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297411
Fri, 08/30/2013 - 12:05
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Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ From foreign press Officials in Pakistan have overturned the jail sentence and ordered a retrial of a doctor who helped the CIA in their search for Osama Bin Laden. Shakil Afridi was charged with treason and tried under the tribal justice system for running a fake vaccination programme to gather information. He was jailed for 33 years in May 2012 and has been held since then at Peshawar Central Jail. Bin Laden was killed by US forces in Abbottabad in May 2011. His killing created a crisis in relations between the US and Pakistan, which felt the covert operation was a violation of its sovereignty. His cousin, Qamar Nadeem Afridi, told the BBC it was a "great development" and said the "true facts" would now come out. Although Dr Afridi's conviction has been overturned, his retrial will still be heard under tribal jurisdiction in a closed court. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says there is no guarantee that a similar verdict will not be reached. What Dr Afridi did angered many Pakistanis and to release him would be politically very damaging, some reporters says. xxxxxxx Drinking alcohol before first pregnancy is likely to boost a woman's risk of breast cancer later in life, U.S. researchers said Wednesday. Previous studies have looked at breast cancer risk and alcohol consumption later in life or at the effect of adolescent drinking on noncancerous breast disease. However, the link between alcohol consumption during the period of time between a woman's first menstrual period and first pregnancy and the risk of breast cancer had not been reported. According to researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, breast tissue is particularly susceptible to carcinogens during that period of time. They analyzed data from 116,671 female registered nurses, aged 25 to 44, on medical history, reproductive history, and lifestyle. With the exclusion of women who did not meet the predetermined study criteria, 91,005 women with a history of full-term pregnancy were included in the final analysis. Among these women, 1,609 cases of breast cancer and 970 cases of benign breast disease occurred during the study period. The researchers reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that "the longer the duration of menarche (first period) to first pregnancy, the higher is a woman's risk of breast cancer. " Compared with nondrinkers with a shorter duration, nondrinkers with duration of 10 or more years between menarche and first pregnancy had 26 percent and 81 percent increased risk of breast cancer and proliferative benign breast disease respectively, they said. According to the study, for every daily drink a young woman takes, she increases her lifetime risk of breast cancer by 13 percent. The study also found that for every bottle of beer, glass of wine or shot of liquor consumed daily, a young woman increases her risk of proliferative benign breast disease by 15 percent. Although such lesions are noncancerous, their presence increases breast cancer risk by as much as 500 percent. "Parents should educate their daughters about the link between drinking and risk of breast cancer and breast disease," lead author Ying Liu said. "That's very important because this time period is very critical." The researchers said the findings call for more research into what young women can do to counteract alcohol's adverse effects if they choose to drink. Past studies that didn't consider alcohol use suggest that eating more fiber and exercising more lowers cancer risk for everyone. xxxxxxx Half of Vietnamese share a surname few foreigners can pronounce. From Hanoi to Hollywood, tens of millions of Vietnamese share one surname: Nguyen. The prime minister is Nguyen Tan Dung; there is a Vietnamese-American actor, Dustin Nguyen; and Nguyen is already on the lists of most popular surnames in the US, Australia and several European countries. Pronunciation is fiendishly tricky for foreigners with the combination of "ng", tricky vowels and unfamiliar tones. The best that most of us can manage is "nwee-yen" or even just "win". The name is probably derived from a Chinese root. Over many centuries, thousands of families chose--or were forced--to change their name to Nguyen as a sign of loyalty to successive Vietnamese rulers. As a result not all Nguyens are the same. Some may be the children of former emperors, others the offspring of former rebels. xxxxxxx A government survey shows that 3 out of 4 respondents are interested in issues related to the Senkaku Islands, which are controlled by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan. The nationwide survey in mid-July examined public awareness of the issue involving the islands in the East China Sea. Of 3,000 randomly selected people aged 20 or older, about 1,800 responded. Ninety-one percent said they know about the Senkaku Islands, while 8 percent said they don't. Of them, 75 percent said they know that Chinese government ships have repeatedly entered Japanese waters near the islands. Seventy-five percent said Japan has been lodging protests with China. Cabinet Secretariat officials in charge of the survey say they will step up publicity efforts to further heighten public awareness of the issue.

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