Tunisia overshadows Arab economic summit

18 January 2011 - 18H41

People march along a street during a demonstration in Tunis. A meeting of Arab leaders to discuss trade and development has been overshadowed by the Tunisian uprising, which has emboldened the region's dissidents and led to protesters setting themselves ablaze.

Illustrated chronology on Tunisia as a new government of national unity with Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi at the helm, is installed in an attempt to restore order after the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

A demonstrator tries to catch a tear gas canister during a protest in Tunis. A meeting of Arab leaders to discuss trade and development has been overshadowed by the Tunisian uprising, which has emboldened the region's dissidents and led to protesters setting themselves ablaze.

AFP - A meeting of Arab leaders to discuss trade and development has been overshadowed by the Tunisian uprising, which has emboldened the region's dissidents and led to protesters setting themselves ablaze.

The Wednesday summit will be the first time Arab heads of state gather since veteran Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced to flee last week after days of mass protests sparked by the fiery death of a young Tunisian.

"The Arab world is witnessing today unprecedented political developments and real challenges in the sphere of Arab national security," Kuwait's Foreign Minister Mohammad al-Sabah said on Tuesday.

He told foreign ministers meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh to prepare for the summit: "Countries disintegrate, people conduct uprisings ... and the Arab citizen asks: 'Can the current Arab regime meet these challenges dynamically?'"

He questioned: "Can the regime address the humanitarian suffering of the Arab citizen?"

The uprising in Tunisia was sparked in December by the self immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old who was complaining of unemployment, one of the regional problems that the last Arab economic summit in 2009 was meant to alleviate.

Nine other people have set themselves ablaze in protests across the region.

Even as the foreign ministers were meeting on Tuesday, a man set himself ablaze outside government headquarters in Cairo, an Egyptian security official said. Another, unemployed and described as suffering mental problems, set himself on fire in the northern city of Alexandria.

The incidents follow a similar one in Cairo on Monday in which a man poured fuel on himself and lit it on a busy street in front of the People's Assembly.

He was hospitalised but expected to be released in a day or two, officials said.

A Mauritanian man who told journalists he was unhappy with his government also torched himself outside the senate, following five self immolations in a week in Algeria, which saw protests this month over rising prices.

The foreign minister of Tunisia's newly appointed transitional government, Kamel Morjane, arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to brief his counterparts hours after he was sworn in.

On Tuesday, he said his transitional government's only ambition was to prepare for a free election and reforms.

"The Tunisian people have had their say and won in this popular uprising," he told reporters in Sharm El-Sheikh.

He said the transitional government's term was limited by law and by agreement among all parties.

"Its goal is to set up free presidential elections with integrity ... that will have foreign monitors or observers," he said, adding that those behind armed clashes would be investigated.

The removal of Ben Ali, who rigidly dominated his country for 23 years, encouraged dissidents in the region, where most leaders are either unelected or defeat their harried opponents in disputed polls.

Arab governments have downplayed any comparison with the North African country and its despised ex-president.

But many Arabs complain of poverty and restrictions on freedoms similar to the grievances of Tunisian protesters.

On Monday, Tunisian Interior Minister Ahmed Friaa said 78 people had been killed in the protests and losses to the economy amounted to 1.6 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

How skin cancer cells evade immune system: study

18 January 2011 - 19H14

A sunbather puts on sunblock at the Renaca beach in Vina del Mar, Chile, 2009. Scientists have pinpointed a molecular mechanism in mice which helps skin cancer cells confound the animal's immune system, according to a study released Wednesday.

Mice peer out from a loaf of bread in suburban Tokyo 2008. Scientists have pinpointed a molecular mechanism in mice which helps skin cancer cells confound the animal's immune system, according to a study released Wednesday.

AFP - Scientists have pinpointed a molecular mechanism in mice which helps skin cancer cells confound the animal's immune system, according to a study released Wednesday.

The discovery -- if duplicated in humans -- could one day lead to drug treatments that block this mechanism, and thus the cancer's growth, the study reported.

In experiments on mice, researchers showed for the first time that a protein called interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) plays a key role in the spread of melanoma, a notoriously aggressive form of cancer resistant to standard chemotherapy.

The same kind of ultraviolet radiation that leads to sunburn caused white blood cells to infiltrate the skin of the mice, explained Glenn Merlino, a scientist at the US National Cancer Institute and the main architect of the study.

