Pakistani daily criticizes new contempt law

Islamabad, July 11: Pakistan’s new contempt law “for all practical purposes provides immunity to top holders to flout court orders”, said a daily, calling it a bid to save Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf from an “adverse order by the Supreme Court”.

Ashraf faces the Supreme Court’s on July 12 deadline to write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari.

An editorial in the News International on Wednesday said that Ashraf’s fate hangs in the balance for the same reason that caused his predecessor Yousuf Raza Gilani’s ouster -- “refusing to obey court orders and write the Swiss letter”.

“In a bid to save another Prime Minister and not willing to take a chance with the court’s mood and what it considers its meddlesome forays, the government has done its own damage control in the form of a damaging piece of legislation,” it said.

The daily observed that the contempt bill sailed through the National Assembly on Monday, and “for all practical purposes provides immunity to top holders to flout court orders”.

The law exempt holders of public office from contempt in exercise of powers and performance of functions and also exclude from the realm of contempt fair comments made in good faith about the general working of the courts or on the merits of a decision of a court,” it said.

Although the bill does not name names, legal experts are agreed that the office holders referred to are the Prime Minister, federal ministers, provincial chief ministers, provincial ministers, provincial governors, and even the president.

The editorial added: “There is no denying that the legislation has been framed solely to save the new Prime Minister from an adverse order by the Supreme Court.”

The daily went on say that one can now expect a new debate on whether or not the new law is lawful, “buying the government the precious time it so needs to make it to the elections and also give it the ammunition to clutch even more desperately to its martyr mantra”.

“In all this ruckus, there will be one sore loser: Pakistan.”

The Pakistan Muslim League-N and other opposition members protested against the bill in the National Assembly and called it a “black law”. And the editorial said: “It wouldn’t be unfair to agree with them.” (IANS)

Iraq shares concern over Syrian issue: Annan

Baghdad, July 11: Iraq shares the concern over the Syrian crisis, UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan has said, adding that Baghdad supports his six-point plan and its comprehensive implementation, Xinhua reported.

Annan, who arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday on a blitz tour covering Syria and Iran, said here during a press conference that he met Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and both sides agreed over sparing no efforts to stop killings for Syrians’ sake.

He said they also agreed on ensuring that the conflict in Syria should not spill over in its neighbourhood.

Annan said during his regional tour in Damascus, Tehran and Baghdad, he had the opportunity to discuss with leaders of the three nations on the need to get the Syrian people to the political dialogue.

The former UN chief is to brief the UNSC on Wednesday on his three-nation trip.

Earlier, Iraqi Prime Minister expressed his country’s readiness to help in Syrian crisis following his meeting with Annan.

Maliki, in a statement issued by his office, confirmed his support for the UN envoy to find a solution to the prevailing crisis in Syria.

“Although the situation is difficult, we must make efforts to stop the killing and to find a political solution to achieve the legitimate goals of the Syrian people,” he said in the statement.

The Iraqi Prime Minister called on Syria’s neighbouring countries to take the highest degree of responsibility in dealing with the crisis situation and stressed upon the need to focus all efforts in stopping the killings and bloodshed.

He expressed the fear of growing extremism due to the escalating violence and murder, saying: “We must work to contain the fire and put them out instead of pouring oil on it.”

Maliki said any change that comes through dialogue would be helpful but called for stopping the foreign interventions, saying: “The Syrian people is the one who pays the price.” (IANS)

US sees no Iranian role in ending Syrian violence

Washington, July 11: The US has insisted that it sees no role for Iran in ending violence and bloodshed in Syria, Xinhua reported.

“I don’t think anybody with a straight face could argue that Iran has had a positive impact on developments in Syria. That’s our view,” White House spokesperson Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Iowa state.

Iran has opposed any form of foreign intervention in Syria, its close ally, but called on the Syrian government to listen to its people's demands and carry out reforms.

About the UN-Arab League special envoy for Syria Kofi Annan-brokered peace plan, Carney called it “essential” for the international community to rally behind it, for it to be implemented and for Al-Assad to step down to make way for a political transition in Syria.

