jan—UnionMinister for Agriculture and Irrigation UMyint Hlaing visited 10-acre model hybridsunflower plantation of farmers U ThanSwe and U Than Ohn near ThitseikbinVillage, Kinpontan Village-tract inPyinmana Township here yesterday.

The cross-bred sunflowers weregrown through GAP system and expectedto yield over 50 baskets per acre. TheUnion Minister mentioned financial andhealth benefits of sunflower oil and calledfor extended cultivation of sunflower to

Regional development taskssupervised in Kayin State

groundnut plantations in Kanni Village ofHlaingbwe Township.

They also viewed road sections,bridges and rubber plantations in the region.

At Paingkyon Station Hospital,the Chief Minister comforted the patientsand presented cash assistance to them.

The Chief Minister looked intothriving paddy plantations on 150-acremodel plot with the use of irrigated waterfrom Yaybok Dam near Htilon Village ofHlaingbwe Township.

MNA

Union A & I Minister inspects hybridsunflower plantation

meet the domestic edible oil demand.According to the Union Minister, an acreof sunflower can produce over 220 viss ofoil, generating an income of nearly K 0.8million.

The Union Minister then visited58-year-old Pyinmana AgriculturalScience which has so far turned out 3927agriculturalists. The Union Minister calledstudents for expertise in related subjects,instructing them to form teams andcompeting with each others in makingresearches.—MNA

Myanmar Fire Brigade helping people at risk to their own life Article: Ye Bala Ko Ko Hlaing;Photos: Tin Win Lay (Kyimyindine)

As today’s State hasgathered developmentmomentum, publicresidences, buildings,factories and workshopsof production industry arealso improved.

Danger of fire andnatural disasters occuracross the world at anytime. To be able to takepreventive measuresagainst the dangers, theFire Services Departmentextended itsestablishment of setup on14 February 2011.

In so doing, firestations in Regions andStates were also upgradedin the nation. At present,there are 677 fire stationsthroughout the nation. Of1981 fire engines, a totalof 355 TE vehicles weretransformed into the fireengines at the Fire ServicesDepartment to save foreignexchange.

Members of the FireBrigade who wereconducted trainingcourses by the training

People participate in putting out fire in demonstration as fire extinguishing drill.

Members of Fire Brigade putting out oil firewith the use of modern fire extinguishers.

NAY PYI TAW, 8 Jan—A seminar onresults of group-wise all-round datacollection was held at Sittway Hotel inSittway, Rakhine State, on 6 Januarymorning. It was attended by Rakhine StateChief Minister U Hla Maung Tin, stateministers, officials from relateddepartments and UNICEF. The chiefminister gave an opening speech.

At the seminar, sample collection

KYAUKME, 8 Jan—In honour of the 64th AnniversaryIndependence Day, Kyaukme Township DevelopmentAffairs Committee opened the 380 feet long and 12 feetwide asphalt Hkatta Road in Ward 9 on 2 January.

The committee spent K 5,860,000 on constructionof the road. Local authorities opened the facility.

Myanma Alin

Seminar onresults of

group-wiseall-round datacollection held

Asphalt road inaugurated inKyaukme

and data collection of child development,water and sanitation, facts about HIV/AIDS,nutrition, child health, reproductive healthcare services, child protection, educationand child mortality were discussed.

In the evening, the chief ministerand State ministers attended the 9th BuddhaPujaniya festival opening ceremony ofBuddha Pada Cheyadaw Pagoda inYathedaung Township.—MNA

section (Yangon) of theFire Services Department(Head Office), Central FireFighting Training Schoolin PyinOoLwin ofMandalay Region, CentralInstitutes of Civil Service,training schools of theUnion Auditor-General’sOffice and advancedcourses from abroad areready to help the people.

The dangers ofexplosive equipment,high-rise apartments andclosed rooms are posingdreadful threats to propertyand life of the people.

The research anddevelopment section hasbeen formed for applyingmodern fire extinguishersto put out the fire ofchemicals, poisonous gasand dangerous smokes.

Moreover, thedepartment manages itsmembers to pursuetechnologies of Internet,English language andinformation technology.

The GPS system andVehicle Tracking System

have been installed in NayPyi Taw, Yangon andMandalay so as toeffectively and quicklyperform fire fighting andrescue works at theoccurrences of naturaldisasters.

Members of the FireBrigade inspect firepreventive measures andadvices to beware of fire inline with the Fire BrigadeLaw and they giveeducative talks on dangerof fire and exercise firedrills.

The Fire Brigademembers are ready to putout fire with full equipmentof fuel, f ire engine,manpower and water inaccord with the workguidelines.

A total of 144 Searchand Rescue Teams havebeen organized in Nay PyiTaw and townships ofregions and states with theaim of carrying out rescueworks in outbreaks ofstorms, earthquakes andexplosions in the real time.

The MyanmarNational Search andRescue Committee has

Fire Brigade members fighting fire at a vehicle as skilldemonstration.

been reconstituted. Assuch, altogether 50members of rescue teamsfrom region and state FireBrigades, totalling 7200

Myanmar Fire Brigade istaking out its tasks as areserved force of the Statewith sacrifice of life forthe sake of the State and

members are ready todischarge their duties.

At present, the

the people.Translation: TTA

Myanma Alin: 8-1-2012

P9(9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:56 AM9

10 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012

Chinese Ambassador toItaly Ding Wei (2nd L)

pays a visit to Zheng Liyanat San Giovanni Hospitalin Rome, Italy, on 6 Jan,2012. Zheng’s husbandand their less than one-year-old daughter wereshot dead in Rome lateWednesday during an

armed robbery. Zheng wasalso wounded in the attackbut her life is not in danger

now.—XINHUA

Mount Rainier reopens after fatal rangershooting

MOUNT RAINIERNATIONAL PARK, (Wash), 8Jan—Rangers andvolunteers somberlyembraced as Mount RainierNational Park reopened to thepublic Saturday for the firsttime since an Iraq War veteranshot and killed a park rangerthere on New Year’s Day.

“We’re here to take backthe mountain today,” parkspokeswoman Lee Snook

Mount Rainier National Park Ranger Matt Chalup,left, hands park information to one of the first visitors

to the park at the Nisqually entrance Saturdaymorning, on 7 Jan, 2012, near Ashford, Wash.

INTERNET

said. Margaret Anderson,who had worked as a rangerwith her husband at the parkfor three years, was shotdead by 24-year-oldBenjamin Colton Barnesafter he busted through asnow tire checkpoint.

Authorities sayBarnes, who showed signsof erratic behavior sincereturning from war, had fledto the mountain hours after

a house party shooting inthe Seattle suburb of Skywaythat left four injured.

After killing Andersonand shooting at anotherranger, Barnes fled for thewoods, triggering a massivemanhunt in the ruggedterrain. He was found deadin a creek the following day.An autopsy showed hedrowned.

On Saturday, smallgroups of visitors headed tothe mountain’s freshlypowdered trails to snowshoe and cross-country ski.The flag at the ranger’s kioskremained at half-staff, anduniformed rangers woreblack bands across theirbadges.

“This is a place to cometo be happy,” Allan Evans, apark volunteer from Graham,Wash, said after hugging aranger who was on duty whenAnderson was killed.

“This is what this parkis about. This is the first stopto trying to get everythingas whole as can be.”

Internet

Ga motorhome wrecks in Miss; one dies,11 injured

HATTIESBURG, (Miss), 8Jan—A motorhome bound fora college footballchampionship game in NewOrleans went off Interstate 59in southern Mississippi andstruck a tree, killing oneperson and injuring 10 others.

