Priced-out Londoners turn to empty homes

London is one of the most expensive places to live on the planet, but it is also home to tens of thousands of empty properties -- and some people are taking matters into their own hands.

Squatters have taken over buildings in some of the most upmarket areas of London, most recently on Leicester Square, where a group of artists have set up a home in a disused office block.

Those seeking a more conventional route have struck short-term residential lets with the owners of prime business space which they have struggled to rent out because of the recession.

"We're a bit spoilt for choice when it comes to properties. In central London there's a plethora of prime real estate that's simply going to waste," said Dan Simon, whose squatter movement took over the Leicester Square block.

His artistic group, called The Oubliettes, is making a habit of occupying top London buildings, where they show their work and hold art classes. Previous 'homes' include the former Mexican embassy in the plush Mayfair district.

Their latest project is an unimpressive office block in a highly impressive location -- right next door to the Odeon West End cinema which regularly hosts glamorous red carpet film premieres.

Simon said "financial constraints" were a big motivation for their movement but insists their presence benefits landlords because empty buildings can attract crime and fall into a state of disrepair.

Across the River Thames in the up-and-coming district of Denmark Hill, David Ireland, chief executive of campaign group Empty Homes Agency, made the same point as he stood outside a row of 18 boarded-up homes in a single street.

"Things like this attract petty crime and attract a feeling of the area in decline," he told AFP.

Ireland said the houses, some of which have been empty for years, could be used for new homes.

"The UK is a country which has got huge housing need and a lot of need for new homes, and yet we've got a million that could be used if only the attention was paid to them instead of always looking at new homes," he said.

Rents in London are among the highest in the world, with a one-bedroom flat in the city centre costing at least 300 pounds a week.

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wants to deliver 50,000 more affordable homes across the capital by 2011, and empty homes are part of this strategy.

His housing blueprint published in May puts the number of long-term empty properties in London at about 35,000, and the mayor has vowed to invest 60 million pounds by 2011 to bring them back into use.

Back in Denmark Hill, the hospital trust that owns 12 of the empty houses says they are being sold, and officials elsewhere say many of the homes listed as empty are simply awaiting sale -- a process extended by the housing slump.

For those homes left to languish, local councils have a variety of means to bring them back into use, ranging from providing grants to redevelop them to compulsory purchase orders.

Philippa Roe, the councillor with responsibility for housing in Westminster, which includes Leicester Square, said her local authority is trying to "look creatively" at the problem -- including using so-called property 'guardians'.

Unable to rent out one of its office blocks in the central Soho district, the council turned to an association that found short-term tenants willing to live there for minimal rent -- a win-win solution for both sides. (AFP)

Spain and Greece start swine flu vaccinations

Spain and Greece launched vaccination campaigns against swine flu on Monday, health officials in both countries said.

Swine flu has killed at least 90 people in Spain, while press reports say fewer than 10 people have died in Greece. Athens has for weeks released no official figures on fatalities or on the number of cases.

Spain's health ministry said the government has bought 37 million doses of the A(H1N1) flu vaccine and will start inoculating high-risk groups such as pregnant women, health workers and those with serious illnesses.

Health authorities in Greece said a total of 700,000 doses would be made available on a voluntary basis to doctors, ambulance staff and other high-risk employees. A second vaccination wave will follow next week for pregnant women and people with underlying health concerns, officials said.

The campaign will continue to mid-December with people aged 18-49, children and adolescents, and those over 50, the Greek health ministry said.

The United States began swine flu vaccinations on October 6. In Europe, Britain and France began their own campaigns late last month, after similar actions in Belgium, Italy and Sweden.

In Tunisia, the government announced on Monday the North African country's first two swine flu fatalities.

The two men, a sailor aged 37 and another man aged 40, died in hospital at the weekend, Tunisia's public health ministry said.

The sailor was suffering from serious hepatitis worsened by the flu and the other man had serious heart problems, the ministry added.

According to health officials, 210 people in Tunisia have been infected by the A(H1N1) virus.

In Turkey, health officials said on Monday another 13 people had lost their lives to the virus, bringing the total number of swine flu deaths there to 73.

At least 6,250 people have died of swine flu worldwide, with most of the deaths recorded in the Americas, according to the World Health Organisation. It said the pandemic now stretches across 206 countries or territories worldwide. (AFP)

Vitamin D deficiency linked to strokes, heart disease: study

Insufficient intake of vitamin D, long known to play a key role in bone health, may significantly increase a person's risk of stroke, heart disease and even death, a US study said Monday.

Examining 27,686 Utah patients aged 50 or older with no history of cardiovascular disease, the study found those with very low vitamin D levels were 77 percent more likely to die early than those with normal levels.

They were also found to be 45 percent more likely to develop coronary artery disease and 78 percent were more likely to have a stroke, said the research by the Heart Institute at the Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

Those with very low levels of vitamin D were twice as likely to develop heart failure, said the study which was due to be presented later Monday at a conference organized by the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida.

"If increasing levels of vitamin D can decrease some risk associated with these cardiovascular diseases, it could have a significant public health impact," said study co-author Heidi May, noting that vitamin D deficiency is easily treatable.

"When you consider that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America, you understand how this research can help improve the length and quality of people's lives."

Studies have shown that Vitamin D also helps regulated key body functions such as blood pressure, inflammation and glucose control -- all related to heart disease -- and that deficiency of the vitamin is associated with musculoskeletal disorders.

Brent Muhlestein, another co-author of the study and the director of cardiovascular research at Intermountain, stressed that because the study was only observational, definitive links between vitamin D deficiency and heart disease could not be established.

He called for randomized treatment trials of patients with insufficient levels of the vitamin.

Two thirds of the Utah population does not get enough vitamin D, according to the study.

The researchers chose Utah -- home to the Mormon church -- in part because the population consumes low levels of tobacco and alcohol, thus allowing them to focus the study on vitamin D's effects on the cardiovascular system, explained Muhlestein.

The patients were divided into three groups based on their vitamin D levels -- normal (over 30 nanograms per milliliter), low (15-30 ng/ml) or very low (less than 15 ng/ml) -- and were followed for a year to determine whether they developed some form of heart disease. (AFP)

Where have all the protests gone? US students in limbo

When student Hemnecher Amen joined a protest outside the White House recently, it was the latest visible opposition here to US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hardly anyone took notice.

"There's a lot of apathy and a growing disconnectedness to what's going on in world affairs," the frustrated Howard University junior told AFP as some 200 people, including a handful of students, gathered for the march.

"Students are more interested in trying to get a job and make money. That's essentially the bottom line."

With the US military several years into two faraway wars, American students like Amen are taking to the streets less often -- and to less effect -- than their Vietnam-era predecessors who were the vanguard of the anti-war movement in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Mounting economic and academic pressures on today's youth, intimidation by authorities, online distractions and conflicted views about the "good" war in Afghanistan, not to mention other causes such as health care and slashed school budgets clawing for attention, have conspired to snuff out anti-war activism on campus, experts and students say.

They acknowledge, too, that US President Barack Obama has paradoxically hampered the movement because many of the largely leftist protest groups haven't wanted to openly oppose him so early in his first term.

"There's this trust that he's going to fix it all," said Shara Esbenshade, 19, a sophomore at Stanford University and member of Stanford Says No To War.

She says there are no anti-war marches on her campus, only vigils, educational events and occasional protests against Condoleezza Rice, who has returned to Stanford after serving as George W. Bush's secretary of state.

"We'd really like to start doing more about Afghanistan," she added. "But students here rising up? I really don't see that happening."

At Kent State University, where in 1970 four unarmed students were shot dead by the Ohio National Guard, Andrew Ruminas, 20, a member of the Kent State Anti-War Committee, said "we're not even doing any demonstrations now."

Perhaps, according to 1960s protest icon and political activist Tom Hayden, that's because the single most important act to silence student dissent -- the privatization of conflict -- occurred a generation ago.

"Students were the bulwark of the anti-Vietnam war movement because students were being drafted, full stop," Hayden, a founding member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in 1962, told AFP.

"Ending forced conscription radically diminished the possibilities of future student anti-war protests."

Hayden, one of the "Chicago Seven" charged with inciting to riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, said students have "rechanneled" their activism, notably into Internet campaigns including the one last year that helped sweep Obama into the White House.

Many of today's students are marching with their fingers instead of their feet, signing online petitions, reading or writing blogs and planning anti-war agendas on the Web.

Stanley Aronowitz, a Vietnam anti-war organizer, insists online petitions do nothing but entrench users in the "anti-reality" of Internet activism.

"I don't believe petitions do anything," he said. "They are what middle-class people and intellectuals do to convince themselves they're getting somewhere."

Aronowitz, now a sociology professor at City University of New York, acknowledges that new social technologies on the Web -- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube -- have mass mobilization potential.

"But they also privatize people's lives to much more of a degree than when people had to go to meetings and act collectively."

As society has digitized, the American left has splintered, Aronowitz says, losing the confidence to mobilize people as it did in early 2003 when millions protested the looming Iraq invasion.

As a result, "many people have put their faith in electoral politics rather than direct action."

Jonathan Williams, who runs Student Peace Action Network, says it's not just a matter of apathy or a shift to campus issues like soaring student debt; there has been what he calls a "criminalization of dissent."

Williams said he was arrested along with other activists and journalists at a demonstration at last year's Republican National Convention and detained for four days.

In 2007, police used an electro-shock Taser on a student causing a disturbance during an address by Senator John Kerry. Videos of the event have been seen on YouTube more than seven million times.

"After seeing that, are you going to speak out?" Williams asked.

