Today's News..

1. Cheong Wa Dae strongly comdemned the militant group for killing a second Korean hostage in Afghanistan and threatened to take stern countermeasures if more Korean captives are killed..

2. Thousands of police raied a New Core store early yesterday morning to forcefully disperse workers who have been holding a sit-in strike for the past three days..

3. Former comfort women hailed yesterday the passage of a resolution by the U.S. House of Representatives, urging Japan to officially apologize to the victims and acknowledge its historical responsibility..

4. The prosecutors yesterday sent questionnaire to Lee Myung-bak, a leading presidential contender of the GNP, as part of its investigation into the allegation of real estate speculation and other irregularities..

5. Imported baking mixtures and half-made pastries contain 10 times more trans fat on average than those made with local ingredients, a government report said..



China assure the U.S. it is not a threat..

In his continuing visit to China, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was told by a senior Chinese official that China is no econ0mic threat to anyone and that it is still grappling with poverty. Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi expressed her pleasure that Paulson had visited the impoverished Qinghai province and seen the difference between rural China and burgeoning cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Wu said that there are still 23 million people living in poverty in China, and that China's economic development goal was to provide for all 1.3 billion citizens. She added that, China does not and will never threaten anyone."
The visit comes amid a push by lawmakers in the U.S. to pressure China into stabilizing its currency and allowing more open markets. An increasing number of Americans are crying foul over their country's trade deficit with China..


Coffee could combat skin cancer..

Recent research suggests that routine coffee drinking, when combined with regular exercise, could help in warding off some skin cancers more than if each was done alone. The senior author of the study warns that the results are no reason to discontinue regular sun-protection practices, however, since the study was only performed on animals. Although earlier studies have shown that caffeine intake or exercise indivisually can fight the onset of cancer, the new study shows that a combination of the two is more effective. The caffeine and exercise factors apparently work in tandem to help kill off cells that were damaged by UV rays before malignancy sets in,k which causes cancer. He says, "We really don't know how that happens." He also said that he din not know whether the factors would work in humans, and that he hopes to carry out a clinical study on human next..



From Morning Special..