WDAM-TV reports(http://bit.ly/x5O9Hh ) thatthe motorhome from Georgiawas carrying 13 passengerswhen it left the interstatearound 4:30 pm just north ofthe Evelyn Gandy parkwayexit. Some interstate laneswere blocked as the injured

were transported by groundand air to local hospitals.

Forrest County CoronerButch Benedict told TheAssociated Press lateSaturday there had been onefatality, an Atlanta-area man.He was withholding his namepending notification of nextof kin. He said at least oneother person was criticallyinjured.

He said the group wastraveling in a rentedrecreational vehicle from theAtlanta area. Highway Patrolspokesman Cpl Todd Miller

told the HattiesburgAmerican that a tire blew onthe recreational vehicle. Hesaid two people were ejected.

Miller did notimmediately return a call fromThe Associated Press.

Officials said the groupwas apparently traveling tothe Bowl ChampionshipSeries national champion-ship game, which will beplayed Monday in NewOrleans.

The extent of the injurieswas not immediately knownSaturday evening.—Internet

Ivory Coast finds remains;may be missing reporter

ABIDJAN, (Ivory Coast), 8Jan—Authorities in IvoryCoast have unearthed humanremains that may be those ofa French-Canadian journalistwho disappeared in 2004, agovernment official and amedia watchdog group saidSaturday.

Justice Minister JeannotKouadio Ahoussou said theremains were found in thewestern region of Issia, but hedid not provide furtherdetails.

Guy-Andre Kieffer, whowas 54 when he disappeared,was working in thecommercial capital, Abidjan,as an independent journalist,writing articles aboutcorruption in Ivory Coast. Hewas a dual citizen of Franceand Canada.

Reporters withoutBorders said in a statementthat a skeleton was discoveredafter French judge PatrickRamael ordered a search inthe area to advance theinvestigation.

Passengers wait in their compartment before the trainpulls out of Chengdu Railway Station in Chengdu,

capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, 7 Jan,2012. Starting from 8 Jan, 2012, China’s transportsystem will undergo a 40-day travel rush, which is

characterized by a hightened passenger flow around thetime of the oncoming Chinese New Year.—XINHUA

The group said DNAresults are expected within aweek.

Even if the body isconfirmed to be Kieffer’s,the mystery of hisdisappearance and deathremains.

“If the bones found arethose of Guy-Andre Kieffer,confirming that thejournalist was murdered andburied after his abduction, itremains to be seen who theperpetrators are. Whoexactly abducted thejournalist? Who killed himand why?” said thestatement the group.

Kieffer’s family hasmaintained he was targetedby the government of formerpresident Laurent Gbagbofor his reporting, and says hespent two days in a jail cellat the presidential palaceafter he went missing. Theformer government deniedany involvement in hisdisappearance.

Internet

Photo taken on 7 Jan, 2012 shows the Gangu section ofthe Tianshui-Dingxi Highway where three consecutiveroad accidents took place in Gangu County, northwest

China’s Gansu Province. Seven people died and another15 were injured after three consecutive accidents

happened here due to slick road early Saturday morning.Local police said the injured have been hospitalized.

XINHUA

SHIJIAZHUANG, 8 Jan—Six people were dead and twoothers injured in a geothermalplant explosion in northChina’s Hebei ProvinceSaturday afternoon, localauthorities said.

The blast occurred at

Death toll from S Philippinelandsilde rises to 31; 44 still

missingDAVAO CITY, (Philippines), 8 Jan—The death toll from a

recent landslide that hit a gold-rich mining township insouthern Philippines rose to 31 as search operations continued,officials said on Sunday.

Arthuro Uy, governor of Compostela Valley province inMindanao, said at least 30 bodies had been recovered andrescuers were still looking for 44 people who went missingfollowing the landslide that hit Napnapan village, Pantukantown. “Yesterday (Saturday), three more bodies have beenrecovered. We will continue the search mission for three moredays,” said Uy.

Benito Ramos, chief of the country’s National DisasterRisk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), saidhe was hopeful that there would be more survivors. “I’m notlosing hope there are still alive victims,” said Ramos, whovisited the town. “Only four of the fatalities were residents ofPantukan. The rest came from other provinces,” he added.

Department of Interior and Local Government SecretaryJesse Robredo flew over the area on Friday and ordered in atalk with local officials the immediate shutdown of miningoperations there and the eviction of close to 2,000 residentsincluding miners and their families.

Xinhua

Seven teenscharged

withbeating

classmateunconscious

MIAMI, 8 Jan—Seven central Florida teenagers were arrested after authorities said theypunched and kicked a 13-year-old until she was unconscious while on a school bus.

The victim told authorities that Friday was her first time riding the bus and no one wouldlet her sit down. About 75 children were riding the bus bound for a middle school in Ocala,a rural city north of Orlando. The victim said someone threw a shoe at her and she threw oneback, according to an arrest report.

One girl allegedly asked students if they wanted to hit the victim, then instructed the teensto form a circle and began hitting and kicking the victim. Several witnesses said they saw thegirl fall to the floor and “appear to have a seizure and pass out,” according to the arrest report.

The victim, who is not being identified, was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with aconcussion, severe bruising on her head and muscle spasms.

Seven teens, ranging in age from 12 to 15, were charged with battery and disorderlyconduct. The Associated Press is not identifying the suspects because they are minors.

Internet

Six killed, two injured aftergeothermal plant blast in

north Chinaaround 3:00 pm in aresidential area in the city ofShenzhou. Rescue work waslaunched right after theaccident.

An investigation intothe cause of the blast isunderway.—Xinhua

P10(9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:56 AM10

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012 11

Artists of the China Jinling Dance Company perform dance drama “The PeonyPavilion” at David H. Koch theater of Lincoln Centre in New York, the United States,

on 6 Jan, 2012.—XINHUA

NAIROBI, 8 Jan—TheUnited Arab Emirates will hostan experts meeting in Februaryaimed at seeking a localsolution to Somalia’sinstability, Kenya’s ministryof foreign official said onSaturday.

The Ministry of ForeignAffairs Second Counselor inthe Horn of Africa Division,Anthony Safari, toldjournalists in Nairobi that theone-day technical conferencewill target all relevantstakeholders in order to findlasting peace in Somalia.

“The UAE sponsoredconference will take intoaccount the needs of local

UAE to host Somalia conference in FebruarySomalis as part of plans tobring normalcy, especially inregions liberated from the Al-Shabaab militant group,” hesaid.

“The resolutions will beforwarded to the SomaliConference to be held in lateFebruary in London,” Safarisaid.

“The world has realizedthat an unstable Somaliaposes a great danger not onlyto local citizens but also to itsneighbors and the rest of theHorn of Africa,” the ministryofficial said.

He added that Kenyaassumed the seat to chair theAfrican Union Peace and

Security Council in Januarythis year. “We will use theposition to further lead andguide the debate in order toconsolidate peace in Somalia,”he added.

Safari said that Kenya iswaiting for a definite decisionon whether or not to beallowed to join the AfricaUnion Mission in Somalia(AMISON) in January.

The remarks come as theAfrican Union on Thursdayasked the United Nations toauthorize an increase of itspeacekeeping force in war-torn Somalia by 5,700 to 17,700amid mounting attacks by therebels.—Xinhua

1793 penny fetches $1.38m at Fla auctionORLANDO, 8 Jan—A

once-cent copper coin fromthe earliest days of the USMint in 1793 has sold for arecord $1.38 million at a Floridaauction.

James Halperin of Texas-based Heritage Auctions toldThe Associated Press onSaturday that the sale was“the most a United Statescopper coin has ever sold forat auction.” The coin wasmade at the Mint inPhiladelphia in 1793, the firstyear that the US made its owncoins.