As US support for the Afghan mission retreats -- a CNN poll on Wednesday suggested 58 percent of Americans are now against the war -- Obama is mulling whether to approve a request to send up to 40,000 more troops.

Todd Gitlin, a former SDS president in the 1960s who now teaches at Columbia University, says a "critical mass" of youth against the war has not materialized to bring huge numbers out in protest.

Should Obama approve the Afghan troop request, Gitlin cautions, "that might be the trigger." (AFP)

Calls mount for woman to take a top EU post

Calls mounted Monday for a woman to be appointed to one of the European Union's new top jobs, as the EU presidency struggles to find consensus candidates days before a key summit.

The EU's 27 heads of state and government want to agree Thursday on who should fill the new posts of European president and foreign policy supremo created by the reforming Lisbon Treaty, which was ratified this month.

But no candidate has emerged who seems likely to secure unanimous backing -- the preferred method of decision-making, even if a qualified majority vote will do -- at the working dinner, and few have been women.

"There are very few woman nominated," Sweden's European Affairs Minister Cecilia Malmstroem told reporters, ahead of EU talks in Brussels. "I deplore that because there are a lot of competent women all over Europe."

But with the premier of Sweden, currently presiding over the EU, working with leaders to narrow down the list, Malmstroem said he had to weigh a number of factors when choosing Europe's first president, and top diplomat.

"There are lots of balances that need to be taken into consideration, gender, South-North (EU countries), different political opinions and so on."

Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy is one of the favourites to take up the presidency. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband was well placed for the foreign affairs post, but he has ruled himself out.

Others mentioned for the job of president, with a term of up to five years, include Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, his Luxembourg counterpart Jean-Claude Juncker and former Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga.

Experts say the nominee should be a low-profile technocrat who operates behind the scenes to harmonise the work of the EU's main institutions: the council of nations, the European Commission, and the European parliament.

For the foreign affairs post, former Italian prime minister Massimo D'Alema has been talked about as a strong candidate if Miliband is not available, as has EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.

Britain's EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton is another possibility.

"She doesn't have any foreign policy experience, but she's a capable woman, she learns quickly," one senior commission official said.

Her chances may be enhanced as calls multiply for more women to be considered, including for the new European Commission to be appointed in coming weeks.

"I'm always in favour of gender equality," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said. "I think qualified women should be there."

Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said: "We would look a bit silly were we not able to elect or choose a female."

In a letter to the Financial Times daily, EU commissioners Margot Wallstroem and Neelie Kroes, and the vice president of the European parliament Diana Wallis urged EU leaders to pay more than just lip service to gender balance.

"We need a collective political commitment to ensure political representation of women," they wrote in the business newspaper.

"Women make up a majority of the population, and in the 21st century European democracy cannot afford to use only half of its people's talents, ideas and experiences. When women sit at the table, they can help to ensure that the political decisions reflect the needs of the entire population."

Former Irish president Mary Robinson was one of the few women whose name had been raised, but she too has ruled herself out of the running.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt underlined that the summit was still three days away. "It's a long time. Three days is approaching eternity in politics," he said. (AFP)

Century-old whisky to be retrieved from polar ice

Two crates of Scotch whisky belonging to polar explorer Ernest Shackleton are to be recovered after being buried for a century under the Antarctic ice, officials said Monday.

The two crates of McKinlay (and) Co. whisky were discovered in 2006 by conservators encased in ice under a hut built and used during Shackleton's unsuccessful 1907-09 expedition to reach the South Pole.

The conservators, from the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, plan to use special cutting tools to carefully remove the crates when they return to the hut at Cape Royds over the southern hemisphere summer.

Al Fastier of the trust, which is responsible for conserving three explorers' huts in Antarctica, said he won't be tempted to sample the Scotch, saying he prefers to allow the century-old spirits to retain their mystique.

"It would be terrible to sample it and find that it was off," he told Radio New Zealand.

The crates and bottles are expected to undergo conservation work in New Zealand before being returned to the remote hut, which conservators are trying to leave in the same condition that the explorers left it.

But Scottish distillers Whyte (and) Mackay, owners of the McKinlay brand, are keen to get hold of a bottle, or at least a sample, of the now extinct blend.

"We might even get enough to be able to take a stab at recreating it," said the company's master blender Richard Paterson.

Shackleton's expedition ran short of supplies on their long trek to the South Pole from Cape Royds in 1907-09.

They eventually fell about 100 miles (160 kilometres) short of their goal, although one team did reach the magnetic South Pole and the expedition carried out valuable scientific work.

No lives were lost, vindicating Shackleton's decision to turn back from the pole, first reached in 1911 by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen.

Shackleton later said to his wife "a live donkey is better than a dead lion, isn't it?"

The expedition's ship left Cape Royds hurriedly in March 2009 as winter ice began forming in the sea, with some equipment and supplies -- including the whisky -- left behind.

"I personally think they must have been left there by mistake, because it's hard to believe two crates would have been left under the hut without drinking them," Fastier said. (AFP)

Fearless kids more likely to be adult criminals: study

Children who lack a normal fear response are more likely to commit crimes when they grow up, a study published Monday in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggested.

Researchers assessed the "fear conditioning" of nearly 1,800 three-year-olds by measuring skin activity such as sweat secretion, which is part of the fear reflex, after the children had been blasted by a short, loud, unpleasant sound or a neutral tone.

Then, 20 years later, the researchers looked at the official court records of the study participants.

They found that, by the age of 23, 137 of the study participants had committed serious crimes. None of the adults with a criminal record had shown a normal fear response at age three.

Participants who had not committed a crime by age 23, on the other hand, had a normal fear reaction to the loud, unpleasant noise when they were toddlers.

The researchers hypothesized that the tendency to take up a life of crime as an adult was due less to social conditioning, ethnicity or gender, and more to certain parts of the brain not working as they should.

"The findings of this study potentially provide some support for a neurodevelopmental theory of antisocial and criminal behavior," they wrote.

"If crime is in part neurodevelopmentally determined, efforts to prevent and treat this worldwide behavior problem will increasingly rely on early health interventions," the study said.

For instance, prenatal programs to reduce maternal smoking, alcohol and drug consumption have been shown to reduce juvenile delinquency 15 years later, the study said.

And children aged three to five years old who have a good diet, get plenty of exercise and are mentally stimulated show better brain functioning six years later -- and their rate of criminal offending as adults was reduced by 35 percent. (AFP)

Benefit of annual mammographs questioned: study

US health authorities have issued guidelines questioning the benefit of annual screening for breast cancer in women aged 40-49 and recommended only biennial mammograms for women over 50.

In an update of its 2002 recommendations, the US Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF) said "the decision to start regular, biennial screening mammography before the age of 50 years should be an individual one."

After examining data from 600,830 women who underwent routine mammographs between 2000 and 2005, the USPSTF concluded that there was "moderate evidence that the net benefit is small for women aged 40 to 49."

The study said screening for breast cancer in the 40-49 age group can often lead to misdiagnosis and unnecessary surgery, or can fail to detect the cancer altogether.

In an earlier survey, the USPSTF said that in 10 percent to 20 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer the tumors were not detected by mammography.

In another 10-20 percent of women, the task force added, growths were misdiagnosed as malignant, or cancerous, when they were benign.

Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of death among women in the United States. In 2008, 182,460 women were diagnosed with invasive cancer, 67,770 with non-invasive tumors and 40,480 women died from the disease.

The chances of developing breast cancer are one out of 69 for women aged 40-50, one in 38 for women 50-60, and one in 27 for women 60-70. (AFP)

Experts propose new ways to slow Africa's population growth

Pairing family planning services with HIV/AIDS treatment can help curb Africa's population growth rate which records a yearly increase of 2.5 percent, health experts said Monday.

Many of those seeking HIV/AIDS information are often the ones who need to be offered birth control services, Maggwa Ndugga of Family Health International told AFP.

Ndugga said the strategy would be to use the enormous global investment made to counter HIV/AIDS to provide information on family planning.

"We started to realise that most of the people who were coming to us for HIV AIDS information are the same people that we needed to be targeting for family planning services," Ndugga said during an international family health conference in Kampala.

Every year, 75 million women in developing countries have unintended pregnancies and Africa is a significant contributor, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Africa has 239 million women aged between 15 and 49 and who average five births each year compared to Asian women of the same age range who average 3.3 births while Europeans average 1.5, said the Population Reference Bureau.

Last year, the continent's population stood at 809 million.

"It is absolutely vital both for cost effectiveness and to maximise resources that HIV and family planning information are provided together," said Janet Jackson of the UNFPA. (AFP)

China fuels US foreign student boom

Soaring interest by Chinese students has led to record foreign enrollment at US universities, offering a potential boon to the United States both economically and politically, a study said.

Indians remained the biggest group of foreign students in the United States in the last academic year but their numbers appeared to be leveling off, while strong growth came from China, Vietnam and several other emerging economies.

The United States hosts far more foreign students than any other country, owing to their universities' reputation, flexibility and concerted recruitment drives, said the Institute of International Education, an educators' group.

The number of foreign students increased eight percent to a record 671,616 in 2008-2009 from the previous academic year, the sharpest growth since 1980-81, the group's annual report said Monday.

With foreign students generating close to 18 billion dollars a year, officials and educators said higher education was proving to be a strong engine to bolster the troubled US economy.

Judith McHale, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, said US universities were also a crucial element in improving the US image around the world by offering foreigners a first-hand look at the United States.

