China tightens controls on foreign news

China on Sunday announced detailed controls on the distribution of news by foreign news agencies, banning all content that violates its own tight media restrictions.

The new measures took effect as soon as they were issued by the official Xinhua News Agency.

They limit foreign news agencies to distributing news only through Xinhua or entities authorized by Xinhua.

The detailed rules ban news content that disrupts "China's economic and social order or undermine China's social stability," Xinhua said.

The limits also ban news that undermines the country's "national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said.

The announcement said the rules would also apply to release of news and information in Hong Kong and Taiwan, although it was unclear how they would be applied given the separate legal systems in those territories.

China has long sought to limit foreign distribution of news inside the country while exercising harsh limits on domestic media that are often arbitrarily enforced by vaguely worded state security rules that mandate harsh penalties, including long prison terms, for violations.

The new rules appeared designed to end any uncertainties over the government's determination to prevent foreign news businesses from operating in the Chinese mainland.

"Foreign news agencies shall not directly solicit subscription of their news and information services in China," it said.

Xinhua said the rules were meant to "promote the dissemination of news and information in a sound and orderly manner."

Other news banned by the rules included: information that may, "endanger China's national security, reputation and interests;" that which may "violation China's religious policies or preach 'evil cults' or superstition;" and that which might "incite hatred and discrimination among ethnic groups" or undermine their unity, it said.

Also forbidden are "other content banned by Chinese laws and administrative regulations," it said.

"Xinhua News Agency has the right to select the news and information released by foreign news agencies in China and shall delete any materials mentioned in the items above," it said.

"If a foreign news agency violates the Measures, for example, Xinhua News Agency shall give it a warning, demand rectification within a prescribed time limit, suspend its release of specified content, suspend or cancel its qualifications for releasing news and information in China," it added.

The rules impose "disciplinary penalties" on staff members who violate such restrictions, it said.

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Blair meets Palestinian leader

Phil Hazlewood

AP

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as he continues a trip aimed at breathing new life into the dormant Middle East peace process and bolstering a UN-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon.

A day after extracting a pledge in Jerusalem from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to meet the Palestinian leader without preconditions, Blair arrived in the West Bank town of Ramallah for his meeting with Abbas.

The two leaders shook hands on a red carpet outside the government compound in Ramallah and went inside for talks. They were due to hold a press conference later Sunday.

"There is a tremendous suffering amongst the Palestinian people as a result of the inability to make progress" in the peace talks, Blair said during a joint press conference with Olmert late Saturday.

"It is very important to see what we can do to re-energize this process," he said.

But the embattled Blair, who last week announced that he would stand down in the next 12 months, received a cool reception on the streets of Ramallah, where a demonstration has been called against his visit by groups who accuse him of pro-Israeli "bias."

Blair's office has already said his Middle East trip is unlikely to see any real breakthrough in the peace process, but that it is important to help restart talks.

Olmert told Blair late Saturday that he was ready to meet Abbas -- whom he last saw in an informal meeting in Jordan on June 23 -- without preconditions, but did not set a date.

"I am ready to work closely with the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, to implement the road map," Olmert said referring to a largely moribund internationally drafted peace blueprint.

"I intend to meet with chairman Abbas in order to make real progress on outstanding issues on our agenda. I have no preconditions or prerequisites for such a meeting," Olmert said after brief talks with the British premier at his Jerusalem residence.

Blair urged both sides to return to the roadmap, which has made next to no progress since it was launched in 2003.

"The only agreement that's ever going to stick... is an agreement where people resolve their differences through politics and not through violence," he said.

"We have a plan to get there -- the roadmap. We have to find a means of getting back to it," he said.

Drafted by the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, the roadmap sets out a series of steps necessary to establish a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

The Israeli government cut nearly all contacts with the Palestinians after the radical Islamist movement Hamas formed a government in March following its upset January parliamentary election victory.

The European Union and the United States froze all direct financial aid to the Palestinian government, demanding that Hamas renounce violence, recognize the Jewish state and agree to abide by past agreements.