Heritage officials said ina news release that the nameof the buyer was not revealedbut that he was “a major

This undated photoprovided by Heritage

Auctions shows the frontand back of one of the

first pennies struck at theUnited States Mint in

Philadelphia.INTERNET

collector.” One of the coin’searliest owners was a well-known Baltimore banker,Louis E Eliasberg, Sr.

“Mr Eliasberg wasnicknamed, ‘the king of coins’because before his death in1976 he assembled a collectionthat consisted of at least oneexample of every coin evermade at the United StatesMint, a feat never duplicated,”Halperin said in the newsrelease.

The final bid for the coinlast week was one of the largestsales at the Florida UnitedNumismatists coin show andannual convention, whichruns through Sunday.Halperin said a five-dollar gold

piece from 1829 also was sold.Halperin said there

remain a few hundred 1793coins in different condition,

but that the one auctioned offWednesday night is rarebecause it wasn’t incirculation. Officials say it

shows no wear on its lettering,its Lady Liberty face or thechain of linking rings on itsback.—Internet

A passenger has her train ticket and identificationcertificate checked at the Beijing Railway Station in

Beijing, capital of China, on 8 Jan, 2011.XINHUA

LONDON, 8 Jan—Renewed fears over Europe’sshaky banking sector sent theeuro skidding to a near 16-month low against the dollarThursday, while stockmarkets failed to get much ofa boost from another round ofupbeat US economic data.

For a second dayrunning, market concern hascentered on the state of thebanks following UniCredit’sannouncement Wednesday

Euro hit as investors fret over Europe’s banksthat it was selling new sharesat a 69 percent discount toTuesday’s closing price.

UniCredit, Italy’s biggestbank, is trying to raise euro7.5billion ($9.7 billion) to meetnew European requirementsfor banks to thicken theirfinancial cushions againstpossible losses. UniCredit’sshare price slid over 10 percentfor the second straight day.

Italy, the recent focus ofthe debt crisis, must borrowto cover euro53 billion ($69billion) in expiring debt in thefirst quarter alone in debtauctions beginning 13 Jan.That will test whether thegovernment of new PrimeMinister Mario Monti is

making progress in regainingmarket confidence throughbudget cuts and efforts toimprove weak economicgrowth.

Banks are an integral partof the debt crisis because theyhold government bonds. Adefault or steep fall in thevalue of government bondscould inflict heavy losses onbanks and choke off credit tothe European economy.That’s why regulatoryauthorities want Europe’sbanks to raise their buffers byeuro115 billion (149 billion)over the next few months. Theworry in the markets is thatbanks will have to offer sharpdiscounts.—Internet

SEOUL, 8 Jan—Mercedes-Benz Koreaplanned to recall 2,424 dieselcars in South Korea for adefective fuel filter in fivediesel models, thetransportation ministry saidon Sunday.

Voluntary recall wouldbe made for 2,424 dieselsedans with faulty fuel filtersthat could leak oil on the road,and in turn make dangerousdriving conditions for carsthat follow behind, accordingto the Ministry of Land,Transportation and MaritimeAffairs.

The cars subject to recallinclude 549 units of C220CDImodel manufactured between3 Jan, 2007 and 15 Dec, 2008,717 units of E220CDIproduced between 4 July,2006 and 15 Jan, 2009, 529units of ML280CDI madebetween 18 April, 2006 and 18March, 2009, 554 units ofML300CDI producedbetween 15 July, 2009 and 6April, 2011 and 75 units ofS350BLUETEC manufacturedbetween 5 Aug, 2010 and 2Feb, 2011.

Xinhua

A discount sign is seen on a shop window in downtownRome, Italy, on 5 Jan, 2012.—XINHUA

Mercedes-Benzto recall 2,424diesel cars in

S Korea

MANILA, 8 Jan—Economic managers of thePhilippine government havesaid that the country’s grossdomestic product ( GDP)would grow by 5 to 6 percentthis year despite uncertaintiesin the global economy.

According to EconomicPlanning Secretary CayetanoPaderanga, this slightly higherGDP growth could beachieved through increasedgovernment spending and thefull implementation of thepublic-private partnership(PPP) programme of theAquino administration.

The government’s full-year growth forecast for 2011is from 4.5 to 5.5 percentalthough multilateral lending

Philippines to grow 5-6 pct in 2012, economicmanagers predict

institutions have pegged thecountry’s growth last yearfrom just 3.7-3.8 percent.

The government is notexpected to release the officialgrowth figures for 2011 untilthe end of this month.

Paderanga, who is alsothe director general of theNational Economic andDevelopment Authority(NEDA), cited the 72-billion-peso (1.64 billion US dollars)stimulus spending programand reforms in projectimplementation as the majorcontributing factors to thisyear’s growth.

Earlier, GovernorAmando Tetangco, Jr of theBangko Sentral ng Pilipinas(BSP), the country’s central

bank, has said that the soundmacroeconomic fundame-ntals of the Philippines wouldplay a major role in helpingthe country survive the globaleconomic slowdown and thedebt crisis in Europe.

In a forum, Tetangco saidthe Philippines would remainstrong in 2012 on the back ofstrong private consumptionand higher investments.

“Our assessment is thatthe country’s structuraleconomic make-up is self-sustaining. Against abackdrop of sound macroeco-nomics fundamentals, webelieve domestic demand willremain a major contributor togrowth.

Xinhua

SOFIA, 8 Jan—Heavy Snow caused chaos in Bulgaria onSaturday, leaving hundreds of villages without electricityand stranding cars, buses and trucks, officials and local mediasaid.

More than 300 villages and towns were without electricityand power distributor EVN said it was difficult to restorepower in western Bulgaria due to strong gusts of wind.

The Ministry of Regional Development and PublicWorks warned people to refrain from traveling as snow up to60 centimeters (2 foot) deep covered parts if the Balkancountry and temperatures dropped to minus 10° Celsius (14Fahrenheit)

Bulgaria’s state news agency BTA said authoritiesevacuated some 100 children from the winter resort ofSemkovo in the Rila mountains in southwestern Bulgaria.

Torrential rain has also swept through regions insoutheastern Bulgaria, destroying roads and cutting offremote villages.

MNA/Reuters

Snow causes chaos inBulgaria cuts off power

p11(9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:56 AM11

12 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012

GAZA, 8 Jan— Palestinian President MahmoudAbbas’ Fatah Party and its rival Islamic movementHamas recriminated each other on Saturday overHamas’ bar against a Fatah delegation from enteringthe Gaza Strip.

Fatah Party said in an email to reporters thatthe security forces of Hamas, which rules thecoastal enclave, prevented a high- ranking Fatahdelegation from entering Gaza on Friday, addingthat Hamas behaved like gangs and don’t want thereconciliation deal to work.

On Friday, four senior Fatah leaders from theWest Bank city of Ramallah bound for the enclavewere stopped by Hamas security forces stationednear Erez border crossing in northern Gaza.

Hamas ministry of interior said in a pressrelease that one of the Fatah leaders cursed Allahin front of the security officers.

“There is no objection to the arrival of Fatah

Couples wave during a group wedding ceremony as part of the 28th HarbinInternational Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province on 6

Jan, 2012. The wedding was organised by the city government and 18couples from Nigeria, Russia and China participated in the ceremony, local

media reported.—INTERNET

Palestinians’ Hamas, Fatah hurlrecriminations weeks after shaking hands

NEW DELHI, 8 Jan—Indian External AffairsMinister SM Krishna is toembark on a visit to Israel andPalestinian territory fromSunday, said official sourceshere on Saturday.