"One of the things that has struck me is that everywhere I've gone -- even countries where we have a very difficult situation in terms of perception of the United States, throughout the Middle East, in Pakistan and elsewhere -- you find continued interest in people coming to the United States to study," she told an event releasing the research.

Saudi Arabia was among the countries that sent more students to the United States last year, with the number jumping 28 percent from a year earlier to 12,661.

But China was the key driver of growth, with the number of Chinese students heading to the United States increasing 21 percent to 98,510.

"Even though we know there has been a financial crisis, the Asian economies have not been as badly hit as the US," said Rajika Bhandari, who directed the research for the Institute of International Education.

"Chinese families tend to be smaller and put aside great resources to invest in their children's education," she said.

The United States also enjoyed dramatic growth in the number of Vietnamese students, with the figure soaring by 46 percent last year.

The only country that saw a significant decline was Japan. The number of Japanese studying in the United States slipped nearly 14 percent, a trend the study pinned on Japan's shaky economy and shrinking population.

More than half of US universities promoted themselves overseas, said the report, which was released the same day that US President Barack Obama met with students in Shanghai.

The United States remained by far the biggest single destination for students studying outside their own country, but the gap has narrowed in recent years with Britain, its biggest competitor.

The United States in 2008 pulled in 21 percent of the world's estimated three million foreign students, compared with 13 percent for Britain. France came in third at nine percent, followed closely by Germany.

But in a sign there is room for growth, foreigners made up only 3.5 percent of the overall student body in the United States, compared with 16.3 in Britain and 22.5 percent in Australia.

Bhandari, the researcher, said the United States has largely addressed concerns about slow issuance of student visas in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, although some applicants still had negative perceptions about the visa process.

She said British universities were now facing troubles over student visas after London reformed its immigration system.

The study also found that a record 262,416 Americans studied overseas the same year. More than half went to Europe but a growing number headed elsewhere, with 19 percent more going to China than a year ago and 14 percent more to Japan. (AFP)

First Latin America gay marriage on December 1

Latin America's first gay marriage will be held on World AIDS Day on December 1, the Argentine couple, who are both HIV positive, said Monday.

"We will become husband and husband," said Alejandro Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, after they were given the date by the Buenos Aires registry office.

An Argentine judge on Friday paved the way for the couple to marry in a first for Latin America, the world's biggest Catholic region.

The wedding will take place in the same registry office where the couple were turned away in April because they are both men. Now they will have the same rights as a heterosexual couple.

Buenos Aires, known for its active if low-key gay movement, became the region's first city to approve civil unions for gay couples in 2002.

It was followed by Villa Carlos Paz in the north and the southern province of Rio Negro. Those civil unions grant gay couples some, but not all, the rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.

Uruguay became the first country in the region in late 2007 to legalize civil unions for gays. In January 2009, the Colombian Constitutional Court recognized a series of rights for homosexual couples, including social welfare rights.

Elsewhere, civil unions are recognized in Mexico City, the Mexican state of Coahuila and the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The Catholic church, which is especially powerful in Argentina where the population is 91 percent Catholic, has sharply criticized the move.

"Same sex unions do not contribute to the common good, but seriously endanger it," said Bishop Baldemoro Martini. (AFP)

'Unfriend' is New Oxford American word of the year

The New Oxford American Dictionary named "unfriend" -- as in deleting someone as a friend on a social network such as Facebook -- its word of the year on Monday.

Oxford University Press USA, in a blog post, said "unfriend," a verb, had bested netbook, sexting, paywall, birther and death panel for the honor.

"Unfriend has real lex-appeal," said Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer for Oxford?s US dictionary program.

"It has both currency and potential longevity," she said. "In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for word of the year."

Previous words of the year include carbon neutral, locavore and hypermiling.

Locavores are people who eat locally grown food while hypermilers modify their cars and driving techniques to maximize gas mileage. (AFP)

Crisis-beating Italian online fashion retailer launches IPO

Yoox, an Italian online fashion retailer that sells top brands and has been growing rapidly during the global economic crisis, launched an initial public offering (IPO) in Milan on Monday.

The company is offering a total 55.5-percent stake and is pricing shares at between 3.60 and 4.50 euros per share, valuing the company at 226.8 million euros (339.5 million dollars). The IPO is to be completed by November 30.

Four investment funds currently own a 55-percent stake in the company, which sells brands including Diesel, Dolce (and) Gabbana, Emporio Armani and Valentino.

Yoox has reported a 48.8-percent rise in sales to 106.7 million euros over the first nine months of the year, with net profit rising to 2.8 million euros compared to a net loss of 400,000 euros over the same period in 2008.

The company was set up in 2000 and operates through the website yoox.com.

A report this month by the 30-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed online commerce is booming because people and businesses are looking for bargains and new outlets in bad economic times. (AFP)

One-fourth of teen drivers text behind the wheel

One-fourth of US teenagers aged 16 and 17 have sent text messages while driving and over 40 percent have had a cellphone conversation while behind the wheel, according to a study published on Monday.

Twenty-six percent of teenagers aged 16 and 17 have texted while driving, according to the survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project -- about the same rate as found in separate studies conducted among adults.

The survey found boys and girls were equally likely to text while driving.

Forty-three percent of teens aged 16 and 17 have talked on a cellphone while driving, the study by the Washington-based Pew found.

According to Pew, 82 percent of teens aged 16 and 17 have a cellphone and 76 percent of them send text messages.

Forty-eight percent of teens aged 12 to 17 said they have been in a car when the driver was texting and 40 percent said they have been in a car when the driver used a cellphone in a way that put themselves or others in danger.

A number of US states have banned text messaging or talking on a handheld cellphone while driving and the US Senate is considering legislation to crack down on so-called "distracted driving."

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 5,870 fatalities last year in crashes in which driver distraction was reported.

An estimated 515,000 people were injured in such crashes.

The Pew survey involved 800 teens between the ages of 12 and 18 and was conducted this summer. It has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. (AFP)

Global health alliance targets chronic illnesses

A global health alliance including US, Indian and Chinese organizations has pledged to coordinate efforts against "chronic non-communicable diseases" that kill millions globally each year.

The Global Alliance for Chronic Disease, which brings together institutions managing an estimated 80 percent of all public health research funding worldwide, announced its first targets for action in a statement this week.

The alliance said it would seek to reduce hypertension, tobacco use and the indoor pollution caused by the types of cooking stoves used in many developing countries.

The group, founded last year by organizations from the United States, China, India, Canada, Britain and Australia, said the three priorities were chosen because they contribute to one in five deaths worldwide each year.

The targets were selected during the organization's inaugural scientific summit, held in November in New Delhi, India.

According to the World Health Organization, which belongs to the group's board, chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) were responsible for some 60 percent of the 58 million deaths worldwide recorded in 2006.

The number of deaths caused by CNCDs is twice the combined total of deaths from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and peri-natal conditions and nutritional deficiencies, according to the alliance.

"The health impact and socio-economic cost of CNCDs is enormous and rising, upending efforts to combat poverty," the group said in a statement.

The three issues targeted by the alliance are believed to be responsible for some 11.5 million deaths per year, almost a third of all deaths associated with CNCDs, the group said.

The unregulated sale of cigarettes in countries like India could kill a billion people over the course of this century if nothing is done, and the number of people suffering from hypertension could rise to 1.5 billion by 2025 without action.

"The epidemic of chronic disease in the world has accelerated. We urgently need to understand how to reverse the trend, not just in small trials, but in all world communities. This new initiative will provide urgently needed resources to find and implement solutions," said David Matthews, a professor at Oxford University and acting executive director of the alliance.

For Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the US National Institutes of Health, the alliance presents a unique opportunity to coordinate proposals, peer reviews, data gathering and evaluation.

"The alliance represents an important new vehicle for making optimal use of limited global resources available to reduce the enormous toll of these largely-preventable diseases," she said in a statement. (AFP)

Saint Laurent's last belongings sold at auction

From pots and pans to antique chandeliers, the last belongings from the homes of Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge went on sale Tuesday, with the late fashion icon's bulldog looking on.

The celebrity bulldog, Moujik, joined scores of dealers and well-heeled seekers of YSL memorabilia for the four-day auction held in a Paris theatre just off the Champs Elysees boulevard.

"I'd like to have something that belonged to them in my home," said blonde Italian retiree Giuliana Giovannelli, hunting for something to distinguish her Parisian flat. "But nothing too expensive."

It was a slow start for some of the more expensive pieces, with a massive 19th Dutch chandelier and a large 16th century Chinese basin both going 50 percent below their top estimates of 60,000 euros (80,000 dollars).

But then a flurry of bids for smaller bric-a-brac sent prices flying.

One Swiss couple, hoping to pick up an eye-catching Napoleon III sofa for a couple of thousand euros, quickly gave up to watch the piece instead soar to 29,500 euros.

"I'm pleased," Berge told AFP. "Very pleased, as all the proceeds are going to HIV-AIDS research and campaigning."

The sale is expected to raise between three to four million euros (4.5 to six million dollars), a drop in the ocean compared to February's record smashing YSL-Berge auction of artworks they amassed over half a century.

That blockbuster sale raised 342 million euros (491 million dollars), making Saint Laurent the top-earning dead celebrity of 2009, ahead of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, according to Forbes.

Most items under the hammer this week through to November 20 are from the pair's weekend hideaway on the French coast, the three-storey Chateau Gabriel on the Normandy coast they acquired in the early 1980s.

The style-setters -- design enthusiasts, art buffs and literati -- decorated the mansion in a style inspired by novelist Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time", late 19th century Bavarian castles and decors by Luchino Visconti.