On Saturday, prime minister Ismail Haniya wrote in Britain's Guardian newspaper that by supporting boycotts and sanctions against his Hamas movement Blair had caused "untold hurt" to the Palestinians.

The letter came two days after a group of Palestinian intellectuals and political groups declared Blair persona non grata in the Palestinian territories, accusing him of "bias" on the Palestinian question.

Prior to his meeting with Abbas, Blair met with senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem and with families of Israeli soldiers seized by militants in Gaza and Lebanon.

On Monday he is due to travel on to Beirut.

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New Drug Treats Premature Ejaculation

Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

A new antidepressant drug designed specifically to treat premature ejaculation proved safe and effective in two large trials, researchers report.

However, it's not likely that dapoxetine, a short-acting selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), will win U.S. approval anytime soon because it can produce side effects, one expert said.

SSRIs, which are used to treat depression and other psychiatric disorders, are now also used "off-label" as a treatment for premature ejaculation. They work because one of their side effects is to delay ejaculation. But, continued SSRI use can have some negative side effects, such as psychiatric problems, skin reactions, weight gain, and loss of libido, experts said.

"This is the first drug specifically developed for premature ejaculation," said lead researcher Dr. Jon L. Pryor, a professor and chairman of urologic surgery at the University of Minnesota. "It worked both in lengthening ejaculation time and in patients' feeling control over ejaculation and both subjects' and partners' feelings of satisfaction with intercourse," he said.

The findings are published in the Sept. 9 issue of The Lancet.

Premature ejaculation is the most common male sexual problem, even more common than erectile dysfunction, affecting 21 percent to 33 percent of American men.

In the study, Pryor and his colleagues looked at the combined results of two trials that tested dapoxetine. The trials included 2,614 men who had moderate to severe premature ejaculation.

The men were randomly assigned to receive a placebo or different doses of dapoxetine. They were told to take the drug one to three hours before having sex. At the start of the study, the men ejaculated, on average, in less than a minute after penetration.

However, after 12 weeks, men taking dapoxetine increased their time to ejaculation to 2.78 minutes for those receiving a 30-milligram dose, and to 3.32 minutes for those receiving a 60-milligram dose, the researchers found. For men taking a placebo, the time to ejaculation averaged 1.75 minutes.

Pryor thinks this study will get people talking more about the problem of premature ejaculation. "I hope this paper brings premature ejaculation out of the closet," he said. "I hope it allows for mature discussion about it, and that people realize that there is hope."

One expert familiar with dapoxetine thinks the drug has promise but will not be available in the United States.

"The problem is that dapoxetine was presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year, and they rejected it out-of-hand as a treatment for premature ejaculation," said Dr. James Barada, director of the Center for Sexual Health in Albany, N.Y.

The drug can produce side effects such as nausea, headache, upset stomach and weakness. It is being released in Europe, Barada said.

"Premature ejaculation is a real clinical condition that causes distress for the man, his partner and especially the relationship," he added. "Because we have no approved therapy, we are at somewhat of a loss to treat it. For many years, we have been using off-label therapies -- SSRIs -- because of the side effect they have of delaying ejaculation."

Doctors can still use SSRIs, Viagra, and psychotherapy to treat the problem, Barada said. "We need to get better research to understand the mechanisms of premature ejaculation and hopefully design a medicine that has good efficacy and safety that is not an SSRI," he said.

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Crew to inspect space shuttle for damage

MIKE SCHNEIDER,
Associated Press Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Atlantis' six astronauts woke up Sunday prepared to inspect the space shuttle's thermal skin for damage as they soared toward the international space station.

NASA managers said hours after Saturday's launch that there was no obvious damage to Atlantis during liftoff. Carrying a 17 1/2-ton addition, Atlantis and its crew were scheduled to arrive at the space station on Monday to restart construction of the orbiting space lab.

The crew awoke to a version of "Moon River" sung by Audrey Hepburn in the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's," a request of commander Brent Jett's wife.

"It really is a beautiful day up here," Jett said. "We're awake and ready to get to work with the inspection."