The foreign minister willfirst visit Tel Aviv till 10 Jan,during which twoagreements, ExtraditionTreaty and Transfer ofSentenced Persons, are likelyto be inked between the twocountries, the sources said.

Krishna’s visit will alsomark the 20th year ofestablishment of diplomaticrelations between the twonations.

He would also meetIsraeli President Simon Peres

Indian FM to visit Israel,Palestinian territory

A VW Passat, left, and a Golf Cabrio car wait in thestorage building of the Volkswagen company in

Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen says its worldwidesales were up more than 13 percent in 2011, with sales a

record 5.1 million.—INTERNET

KATHMANDU, 8 Jan— Nepali government has startedvarious works to make the Visit Lumbini Year 2012 successful,Minister for Culture Gopal Kiranti said.

“President Ram Baran Yadav would inaugurate the VisitLumbini Year with the conclusion of Nepal Tourism Year 2011at a special function on 14 January in Lumbini,” Kiranti tolda press conference here on Saturday.

The focus of the Visit Lumbini Year Secretariat is aimedat bringing in more than 1 million tourists, and promotingNepal as the country of Lord Buddha’s birthplace, he said.

Moreover, Kiranti briefed media on other preparation forthe Visit Lumbinit Year, such as establishment of memorialpillar of the Buddha, publication of postal stamp, Bouddhacircuit in the concerned districts, special discount in theairlines, and the renovation of Ashok pillar.—Xinhua

CARACAS, 8 Jan—Thepresidents of Venezuela andPeru have reached anagreement for the Peruvianstate oil company to invest indevelopment of Venezuela’seastern Orinoco oil belt.

Venezuela’s state oilmonopoly will study apossible role in developing apetrochemical complex in Peruas well as helping Peruincrease its production ofheavy and extra heavy crudeoil.

The formal agreement

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, left, Peru’s PresidentOllanta Humala, front centre, and Venezuela’s Minister of

Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramirez, right, looks atdocuments during a visit to oil installations in the faja

petrolifera del Orinoco, or Orinoco oil belt, in the state ofMonagas, Venezuela, on 7 Jan, 2012. Chavez and

Humala reached an agreement for the Peruvian state oilcompany to invest in development of Venezuela’s eastern

Orinoco oil belt. Venezuela’s state oil monopoly will studya possible role in developing a petrochemical complex in

Peru as well as helping Peru increase its production ofheavy and extra heavy crude oil.—INTERNET

TEHERAN, 8 Jan—Head of Atomic Energy Organizationof Iran (AEOI) Fereidoon Abbasi said Saturday that thesubterranean Fordo enrichment facilities will start operatingin the near future, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

“The Fordo facilities will be launched soon and will beable to produce 20 percent, percent and 4 percent enricheduranium,” Abbasi said during the opening ceremony of anexhibition displaying the country’s nuclear achievements inthe port city of Bandar Abbas in the southern province ofHormozgan.

In August, Abbasi said that the Islamic republic hadstarted transferring the nuclear enrichment centrifuges of itsNatanz nuclear facility to the Fordo atomic site.

In June, Abbasi said that Iran is going to install newgeneration of centrifuges in its uranium enrichment sites andwill increase its 20-percent uranium enrichment output bythree times.

Xinhua

Iran to launch Fordoenrichment facilities soon

GUIDE, (Northwest China), 8 Jan—Thirty-six swimmersfrom China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstanbraved the cold to swim across the Yellow River, the secondlargest river in China, at Guide County in Northwest China’sQinghai Province on Saturday. The water temperature wasjust 3 degrees Celsius Saturday morning, but the amateurswimmers all successfully swam about 500 meters in the frigidriver.

The top eight finishers of each group win a cash rewardranging from 1,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan (about 158 to 1,580 U.S.dollars). The annual challenge is billed one of the world’shighest-altitude winter swim races. Guide is about 2,200metres above the sea level.—Xinhua

Men dressed as “La Befana”, an imaginary old womanwho is thought to bring gifts to children during the

festival of Epiphany, row boats down the Grand Canal inVenice, on 6 January, 2012.—INTERNET

Nepal sets to make VisitLumbini Year 2012 successful

Venezuela, Peru in pacts on oil investments, trade

A volunteer guides passengers to their train at ChengduRailway Station in Chengdu, capital of southwest

China’s Sichuan Province, on 7 Jan, 2012. Starting from8 Jan, 2012, China’s transport system will undergo a 40-

day travel rush, which is characterized by a hightenedpassenger flow around the time of the oncoming Chinese

New Year. —XINHUA

36 swim across Yellow River infreezing cold

movement’s delegation to the Gaza Strip, but thehead of the delegation Sakher Bseiso must preparehimself to stand before the court in Gaza for violatingthe law and cursing the name of Allah,” said thePress release.

Bseiso said in an earlier statement on Saturdaythat he didn’t curse the name of Allah, adding that“the Hamas security officers at the crossinghumiliated the Fatah senior officials by keepingthem waiting for a long time.”

Fatah and Hamas have been on rocky termssince the latter seized control of the Gaza Strip androuted Fatah forces out from the enclave.

The two rival movements signed an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement in Cairo lastMay, and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal andPresident Abbas agreed to set up separatecommittees to clear way for the implementation ofthe agreement.—Internet

came during a Saturdaymeeting between VenezuelanPresident Hugo Chavez andPeruvian leader OllantaHumala.

Later, representatives ofthe two governments signedagreements establishingmechanisms for transporta-tion, storage, refining andmarketing of hydrocarbons.Other pacts cover the sale inPeru of tractors and other farmimplements made inVenezuela.

Internet

and Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu.

“Apart from anti-terrorcooperation, issues likedefence and agriculturewould also be discussed,”the sources said.

Krishna would also visitthe Palestinian territories inthe later part of his tour.

The visit to Israel will bethe first by any IndianForeign Minister in a decade.

India-Israeli relationsare regarded as “sensitive”because of New Delhi’ssupport of the Palestiniancause. India has latelybacked at the UN anindependent Palestinianstatehood.

Internet

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012 13

Man calls 911 after gluing plastic cups to head

“Only call this number incase of emergency”

999 because shehad the hiccups

— A rabbit ownercalled because herpet had a sore leg

— A caller phoned inbecause a contactlens had becomestuck in his eye.

It’s also worth notingthat unlike in America, butperhaps to the delight ofHerman Cain, Britishemergency calls are placed to“999.”

“All 999 calls are treatedas an emergency. That meansa call-taker has to go througha series of questions toestablish the facts of an

A man who“accidentally” glued fiveplastic cups to his head putin a desperate call to 911seeking medical attention.But that’s just one of themore ridiculous non-emergency calls beinghighlighted in the Shieldsregion of England.

The Shields Gazette hasposted a list of the moreunusual NortheastAmbulance Service (NEAS)calls the region has recentlyexperienced. The glued cupsto the head takes the ribbon,but some of the othercontenders include:

— One woman dialled

incident,” said a NEASspokesperson.

“Handling requestswhich are clearly not anemergency means a call-handler is tied up, when theycould be dispatching anambulance to someonegenuinely in need.”

The NEAS said theyreceived nearly 1,200emergency calls on “BlackEye Friday,” a 20 percentincrease over the usual callertraffic. The NEAS has beenpublicizing the non-emergency calls to helpeducate the public on when itis appropriate to requestimmediate medical assistance.

Police in Florida saidthey arrested a store

manager who falsely tolda customer she did not

have her lost iPad.

Police in Florida saidthey arrested a store managerwho falsely told a customershe did not have her lost iPad.