The white blood cells, in turn, "can produce IFN-gamma. We believe that IFN-gamma can promote melanoma in our model system, and perhaps in people," he said in an email.

Injecting the mice with antibodies that block IFN-gamma interrupted this signalling process, effectively reducing the risk of UV-induced skin cancer, the researchers found.

"We are trying to develop inhibitors that are more practical than antibodies, a small molecule, for example," Merlino said.

Ideally, such a treatment would mean that someone exposed to large doses of UV radiation -- long summers at the beach without protective cream, for example -- could escape the potentially lethal threat of skin cancer.

"But we would never encourage intense sunbathing, even if such a treatment were available," Merlino cautioned.

Cases of cutaneous malignant melanoma are increasing faster than any other type of cancer.

In 2000, over 200,000 cases of melanoma were diagnosed and there were 65,000 melanoma-associated deaths, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The findings, reported in the British-based science journal Nature, could upend assumptions about the relationship between interferon proteins and cancer, the study suggested.

Up to now, interferons were thought to impede the formation of cancer tumours. One in particular, interferon-alpha, has been widely used to treat melanoma, both as a first-line drug and an adjutant.

Earlier research has raised doubts as to effectiveness of the treatment, which also has serious side effects.

The highest recorded incidence was in Australia, where the annual rates are 10 and over 20 times the rates in Europe for women and men respectively.

The main risk factors are high exposure to the sun and other UV sources such as sunbeds, along with genetic factors.

The disease is far more common among people with a pale complexion, blue eyes, and red or fair hair.

French teen sets himself on fire: officials

18 January 2011 - 19H27

High school students and journalists stand at the entrance of a catholic private school in Marseille. A 16-year-old French boy was rushed to hospital Tuesday in a critical condition after setting himself on fire at his school, officials in Marseille said.

AFP - A 16-year-old French boy was rushed to hospital Tuesday in a critical condition after setting himself on fire at his school, officials in Marseille said.

The boy doused himself in a flammable liquid in the toilets of his private school in the southern city and then set himself alight, rescue service officials said.

He has second and third degrees burns over 70 percent of his body, they said. Hospital officials said the boy was in a critical condition.

A schoolmate told AFP that he had heard screams and ran out to see the boy on fire running down the stairs towards the school yard and that a school worker had extinguished the flames.

Marseille prosecutor Jacques Dallest, who went to the school, said it was too early to say why the boy had set himself alight but that he may have been influenced "by what he may have seen in the media about North Africa."

Several people have set themselves on fire in the Arab world to copy a Tunisian whose self-immolation sparked a popular revolt in the north African state.

The boy managed to make it from the second floor to the school yard where he had managed to say "I'm sick of it all" before collapsing in front of schoolmates, the prosecutor said

An 18-year-old schoolboy from the southwestern town of Bordeaux has been in a coma since November 18 when he set himself on fire in his school.

I Coast's Gbagbo agrees to talks in fight for presidency

18 January 2011 - 19H31

People stand by closed stores in the pro-Ouattara popular district of Adjame's great market in Abidjan. Laurent Gbagbo gave new assurances Tuesday that he is open to talks with his rival for the Ivory Coast presidency, while regional leaders mulled military intervention to break the deadlock.

People walk by closed stores in the pro-Ouattara popular district of Adjame's great market in Abidjan. Laurent Gbagbo gave new assurances Tuesday that he is open to talks with his rival for the Ivory Coast presidency, while regional leaders mulled military intervention to break the deadlock.

Ivory Coast incumbent strongman Laurent Gbagbo, left, welcomes Kenyan premier and African Union envoy Raila Odinga, on January 17. Gbagbo has given new assurances that he is open to talks over the tussle for the Ivory Coast presidency, as regional leaders mull military intervention to break the deadlock.

AFP - Laurent Gbagbo gave new assurances Tuesday that he is open to talks with his rival for the Ivory Coast presidency, while regional leaders mulled military intervention to break the deadlock.

The proposal for talks was delivered Monday by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga on a fresh round of mediation to persuade Gbagbo to step down and end a seven-week standoff that has left scores dead and raised fears of civil war.

There was "an offer of dialogue between the two camps. It was accepted... a meeting depends on the response of the (Alassane) Ouattara camp," Gbagbo government spokesman Ahoua Don Mello said.

Ouattara, recognised as winner of a November 28 election by the Ivory Coast's voting authority and the international community, did not immediately comment.