More than 100 cameras were focused on Atlantis during liftoff to capture any signs of foam breaking off its external fuel tank, the problem that doomed space shuttle Columbia. NASA's cameras spotted three possible hits — two small foam streams and one ice chunk — but they came so late that the debris wasn't moving fast enough to do much damage.

Still, the imagery review was preliminary, and NASA hoped to get a better look from the crew using the shuttle's 50-foot robotic arm, attached to a 50-foot boom with sensors at the end, to take a closer look at the spacecraft's nose cap and wing leading edge.

The inspection technique was introduced after the Columbia disaster in 2003, and Atlantis was to be the third flight to try it out.

In 2003, Columbia's heat shield was damaged by flyaway foam from its external fuel tank during liftoff, allowing fiery gases to penetrate its wing and tear the shuttle apart as it later re-entered the atmosphere. Since then, NASA has struggled to find ways to prevent the hard foam from breaking away.

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Video-Game Analytics Track Players' Behavior

Laurie Sullivan
TechWeb

A video game software maker wants to look over your shoulder while you play, and the company is developing software that will monitor and analyze every move you make.

Sound Orwellian? Some privacy advocates may think so, but the data revealed could help developers and publishers make better games.

Emergent Game Technologies is working on analytics software that will let video game developers and publishers glean information on peoples' behavioral patterns as they play, a company executive said Friday.

More than 15 years in development, Metrics Element, a tool to collect, analyze and distribute game data within a Web-based user interface, will ship around the first of the year.

The software would provide answers to many questions, from what players do in the game and how long it take to reach level 20, to where they spend their money and how many people saw the Pepsi product pitch in the game, for example.

Not only answers, but details on the number of people who viewed the ad, and how long they stayed to either look or interact with it, said Larry Mellon, Emergent vice president of engineering and systems architect.

"Massive multiplayer online games like War of Worldcraft are hitting some of the major problems in computer science," Mellon said. "Scale is one."

Mellon said Blizzard Entertainment Inc.'s War of Worldcraft has more than 6 million players. That means potentially you have 6 million PCs connected to 30,000 servers exchanging information in a real-time 3D virtual world where there are security and internal in-game economic implications, and social-network analysis required.

A probe-package inserts in the video game to collect and transmit data to Emergent's servers. It aggregates and displays the information in charts to view. The technology is written in a combination of Java, Flash, and C + +.

Users can customize the data collected. Engineers might choose to measure frames per second on the client to make sure the games proceed smoothly. Or measure latency between client and server to make sure the interactive game isn't bogged down by slow responses. Developers could measure how players spend their money to optimize ad placement.

The software can even look inside the online network as gamers play to help identify connection points within a game, providing insight into how information moves from one group to another.

"You can see how your marketing network moves, and how news propagates across the virtual world," said Michael Arrington, senior analyst at Acacia Research Group, Vancouver, Wash. "There are privacy concerns, but if you're playing in a MMOG world you've probably already given authorization for the site to collect data in aggregate, as long as they don't identify you as an individual."

Peeking into a live online game as people play will become more important as publishers ad more in-game advertising. Imagine being able to see what gamers do when they first enter a virtual world: Perhaps buy swords, potions or horses.

Knowing what players do in fantasy or sports games would assist developers to determine ad placement for in-game ads. "There aren't many tools that can measure in-game ad performance, and anything that can track users more accurately would help companies justify the motorization of advertising in games," said Colin Sebastian, senior research analyst with Lazard Capital Markets LLC

The analytics software may answer questions for game makers, but it also could create privacy issues.

"Players hate being measured surreptitiously, but as long as you're upfront with them it's typically not an issue," Mellon said. "For MMOGs, where you're continually improving the game over years, it's invaluable to see how people play the game today, when you're trying to plan for tomorrow."

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Australia's Crocodile Hunter gets private funeral

SYDNEY (Reuters)
A private funeral service was held for Australian TV naturalist Steve Irwin on Saturday and he will be buried at his family's zoo in the northern state of Queensland, local media reported.

Irwin's father, Bob Irwin, had declined a government offer for a state funeral for his son.