The Collier CountySheriff’s Office said the victimtold deputies she left her iPadat the Family Dollar store inGulfgate Plaza in East Naplesand store manager VeronicaDamaso, 23, was actingsuspicious when she returned

Manager arrested for keepinglost iPad

“Speed is of the essencewhen dealing with a trueemergency, and we need tomake sure that people in needcan get the help they require,”the spokeswoman said.

to the store and asked if ithad been turned in, theNaples Daily News reportedFriday. The victim saidDamaso claimed not to havethe iPad, although the victimsaw an object she believedto be her tablet computerbehind the counter.

Deputies said Damasoconfessed to having theiPad when they asked her forthe store’s surveillancefootage and told her thedevice had a GPS tracker.Damaso was charged with afelony count of grand theft.

Judge falls asleep during trial — twiceA prosecutor in Sweden

questioned the acquittal of adefendant after a judge fellasleep twice during a fraudtrial.

The trial involved one ofStockholm’s top civilservants, who was chargedwith signing off on fakeinvoices totaling nearly$36,000, the daily newspaperMetro reported, Sweden’s TTnews agency said.

“I don’t know if the[judge] in question wasparticularly tired or somethingto that effect. This just simply

News Album

should not happen,” regionalprosecutor Nils-Eric Schultzsaid. The defendant wasacquitted after the court saidthere wasn’t enoughevidence to prove the invoiceswere fake.

Schultz said the judgehad been asleep while thedefendant was beingquestioned and each time thejudge fell asleep, the trial wasinterrupted.

“Melancholia”, Dunst, Pitt win film criticsawards

NEW YORK, 8 Jan—The apocalypticpsychological drama “Melancholia” wasnamed the year’s best film on Saturday by the

Cast member Kirsten Dunst poses forphotographers as she arrives at a

screening of the film “Melancholia”during AFI Fest 2011 in Hollywood on 6

November, 2011.—INTERNET

National Society of Film Critics, which choseits star Kirsten Dunst as best actress and BradPitt as best actor for the baseball drama“Moneyball” as well as “The Tree of Life.”

Lars von Trier lost out on the best directoraward for his work on “Melancholia” toTerrence Malick for “The Tree of Life,” amystical period piece which also won the bestcinematography prize.

But the big win by “Melancholia”bolstered the offbeat film’s chances for theupcoming Academy Awards, which willannounce nominees later this month.

Set against the backdrop of a countrywedding, the dark film explores the strainedrelationship of two sisters, one a bride playedby Dunst, while a strange planet threatens tocollide with Earth, wiping out all traces ofhuman existence.—Reuters

This 20 Nov, 2011 filephoto shows Selena Gomezduring arrivals to the 2011American Music Awards,held at Nokia LA Live in

Los Angeles.INTERNET

BURBANK, 8 Jan—A civil judge on Friday granted SelenaGomez a three-year restraining order against a man accused ofthreatening to kill the singer-actress and of travelling fromIllinois to try to meet her. Superior Court Judge William DStewart granted the order, which requires Thomas Brodnicki tostay away from the “Wizards of Waverly Place” star and notattempt to contact her. Another judge dropped a felony stalkingcharge against the Brodnicki, 46, last year after determiningprosecutors hadn’t proven he had caused fear in the star.Stewart twice delayed issuing a civil order until Brodnicki hadan opportunity to respond.

Gomez, 19, did not appear at Wednesday’s hearing. Shewrote in a declaration filed in October that she was in extremefear after learning that Brodnicki had threatened to kill her whilehe was on a psychiatric hold. Prosecutors later alleged hestalked the actress between July and October. Stewart notedthat Brodnicki filed a declaration in December essentiallyconsenting to the protective order and that the man with ahistory of mental illness had received “due process.” —Internet

Judge orders man to stayaway from Selena Gomez

NatashaGiggs says

Ryan isterrified she’lltell all about

affair onBig Brother

LONDON, 8 Jan—Natasha Giggs, who entered the famous doors of ‘Celebrity Big Brother’on its opening night to become a housemate, has revealed that her brother-in-law Ryan willbe “terrified” if she’ll tell all about their affair on the show.

Despite not actually being famous in her own right, the 29-year-old walked through thedoors on opening night alongside ‘The X Factor’ reject Frankie Cocozza, former ‘EastEnder’Natalie Cassidy and Kirk Norcross from ‘TOWIE’.

Prior to signing up for the fly-on-the-wall series, the footballer’s sister-in-law was marriedto his brother Rhodri, until her eight-year affair was exposed. “Ryan will be seething when hesees I’ve gone in the house. He’s terrified what else I could say,” the Daily Mail quoted heras telling the Daily Star during a pre-series interview.

“I was one of two people who did the same thing. It’s hardly fair that his reputation hashardly been affected. “Everyone sees me as some sort of football-hungry idiot. It would benice if people saw me in a different light. I’m just a normal person,” she said. The truth abouther affair surfaced only after Ryan took out a super-injunction against his other fling withImogen Thomas.—Internet

Producer Jane Lipsitz, Executive ProducerRick Ringbakk, Macy’s Caprice Willard,

(Bottom Row) Executive Producer/Host ElleMacpherson, Executive Producer Ben

Silverman and Celebrity Mentor JessicaSimpson speak onstage during the “Fashion

Star” panel during the NBCUniversalportion of the 2012 Winter TCA Tour at The

Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa onJanuary 6, 2012 in Pasadena, California.

INTERNET

Golden Age screenwriterMaas dies at 111

SAN DIEGO, 8 Jan—Frederica Sagor Maas, a feistyscreenwriter fromHollywood’s silent-movie era,died in California this week atthe age of 111.

Maas, who lived in SanDiego, wrote for bygone starssuch as Clara Bow, GretaGarbo, Norma Scherer andBetty Grable.

Although Maas madethe transition from silents totalkies, she and her husbandand writing partner, ErnestMaas, walked away fromHollywood on bad terms.

The Los Angeles Timessaid the couple had grownweary of seeing their workplagiarized and re-written intowhat they saw as shallowtripe.

The Times said Maas

didn’t exactly mellow with age.“It’s my only consolation

to think, ‘All you lousy so-and-sos are all 20 feet under,and I’m still here,” she toldthe San Francisco Chroniclein 1999.

She wrote a book called“The Shocking Miss Pilgrim:A Writer in Early Hollywood”when she was 99, whichblasted the cutthroat cultureof Hollywood in the 1920s.

The title referred to “TheShocking Miss Pilgrim,” a1947 film that started out as aserious look at the treatmentof women but was released asa fluffy musical starring thebombshell Grable.

Maas was the third-oldest person in Californiawhen she died.

Internet

The Animal RescueLeague of Boston said amember used a rope to hoisthimself up and save a catstranded atop a 50-foot tree.

Chrystal Jones said her6-month-old cat, Fendi, ranup the oak tree around 10:30pm Wednesday and was stillon a high branch the following

Cat rescued from atop 50-foot treemorning, when she contactedthe ARL, the Boston Heraldreported Friday. “I wasscared,” Jones said. “My kidswere saying the cat’s going todie.” Police shut down trafficon the street about 1 pm andrescuer Bill Tanguay used arope to hoist himself up thetree and coax the cat down

with a can of Fancy Feast.“We really fill in a critical

gap,” ARL spokeswomanJennifer Wooliscroft said.“The Fire Department is verybusy handling the human sideof things.”

“Those guys are reallygood at what they do,” Jonessaid. “I’m very relieved.”