"It was a sublime decor, a homage to Proust, a kind of exercise in style," Alexis Kugel, the renowned antique dealer who helped them acquire their more valuable art treasures, told AFP.

Reading lamps, boxes, pipes and side-tables accessible to YSL fans at a mere couple of hundred euros each were among 300 bits and pieces up for grabs on the first day of the auction.

But the magic of the name sent prices to dizzying heights at times. A pair of brass 19th-century English fireplace hearth stands, for instance, went for 15 times the estimated 1,000-euro value.

The rest of the 1,185 objects, are from the pair's Paris flats and offices.

Among those items, which will close the sale, is the most expensive, a Fernand Leger gouache estimated at between 60,000 and 70,000 euros (90,000 and 105,000 dollars).

Saint Laurent's last Mercedes-Benz car, due to have closed the sale, was withdrawn at the last minute by Berge, who sat by Moujik's side on opening day.

Almost 18 months after the couturier's death in June last year, the couple's Moroccan seaside home overlooking the Gibraltar Straits as well as Saint Laurent's vast Paris flat with garden are still on the market.

Berge, a business tycoon and arts patron who was Saint Laurent's lover and business partner, opted to sell all after the June 2008 death at 71 of the designer who famously put women in trousers.

"I hope that everything we loved so passionately will find a home with other collectors," Berge, who is 78, said earlier this year. (AFP)

Global swine flu deaths slow as WHO toll passes 6,250

More than 6,250 people have died in the swine flu pandemic, World Health Organisation data showed Friday, as the global death rate appeared to slow.

The number of deaths from the A(H1N1) pandemic in the week to November 8 grew by about 179, against 224 a week earlier and a leap of about 700 in the last week of October.

The pandemic now stretches across 206 countries or territories worldwide, the WHO added in a statement.

The UN health agency said the influenza season showed signs of peaking in North America, but was intensifying across much of Europe and Central and Eastern Asia.

"Very intense and increasing influenza activity continues to be reported in Mongolia with a severe impact on the health care system," it added.

But the WHO found after investigating the sudden reported surge in flu cases in Ukraine in recent weeks that the swine flu virus had shown no signs of becoming stronger.

"The initial analysis of information indicates that the numbers of severe cases do not appear to be excessive when compared to the experience of other countries and do not represent any change in the transmission or virulence of the virus," the statement said.

More than 1.3 million Ukrainians have been taken ill with swine flu and 265 people have lost their lives to the virus since the end of October, the country's health ministry said Friday.

The Americas still account for the largest number of deaths. The WHO estimates 4,512 have died since the pandemic virus was first identified in April in Mexico and the United States, an increase of 113 in a week.

However, new data released late on Thursday, separate from the WHO figures, estimates that swine flu has killed as many as 3,900 people in the United States.

Health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) used a new counting method that yielded an estimate six times higher than the last.

The CDC's previous estimated death toll from H1N1 was 672.

While still imprecise, the new numbers provide "a bigger picture of what has been going on in the first six months of the pandemic," Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters.

She said previous estimates were based on "laboratory confirmed cases of hospitalisation and death, potentially giving an incomplete picture of the story of this pandemic."

The WHO said the number of deaths reported in Europe stayed stable at some 300, with signs the pandemic caseload was peaking in parts of Britain, notably Northern Ireland, as well as in Ireland and Iceland.

Meanwhile, the virus spread to the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on Friday as authorities there confirmed its first swine flu death.

Neighbouring Turkey, the only country to recognise the TRNC, also announced a further 20 deaths, bringing its total to 60 fatal cases.

Elsewhere in Europe, Hungarian officials said a 55-year-old and a 73-year-old woman had died in hospital from swine. Seven people have died from the virus in Hungary since July.

In Austria, the Kleine Zeitung newspaper said a 26-year-old man became the country's third fatal case after being hospitalised five days ago with an infection.

In Germany, Cologne footballer Christopher Schorch became the first player in the country's top division to contract the virus.

The 20-year-old German is being treated at home and should return to training next Wednesday, according to his club.

Sharp increases in cases were reported in several western and southern Asian nations, including Israel and Afghanistan in recent weeks, while growing numbers were reported in China and Japan.

Pandemic flu was largely on the wane in most of south and southeast Asia and in the warming southern hemisphere. (AFP)

Groups at risk from swine flu should avoid hajj: study

People at risk of suffering severe consequences from swine flu should postpone going to the hajj in 2009, according to a study released on Saturday.

Some 2.5 million Muslims from more than 160 countries converge annually on the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina in western Saudi Arabia.

The hajj pilgrimage -- to be completed at least once in a Muslim's lifetime, under the tenets of Islam -- can be undertaken at any time, but peaks this year from November 25 to 29, at the height of the alert over swine flu.

The study recommends that pregnant women, the elderly, individuals with chronic diseases and children who intend to participate in the 2009 hajj do so at a later date.

Secondary recommendations include providing persons showing flu-like symptoms with hygiene packs and information brochures, and setting up isolation facilities for those infected.

On average, each person infected with the 2009 pandemic flu spreads the virus to another 1.4 individuals.

But during the climax of the pilgrimage, when crowds can reach a density of up to seven people per square metre (10 square feet), the risk of infection could be much higher, the report said.

"These preparedness plans should ensure the optimum provision of health services for pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, and minimum disease transmission on their return home," the researchers said.

The study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, was led by Ziad Memish of the Saudi Arabian health ministry.

It is based on a June meeting of experts charged with making recommendations on how to reduce health risks during the hajj. Scientists from the UN Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) also contributed to the findings.

The Lancet questioned, though, whether these measures would be widely accepted or effective.

"Because hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and should be done at least once in a Muslim's lifetime, individuals will probably not want to postpone after they have spent much time saving money and planning for this purpose," it said in an editorial.

A policy of isolating sick pilgrims might backfire by discouraging those with flu-like symptoms from reporting their illness, it added.

Saudi authorities have separately called on hajj pilgrims to get vaccinations for seasonal flu and, where possible, for the A(H1N1) pandemic flu as well.

Out of more than half a million pilgrims who had arrived as of last week, nine were diagnosed with swine flu, the Saudi health ministry said on Wednesday. (AFP)

High-energy alcoholic drinks under US spotlight

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Friday notified some 30 drinks manufacturers who combine alcohol and caffeine in their beverages that they must prove the products are safe.

"The increased popularity of consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages by college students and reports of potential health and safety issues necessitates that we look seriously at the scientific evidence as soon as possible," said Joshua Sharfstein, a deputy commissioner at the agency.

The FDA said it had received a letter from 19 prosecutors expressing "concern" about the products, saying it was not a safe mix.

Caffeinated alcoholic drinks have "been associated with dangerous behavior ... sexual assaults," said Mitchell Cheeseman, acting director of the office of food additive safety at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The FDA "has not approved caffeine for use at any level in alcoholic beverages," the agency said.

For the first time the FDA has requested scientific evidence from the manufacturers that demonstrates the products are safe. The companies have 30 days to comply.

"We are asking their side of the story," said Sharfstein.

Already two major brewers, Anheuser-Busch and Miller, have agreed to discontinue their high-energy alcoholic beverages, sold as Tilt, Bud Extra, and Sparks.

If found to be deemed unsafe, the FDA will "take appropriate action to ensure that the products are removed from the marketplace," the agency said. (AFP)

S.Korea district to host mass blind dates to boost birthrate

Seoul's Gangnam district, South Korea's most prosperous area, has a single imperfection -- one of the country's lowest birthrates.

Now the district government, which already provides cash incentives for couples to have more babies, is arranging mass blind dates for singles.

On Saturday, 30 men and 30 women living or working in the area will be brought together in an attempt to help them find partners, the Gangnam district office said in a statement.

The singles, aged 27 to 40, include schoolteachers, company employees and professionals.

They will take part in various games and will have the chance to chat in small groups before picking three people they wish to meet again.

"Being so busy with work, they have little chance to meet the opposite sex," a district official said. Gangnam will arrange the mass blind dates three times every year.

South Korea has one of the world's lowest birthrates at 1.19 babies per woman of reproductive age.

To encourage couples to have more babies, the district offers one million won (854 dollars) for a second child, five million won for a third and 10 million won for a fourth. (AFP)

Singapore chef breathes fresh air into APEC summit

Singapore, a culinary melting pot that prides itself on spicy and pungent dishes, is cutting back on onions, garlic and chillies when it feeds Asia-Pacific leaders this weekend.

"A lot of onions in the cooking we try and reduce, because you know, it doesn't give you good breath," the summit's executive chef Jess Ong told AFP in an interview.

Garlic is on the blacklist to make sure the Asian-inspired dishes do not foul the air when the 21 leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum converse.

US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev are among the summit participants, although Obama's schedule remains in flux and whether he will break bread with the others remains in question.

Preparing meals for APEC leaders is always daunting for host countries because the members represent hugely diverse food traditions in Asia and the Americas, stretching from China to Chile via Papua New Guinea.

"It's not a culinary adventure. They have a meeting, they want to recognise the food that they will eat, they do not want to look at the food and say 'I'm not sure I can down this dish'," said Ong, 51.

Onions and garlic aside, the chilli content of local delicacies served at the summit will also be toned down, and the guests can choose between cutlery and chopsticks.

But there will be no compromise on the essential flavour of the dishes, insists Ong, a 30-year industry veteran whose clientele has included the late Princess Diana.

"The element of our local specialities is delivered in a different format.

"This is a variation, rather than heavy, sweet, spicy, hot. So it becomes infused with olive oil, chilli, lemon grass, but very subtle integration."

