A major Japanese beverage company said Thursday it was recalling some 650,000 bottles of distilled spirits it had made with pesticide-tainted rice which was illegally marketed as edible.

Asahi Breweries Ltd. said it was voluntarily recalling four brands of “imo shochu”, a popular liquor produced mostly from sweet potatoes, at a cost of about 1.5 billion yen (14 million dollars).

The rice was used since June in the process of fermenting sweet potatoes for the spirits. …

Prostitutes and their clients in Italy face prison terms of up to 15 days and fines of up to 13,000 euros after the Italian government on Thursday agreed to outlaw prostitution in public places.

The new legislation is to “crack down hard” on prostitution as it encourages trafficking in women and sex slavery, Equal Opportunity Minister Mara Carfagna said.

The new law, which must still be adopted in parliament, does not ban prostitution altogether because it does not outlaw…

The 1970s hit book “The Joy of Sex” is back in an updated version targeted at those who like a little variety in their sexual games.

The original book, featuring a bearded man and his partner demonstrating the art of love in intimate if sketchy detail, sold millions of copies after its first publication in 1972.

But the new edition has been brought fully up to date — for the first time by a female author, who, while praising the original author Dr. Alex Comfort, says the…

The Singapore government has announced that it will put special markings on every cigarette sold legally starting next year as the city-state steps up the fight against contraband sales.

From January 1 2009, every cigarette on sale will come with the letters “SDPC” stamped near the filter, Singapore Customs said in a statement monitored on its website on Thursday.

SDPC stands for Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarettes.

“All unmarked cigarettes will be deemed to be dut…

An official statement has said that the South African government has approved trials on genetically-modified sorghum in a bid to improve nutrition in Africa.

The official nod to undertake the greenhouse trials on sorghum was given to South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), one of the key scientific agencies in an international research project to enhance the nutritional values of sorghum, the CSIR text said.

Sorghum is an African crop and sta…

A UNICEF survey published on Friday by The Lancet says that child mortality is falling significantly in many regions, but remains “grossly” high in most of Africa and parts of South Asia.

The assessment looks at progress towards achieving the fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG), which calls for a two-thirds reduction in the mortality of children aged less than five in 2015 compared to 1990.

As of 2007, there had been a fall of 52 percent in the UN’s East Asia and Pac…

A Croatian minister declared on Thursday that the government will forward a new and tougher anti-tobacco bill to parliament. The new bill aims at making anti-smoking laws more severe and also includes a ban on smoking in public.

“With the new law, we want to change people’s (smoking) habits and protect non-smokers,” Health Minister Darko Milinovic said.

The bill, in line with standards of the European Union which Zagreb aspires to join by 2010, envisages a smoking ban in …

Moong Dhal Vegetable Soup

This moong dhal veg soup is easy to make, also it is nourishing and tasty and is a satisfying simple meal with rice or chapatti.

Moong dhal soup can be made thin and blended smooth, to be used as a gravy. It can be made thick, spicy and unblended, with bits of fresh ginger, tomato and cilantro.

You can now try moong dhal, thick and chunky with vegetables. You can eat it often, because it’s satisfying, easily digested, and versatile. It goes with every kind of grain or vegetable, and freezes well for quick meals.

This version of moong dhal calls for yam and spinach, but it’s also tasty with cauliflower or carrot and green beans, or tomato or potato instead of yam. Vary the veggies according to your taste.

Don’t skimp on the oil, as legumes are astringent, and the oil makes the soup smooth and rich. Plus this is a big recipe. We suggest freezing what you don’t eat for another day.

Ingredients for 8 servings

3 cups moong dhal
1 large yam, peeled and chopped in bite sized pieces(or250gms cauliflower,carrot and green beans)
2 stalks celery, washed and sliced thin
2 cups washed, chopped fresh spinach or frozen spinach
1 – 2 Tblsp fresh minced ginger
2 – 4 Tblsp olive oil, or safflower oil
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
6 green cardamom pods
1 Tblsp gr. cumin
1 Tblsp gr. coriander
1 tsp gr. fennel
1 tsp powdered turmeric

Optional: pinch hing (asafetida)

1 – 2 tsp rock salt
6 cups water or vegan soup stock
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tblsp lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Wash and rinse the dhal. Soak in hot water to cover for an hour, or 4 – 8 hours in cold water.

