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WEEKLY UPDATE
Low-carb diets are unhealthy
WASHINGTON: Popular low-carbohydrate diets are leading Americans to poor health, health experts and consumer advocates said on Tuesday.
“Eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans, which are all predominantly carbohydrate, is linked to a reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and a range of other chronic diseases.”
Jeffrey Prince of the American Institute for Cancer Research told a news conference low-carb diets that advocate piling on the animal protein and fat are “increasing the risk of developing cancer, heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes and other chronic diseases”.
“Losing weight on extreme low-carb diets can lead to such serious health problems as kidney stress, liver disorders and gout,” the group advises. —Reuters
First Pakistani in Olympic pool
LAHORE: Thirteen-year-old Rubab Raza who already wears the crown of Pakistan’s fastest swimmer, is poised to become the country’s first woman to plunge into the Olympic pool. She will go for gold in the Olympics 50 metre freestyle in Athens in August.
“I was seven years of age when I started swimming there,” she said. She has since gone on to claim 10 national medals: three in the open category and seven in her own age group.
At the last South Asia Federation games in March she picked up a bronze and two silver medals.
Raza is one of only two women in the Pakistani squad. Sumera Zahoor will compete in the 200 metre sprint. — AFP
Australia encourages Barrier Reef oil exploration
SYDNEY: Australia has increased tax concessions to encourage oil exploration in the far reaches of the Great Barrier Reef, angering environmentalists who warn an oil spill could destroy the world’s largest living reef system.
The Australian government says the new concessions are needed to encourage oil companies to explore remote sections of the reef if Australia is to secure future energy supplies.
“If there was a bad accident or a spill we’d have a massive oil spill washing up on the outer barrier reef within no time at all,” Don Henry, executive director of the Australian Conservation Foundation, said.
“In our point of view, that’s just totally unacceptable and the government should not be encouraging exploration.”
Environmental groups warn an oil spill on the reef could not be cleaned up or washed away because the oil would permeate the living coral.
“It’s not like rocks. You can’t walk around on it and sponge it up and soak it up. Once it’s into that porous structure, that reef will be contaminated for decades.” said James McLellan, coordinator for the Northern Queensland Conservation Council. — Reuters
Athens museum to reopen for Olympics
ATHENS: The Greek archaeological museum, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Athens, announced on Wednesday that it will re-open most of its rooms this week in time for the Olympic Games in August, almost two years after they were closed for refurbishment.
Director Nikolaos Kaltsas said 32 rooms would re-open to the public on Thursday but eight others, including those which house the museum’s celebrated pottery collection, would remain closed until after the Games. —AFP
From bottom of the ocean to top of the world
NEW DELHI: Two Indian submariners who conquered Mount Everest have said scaling the world’s highest mountain in Nepal had been as much fun as their frequent voyages to the bottom of the ocean.
Commander Satyabrata Dham and partner Abhishek Kankan topped Mount Everest on May 19, but while most of the other 166 climbers who made it to the top in the just-ended season used the easier South col route, the Indians opted for the more demanding North col route.
“In some ways life in submarines is close to (the experience of) climbing Everest,” Dham said. — AFP
Celebrity crocodile refuses to eat
HONG KONG, June 23: Hong Kong’s celebrity crocodile was settling into its new home on Wednesday after being placed in a quarantine pen two weeks after its eight months on the run came to an end, wildlife experts said.
However, the 1.5-metre female croc, nicknamed Gucci, has not eaten since being captured and suffered minor injuries in the move to its purpose-built compound.
“She hasn’t eaten a thing,” said Idy Wong of the Kadoorie Farm nature reserve, where Gucci will be kept in isolation for three months. “We hope that now she is here and settles down she will regain her appetite.”
“Large animals like crocodiles can go a month without eating. We don’t expect that in this case though.”
Crocodiles are not native to Hong Kong and Gucci’s appearance made her an immediate celebrity when she first appeared in a polluted New Territories stream in November.
It has been nursed in a government compound since capture by a river fisherman on June 10.
During her time on the run, she evaded capture by the world’s most famous crocodile hunter, Australian naturalist John Lever, nad gave the slip to hunters from mainland China as well as local government wildlife experts. —AFP
13-year-old caught for pushing boy off building
TOKYO: Japanese police Wednesday took a 13-year-old girl into custody for allegedly pushing a pre-school boy off a high building, rocking a nation still reeling from a series of brutal crimes by children.
The boy, five-year-old Chinese Sun Jizu, sustained only minor cuts as he plunged into a tree on the ground from an 11-metre-high staircase landing of an apartment building in central Tokyo, police said. Police took the girl into custody as they alleged she “told the boy to sit on a guardrail and pushed him off”, a spokesman at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said. —AFP
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