The leaders' menu this weekend cannot be disclosed in advance, said Ong, who is executive head chef at the main APEC venue, the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Luncheon and a banquet dinner are scheduled for Saturday. Obama will still be en route from a visit to Tokyo, and his only APEC repast could end up being lunch at Singapore's Istana presidential palace on Sunday.

A four-course lunch for APEC ministers last Wednesday featured seared barramundi fish with ginger scallops, mushroom dumpling, wilted water spinach, hot and sour coulis, radishes, baby carrots and asparagus.

Ong did drop a hint of what might be in store for the leaders.

For health-conscious Obama, Ong recommends the local delicacy "yu sheng" -- a colourful salad consisting of raw fish slices, thinly cut vegetables, sweet-and-sour sauces and strips of crackers.

"It's clean, it's healthy, it's tangy, it's about as Singaporean as you can be," he said of the dish, which is traditionally served during Lunar New Year parties and was created by Chinese immigrants in Singapore. (AFP)

Reality TV show exposes racial divides in China

Lou Jing sings Shanghai opera and speaks fluent Mandarin, but when she competed to be China's next reality TV pop star, it was not her voice that was criticised -- it was her black skin.

The daughter of a Chinese mother and an absent African-American father, 20-year-old Lou caused a media storm when she was named one of Shanghai's five finalists for "Let's Go! Oriental Angel," an "American Idol"-style show.

But her fame has been for all of the wrong reasons, after her appearance sparked a vigorous and often vicious nationwide debate on whether she was even fit to be on Chinese television because of the colour of her skin.

Ahead of US President Barack Obama's first visit to China, Lou's experience has put a spotlight on perceptions of race in the country and the challenges the Asian giant faces as its economic boom fosters a more ethnically diverse society.

"I am Chinese," Lou told AFP in an interview. "But when I read the comments, I started to question myself. I never questioned myself before. This time I started to think about how I am different from others."

Even though Obama is wildly popular among the Chinese people and the country is rapidly expanding its ties with Africa, commentators said Lou's story exposes deep racism in China, where the ethnic Han are in a vast majority.

"In the same year Americans welcomed Obama into the White House, we can?t even accept this girl with a different skin colour?" wrote Hung Huang, a talk show host and magazine publisher often described as "China's Oprah Winfrey."

"We tend to be biased against those who are darker-skinned, while admiring races that are paler than us. It is a deeply rooted evil within us," Hung wrote on her blog.

China Daily columnist Raymond Zhou called it "outright racism," saying the bias against dark skin had defined notions of beauty, but was also an offshoot of class discrimination: field labourers were tanned while the rich were pale.

"Many of us even look down on fellow Chinese who have darker skin, especially women. Beauty products that claim to whiten the skin always fetch a premium. And children are constantly praised for having fair skin," he wrote.

Lou said she feels tougher and more mature after her experience, but added if she could do it all over again, she would not have gone on the show at all.

An instructor at Shanghai Drama Academy, where Lou studies broadcasting, put forward the mixed-race beauty and a handful of classmates to appear on the television talent show, without asking first.

She was selected for the top 30 nationwide, but was not among the 12 contestants chosen by judges for the next round.

Lou said she was not surprised by the judges' decision, but was shocked by the thousands of web postings that followed, most of them negative and many of them expressing racist views.

"I couldn't help crying. I felt hurt. I never meant to offend anyone," she said.

Although Lou is still working towards her dream of being a television presenter, she said the episode had left her less optimistic about whether she can find a place on China's airwaves.

"They want a TV host who is considered traditionally beautiful," she said.

"Ever since I appeared on TV, I realised that maybe I don't fit the image of a TV host. Many believe a TV host should have white skin, high nose and big eyes."

Lou said she would follow Obama's visit to China, listing the US president -- himself of mixed-race descent -- as one of her heroes alongside her mother and Winfrey, whose show she watches over the Internet.

She said Obama's autobiography had inspired her, but added that she was unconvinced she could change people's minds about race.

"He convinced people that he has the capacity to change what people thought of African-Americans. Compared to him, I don't have that capacity for change because the Chinese media is too powerful," she said. (AFP)

'Let them eat vegetables', Bardot tells EU

Brigitte Bardot, one-time French screen goddess turned animal rights activist, wants the European Union to institute a "Vegetarian Day" as part of the battle against global warming.

In a letter this week to European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barrosoa, Bardot said "a few weeks before the Copenhagen climate summit, I would like to draw your attention to the need to question cattle-farming, whose effects on the environment are of concern."

Quoting studies by the World Bank and the UN food agency FAO, Bardot said in the letter which was released Friday that cattle-raising not only caused high carbon emissions but also polluted soils and the water table.

"If 'developped' nations were to reduce their meat consumption, there would be less famine, which kills almost six million children each year," Bardot wrote.

"Our collective duty is to act at all levels, including by promoting a vegetarian diet," she added.

"A European 'Vegetarian Day' would be a strong symbol." (AFP)

Buenos Aires okays gay marriage in Latin America first

An Argentine judge paved the way for gay marriage when she granted a homosexual couple permission to marry in a first for Latin America, the world's biggest Catholic region.

Buenos Aires, known for its active if low-key gay movement, became the region's first city to approve civil unions for gay couples in 2002. It was followed by Villa Carlos Paz in the north and the southern province of Rio Negro.

Those civil unions grant gay couples some, but not all, the rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.

Friday's ruling by Judge Gabriela Seijas ordered the civil registry to make official the marriage of Alejandro Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, who had been denied their request because they were both men.

It could increase pressure for lawmakers to take up a stalled gay marriage bill in Congress.

"We are very happy, moved, but we also feel the heavy weight of responsibility because it's not just about us, it's encouraging legal equality in Argentina and the rest of Latin America," Di Bello told AFP.

The couple had filed a complaint in April.

In the rest of Latin America, Mexico City, the Mexican state of Coahuila and the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul also allow civil unions for same-sex couples.

Uruguay became the first country in the region in late 2007 to legalize civil unions for gays. In January 2009, the Colombian Constitutional Court recognized a series of rights for homosexual couples, including social welfare rights.

But no Latin American country authorizes marriage between gays.

Seijas deemed that "the law must treat everyone with the same respect according to their particular situation" and declared unconstitutional two articles of the civil code, including one stating that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

"All you have to do is change the words 'man' and 'woman' with the word 'party,'" said Di Bello, who along with his partner is HIV-positive.

The Catholic church is especially powerful in Argentina, a country whose population is 91 percent Catholic.

Bishop Baldemoro Martini charged that "same-sex unions do not contribute to the public good; they put it especially at risk."

The landmark decision could still be struck down if there is an appeal.

But Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri, a conservative, said the government would make no such move.

"The world is heading in this direction," he told reporters.

Several homosexual groups hailed the judge's ruling.

"I am very happy and I join the feeling of Argentine gays, who were repressed for many years," said Marcelo Cerqueira, president of Gay de Bahia, one of the most active gay rights groups in Latin American giant Brazil.

"For us in Brazil, we have no expectations, neither in court, nor in the medium or long term."

The decision by Seijas "is incredibly courageous, we didn't expect it," acknowledged Di Bello, who fell into his partner's arms when he learned of the verdict. (AFP)

Madoff's magnificent spoils go under the hammer

From diamond-encrusted watches to satin jackets emblazoned with his name, the personal goods of Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff go under the hammer Saturday in New York to raise money to help pay those who lost their fortunes.

Collectors and curious members of the public gathered Friday for an open viewing of the objects in a room at the Sheraton Hotel in New York as police marshals kept a strict eye on the crowds.

Some two hundred lots are up for grabs and auctioneers are hopeful they can raise some 500,000 dollars -- a mere drop in the ocean compared to the 21.2 billion dollars the court-appointed liquidator says his investors lost.

"I am going to bid on a vintage Rolex, and on the Audemars which I would like to keep for me, and maybe on the jacket," said Chuck Spielman, president of "Only Yesterday" Classic autos in San Diego, California.

"It all depends how the bidding goes. My wife is looking at some purses."

Dian Gilmore, executive director of the American Board of Certification, came from Iowa for a congress of the Commercial Law League of America and took time off to wander around the displays.

"This is part of history. We came out of curiosity," she said.

Madoff, it seems, had a weakness for luxury watches. Around 20 are on display, including a Rolex estimated to be worth some 75,000 dollars, a Blancpain, a Patek Philippe model with a platinum frame, a Audemars Piguet and several Cartiers.

The catalogue of spoils reflects the gaudy life enjoyed by Madoff and his wife Ruth as a result of his decades-long, multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

It includes diamonds, fur coats, crocodile-skin belts and numerous items of jewelry.

On a more personal note, there was a blue satin New York Mets baseball team jacket emblazoned with "Madoff" on the back. Estimated price: 500 to 720 dollars. Nearby was a Mets cap embroidered in silver.

The Madoff name along with that of his wife appears on many other goods, ranging from golf clubs to beach boards to personal stationary.

Ruth Madoff's furs, all neatly hanging in plastic bags, attracted little interest, but the crowds were fawning over her designer bags bearing labels such as Hermes, Prada, Chanel or Vuitton.

"I would buy some bags for my son's girlfriend, for my ex-wife," said Tony Almeida, retired, from New Jersey.

"I don't think it's bad luck, I want to be able to say I have Bernie's purse."

One young onlooker, overwhelmed by the amount of ostentatious luxury on display, laughed: "This is not Madoff's. It must have belonged to a drug trafficker, although you see no difference."