Drain the dhal, place in a medium stock pot, and cover with 6 cups of the water or soup stock. Bring to a boil, skim the foam, add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, and fresh ginger.

Add the chopped celery, vegetables or yam and ginger to the dhal, and bring back to a boil.

Reduce heat to simmer, and cook covered for an hour or more, stirring occasionally. Add more water or stock if the soup seems too thick.

When the dhal is soft but still intact, fish out the cinnamon stick, bay leaf and the cardamom pods if you can find them.

Heat the oil on low in a small frying pan. Mix in the dry spices and salt, and heat until foaming – keep your eye on them so they don’t burn

Spoon a cup of liquid from the dhal, and stir into the spice mixture. Transfer all to the dhal soup and stir it in.

Add the chopped spinach and lemon juice, and cook for 5 – 10 minutes or until the spinach is thawed or wilted

Serve garnished with fresh chopped cilantro.

Obesity and Body Mass Index (BMI)

Some Facebook users are struggling to come to terms with the new look of the popular social networking site, which became mandatory Wednesday. Facebook says the new look is a faster, streamlined and more spam-resistant format.

The Northern California firm actually rolled out revamped profile pages back in May, having learned from past experience how touchy Facebook members can be about tinkering with their cherished online community’s website.

Nearly 30 million of Faceboo…

Threats to a successful Cambodian condom campaign has raised fears the country could experience a second epidemic of the disease, health officials said Wednesday.

Tia Phalla, of Cambodia’s National AIDS Authority, said the country’s so-called 100 percent condom use programme, which provides sex education and distributes condoms to sex workers, “is facing difficulties” because of a new anti-sex trafficking law and lack of financial support.

Police began a crackdown on brot…

While Nadal emerged this year as Federer’s toughest opponent on any surface, mononucleosis provided his stiffest challenge. The virus that causes the illness can tear through the body like a storm, with vestiges affecting the body for months. In 2007, Mario Ancic, a Croat who had cracked the top 10 at the end of 2006, contracted the illness, sat out six months to recover and saw his world ranking plummet to No. 85.

Federer, 27, dropped only one spot, from No. 1 to No. 2, but his fall set off seismic shock waves in tennis because of his seeming invincibility the previous four years.

He left tennis for six weeks after losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open, a tournament he played believing his general malaise was due to food poisoning. It was not until March that Federer found out his lingering fatigue was a function of much more than bad food, frequent travel or physical exertion.

Federer was still feeling the effects of the illness this summer. Traveling 12 time zones to New York after winning the gold medal in doubles for Switzerland in Beijing, Federer experienced the Olympic hangover that dominated the conversation during the first week of the Open.

Fatigue was cause for concern. “I was so tired after Beijing coming here, and then of course I’m a bit worried,” Federer said. He added, “Maybe I put it down as sickness when I still feel a little bit slow sometimes.”

There was no rest for the weary. Federer’s draw provided inviting targets for him to shoot for and ammunition in the form of revenge. One by one, he picked off players who had beaten him earlier in the year. ”

In the third round, he prevailed in four sets against Radek Stepanek, who had upset him in Rome; in the semifinals, he knocked off Djokovic in four sets. .”

Murray’s upset of Nadal in a semifinal, which was contested over two days because of Tropical Storm Hanna’s intrusion, afforded Federer one more chance to avenge an earlier loss. ”

The United States dominates Europe in spending on higher education, according to data published by the OECD Tuesday.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that several European countries risked endangering “the quality of the programmes offered” because they were neither increasing spending on higher education nor allowing universities to charge for their courses.

On average, universities in the United States spent 24,370 dollars (17,200 euros) …

An UN body has warned in a new report that the use of synthetic drugs such as amphetamine, methamphetamine (meth) and ecstasy is growing in developing countries, notably in Asia and the Middle East, and in the Gulf states in particular.