Irwin, known as the "Crocodile Hunter" after his popular TV documentaries which aired around the world, was killed six days ago by a stingray barb to the chest while diving on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

After the funeral service his body was taken to his family's Australia Zoo wildlife park, where he is expected to be buried, local media reported on Sunday.

Irwin, 44, had flirted with death many times in his "Crocodile Hunter" documentaries, seen by 200 million people, wrestling with some of the world's most dangerous creatures.

News of Irwin's death clogged Internet news sites and drew tributes from around the world. Prime Minister John Howard interrupted parliament to pay tribute to him, saying he was distressed by the loss of a remarkable Australian.

A public memorial service that is likely to draw thousands of mourners was expected to take place later this month.

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Broadcaster demands compensation for missing All Blacks

WELLINGTON (AFP)
Media giant News Ltd has put a price on the heads of top All Blacks and will demand compensation if they fail to appear in early Super 14 matches next year.

The Super 14 paymaster is angered by New Zealand's plans to pull 22 leading players from the first half of the 2007 competition so they will be in peak physical and mental shape for the World Cup campaign at the end of the year.

The Australian-headquartered media conglomerate claims the New Zealand plan breaches the Super 14 broadcasting rights deal it has with South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby (SANZAR), the Sunday Star-Times said.

New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) chairman Jock Hobbs met with exectives of the aggrieved broadcaster in Sydney last week, and was told to name the 22 World Cup contenders who will miss seven weeks of Super 14 rugby.

Once informed, New Ltd. would then talk to broadcasters in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa -- plus Sky TV in Great Britain -- to discuss what News Ltd. spokesman Greg Baxter described as "an acceptable compromise."

Baxter said that would probably involve negotiating a discount on the 660 million New Zealand dollar (418 million US) contract SANZAR signed with News Ltd. in 2004.

"I think so, because clearly there is a value attached to these players. If there wasn't they would not be resting them," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Baxter said News Ltd. would prefer to avoid a protracted legal argument.

"To us, that is about as far away from where we want this relationship to be as you can get, so that would be an absolute last resort," he said.

"We will be trying to pursue other avenues, which will include the possibility of being compensated for the loss of those players."

The All Blacks to undergo the individually tailored reconditioning programmes were originally intended to be named after the All Blacks Tri-Nations campaign ended in South Africa last weekend.

However, a spokesman said the announcement had been delayed as they were "still working through the process."

The decision to keep players out of the Super 14 championship is part of New Zealand's plan to shake off their tag of World Cup chokers.

"It is critical that our top players have the opportunity to prepare in the right way so that they are in the best shape of their lives when they get to France," NZRU chief executive Chris Moller said.

Since winning the the inaugural World Cup in 1987, the All Blacks have failed in every attempt since, earning them a reputation as "chokers" in rugby's biggest tournament.

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Relatives greet rescued Siberia minersb

JIM HEINTZ,
Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW - Crying relatives greeted eight miners rescued Saturday from a burning Siberian gold mine after a raging fire killed at least 25 of their colleagues.

The bodies of the last four missing workers were recovered early Sunday.

As the survivors were rushed to hospital Saturday to be treated for hypothermia and carbon dioxide poisoning, they described their two-day ordeal, saying they managed to stay alive several hundred yards underground by sticking together.

"Nobody panicked, nobody quarreled," Yevgeny Slivka told state-run Channel One as he lay in a hospital bed, his face covered with soot.

"We shared one cigarette among the eight of us, we had two pieces of lard that we split into small equal pieces among all, we spread the bread evenly, too — nobody yelled at one each other ... everybody managed to stay together."

Miners' relatives had gathered outside the mine Saturday, waiting in the cold for news, hoping to ask survivors about the fate of those still missing.

But workers searching smoke-filled tunnels found the bodies of the last four missing workers Sunday, bringing the number of dead to 25, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Natalya Lukash.

The blaze broke out Thursday in the Darasun mine some 3,000 miles east of Moscow.

Of the 64 who were in the mine when the fire broke out, 31 made it to the surface Thursday, and eight were rescued Saturday.