Gaston and Sheehan auctioneers are handling the sale at a Sheraton hotel in New York, but the goods were seized by the US Marshals Service to raise compensation for hundreds of investors cheated by Madoff.

Properties, including a Manhattan penthouse and Palm Beach retreat, have also been seized. A Long Island beach getaway sold for eight million dollars.

Madoff, now serving a 150-year prison sentence for fraud, claimed just before his arrest last December to have been managing 65 billion dollars. However, much of that appears to have comprised phony funds.

The world of art however would seem not to have been one of the Madoffs' passions.

Apart from a few photographs, some sketches valued at 70 to 200 dollars, some copies of African masks and a heron sculpture bearing a 25- to 28-dollar price tag, there were no art works to be found among the sale. (AFP)

Mock funeral for Venice's dwindling population

Hundreds of people turned out on Saturday in Venice for a symbolic funeral procession to highlight the Italian city's dwindling population.

A cortege of gondolas carrying empty coffins, decorated with wreaths, crossed the city to the sound of songs and poems in the Venetian dialect.

The event's organisers said they wanted to draw public attention to the problems experienced by the northeastern city, where the population recently fell below 60,000.

"In Venice, houses cost twice as much as they do on the mainland, and it's too much for the middle class," Pierluigi Tamburrini, of the Venessia.com citizens' group, told AFP.

"We are asking for more action from the city authorities to help residents. We don't want the tourist monoculture we have at the moment -- we have to develop other areas."

A US university used Saturday's gathering of Venetians to collect DNA samples for a project researching the origins of central and western European populations. (AFP)

Lebanon tourism up 43% in 2009

More than 1.5 million tourists visited Lebanon in the first 10 months of 2009, or 43 percent more than the same year-earlier period, the tourism ministry said on Saturday.

"This number marks a 42.7 percent increase for the same period from 2008 and an 84 percent increase from 2007," a ministry statement said.

A record one million tourists landed in the tiny Mediterranean country in July alone, the ministry said.

The ministry has said Lebanon hopes to have hosted two million tourists by the end of 2009, a figure roughly equivalent to half the country's population.

Most visitors are Lebanese expatriates and tourists from the oil-rich Gulf, but the tiny Mediterranean country has also gained popularity as a holiday destination among Europeans.

Tourism in Lebanon had taken a beating in recent years after a string of assassinations that began with a Beirut bombing that killed former premier Rafiq Hariri in February 2005.

In 2006, Israel and Lebanon's Shiite militia Hezbollah fought a devastating summer war and the following year the army battled with Al-Qaeda-inspired Islamists in a Palestinian refugee camp.

However, tourism made a dramatic recovery in 2008 with the arrival of 1.3 million visitors to the country once dubbed the "Switzerland of the Middle East." (AFP)

Internet supermarket booms in bad times

The Internet global supermarket is booming because people and businesses are looking for bargains and new outlets in bad times, a new report says.

And the this great global shopping mall can only expand rapidly as mobile phone use explodes, the Chinese get involved and advertisers jump in, the OECD forecasts.

But the e-trade revolution is being held back by hidden frontiers, ranging from concerns over privacy of personal information, language problems, delivery costs and taxation and regulation barriers.

As the Christmas spending spree, vital to many retailers and manufacturers around the world, gets under way, the OECD also highlights other worries for consumers.

For example, Santa Claus may never turn up with the goods, or the purchases may be defective, or payment details may be stolen.

These are among the obstacles to increased cross-border trade, paradoxically even within the European Union, which the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development lists in a report on a conference under the heading: "Empowering e-consumers."

The report found that the financial crisis had breathed new life into electronic commerce, with sales rising in Europe, the United States and China at a time when the store-based retail sector struggles as consumers' disposable income shrivels.

"The financial and economic crisis appears to be giving a e-commerce a boost as consumers search for ways to reduce expenditures by purchasing items online," the OECD said, adding: "The savings can be substantial."

It cited a study showing that shoppers in Britain, Germany and France can save 17 percent by buying electronics goods, DVDs and clothing on online trading platforms rather than in physical stores.

In the United States on-line sales for 80 retailers rose an average of 11 percent in the first quarter of the year, according to another study.

One site, Craigslist, is forecast to report sales of 100 million dollars this year, a 23 percent increase from 2008. Another platform, Amazon, had net sales of 177 million dollars in the first quarter alone, up 24 percent from the first quarter 2008.

The OECD cites a study by the Forrester research group predicting that western European consumers will buy 123.1 billion euros' worth of goods online by 2014, for an average annual growth rate of 9.6 percent.

China too has experienced a jump in online retail activity. The online auction and retail website of the country's leading e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, reported a 131 percent rise in transaction volume in February compared with a year earlier.

Helping to spur electronic commerce is the growth in mobile phone use. The number of mobile phone subscribers grew at an average rate of 30 percent a year from 1993 to 2007 in the 30 industrialised economies in the OECD.

But the OECD warned that the future of e-commerce is not entirely secure, maintaining that its fate "depends for a large part on the level of confidence that consumers have in on-line shopping."

It noted that half the cross-border complaints and disputes filed with the European Consumer Center Network stemmed from purchases made over the Internet.

"Delivery problems and dissatisfaction with the products purchased were the leading reasons for the complaints, accounting for 75 percent of the total," the OECD said.

Customers voiced dissatisfaction with non-deliveries, misrepresentation by online retail sites and difficulties contacting merchants.

While the Internet may have made it easier to buy products from foreign businesses, consumers have shown themselves to be reluctant to do so, according to the OECD, which cited language barriers, higher shipping costs, regulatory barriers and scams and misleading practices as key constraints.

Last year 33 percent of EU consumers purchased products online but only 7.0 percent bought goods from another country, the report said.

While many countries have e-commerce laws and regulations, such practices risk becoming outdated given the speed at which new products and services are created.

The study found that most countries, apart from the United States, do not have specific regulations to protect the privacy of children.

It said many online retailers ask consumers to confirm their age simply by ticking a box, with no follow-up measures to ensure that the information is accurate.

Another area of growing concern for the sector, according to the OECD, is the use of behavioral techniques that track a consumer's purchasing habits in order to tailor advertising to his or her interest.

But there is little doubt about the economic impact of online advertising. A recent study cited by the OECD found that the contribution to economic activity of online advertising amounts to 300 billion dollars in the United States. The US online advertising sector directly employs more than 1.2 million people. (AFP)

Sri Lanka's African slave families fade away

In a village deep in west Sri Lanka, one of the island's few remaining communities of African descent breaks into song -- a poignant elegy to a disappearing culture.

The music starts with a slow, gentle rhythm played on a tambourine, spoons and coconut shells, before it builds to a climax with dancers swinging their hips, hands and feet wildly.

The performance is a direct link back to the tiny minority's distant African past.

"We are forgotten people," Peter Luis, 52, said. "We are losing our language and, having inter-married many times, our children are losing their African features."

The population of African-Sri Lankans -- now numbering about 1,000 -- is mainly descended from slaves brought to the island after about 1500 by Portuguese colonialists.

They are known as "Kaffirs", but the term is not the savage racial insult here that it is in other parts of the world, notably South Africa.

"We are proud of our name. In Sri Lanka, it is not a racist word like the word negro or nigger," said Marcus Jerome Ameliana, who believes her ancestors came to Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, as Portuguese slaves.

The slaves were also used as soldiers to fight against Sri Lanka's native kings, in the first stage of a long history of oppression under a series of imperial masters.

When Dutch colonialists arrived in about 1600, the Kaffirs worked on cinnamon plantations along the southern coast.

After the British took over Sri Lanka in 1796, the Kaffirs were further marginalised by an influx of Indian labourers who took most work on tea and rubber estates.

Lazarus Martin Ignatius, 82, remembers her grandfather telling how their ancestors were chained up and forced by the Dutch to take on the Ceylonese army.

Her memories, like those of most other Kaffirs, are fragmented, and she speaks a lyrical creole language with a mix of native Sinhalese and Tamil.

"We never learnt how to read or write, only to speak. Now young people go to school. They marry outside the community, so I think education comes from that influence," the frail Ignatius told AFP.

Louisa Williams, 17, dressed in jeans and a pink T-shirt, said she may train to become a traditional Kaffir dancer but admitted she rarely uses the dialect.

"I like to dance and will perhaps join a local dance troupe," she said. "I have heard about my ancestors from aunts and uncles, but I only speak a few words of creole like 'water', 'eat' and 'sleep'."

The future looks bleak for the Kaffirs, according to Anuthradevi Widyalankara, senior history lecturer at the University of Colombo.

"They have been denied education so they have a lack of interest in sustaining their language or culture -- unlike some other minority groups," Widyalankara told AFP.

Widyalankara, who is writing a book on the ethnic group, said the Kaffirs had assimilated over generations, having married Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka.

But in the palm-fringed village of Sirambiadiya, about 100 Kaffirs remain, living in modest brick houses and earning a living as labourers and cleaners.

At lunchtime, the men chat and doze in hammocks as the women sing catchy creole tunes while preparing a meal on outdoor stoves.

Their songs, mostly repeating a few basic lyrics, speak of love, the sea and wildlife, explained George Sherin Alex, 43, one of the village dancers.

The performing arts remain one of the few expressions of the Kaffirs' roots, Shihan Jayasuriya, a senior fellow of the London-based Institute of Commonwealth Studies, told AFP.

"Music and dance seem to be the best indicators of African ancestry, other than their physiognomy. Their other cultural traits are not African because they have adopted local customs and habits," Jayasuriya said.