P13 (9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:56 AM13

14 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012

Henry: My playing style has changed

LONDON, 8 Jan — TheirryHenry says Arsenal fansshould expect to see a differentstyle of player to the one theyare accustomed to when thestriker makes his firstappearance for the Gunnerssince signing on a two-monthloan deal. The Frenchman is

nine-year period between1999 and 2007 and was fearedby opposition defenders forhis abundant pace. However,Henry concedes he is “not 25any more” and cannot usespeed to beat defenders, butsays he has adapted his gameto become a more all-roundfootballer. “I rememberDennis [Bergkamp] and heused to be the main front guy,”he told Arsenal’s officialwebsite. “Suddenly he wasplaying behind the striker andif you have the awareness tosee things before players, youcan get away with not havingyour legs “If you look at RyanGiggs [now], it is not the sameRyan Giggs who used to takethe ball from the wing anddribble past everyone anddeliver a great cross.

Internet

Thierry Henry is the third all-time leading goalscorerin the Premier League with 174.—INTERNET

Swindon Town boss Paolo Di Caniowants to honour FA Cup win

LONDON, 8 Jan — Swindon manager PaoloDi Canio called for the League Two club tohonour his players for their FA Cup third-round victory over Premier League Wigan.Goals from Alan Connell and Paul Bensonearned a 2-1 win for Di Canio’s side afterCallum McManaman put Wigan ahead. “Mylads today deserve something from the club- to do something and put their names in thestadium forever,” said Italian Di Canio.

“I don’t want a big statue. Maybe just asmall plaque with all their names.” FormerWest Ham forward Di Canio insisted his teamwere worthy victors, despite Wigancomplaints that Benson was in an offsideposition when Matt Ritchie’s long-range shotdeflected in off the striker’s legs. “There is nodoubt we deserved to win,” he said. “It is thebest moment of my life.”Today they did showthe dream can come true. We needed to limitWigan’s chances to get through and we didthat well apart from the accident for the penalty.

“This is something special - an amazing

set to play in Arsenal’s third-round FA Cup match againstLeeds on Monday night, hisfirst match since his temporaryswitch from MLS team NewYork Red Bulls.

He scored a record 226goals for the north Londonclub during a trophy-filled

performance against a team three divisionsabove us. The players have been fantasticbecause to play under me is difficult.” Wiganboss Roberto Martinez praised Swindon inthe aftermath of an embarrassing defeat for theLatics, who started the afternoon 53 placesabove their hosts in the Football Leaguepyramid.—Internet

Di Canio’s side have lost only once intheir last 10 games in all competitions.

Amir Khan - Lamont Peterson:Promoter says WBA orders rematch

LONDON , 8 Jan — The World Boxing Association hasordered an immediate rematch between Amir Khan and LamontPeterson, according to Khan’s promoters. Khan lost his WBAand IBF titles to Peterson in December but has questioned anumber of aspects of the fight. One claim is that an unknownman, who has now apparently been identified, was seen“interfering with” a WBA official.

“The WBA... will order an immediate rematch,” said GoldenBoy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. “We received a verbalconfirma-tion today [Saturday] and we will get a writtenconfirmation by next Tuesday. “That means that no fighter cantake an interim fight, that the next fight for Peterson would bea rematch. “We hope that the IBF will follow because that’s theleast they can do. The ruling of the WBA to order an immediaterematch should put additional pressures on the IBF. Earlier,WBA president Gilberto Mendoza told BBC Sport: “It generatesa lot of controversy. There should be a rematch. “The[Washington DC] Commission did not behave properly in thisfight.” Olympic silver medallist Khan lost his light-welterweighttitles on a split decision after being deducted two points forpushing but has appealed against the verdict.—Internet

Australian Open:Kim Clijsters should be fit,

Serena hopefulBRISBANE , 8 Jan — Kim

Clijsters has revealed herinjury scare is not as bad asinitially feared ahead of herdefence of the AustralianOpen title. The Belgianretired midway through herBrisbane International semi-final against Slovakia’sDaniela Hantuchova with ahip injury on Friday. Clijstersunderwent an MRI scan andwas relieved to learn she hadsuffered a muscle spasm ratherthan a tear.

“With this one I kind ofhave an OK feeling,” said the28-year-old. “If everything

comes out OK it should takea little less than a week to getcompletely healed. “I felt myleft hip was getting tighterand tighter to the point Icouldn’t move forward withmy upper body. The smartestchoice was not to let it getany worse and try to be rightfor Melbourne.” The scanrevealed a muscle spasm tothe tensor fascia lata, a muscleon the outside of the hip,according to a report on theAustralian Open website.

The four-time GrandSlam champion will continueto receive intensive treatment

Clijsters receives treatment on the injury that forced herretirement in Brisbane.—INTERNET

over the next few days aheadof a second check-up onWednesday. Clijsters, whobeat Li Na to win her firstAustralian Open last year, hasonly just returned afterspending four months on thesidelines with an abdominalinjury towards. World

number one Serena Williamsis also hoping to win a fitnessbattle in time to compete inMelbourne after herwithdrawal after the secondround of the BrisbaneInternational with an ankleproblem.

Internet

Murray flattens Dolgopolov inBrisbane final

BRISBANE, 8 Jan—World No.4 Andy Murray laid downa marker for the Australian Open with a 65-minute demolitionof Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final of the BrisbaneInternational on Sunday. Murray, runner-up at MelbournePark for the past two years, showed no mercy against theworld No.15 from Ukraine as he cruised to the title 6-1, 6-3in the Pat Rafter Arena. The Scotsman was lethal in alldepartments as he dominated Dolgopolov, a player whohad pushed him to four close games in the Australian Openquarterfinals last year.

AndyMurray

holds thetrophy after

beatingAlexandr

Dolgopolovin the

BrisbaneInternational

final.

He broke Dolgopolov twice in the first set and did notlose a point on his first three service games to claim theopener in just 26 minutes.

Murray went on a run of nine consecutive games from2-1 in the first to 4-0 in the second before the Ukrainianfinally stemmed the flow by holding serve for only thesecond time in the match. That signalled a slight comebackfrom Dolgopolov, who then surprisingly got a service game

back before holding after a struggle to make it 4-3.But Murray held his next serve then broke Dolgopolov

to love to clinch his 22nd title on the ATP tour.Murray had started the week slowly and struggled to win

his first two matches, against Mikhail Kushkin and GillesMuller. But he hit top gear from then on, easily accounting forMarcos Baghdatis in the quarterfinals and Bernard Tomic inthe semis before his impressive display against Dolgopolov.He now heads to Melbourne where his only outing before theAustralian Open will be an exhibition match at the KooyongClassic.—Internet

DOHA, 8 Jan—Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defied treacherous conditions to defeatFrench compatriot Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday to win the 20th edition ofthe Qatar Open.

Third seeded Tsonga claimed his eighth career title and a third win in fourmeetings with Monfils on a day when the final had to be halted early in the firstset because of fog and a slippery court.

“It was difficult. The surface was very slippery especially on the ‘Qatar’sign painted on the court,” said the 26-year-old Tsonga.

“It was dangerous but they did enough to make it OK. This is a good winfor me going into the Australian Open, it’s just amazing.” Monfils broke Tsongain the opening game of the match, handing his compatriot just his third breakof serve in the tournament. But after Tsonga won the first point on Monfils’serve, the match was suspended for a little over a half hour as fog causedslippery conditions on the baseline.

When the final resumed, Monfils consolidated the break, and kept hisadvantage until 5-3, when Tsonga wrestled the momentum away from hiscountryman. Tsonga won 16 of the final 19 points, winning four straight gamesto clinch the set. World number six Tsonga continued at this level, despite

Tsonga beats Monfils to win mistyQatar Open

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (R) ofFrance poses with thetrophy as he celebratesafter winning the finalmatch against GaelMonfils of France.

tumbling at the end of the fourth game of the second set.He shook it off and on the next point, ran down a

Monfils lob before stumbling at the back of the court. Hisefforts drew a smile from Monfils and roaring applause fromthe crowd.