“We remain highly skeptical about Al-Assad’s willingness to meet his commitments, which is another reason why Syria’s future cannot plausibly have Bashar al-Assad in the government,” he said.

Annan said on Tuesday that Iran could play a positive role in solving the Syrian crisis and should be part of the solution.

The former UN chief said during his meeting with the Syrian president in Damascus on Monday, they agreed on an approach to the conflict and he would take it to the Syrian opposition. (IANS)

Putin seeks law amendment for foreign-funded NGOs

Moscow, July 11: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for amendments to a bill which would force non-governmental organisations(NGOs), funded from abroad and engaged in political activity, to declare themselves “foreign agents”.

“If we see today that these projects must be brushed up, I’m ready to ask lawmakers to introduce relevant amendments,” Putin said on Tuesday at a meeting on the pending legislation.

Putin urged the government “not to procrastinate until fall” with discussing the amendments.

Under the new bill, approved by the State Duma in its first reading on Friday, NGOs would have to publish a biannual report of their activities and carry out an annual financial audit.

Failure to comply with the law could result in four-year jail sentences and/or fines of up to 300,000 rubles ($9,200).

Those engaged in political activity and funded from abroad will be labelled “foreign agents,” a term synonymous with spying and treason in the Soviet era, which has already met fierce criticism from human rights groups. (IANS/RIA Novosti)

Egyptian court overturns Morsi?s decree reinstating parliament

Cairo, July 11: A top Egyptian court has reportedly frozen a decree issued by new President Mohamed Morsi reinstating the Islamist-led parliament. The Supreme Court’s decision is likely to escalate a crisis that has raged since Morsi issued the decree just eight days after taking office.

Earlier, the court had ruled that certain articles in the law governing parliamentary elections were invalid, annulling the lower house of Parliament.

The powerful Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which ruled after Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year, then dissolved the house.

According to The Telegraph, neither side appears to have enough power to displace the other, with the armed force’s military strength equalled by the Muslim Brotherhood’s formidable organisational ability to harness the support of the streets.

Observers believe that the result is an enforced detente while each sides considers its options.

“The army will not use its power against the president or undertake a military coup and the president will not use his power against the military council” the paper quoted Hasan Nafaa, a political analyst, as saying. (Agencies)

New US ambassador takes office in Myanmar

Yangon, July 11: Newly-appointed US Ambassador Derek J. Mitchell presented his credentials to Myanmar President U Thein Sein in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday. This signified the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries at ambassadorial level after a civilian government was installed here on March 30, 2011, Xinhua reported. Mitchell, who had served as US special representative and policy coordinator for Myanmar, is the first US ambassador to Myanmar in 22 years. Myanmar and the US established diplomatic relations in 1947. Since 1990, the US downgraded the ties from ambassadorial level to that of charge d’affaires. Relations between the two countries have improved following the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December last year. Myanmar has proposed U Than Swe, current Myanmar ambassador to the UN, as ambassador to the US.  (IANS)

Israeli military can be 'swept aside' by Iran: US analyst

Tehran, July 11: In case of a possible military strike on Iran by Israel, Tehran will be able to rapidly rout the Israeli military as it has already been hit by a high rate of internal dissent, an American military analyst has said.

In an article published on the website of Iran’s state-run Press TV, Gordon Duff, a senior editor at Veterans Today, an American military and foreign affairs journal, said that in case of an attack, the Israeli army will be “easily swept aside” by the Iranians.

This was because Israel “has no capability of operating logistically and is already faced with a population that is asking for an end to compulsory military service”, the report said.

“Young Israelis say they are tired of hearing the continual fear mongering and no longer find any of the ‘threats’ the Likudist regime harps about credible,” the writer said.

The “Likudist regime” referred to the government of the Likud party led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

He said that up to 50 per cent of Israeli youth are refusing military service of which “ultra-orthodox” Jews are already exempt.

“In an interview with a former US military attache to Israel, I was told that only a few units of the Israeli army are ‘first-rate’ with the rest much less capable,” Duff said. He said that due to its fear of Iran, Israel may resort to any strategy to get other countries engaged in a war against Tehran.