The Kaffirs were originally Muslims, but now they practice a range of faiths from Catholicism to Buddhism, and wear typically Sri Lankan clothes of long skirts for the women and sarongs for the men.

No one knows how many Africans were brought to Sri Lanka, but their descendants survive only in pockets along the island's coastal regions of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Negambo, according to Census Department officials.

Jayasuriya, who has done extensive research on the African diaspora in the Indian sub-continent, said the Kaffirs' predicament is centred on their struggle to find a place in post-colonial Sri Lanka.

"They have become disempowered because their patrons, the European colonisers have left the island. They have lost their role as a part of the colonial machinery," said Jayasuriya. (AFP)

Mystery of Bangladesh's mass arsenic poisoning solved

Researchers have pinpointed the source of what is probably the worst mass poisoning in history, according to a study published Sunday.

For nearly three decades scientists have struggled to figure out exactly how arsenic was getting into the drinking water of millions of people in rural Bangladesh.

The culprit, says the new study, are tens of thousands of man-made ponds excavated to provide soil for flood protection.

An estimated two million people in Bangladesh suffer from arsenic poisoning, and health experts suspect the toxic, metal-like element has caused -- and will continue to cause -- many deaths as well.

Symptoms include violent stomach pains and vomiting, diarrhoea, convulsions and cramps. A large dose can kill outright, while chronic ingestion of small doses has been linked to a large range of cancers.

It has long been known that the arsenic comes from water drawn from millions of low-tech "tube wells" scattered across the country.

Ironically the wells were dug -- often with the help of international aid agencies -- to protect villages from unclean and disease-ridden surface water.

Tragically, millions of people continue to knowingly poison themselves for lack of an alternative source of water.

Earlier studies succeeded in filling in a few pieces of the deadly puzzle.

They showed that water with the highest concentrations of arsenic is roughly 50 years old, and that the organic carbon which, once metabolised by microbes causes the poison to leach from sediment, does not take long to filter down from the surface.

But the source of both the contaminated water and the organic carbon remained unknown until a team of researchers led by Charles Harvey of MIT in Boston, Massachusetts cracked the secret.

Working in the Munshiganj district of Bangladesh, the researchers analysed the flow patterns of surface and underground water in a six square-mile (15.5 square-kilometre) area.

They used natural tracers and a 3-D computer model to track water from rice fields and ponds, and tested the capacity of organic carbon in both settings to free up arsenic from soil and sediments.

"We saw that water with high arsenic content originates from the human-built ponds, and water with lower arsenic content originates from the rice fields," said Rebecca Neumann, a co-author and postdoctoral associate at Harvard.

Chemical analysis showed that the organic compound that unleashes the poison first settles on the bottom of the ponds and then slowly seeps into the ground.

The findings, published in Nature Geoscience, "suggest that the problem could be alleviated by digging deeper drinking water wells below the influence of the ponds, or by locating shallow drinking wells under rice fields," Neumann said in a communique.

The same team of researchers plan to dig such wells in different region to see whether it leads to improved health for villages.

Scott Fendorf, a professor at Stanford University who studies arsenic content in soils and sediments along the Mekong River in Cambodia, said the new study was clearly a breakthrough.

"It shows that human modifications are impacting the arsenic content in the groundwater," he said in a statement. "The ponds ... are having a negative impact on the release of arsenic." (AFP)

US health overhaul could face key Senate test

President Barack Obama's drive to remake US health care could face a critical test vote in the US Senate, where lawmakers await an influential report on the plan's cost and overall impact.

Obama's Democratic allies hope to pass sweeping legislation to enact the president's top domestic priority this year, but face intra-party feuds over the volatile issue of abortion and the government's proper role.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hopes to set the stage to launch formal debate next week, after the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issues a report on the bill's price tag.

"The goal, still, is to at least start the debate before the Thanksgiving recess," which begins November 23, said Reid spokesman Jim Manley.

Doing so would require a vote on whether to proceed to the health care debate, with support of 60 senators needed to ensure passage over any parliamentary delaying tactics from Republicans bitterly opposed to the plan.

That could prove a risky test of support for the legislation: several swing-vote Democrats and one independent who often sides with them have signaled they may not support launching the debate at this point.

The doubters chiefly object to the inclusion of a government-backed health insurance program -- popularly known as a "public option" -- to compete with private insurers.

And at least one Democratic senator, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, has said he will withhold his support unless the Senate bill tightens curbs on federal monies going to pay for health plans that cover abortion.

Nelson's comments came after the House of Representatives approved an amendment sharply toughening such restrictions, a step seen as key to winning over some anti-abortion Democrats' support for the bill, which passed last week by a narrow 220-215 vote.

But Democrats and outside groups that favor abortion rights have indicated they will fight to have such limits removed from any final legislation before it goes to Obama to sign into law.

Republicans have complained that Reid, who sent the CBO a bill that blended work by two key committees but did not release the legislation publicly, is trying to rush the measure through the Senate.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed last week for the Senate bill to be available online for 72 hours so lawmakers and the public "can take a look at it" before formal debate beings.

If, as expected, the Senate and House of Representatives approve rival versions of the legislation, they would have to forge a compromise bill and approve it in order to send it to Obama to sign into law.

On Friday, a group that supports the White House approach, Health Care for America Now, launched a television advertising campaign to pressure reluctant senators from Arkansas and Nebraska to vote yes on starting the debate.

The United States is the only industrialized democracy that does not ensure that all of its citizens have health care coverage, with an estimated 36 million Americans uninsured.

And Washington spends vastly more on health care -- both per person and as a share of national income as measured by gross domestic product -- than other industrialized democracies, with no meaningful advantage in quality of care, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (AFP)

Yves Saint Laurent's everyday knick-knacks up for grabs

After auctioning a highly valuable art collection amassed over half a century, Pierre Berge, partner of late pantsuit pioneer Yves Saint Laurent, is putting everyday pieces up for sale this week.

Last February's 700-item sale of the YSL/Berge collection smashed record on record, netting 342 million euros (491 million dollars) and making Saint Laurent the top-earning dead celebrity of 2009, according to Forbes which placed him ahead of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.

This week's sale, starting Tuesday and running over four days, bears little comparison with the first instalment, said to be the biggest private art sale in history.

Taking in items ranging from a billiard table to giant chandeliers and even pots and pans, most of the 1,185 items under the hammer hail from the pair's country hideaway on the French Normandy coast.

"It's all great stuff," said antique dealer Thierry Blanchard at a pre-auction viewing. "They're well-chosen pieces that reflect their style."

Estimated by Christie's at between three to four million euros, the proceeds will fund campaigns against HIV-AIDS, Berge said last month.

From neo-Gothic chairs, to panther sofas, rococco mirrors, porcelain, floor cushions and spare curtains, prices range from 80 euros (110 dollars) for turn-of-the-century paperweights and vases to 3,000 euros (4,100 dollars) for a an army of lead soldiers, and 50,000 euros (67,000 dollars) for a work by Fernand Leger.

"All of this," said Jonathan Rendell, deputy head of Christie's America, "was part of their intimacy, their universe."

Works on auction are largely from the pair's three-storey Chateau Gabriel in Normandy, a rambling place with a sea view and vast grounds built in 1874.

Purchased in the early 1980s, the pair had it redecorated to evoke writer Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" as well as late 19th century castle-life in Bavaria and decors from Luchino Visconti's final film "The Innocent".

The walls of the living room were painted in the style of Claude Monet's Nympheas, classical furniture mixed with unusual objets d'art, and each of the bedrooms inspired and named after characters in the Proust novel.

Berge, a business tycoon and arts patron who was Saint Laurent's lover and business partner, opted to sell their collection and belongings after the June 2008 death at 71 of the fashion czar who put women in pants.

The sale winds up Friday evening with the sale of the king of couture's black 2007 S-class Mercedes-Benz -- estimated between 30,000 and 50,000 euros -- his crocodile leather suitcases and signature jewels he kept in his bedroom. (AFP)

Surfing is a new freedom for handicapped in Rio

With his tan, sun-bleached hair and muscles, Henrique Saraiva projects a surfer image as clearly as the lines he carves across the waves that curl onto Rio's beaches.

It's hard to believe this 30-year-old can barely walk when on dry land.

Saraiva was the victim 12 years ago of the violence that dogs daily life in this Brazilian city. He found himself in hospital, a bullet lodged in his spine that left his legs paralyzed.

But while doctors were skeptical that he'd ever walk again, Saraiva set about his physical re-education with determined fervor. Now, he gets around on crutches rather than a wheelchair.

That was not enough for a young man who had led an active life up to his tragedy -- and dreamed of recapturing that joy of activity.

"I was 18 and I missed sport so badly," he said.

A friend's suggestion he take up kneeboard surfing turned out to be a revelation: after avoiding beaches because of the way he was viewed by others, he discovered a new freedom, and a new self-esteem on the waves.

Inspired by his experience, Saraiva in 2007 created with two friends, Luiz Phelipe and Luana Nobre, Adaptsurf -- an association that helps handicapped people catch sets on Rio's magnificent shore, as well as lobbying for better access for them to beaches.

"We give free surf lessons adapted to each student, whatever their handicap," explained Luana, the association's physical education instructor.

Phelipe, a physiotherapist, explained the advantages of the sport for those with physical disabilities: "Tailored surfing helps the internal and external balance of a person. It helps cardio-respiratory development.... And that's not counting the social benefits."

Two students of Adaptsurf, Daniela, who is partially blind, and Andre, paraplegic after a motorbike accident, backed that assessment.