Trailing 2-3, Monfils gifted Tsonga the lone break of theset with a forehand unforced error. Tsonga went on to closeout the entertaining encounter in one hour and 57 minutes.Tsonga is the third Frenchman to lift the Doha trophy,following triumphs by Nicolas Escude in 2004, and FabriceSantoro in 2000.—Internet

International Sports

p14(9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:56 AM14

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 9 January, 2012 15

Weather Map of Myanmar and Neighbouring Areas

Weather forecast for9th January, 2012

Oversea Transmission* Opening* News* “Travelogue” Kyauk Phyu

Township* “New Roads and Bridges”

Bringing us closer throughfairer journey

* News* Topic on Journal “Natural

Beauty”* Life Style of Toddy Palm

Climbers* News* Educative Puppet Show for

the Students* News* Live Concert* Myanmar Martial Arts

(Part 5)* News* Kayah Traditional Museum* Culture Stage* News* Mya Setkyar Pure Silk

Fabric From Inlay Lake* Music Gallery* Myanmar Movie Impact

“Come on Kissie, Kissie”* News* Myanmar Customs &

Naming System* News* History of Wishfulfilling

Malamu Pagoda* Myanmar Movies “Due to

this True Hatred”

7:00 am 1. Paritta by Venerable

Mingun Sayadaw- Uppatasanti Paritta

7:30 am 2. Morning News7:50 am 3. Nice & Sweet Song8:00 am 4. Health Programme8:05 am 5. Song of National Races8:30 am 6. Documentary8:40 am 7. International News4:00 pm 8. Martial Song4:30 pm 9. Teleplay (Industry)5:00 pm10. Songs for Upholding National Spirit5:15 pm11. Myanmar Language7:00 pm12. TV Drama Series8:00 pm13. News14. World’s Stars16. TV TV Drama Series17. India Drama Series

(9-1-12 09:30 am ~10-1-12 09:30 am) MST

MYANMARINTERNATIONAL

MYANMAR TV(9-1-2012) (Monday)

Focus Myanmar TV Programme

R/489 Printed and published by the New Light of Myanmar press in Nay Pyi Taw, the News and Periodicals Enterprise, Ministry of Information.

Temperature (°C/°F) For Tomorrow Sr.

No. Regions/States

Maximum Minimum Forecast Percent

1 Kachin 26/79 14/57 Likelihood of isolated light rain or

thundershowers (60%)

2 Kayah 28/82 09/48 Partly cloudy

3 Kayin 35/95 17/63 Partly cloudy

4 Chin 16/61 07/45 Likelihood of isolated light rain or

thundershowers (60%)

5 Upper Sagaing 25/77 15/59 Likelihood of isolated light rain or

thundershowers (60%)

6 Lower Sagaing 28/82 17/63 Likelihood of isolated light rain or

thundershowers (60%)

7 Taninthayi 35/95 20/68 Likelihood of isolated light rain or

thundershowers (60%)

8 Bago 31/88 15/59 Partly cloudy

9 Magway 30/86 18/64 Partly cloudy

10 Mandalay 28/82 15/59 Partly cloudy

11 Mon 34/93 18/64 Partly cloudy

12 Yangon 33/91 18/64 Partly cloudy

13 Rakhine 29/84 17/63 Partly cloudy

14 Southern Shan 26/79 09/48 Likelihood of isolated light rain or

thundershowers (60%)

15 Northern Shan 27/81 08/46 Likelihood of isolated light rain or

thundershowers (60%)

16 Eastern Shan 29/84 09/48 Likelihood of isolated light rain or

thundershowers (60%)

17 Ayeyawady 32/90 18/64 Partly cloudy

18 Neighbouring Nay Pyi Taw 32/90 15/59 Partly cloudy

19 Neighbouring Yangon 33/91 18/64 Partly cloudy

20 Neighbouring Mandalay 28/82 15/59 Partly cloudy

Summary of

observations at 09:30

hr MST on today

During the past (24) hours, weather has been partly cloudy in Sagaing, Mandalay and Bago Regions,

Kachin, Shan, Chin and Rakhine States and generally fair in the remaining Regions and States. Night

temperatures were (5°C) above January average temperatures in Lower Sagaing and Magway Regions,

Chin State, ) (3°C) to (4°C) above January averages temperatures in Mandalay Region, Kachin and

Rakhine States, (3°C) below January average temperatures in Taninthayi Region and about January average

temperatures in the remaining Regions and States. The significant night temperature were Heho (5°C),

Namsam and Pinlaung (6°C) each.

Bay Inference Weather is partly cloudy in the Andaman sea and Bay of Bengal.

State of the Sea

Strong easterly winds with moderate to rough seas are likely at times Deltaic, Gulf of Mottama, off and

along Mon-Taninthayi Coasts. Surface wind speed in strong wind may reach (35) mph. Seas will be

moderate elsewhere in Myanmar waters.

Outlook for sub-

sequent two days Likelihood of light rain or thundershowers in Northern Myanmar Areas.

DISTRICT NEWSTeaching aids provided tostudents

YANGON, 8 Jan—Yangon Region Women’s AffairsOrganization held a ceremony to provide teaching aid andmaterials to students at Basic Education High School branchin Bawle Village of Htantabin Township on 2 January.

Yangon Region Minister for Planning and Economic UThan Myint made a speech. Chairperson of Yangon NorthDistrict WAO Daw Sein Sein Soe presented exercise booksand stationery to the students.—Myanma Alin

Mawlamyinegyun gets tarredroad

MAWLAMYINEGYUN, 8 Jan—A ceremony to inauguratesection1/2 of No. 5 tarred road was held in Mawlamyinegyunon 2 January. Ayeyawady Region Hluttaw representative UAung Zaw Hlaing, Township Administrator U Htay Maungand Township Engineer U Aung Soe formally opened thenew road section.

The road section, 840 feet long and 20 feet wide, wasconstructed at a cost of over K 21.1 million by TownshipDevelopment Affairs Committee.—Township IPRD

EINME, 8 Jan—Einme Township Development AffairsCommittee organized the fire drill at Myoma Market on 27December 2011 with participation of staff of Fire ServicesDepartment and Auxiliary Fire Brigade members.

They inspected fire extinguishers, maintenance offire engines and water tank under the supervision of townshiplevel departmental officials.—Township IPRD

Fire drill exercised at MyomaMarket

January transfer windowWe, the NLM-ner profiles the most likely transfer

targets during the January window - at home and abroad.Last January, the headlines were made on deadline day

when Chelsea spent £50m on Fernando Torres and Liverpoolreplaced the Spaniard with £35m striker Andy Carroll.

Here are our top 50 suggestions for high-profilemoves this time.

Continued from yesterday...

Potential European Movers . . .NILMAR (27, forward) Villarreal: TheBrazilian striker initially flopped at Lyon buthas impressed since arriving fromInternacional. Roma and Barcelona aremonitoring but would need to find £25m.

ESTEBAN GRANERO (24, midfielder)Real Madrid: Has been limited to a handfulof minutes as a sub this season. Arsenalhave a long-standing admiration, as doMalaga.

CARLOS KAMENI (27, goalkeeper)Espanyol: The Catalans are keen to sell togenerate transfer funds and theCameroonian stopper is one of their bigassets. Moneybags Malaga are especiallykeen.

JOSE ANTONIO REYES (28, midfielder/forward) Atletico Madrid: The ex-Arsenalutility frontman was set to rejoin Sevillabefore the arrival of Diego Simeone asAtletico coach. Sevilla and Zenit StPetersburg are keen.