While demand for such drugs has stabilised or even declined in North America, Europe and Oceania, “the problem has shifted to new markets over the past few years,” the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime said in a new report.

“Asia, with its hu…

Roger Federer owns a dazzling array of shots, a keen court sense and a winning disposition.

He’s also got a pretty good set of ears. And he could hear what the tennis world was saying about him: At 27, his reign at the top was over.

“I was aware of it,” he said.

Whatever, that version of the vulnerable Federer who was battling mononucleosis was nowhere to be seen at center court on Monday. Instead, the Roger of old returned, overwhelming Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to win his fifth straight U.S. Open championship and 13th Grand Slam title.

“I felt like I was invincible for a while again,” Federer said.

In life also you can triumph against all odds and reign over situations when you believe in yourself. Never give up! This is the message of “ Roger Federer s’ victory for one and all.

Mononucleosis and Treatment: Mononucleosis popularly known as the “kissing disease’ is an infectious disease caused by the Epstein-Barr virus; that invades a type of white blood cells called a monocyte and is characterized by fever, swelling of lymph nodes and sore throat.

No specific treatment is necessary in most cases. The illness usually passes much the same way other common viral illness resolve. Doctors however, recommend fluids and bed rest .  Normal activities can be resumed as temperature turns normal and strength returns.

Tips for the care of individuals with mono:

For fever and pain due to swollen lymph glands: Doctors generally recommend ibuprofen and acetaminophen. 

For sore throat: Drink fruit juices, milk shakes, fruit juices, broths, and eat  cool, bland foods. Additionally gargle with aspirin dissolved in hot water.

Note:  An antibiotic will be prescribed to treat that condition if mono is accompanied by a streptococcal infection of the throat. In severe cases, corticosteroid drugs that reduce swelling may be prescribed.

With an enlarged spleen: avoid sporting activities for at least four weeks. Though most people recover in six to eight weeks, in some cases it takes as long as six months for complete recovery. A tired feeling, which may include depression, is the last symptom to disappear. Mono may return in a milder form within a few months. Mono almost never reappears in full-blown form after a year.

A new family bill that would have made it easier for men to have multiple wives, has been amended by Iranian MPs following protests by both top clerics and women’s rights advocates.

Parliament’s judicial commission voted to scrap two articles, including one relating to polygamy, in the Family Protection Bill, committee spokesman Amin Rahimi told Iran News Network’s website.

Article 23 required men simply to obtain a judicial permit to remarry to confirm they can provide f…

A new report released on Monday says that five pubs close every day in Britain, a sharp increase over previous years and a clear reflection of the downturn gripping the country’s economy.

The figures released by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) show that over the first six months of this year, an average of 36 pubs closed each week, a 33 percent increase over last year’s figures.

Pub closures this year are nine times what they were in 2006, and 18 times faster …

Even as rival Microsoft strives to focus the spotlight on its Zune devices, Apple is expected to unveil hip new versions of its iPod MP3 music players Tuesday at a theatrical “Let’s Rock” event.

Apple set devotees and the Internet abuzz with a trademark minimalist invitation to a press event in downtown San Francisco.

The email invitation sent late last week says “Let’s Rock” and contains a brightly colored silhouette of a person leaping enthusiastically while listening t…

Like many other women in Iran, 32-year-old Shirin has opted to have her baby by Caesarian section although she admits she is not too posh to push.

Medical officials say 40 percent of children in Iran are born by C-section on average, but the percentage in Tehran is as high as one in every two deliveries — and it is greater than 60 percent in Isfahan and Gilan provinces.

“The World Health Organisation recommends a Caesarean section rate of 10 to 15 percent,” said gynaecol…

A French court on Monday sentenced a cosmetic surgeon to four years in prison for mutilating and endangering the lives of dozens of his patients.

Michel Maure, who claimed to be one of the world’s best plastic surgeons, was arrested in Spain last month after going missing while awaiting the verdict of his trial in the southern French city of Marseille.

The sentence was handed down in absentia and Spanish authorities were expected to transfer him to French custody within t…

Vietnam and the United States on Monday launched a third round of talks aimed at figuring out how to limit the environmental impact of Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant used during the Vietnam war.