"Before, I didn't dare go in the water," said Daniela, 28. "I didn't want to be a burden for my family, so I stayed home in front of my computer."

The association assisted her in overcoming her fears.

"Now I feel freer, more open. I'm not so afraid to talk to people... In the water, we're all equal," she said as she followed Phelipe pushing Andre in his wheelchair to the sea.

Andre's wheelchair itself is a structural wonder that turns heads. Waterproof and equipped with giant all-terrain wheels capable of supporting 120 kilograms (265 pounds), it takes its owner well into the water, where he hauls himself on to his board.

"For six years I didn't set foot in the ocean. There was no way that let me get to it," he said, visibly happy that those circumstances have changed.

"I think things are changing quicker now, with the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016 in Rio. Of course, that doesn't mean we should sit back and wait for them to arrive -- we have to keep fighting for handicapped people and accessibility for all, everywhere."

For all the enthusiasm its practitioners display, it's clear that the style of surfing still has a long way to go to be accepted among other sporting disciplines.

But Saraiva and his partners intend to use the attention generated by Rio's hosting of the Olympics to raise the profile of the sport -- drawing on their own uplifting experience of sitting atop the waves. (AFP)

Stepping back in time to the Yemen of old

For centuries, the traditional Turkish-style bathhouse -- hamam in Arabic -- has been a cornerstone of life in the Middle East, a place for social gatherings as well as for ritual cleansing.

Many hamams are also architectural jewels in their own right.

Inside the 410-year-old Hamam al-Abhar in the Yemeni capital Sanaa's old city, men of all ages relax after their steam bath in rounded halls where beams of natural light stream through holes in dome-shaped ceilings.

Sanaa has been inhabited for more than 2,500 years, and its old quarter -- a UNESCO World Heritage site -- has 14 hamams in an architectural treasure trove of 103 mosques and more than 6,000 houses, all built before the 11th century.

On arrival at Hamam al-Abhar, bathers leave their traditional daggers and long white robes in lockers before indulging in the age-old ritual.

Many believe a visit to the hamam helps to keep disease at bay, while others swear it does wonders for sexual prowess.

For 65-year-old jeweller Ismail Abu Taleb, the hamam is a place where friends can discuss the issues of the day as they chew qat, the mildly narcotic leaves used daily by most Yemenis.

"I live in the old city and visit this hamam almost every day," he told AFP. "For many people, all these surroundings are remnants of a glorious history, but for us history is part of our daily lives."

Hashem al-Hamzei, a 30-year-old merchant with two wives, says he comes to the bathhouse four days a week both to bathe and also to boost his sex life.

"The hot water and the massage makes your blood circulate better and makes you a better man during the night," he said, explaining that he divides the days of the week between his two women -- and also takes a day off.

"Tuesday is my private day. I come here to bathe, enjoy time with my friends. On that day I cannot look at any woman."

Hamzei said that most of the young generation in Yemen visit hamams for the same reason. "The hamam is just the beginning. Then chewing the qat makes you feel like a tiger," he added with a smile.

The first stage of the ritual is the warm room, where bathers perspire in a flow of hot dry air as they sit on stone black benches.

The next room is warm and humid. Here customers wash, and the soapy water runs away through gutters cut into the floor.

In the hot massage parlour, a masseur pummels vigorously at a client, working on his legs, hands, stomach and back.

The hamam's doors also open at other times for women only, especially on Thursdays, the weekend in Yemen when most weddings take place.

"On the wedding day special rituals are observed for both bride and groom," said Yehya al-Sadik, 40, one of the owners of Hamam al-Abhar.

"After the bride takes a steam bath, special oil and incense is used on her body to prepare her for the big night."

The cost of a visit to the bathhouse varies between 200 riyals (one dollar) and 2,000 riyals.

"As soon as the client enters the hamam, he is charged 200 riyals and then the price depends on what the client wants. For each service there is a price. That may also include lunch inside the hamam," said Sadik.

Many Yemenis also believe visiting the hamam is good for the health, and that a day there is better than any prescription from the doctor.

Some also say it is a natural remedy to combat swine flu, the potentially deadly A(H1N1) virus sweeping the world.

"My son Mohammed is suffering from flu, so I bring him here for a daily bath. The hot water and steam are better than any medicine," said Khaled Rafiq, 39.

"It kills all germs and make your body immune, especially to swine flu." (AFP)

Japanese chef scoops top award in London

Tomoyuki Abe of Japanese restaurant chain Sushizen was named best chef at a sushi awards ceremony in London late Saturday.

The Eat-Japan Sushi Awards 2009 featured seven of the world's best sushi chefs preparing their favourite dishes. Invited guests then tasted the foods before picking the winner through a ballot.

The event, described by organisers as "the Oscars of the sushi world", was won last year by Mitsunori Kusakabe of the Sushi Ran restaurant in California, United States. (AFP)

Marathon bid to separate conjoined Bangladeshi twins

A team of Australian doctors began marathon and risky surgery on Monday to separate a pair of Bangladeshi twins who are joined at the head, giving only a one in four chance of both surviving.

The 16-strong team was on "tenterhooks" over the delicate bid to separate Trishna and Krishna, aged two, which will take about 16 hours, plastic surgeon Tony Holmes told reporters at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.

"It is a stressful time for any group of surgeons with this sort of case, they only come along really once in a lifetime and I think everybody has been on tenterhooks," he said.

Doctors had already started cutting through the bone which joins the girls via the top of the head and will then separate the connected section of brain and blood vessels, Holmes added.

"The unknown ... is what actually happens when you separate finally the cerebral circulations, because that is a change in haemodynamics (blood movement) so the pressures will be different in each twin," Holmes said.

"It's over those few early minutes when the pressures equilibrate in the brain, they're the things that we're worried about.

"But the children are prepared as well as could possibly be and we're cautiously optimistic that everything is going particularly well."

Krishna was close to death when the twins arrived in Australia in January last year but both are now thriving and have undergone a series of preparatory operations.

The Children First Foundation (CFF) flew the girls to Australia in January 2008 because of poor separation survival rates in their native Bangladesh, where only two children have survived four operations in recent years.

Holmes said the children's legal guardian, Moira Kelly, looked "relatively distressed" as Trishna and Krishna were wheeled into the operation.

"When the children went into the operating theatre ... Moira was there giving them, you know, a farewell kiss and good luck," he said.

"She was relatively distressed as one would be if it was your child. The kids were fine, OK, they looked as healthy and happy as anything but they were sedated."

The girls should be apart by 6:00 pm (0700 GMT) and plastic surgeons will then replace the missing bone and skin. The whole procedure is expected to finish at around midnight.

Separating conjoined twins is a notoriously difficult procedure with attempts in Britain and Bangladesh both failing over the past year, although Saudi doctors successfully divided a pair of Egyptian brothers in February.

In one of the best known cases, Singapore doctors in 2003 failed in an attempt to separate adult twins -- Iranian law graduates Laleh and Ladan Bijani, 29 -- who died from severe blood loss after 52 hours of surgery. (AFP)

Priced-out Londoners turn to empty homes

London is one of the most expensive places to live on the planet, but it is also home to tens of thousands of empty properties -- and some people are taking matters into their own hands.

Squatters have taken over buildings in some of the most upmarket areas of London, most recently on Leicester Square, where a group of artists have set up a home in a disused office block.

Those seeking a more conventional route have struck short-term residential lets with the owners of prime business space which they have struggled to rent out because of the recession.

"We're a bit spoilt for choice when it comes to properties. In central London there's a plethora of prime real estate that's simply going to waste," said Dan Simon, whose squatter movement took over the Leicester Square block.

His artistic group, called The Oubliettes, is making a habit of occupying top London buildings, where they show their work and hold art classes. Previous 'homes' include the former Mexican embassy in the plush Mayfair district.

Their latest project is an unimpressive office block in a highly impressive location -- right next door to the Odeon West End cinema which regularly hosts glamorous red carpet film premieres.

Simon said "financial constraints" were a big motivation for their movement but insists their presence benefits landlords because empty buildings can attract crime and fall into a state of disrepair.

Across the River Thames in the up-and-coming district of Denmark Hill, David Ireland, chief executive of campaign group Empty Homes Agency, made the same point as he stood outside a row of 18 boarded-up homes in a single street.

"Things like this attract petty crime and attract a feeling of the area in decline," he told AFP.

Ireland said the houses, some of which have been empty for years, could be used for new homes.

"The UK is a country which has got huge housing need and a lot of need for new homes, and yet we've got a million that could be used if only the attention was paid to them instead of always looking at new homes," he said.

Rents in London are among the highest in the world, with a one-bedroom flat in the city centre costing at least 300 pounds a week.

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wants to deliver 50,000 more affordable homes across the capital by 2011, and empty homes are part of this strategy.

His housing blueprint published in May puts the number of long-term empty properties in London at about 35,000, and the mayor has vowed to invest 60 million pounds by 2011 to bring them back into use.

Back in Denmark Hill, the hospital trust that owns 12 of the empty houses says they are being sold, and officials elsewhere say many of the homes listed as empty are simply awaiting sale -- a process extended by the housing slump.

For those homes left to languish, local councils have a variety of means to bring them back into use, ranging from providing grants to redevelop them to compulsory purchase orders.

Philippa Roe, the councillor with responsibility for housing in Westminster, which includes Leicester Square, said her local authority is trying to "look creatively" at the problem -- including using so-called property 'guardians'.

Unable to rent out one of its office blocks in the central Soho district, the council turned to an association that found short-term tenants willing to live there for minimal rent -- a win-win solution for both sides. (AFP)