“Israel is likely to try to precipitate a war on Iran by staging an attack on the US, its forces in the Persian Gulf region or on a European NATO target, most likely the London Olympics. There has been highly credible information that an attack on the Olympics is planned,” he said.

After attacking the US ships in the Persian Gulf or the London Olympics, Israel will use its powerful lobby in the US and international media to blame Iran for what had happened, he said.

“With world economies on the edge of general collapse, any major conflict, particularly one that could draw in China or, worse still, present the US in the role of aggressor and Israeli military surrogate again, would be historically unsustainable,” the analyst wrote. (IANS)

Michelle Obama urges US voters to examine 'records and pasts' of candidates

Washington, July 11: US First lady Michelle Obama has reportedly urged voters to examine the records and pasts of candidates, even as she didn’t mount pressure on the Obama Campaign’s calls for Republican rival Mitt Romney to release more information about his offshore financial holdings. “Look hard at these candidates, look at what they’re saying. Look at the direction and figure out who’s speaking truth to power, who’s putting their actions out there and what their records have been,” Politico quoted Obama, as saying. According to the report, the first lady won’t be deployed as an attack dog for her husband’s re election campaign, but she definitely plays a role in the efforts of the Obama team to contrast the president's values with Romney’s. “No matter who we are, we are all struggling and working toward the same goals. But our leadership does matter. We have to look for leaders who share our values, who have the same kind of vision for this country that we all share,” the First Lady said. Hinting that she shared the values of her audience, Obama said that conversations like the one she was having “are completely therapeutic for me as a mother, as a working mother.” Though Obama said she has a stake in the presidential election because she wants to see her husband reelected and wants to continue to serve as first lady, her desire to see the president reelected “has 99 per cent to do with my girls and the future I want for them and the world I want to leave for.” (Agencies)

Romney says 'won't apologize for his wealth'

Washington, July 11: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said that he will not apologize for his success as a wealthy businessman. During a meeting in a town hall on Tuesday in Grand Junction, Romney said: “I’m not going to apologize for success at home.” “I went out and began a business, and the business turned out to be far more successful than I ever would have imagined. And by the way, the profits from the business overwhelmingly went to the people who invested with us,” Los Angeles Times quoted Romney, as saying. Romney cited a statement from Bain saying that of the 350 companies the firm invested in, Eighty per cent of them grew, which is good news, and 5 per cent went bankrupt. Romney accused the president of taking Americans’ tax dollars and investing them "in the businesses of companies of his campaign contributors. Democrats have pushed on Romney to release more details on his finances, and also calling him to reveal his overseas investments, which has stoke a debate on tax fairness. A spokeswoman said Romney plans to release his 2011 tax return before the election. (Agencies)

Ecuador 'to grant Assange extradition if his life is at risk'

Quito, July 11: Ecuador President Rafael Correa has said that his government would not yield to pressure in deciding whether or not to grant asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. “We will consult with everyone we need to, but we will make a sovereign decision on whether or not to grant asylum to the Australian, Julian Assange,” Correa told local television station RTS. Correa stressed that he had ‘great respect’ for Britain, for Sweden and for the United States, but that Ecuador would not allow those governments to affect its decision on granting Assange political asylum. He said the mere possibility that Assange could face capital punishment in the United States could be reason enough for his government to grant him asylum, if there was a chance he could end up there. “If Assange’s life is at risk, that is sufficient cause to approve his asylum,” The Herald Sun quoted Correa, as saying. Correa said his government would ‘examine what the charges are in Sweden, how the judicial process is carried out, and if it is compatible with the humanist vision of justice that we have in Ecuador’. Assange has been holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London, seeking political asylum to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over rape and sexual assault charges. (Agencies)

US should recruit 'master hackers' to wage cyber war on America's foes, says top defence expert

Washington, July 11: The United States Government should recruit master hackers to launch cyber-attacks against Islamist terrorists and other foes, a leading defence analyst and government adviser has said.

John Arquilla, a professor of defence analysis at the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, believes instead of prosecuting elite computer hackers, Washington should use their skills to detect and track enemies.