Gbagbo has said before that he is willing to talk with his rival but he has refused all offers to give up the presidency, including exile and immunity from prosecution for crimes against humanity.

The leader of the world's top cocoa-producing nation for 10 years, Gbagbo was declared the election victor by the Constitutional Council. He retains control of the presidential palace and the army.

Odinga, mediator for the African Union which has said that Gbagbo must go, was optimistic about his latest round of negotiations and awaiting replies to proposals made Monday, his spokesman Salim Lone said.

"I don't want to create the impression that a big breakthrough is about to happen but he feels more optimistic than the last time," Lone said. The Kenyan's first trip ended on January 5 with little tangible progress.

"He is waiting to see what emerges from the proposals he has made," Lone said.

Odinga met with ambassadors Tuesday but it was unclear if he would talk with the presidential rivals again, he said. The length of his stay "depends on if he can make good progress," he said.

Pro-Ouattara suburbs of Abidjan were shut down by a general strike against the Gbagbo Tuesday but elsewhere in the city it was business as usual, AFP reporters said.

"We are tired of these disruptions... We want to go about our business," complained a woman in the Abobo suburb where public transport was disrupted, and shops and schools shut.

Regional military chiefs opened two days of talks in Mali that will finalise a last-ditch plan to use force to remove Gbagbo if necessary.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) officers would work off a report drawn up in December that envisages Nigeria at the head of a possible regional intervention force, a participant told AFP.

"Our preparations are very advanced and we are ready to move into action if necessary and that must be clear," senior Nigerian officer Olusegun Petinrin said.

ECOWAS chairman, the Nigerian resident Goodluck Jonathan, said in a statement that the group wanted a peaceful resolution to the impasse but "we have not changed the position we took during our last summit," when the threat to use force was made.

Jonathan said "the votes of citizens must count after they are cast, or democracy will not take hold in the continent," the statement said.

French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie meanwhile warned: "The use of force should only be considered as a very last resort because given the balance of the armed forces there would be the risk of a high number of casualties."

More than 200 people have been killed in clashes since the contested election.

The United Nations Security Council delayed a vote due Tuesday to send 2,000 extra troops into Ivory Coast, diplomats said. It was not immediately known how long the delay would last.

The number is the maximum requested by UN commanders fearing a growing showdown with Gbagbo, who has demanded several times that UN forces leave. The new deployment would take the UN force up to about 11,500 troops.

EU probes Scania, Volvo and MAN for cartel suspicions

A truck of Swedish company Scania (L) and one of German truckmaker MAN. Europe's competition watchdog launched surprise inspections at trucking companies in Germany, Italy and Sweden on Tuesday over suspicions they may have formed an illegal cartel.

AFP - Europe's competition watchdog launched surprise inspections at trucking companies in Germany, Italy and Sweden on Tuesday over suspicions they may have formed an illegal cartel.

Among firms inspected were Sweden's Scania and Volvo, Germany's Daimler and MAN, and Iveco in Italy.

The commission said it had "reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices and/or the abuse of a dominant market position".

The European Union's executive branch did not reveal the names of the companies, following standard practice.

But Swedish company Scania confirmed it was among the companies investigated by the European Commission for "inappropriate exchange of information" and vowed to cooperate fully with the probe.

Scania's head office in Soedertalje as well as the head offices of its sales firms in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg were probed, said spokesman company Hans-Ake Danielsson.

"They have visited us today around lunch to get hold of our archives and so on as they do as usual," he said. "It was not a dawn raid but rather an afternoon tea raid," he laughed.

Volvo also confirmed it was involved. Spokesman Maarten Wikforss said "they are also examining our subsidiaries." The Swedish giant owns Volvo trucks as well as Renault Trucks, Mack and UD Trucks.

German heavy truck maker and engineering group MAN said its headquarters had been searched and that it was cooperating with investigators.

"MAN has pledged its full cooperation to the European Union?s antitrust authorities in the antitrust proceedings against several European truck manufacturers," a statement said.

MAN added that it "does not tolerate any breaches of compliance" and that it "does not currently expect customers to have suffered prejudice."

Officials at rival Daimler, the world's largest maker of heavy trucks, also confirmed it had been probed as did Iveco.

In September, British watchdog the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it had launched a probe into alleged price-fixing by major European truckmakers, including German giants Daimler and MAN, resulting in the arrest of one person.