Another ministry spokeswoman, Yulia Stadnikova, said the fire, which erupted at a depth of 280 feet to 430 feet, was contained Thursday evening, but still burned Saturday and rescue efforts were hampered by damage and smoky conditions.

Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu flew to the mine to take charge of the physically and emotionally exhausting operation and to investigate the cause of the accident. Three hundred rescuers took part.

Officials said earlier that negligence during welding work may have sparked the blaze at the mine, which has been in operation since 1901.

The welders first attempted to put out the fire themselves and waited nearly an hour to call for help, which allowed the fire to spread quickly, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency, which cited Nikolai Kutin, deputy head of government safety watchdog agency Rostekhnadzor.

On survivor, Nikolai Selishev, said he and his companions had found an area where fresh air was blowing in and stayed there until smoke and gas lifted enough for them to move further.

The gold and metals mine is operated by London-listed Highland Gold Mining PLC. The 105-year-old mine has been plagued with operational problems for over a year, Dow Jones Newswires reported, badly delaying the schedule for raising output and contributing to the causes of Highland's net loss last year.

The accident "appears to be the worst in the gold mining industry in years," Rostekhnadzor spokeswoman Elena Kaliberda said.

Accidents are common in the mining industries in the former Soviet Union, where mine operators often lack funds to invest in safety equipment and technical upgrades.

Coal mining has been worst affected by accidents, with 1,744 miners dying while working since 1993, according to Vladimir Rossikhin, of the Russian Independent Union of Coal Miners. He said, however, that safety had improved in recent years amid Russia's economic recovery.

Regional authorities said the province will mark Monday as a day of mourning.

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Florence strengthens into a hurricane

LIZABETH ROBERTS,
Associated Press Writer

HAMILTON, Bermuda - Florence strengthened into a hurricane early Sunday as it approached Bermuda, where residents installed storm shutters and hauled their yachts onto beaches.

Florence became a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

The storm was expected to reach the tiny British territory Monday, according to the hurricane center. But it was too early to tell whether it will make a direct hit.

The storm became a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was expected to strengthen further Sunday, the hurricane center said.

At 2 a.m. EDT, the center of Florence was 360 miles south of Bermuda, moving northwest at 13 mph.

Bermuda issued a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning, and the government urged its 65,000 residents to take precautions. Part of Bermuda's volunteer army has been mobilized.

"We are asking residents to please stay home. We are urging the public's cooperation so that emergency vehicles will have free passage on the roads," Derrick Burgess, minister of public safety, said at a news conference. "Also, we are discouraging the public from sightseeing as this puts everyone at risk."

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Blair Launches Mideast Peace Mission




Mr. Blair opened his visit in Jerusalem, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. At a joint news conference, the British Prime Minister said they discussed shoring up the fragile cease-fire in Lebanon and reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

"The majority of people here, I'm sure, want to see what the majority of people in my country want to see, which is a Middle East that is stable, and democratic, with people living side by side in peace. It is very easy to be pessimistic in the light of everything that has happened recently, but I do believe that with good will and the right leadership it can be done," he said.

Mr. Blair also plans to visit the West Bank for talks with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Israeli Prime Minister said he is ready to hold his first summit with Mr. Abbas to discuss the internationally-backed "road map" peace plan. "I remain dedicated to advancing to the political process with the Palestinians according to the road map, starting with implementation of the first phase which calls for the dismantling of the terrorist organizations and their infrastructure," he said.

But Mr. Olmert said there could be no progress until the crisis over a kidnapped Israeli soldier is resolved. The 19-year-old corporal was captured by militants from the ruling Hamas movement more than two months ago, and is being held in the Gaza Strip. "The issue that is our first priority with the Palestinians, naturally, is the immediate release of Corporal Gilad Shalit," he added.

The two leaders also discussed Iran and vowed to prevent that country from acquiring a nuclear bomb. "Our position remains as it's been throughout, which is to make sure that the will of the international community, in respect of Iran's nuclear weapons aspirations, is properly adhered to," he said.

Israel has grown increasingly alarmed about Iran's nuclear program since last October, when the Iranian president threatened to wipe the Jewish state "off the map."

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