DANIELE DE ROSSI (28, midfielder) Roma:His contract expires in the summer and hasnot yet signed a new deal. Manchester Cityhave repeatedly denied an interest in theItalian.

RICCARDO MONTOLIVO (26,midfielder) Fiorentina: The Italian lookslikely to move away from the Viola withArsenal potential suitors. AC Milan andLiverpool are also in the frame.

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney scores twice tobeat Manchester City

MANCHESTER, 8 Jan—Wayne Rooney scoredtwice and ManchesterUnited held off a dramaticfightback from 10-manManchester City to win apulsating FA Cup derby atthe Etihad Stadium thisafternoon.

United thrillingly led 3-0 after a remarkable first halfin which Rooney headed theopening two goals, DannyWelbeck added another andCity captain VincentKompany was sent off.

City hit back after the break with goals throughAleksandar Kolarov and Sergio Aguero, but United, forwhom Paul Scholes came out of retirement to make asubstitute appearance, held on to end City’s cup defencein the third round.

The game, played on a greasy surface in continualdrizzle, more than lived up to all the pre-match hype.

At one stage it seemed United were on course toavenge their 6-1 thrashing last October in the mostincredible fashion but City’s recovery left them to settlefor a narrow win.

Nevertheless, it was Premier League leaders City’sfirst home defeat since December 2010 and remindedthem that United remain in the way of their bid fordomestic dominance.

Internet

The United striker sees his penalty saved before following up to score a re-bound header

P15(9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:56 AM15

Monday, 9 January, 20121st Waning of Pyatho 1373 ME

NAY PYI TAW, 8 Jan—A ceremony to fix goldennut was held at the iron frameof Ayeyawady Bridge(Sinkhan) being built by Spe-cial Project Group (2) ofPublic Works under the Min-istry of Construction near thesecond defile of AyeyawadyRiver in Sinkhan Village ofBhamo District in KachinState yesterday morning.

Union Minister forConstruction U Khin MaungMyint, Kachin State ChiefMinister U La John NganHsai, Kachin State Minister

Golden nut fixed atAyeyawady Bridge (Sinkhan)

for Transport U Kaman DuNaw and State Minister forForestry and Mines U AungNaing fixed the golden nutsat the iron frame of pier No.3 and sprinkled scented wa-ter on them.

The Union Ministerpresented gifts to the engi-neers, skilled workers andsupporting groups whoactively participated in in-stallation of iron frames.

They inspectedprogress in construction ofmotor roads on Katha bankand Bhamo bank.

A y e y a w a d yBridge (Sinkhan), the rail-cum-two-way road facility,is of steel frame type. Oncompletion, local people willhave easy access to otherregions and states in additionto the regions in BhamoDistrict and Katha District ina short time. Thanks to thebridge, the Bhamo Townshipand regions in Katha Districtcan enjoy fruits of develop-ment in economic, social,education, health and admin-istrative sectors.

MNA

YANGON, 8 Jan—A work coordination meeting ofMon State All Bus Lines Supervisory Committee took placeat the committee office in Mawlamyine yesterday morning.

It was attended by responsible people from 10 town-ship supervisory committees and State Supervisory Com-mittee Secretary U Chit Maung explained traffic rule en-forcement. —MNA

Mon State ABLSC holdscoord meeting

YANGON, 8 Jan—Yangon Region Minister for SocialAffairs Dr Myint Thein and officials provided the familiesof fire victims from Kutohseik Ward, Mingala TaungnyuntTownship with food stuff and 20 items of personal goods foreach household yesterday.—MNA

Foodstuff, personal goodsprovided for fire victims

Union Minister for Construction U Khin Maung Myint fixes golden nut atiron frame of Ayeyawady Bridge (Sinkhan).—MNA

THAYAWADY, 8 Jan—Preparations are being made forcultivation of summer paddy in village-tracts of ThayawadyTownship.

Deputy Commissioner U Hla Myo of ThayawadyDistrict and District Agricultural Coordination Committeemet local farmers on 26 December 2011 and urged them togrow summer paddy in time, use good agricultural patternsfor high yield of paddy and minimize loss and waste inharvesting of paddy.

They inspected ploughing for cultivation of summerpaddy in North Panswe Village-tract in Thayawady Town-ship.—District IPRD

Preparation for summerpaddy cultivation inspected

Scholes makes shock returnMidfielder comes out of

retirement to rejoin United

Paul Scholes

MANCHESTER, 8 Jan—Paul Scholes has sensation-ally come out of retirementto rejoin Manchester Unitedon a short-term deal untilthe end of the season.

Scholes announced hisretirement from playing atthe end of last season to takeup a coaching role at OldTrafford.

United boss Sir AlexFerguson always felt

has a lot to offer.“It’s fantastic that Paul

has made this decision. It’salways sad to see great playersend their careers, butespecially so when they do itearly,” said Ferguson

“But he has kept himselfin great shape and I always

Briton Brian Thompson breaks round the world record

Scholes could prolong hisplaying career and now the36-year-old has come out ofretirement to help easeUnited’s injury problems.

Scholes has gomestraight onto the bench forSunday’s FA Cup third roundtie against Manchester Cityat the Etihad Stadium

Ferguson hailedScholes’ return to the foldand feels the midfieldler still

felt that he had anotherseason in him. It’s terrific tohave him back.”

Scholes admits he hasmissed playing sincehanging up his boots and heis happy the club haveallowed him to rejoin theteam.

“I’ve been pretty clearsince I stopped playing thatI miss it,” noted Scholes. “I’mdelighted the manager feelsI can still make a contributionto the team and I’m lookingforward to playing my part intrying to bring more successto this great club.”

Internet

Thompson has set 25records while racing over

the past two decades.

LONDON , 8 Jan — Britishsailor Brian Thompson hasbroken the record for thefastest circumnavigation ofthe world in a yacht as amember of the crew on board

Banque Populaire V. The 14-man crew clocked 45 days, 13hours, 42 minutes and 53seconds, more than two daysinside the old mark.Thompson became the firstBriton to circle the globe non-stop four times. “This has beenan incredible trip, almost adream ride,” he said aftercrossing the line in Brest,France.

Praising a crew that hadalready set four world recordsduring the journey, the 49-year-old, who is based inSouthampton, described hisfellow sailors as “talented,

industrious, dedicated, funand welcoming to an Englishguy with schoolboy French”.Banque Populaire V, a 40-metre maxi-trimaran skipperedby Loick Peyron, crossed theJules Verne trophy finish lineat 2214 GMT on Friday toeasily beat the former record,despite losing almost twodays on the journey becauseof bad weather. Thompson,who has sailed more than100,000 miles with the lateAmerican adventurer SteveFossett, admitted the delaywas one of the low points ofthe voyage, as was missing

Christmas and the New Yearwith family and friends.However, after finishing ajourney that included seeinga comet on Christmas Dayand an iceberg “half as bigas the Isle of Wight”, headded: “To achieve mydream of finally holding theJules Verne trophy feelsabsolutely fantastic.

“At the same time, tobecome the first Briton tosail around the world non-stop four times is justamazing and feels veryspecial.”

Internet

PAGE 2

Union A & I Ministerinspects hybrid

sunflower plantationPAGE 9

Red wine may reducebreast cancer risk

PAGE 4

PAGE 5

World’s smallest

silicon wire

brings quantum

computers

closer to reality

Murray

flattens

Dolgopolov in

Brisbane finalPAGE 14

Facebook takes actionafter computer wormsiphons 45,000 login

details PAGE 5

Chesstournamentopened in

Dalla

P16(9).pmd 1/9/2012, 7:56 AM16