British offices of Mercedes-Benz, owned by German vehicle giant Daimler, were also raided and MAN as well as Scania and Volvo said they had been asked to provide the OFT with information regarding the probe.

Unannounced EU inspections are a preliminary step and do not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour, the commission said in a statement.

Fines can be as high as 10 percent of turnover.

Commission officials were accompanied by their counterparts from national competition authorities in the inspections.

There is no legal deadline to complete the investigation and the duration depends on several factors, including the complexity of each case and the extent to which companies cooperate with investigators.

Bond heads to Dubai in new novel

18 January 2011 - 21H05

Daniel Craig, shown here in 2008, is the sixth actor to play British super spy James Bond in the film series. Bond will head to the glitzy gulf emirate of Dubai, itself no stranger to real-life espionage and assassination, in a new book titled "Carte Blanche," local papers said.

British super spy James Bond, shown here in 2008 during the filming of "Quantum of Solace," willl head to the glitzy gulf emirate of Dubai, itself no stranger to real-life espionage and assassination, in a new book titled "Carte Blanche," local papers said.

AFP - British super spy James Bond will head to the glitzy Gulf emirate of Dubai, itself no stranger to real-life espionage and assassination, in a new book titled "Carte Blanche," its author said Tuesday.

"This place is... so culturally vibrant, so picturesque, so full of fascinating, multicultural individuals," Jeffery Deaver said during a talk in Dubai. "This is an exotic city that is worthy of James Bond."

While in Dubai about a year ago, "I became enamoured of the city. I walked around, I took notes, I took a lot of pictures, and I said, some day, I'm going to set something here," Deaver said.

After agreeing to write the next Bond novel, "I knew at that point, at last, I had found a story to set in Dubai," he said.

Deaver was reticent about plot details, but he did say that in "Carte Blanche," Bond is "a young agent for the British government. He was born, roughly, in the late 1970s, and the book takes place in the present day."

In the course of the book, Bond "flies here and gets involved in a lot of intrigue, very fast-paced action, races through the streets."

"He does meet some local folks who are extremely helpful to him, and by and large has some wonderful food, wonderful drink as I have done here, and then I have to say he does jet out," Deaver said.

He did not mention plans for a film version of the novel, but The National newspaper said Tuesday that the possibility of a movie adaptation "has already been raised."

Parts of the latest "Mission: Impossible" film, another spy thriller series, were filmed in Dubai.

Deaver said Sean Connery, one of the first actors to play 007 in the hit films inspired by the books, and Daniel Craig, the latest to do so, are his favourites, but that his image of Bond came from creator Ian Fleming's novels.

Deaver is the latest in a series of authors who have kept writing the Bond books since Fleming died in 1964. "Carte Blanche" is due out in May.

Dubai, best known for its man-made islands, indoor ski slope and hyper-modern skyscrapers, including the world's tallest building, has seen its share of real-life cloak and dagger intrigue.

In January last year, Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a founder of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, was found dead in his Al-Bustan Rotana hotel room. He was wanted in Israel for the alleged murder of two Israelis.

Dubai police chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan accused Israeli spy agency Mossad of being behind the killing.

The emirate's police released footage of his alleged assassins filmed by hotel closed-circuit security cameras and said that 26 passports that in many cases appeared either to have been faked or obtained illegally had been used by the 26 people believed linked to the murder.

Less than a year before the Mabhuh killing, Chechen leader Sulim Yamadayev, a bitter foe of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, was gunned down in a car parking outside his flat at Dubai's Jumeirah Beach Residence complex.

Yamadayev left Russia and moved to Dubai in 2009, fearing for his life after a brother was assassinated in September 2008, according to Russian media.

Khalfan accused Chechen Vice Prime Minister Adam Delimkhanov of ordering Yamadayev's assassination.

7.4-magnitude earthquake shakes Pakistan: USGS

18 January 2011 - 22H04

A major 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit southwest Pakistan on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said.

AFP - A major 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit southwest Pakistan on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake struck at around 1:20 am local time (2023 Tuesday GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) with its epicentre around 50 kilometres west of the town of Dalbandin, close to the border with Afghanistan.

The epicentre was around 300 kilometres (200 miles) east of the Iranian city of Zahedan, USGS said.

Pakistani-administered Kashmir, in the country's northeast, was hit by a major earthquake in 2005.