“Everyone here today understands the importance of this issue to US-Vietnam relations and to the Vietnamese people,” US Ambassador Michael Michalak said as he opened the week-long meeting, now an annual event.

US forces sprayed about 80 million litres (21 million gallons) of Ag…

City authorities in Delhi have rounded up 20,000 free-roaming cattle in the past year to improve health and safety standards, officials said Monday.

“Last month alone we caught about 2,000 cows,” an official from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which presented the annual figures to the Delhi High Court last week, told AFP.

“We keep catching cows as they are constantly brought into the city,” said the official, who declined to be named.

The court has …

A 59-year-old Frenchwoman has given birth by Caesarian section to two boys and a girl, who are in good health, the Paris hospital treating her said on Monday.

“Everything went smoothly,” said a spokesman at the Cochin hospital, adding that the babies were delivered overnight Saturday.

The woman, of Vietnamese origin, is thought to have resorted to a private Vietnamese clinic willing to overlook the age limit for egg donation and in vitro fertilisation (IVF), set at 45 in Vi…

The high number of injuries from car accidents on Bulgarian roads this summer has drained the blood banks, boosting an already existing illegal blood trade, according to doctors.

“In most hospitals the blood situation is tragic in August,” Balina Bozova, head of the transfusion unit at a hospital in the southern town of Haskovo told the Standard newspaper.

“Now our ward has only minimum supplies of blood for every type and if we are faced with a major situation where larg…

Indonesia has borne the brunt of the avian influenza (bird flu) with more than 50pct of the victims coming from this Asian nation. But the country’s health ministry still adamantly refuses to share virus samples with WHO under the pretext of “global conspiracies” meant to harm developing countries like itself.

However, sharing such virus samples with the world’s health regulatory body can definitely help develop a vaccine before the virus further mutates and becomes transmissible bet…

A German court ruled on Friday that a popular US tobacco company cannot continue marketing its cigarettes as “organic”. The court order says that such a marketing gimmick amounts to misleading consumers and gives way for unfair competition. The company, however, maintains that its cigarette complies with all EU regulations on organic products.

The regional court in this northern city said that Santa Fe Natural Tobacco may no longer sell its Natural American Spirit brand with the labe…

Army officials have warned that the US Army is on track to break last year’s all-time record for suicides, a pace that would top the civilian suicide rate for the first time since the Vietnam war.

The officials said 93 soldiers have taken their own lives so far this year, approaching last year’s 115 suicides, the most ever on record in a single year for the army.

“With four months left, we’re probably going to surpass 115,” said Colonel Eddie Stephens, the army’s deputy d…

Honor killings in Jordan have become extremely common as highlighted by the case of 18-year-old Maha who has killed by her brother when she decided that she wanted to quit her family’s prostitution ring.

Maha is one of hundreds, if not thousands, of women in Jordan and other conservative societies who rights groups say are killed every year by their male relatives in so-called honour crimes for “sullying” the reputation of their families.

The United Nations has reported s…

Children born to an older father run a greater risk of developing a bipolar disorder than other kids, a Swedish study showed on Tuesday.

“Children whose father was 55 years old or more (at the time of conception) run about a 37-percent greater risk of suffering from (bipolar disorder) than children whose fathers were in their 20s,” Emma Frans, a researcher at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, told AFP.

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a severe mood di…

The Scottish government is considering banning alcohol sales to under-21s to make “the streets safer and communities better” and counter mounting drinking problems, Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond said Wednesday.

The leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) told BBC Radio his country had a “serious problem” with alcohol misuse, which costs Scotland about 2.25 billion pounds a year in lost productivity and medical bills.

The proposal was included in the governmen…

Experts have opined that revelations that the 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin is pregnant highlight the difficulties of getting American teens to just say “No.”

News that Bristol Palin was expecting her first child thrust the issue of teenage pregnancy into the spotlight and exposed the schism between advocates of “abstinence only” and comprehensive sex education programs.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin expressed opposition to explicit s…