8 theSun | WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28 2009

news without borders Can’t get a copy of ?30SEN for delivery to your doorstep
Log on to www.sun2surf.com for more details

briefs
Israeli soldier killed,
Gaza truce breached
Boat people pictures put
GAZA: An Israeli soldier was killed by a bomb
on the border with the Gaza Strip yesterday
and troops then killed a Palestinian, in violence
that strained a ceasefire and left people in Gaza
fearing further Israeli attacks. Ten days after
Israel halted a devastating, three-week air and
ground offensive that killed 1,300 people in the
more pressure on Thailand
enclave, neither the ruling Hamas movement Geithner BANGKOK: Pressure mount- “It looks like there might point of view, is not possible,” of fellow Thais is already
nor its smaller allies claimed responsibility for wins OK ed on Thailand on Monday to be on-going efforts to discredit he said. burdensome. For Rohingyas,
the attack on the patrol. Israeli leaders facing come clean on allegations the Thailand,” he said, suggesting CNN said it obtained the we probably have to do what
an election in two weeks promised voters they for US army towed Rohingya refu- it was a plot by non-govern- pictures, taken a week ago, most other countries do
would hit back hard. “I don’t care who fired,” Treasury, gees out to sea and abandoned mental organisations (NGOs) from somebody involved in – that is, push them out with
said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is leading vows them in engine-less boats, af- to change policy towards an “on-going operation” by humane treatment,” he told
the ruling party in the campaign for the Feb 10 ter CNN showed photographs the Rohingya, a Muslim the army to tow Rohingyas out reporters.
ballot. “Hamas controls Gaza and is responsible quick depicting exactly that. minority from neighbouring to sea. The source stressed the “Whatever we have done
for everything that happens.” – Reuters action Manat Kongpan, the colo- Myanmar. migrants were given adequate has been in line with accept-
pg 10 nel at the heart of persistent “The NGOs are maybe try- food and water before being able practice. We have not
Bahamas paramedic charged allegations of abuse against ing to launch a campaign to abandoned. killed them. If we wanted to
the Rohingya, denied any put pressure on Thailand to The cable news channel do that, why did we give them
in Travolta extortion plot wrongdoing and questioned open a refugee camp for the also interviewed a Rohingya food? It is within our right to
NASSAU:A paramedic has been charged in the veracity of the CNN report Rohingyas which, from our caught on one remote island push them out, since other
connection with a plot to extort US$25 mil- and the pictures. in the Andaman Sea, countries also refuse to accept
lion (RM90 million) from Hollywood star John who said he had been on them,” he said.
Travolta after the death of the actor’s son, a one of six boats carrying More than 230,000 Ro-
senior police official announced on Monday. migrants that arrived in hingya are now living a
Paramedic Tarino Lightbourne was arraigned December. precarious, stateless existence
on charges of extortion and conspiracy to The boats were in Bangladesh, having fled
extort, said Senior Assistant Commissioner towed back out to sea decades of persecution at the
Marvin Dames. Although details of the al- in January but five of hands of Myanmar’s Buddhist
leged plot were unclear, Dames said Light- them sank, the visibly military rulers, according to
bourne was accused of having a “document” distressed man said in a the United Nations refugee
which he was using “to extort a substantial mixture of broken Eng- agency.
sum of monies from the victim, Mr Travolta.” lish and sign language. Tens of thousands more
Police earlier said that Travolta and his wife “All men ... dead,” have left, often in rickety
Kelly Preston filed a complaint after they the man, identified as wooden boats, in search of a
were approached by someone claiming to Iqbal Hussein, said, better life elsewhere. Many
have photographs of their 16-year-old son corroborating other have ended up in Malaysia.
Jett, who died Jan 2 at the family’s vacation survivors’ reports of Rohingya rights groups and
house in Grand Bahama. – AFP boats cut adrift without survivors who washed up on
engines and hundreds India’s Andaman Islands and
Police fire on crowd in of migrants left to die. Aceh in Indonesia in the last
A government four weeks say Thai security
Indonesia’s Papua, three hurt spokesman declined forces towed 992 migrants out
JAKARTA: Three people in Indonesia’s Papua comment, but Army to sea in December.
province were wounded after police opened fire chief Anupong Of the 992, 550 are thought
on a crowd of several thousand trying to attack Paochinda appeared to be missing, feared drowned.
a police building in the city of Timika, a senior to outline a policy of Prime Minister Abhisit Vej-
police official said yesterday. Bagus Eko Danto, giving Rohingya mi- jajiva has promised a full
Papua police chief, said the wounded suffered grants food and water investigation. But he has also
gunshot wounds in the legs and that the trouble and then pushing issued a blanket denial, on
had broken out after a clash between police and them out to sea. behalf of the military, of any
a migrant group living in Timika two days ago. “Taking care abuse. – Reuters
“They wanted to destroy a district police office
and ignored a warning shot, so we shot several
of them,” Bagus said, adding the three wounded
were being treated in hospital. – Reuters

New Year wishes...

Thais praying to usher in the Lunar New Year in
Thailand’s third largest city Khon Kaen, north-
EPAPIX

eastern Thailand on Saturday evening.

Researchers discover compound

that frees excess cholesterol
WASHINGTON: US re-
searchers have identified
in mice a compound that
frees excessive cholesterol
accumulated inside cells, ac-
cording to a study published
on Monday.
The findings, published
in the Proceedings of the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences,
lead the way to therapy for
the Niemann-Pick type C
disease (NP-C), an inherited
disorder characterised by
abnormally high cholesterol
levels in all body organs.
NP-C patients suffer from
a genetic mutation caus-
ing excessive amounts of
cholesterol accumulating in
lysosomes – vesicles in cells
– which leads to liver disease,
dementia and neurodegera-
tion.
The disease’s onset usu-
ally comes in children aged
three to 15. Most children
diagnosed with NP-C die
before age 20 and many die
before age 10.
In its adult form, about
10% of cases, the disease
manifests itself especially
through neurological and
psychological symptoms.
Few people diagnosed with
NP-C ever reach the age of 40.
“What we’ve shown is that
very quickly after adminis-
tration of this compound, the
huge pool of cholesterol that
has just been accumulating in
the cells is suddenly released
and metabolised normally,”
said John Dietschy, senior
author of the study.
“With just one dose, you
excrete a large portion of this
pool of cholesterol.”
The researchers injected
a single dose of CYCLO, a
cholesterol-binding agent,
into mice aged 7 days that
had the NP-C mutation.
Shortly after receiving
the injection, the mice that
received CYCLO began to
process cholesterol just like
the healthy mice.
After 49 days, the mice
that had received a CYCLO
injection continued to dem-
onstrate substantially lower
tissue cholesterol levels than
mice who did not receive the
treatment. The treated mice
also had improved liver
function and less neurode-
generation.
“The key idea is that we
appear to have overcome
the transport defect in the
lysosome that is brought
about by the genetic defect
or mutation,” said Dietschy,
who has studied cholesterol
metabolism for almost 50
years. – AFP