“The brilliance of hacking experts could be put to use on behalf of the US in the same way as German rocket scientists were enlisted after the second world war,” The Guardian quoted Arquilla, as saying.

He said the US had fallen behind in the cyber race and needed to set up a “new Bletchley Park” of computer whizzes and codecrackers to detect, track and disrupt enemy networks.

“If this was being done, the war on terror would be over,” he added.

Arquilla, who invented the term cyber warfare two decades ago, said a few master hackers had already been recruited but more was needed.

“Let’s just say that in some places you find guys with body piercings and non-regulation haircuts. But most of these sorts of guys can’t be vetted in the traditional way. We need a new institutional culture that allows us to reach out to them,” he said.

Arquilla lambasted lengthy jail terms for hacking, saying it “poisoned” relations between both sides. He also disagreed with the attempt to extradite Gary McKinnon, a British system administrator who has been accused by one US prosecutor of the “biggest military hack of all time” using the code name Solo. “It’s very, very troubling and ridiculous. They’re trying to use deterrences that won’t work.”

Arquilla, who advised General Norman Schwarzkopf during the first Gulf War and Former Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld during the second Gulf War, estimated there were around 100 master hackers in the world, with many, most in Asia and Russia. (Agencies)

Frequent tipple halves rheumatoid arthritis risk

London, July 11: A pint of beer or a small glass of wine thrice a week halves risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, a painful condition of the joints.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm think alcohol could help prevent the disease by damping down the immune system. They looked at alcohol consumption and rheumatoid arthritis in 34,000 women born between 1914 and 1948.

They interviewed them twice, once in 1987 and once a decade later, asking them questions about alcohol consumption, diet, smoking history, physical activity and their level of education, the British Medical Journal (bmj.com) reports.

A 150 ml drink was classified as a small glass of wine or half a litre of beer (just under a pint). All types of drink appeared equally as effective, according to the Telegraph.

About 400,000 people in Britain alone suffer rheumatoid arthritis, and it is three times more common in women than in men. Not all are old - almost half are under 65 years.

Symptoms are joint swelling and pain, which is caused by the immune system attacking healthy tissue.

Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research UK, warned: “It must be remembered that drinking alcohol in excess can be especially dangerous in rheumatoid arthritis patients who are taking some anti-rheumatoid drugs that may cause liver damage, and anti-inflammatory pain killers which can lead to gastro-intestinal problems, which can be exacerbated by alcohol.” (IANS)

Warming could unleash more violent storms, says study

Tel Aviv, July 11: Global warming could unleash more violent thunderstorms, flash floods and forest fires in the coming years, according to an Israeli researcher.

The Tel Aviv University (TAU) researcher has predicted that for every one degree Celsius of warming, there will be approximately a 10 per cent increase in lightning activity.

This could have negative consequences in the form of flash floods, wild fires, or damage to power lines and other infrastructure, says Colin Price, TAU professor and head of geophysics, atmospheric and planetary Sciences.

Under an ongoing project on the impact of climate change on lightning and thunderstorm patterns, he and his colleagues have run computer climate models and studied real life examples of climate change, such as the El Nino cycle in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, to determine how changing weather conditions impact storms, the Journal of Geophysical Research and Atmospheric Research reports.

An increase in lightning activity will have particular impact in areas that become warmer and drier as global warming progresses, including the Mediterranean and the southern United States, according to the 2007 United Nations report on climate change, a TAU statement said.

When running their state of the art computer models, Price and fellow researchers assess climate conditions in a variety of real environments. First, the models are run with current atmospheric conditions to see how accurately they are able to depict the frequency and severity of thunderstorms and lightning in today's environment. Then, the researchers input changes to the model atmosphere, including the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (a major cause of global warming) to see how storms are impacted.

Price compared their results with vastly differing real world climates, such as dry Africa and the wet Amazon, and regions where climate change occurs naturally, such as Indonesia and Southeast Asia, where El Nino causes the air to become warmer and drier. “During El Nino years, which occur in the Pacific Ocean or Basin, Southeast Asia gets warmer and drier. There are fewer thunderstorms, but we found 50 per cent more lightning activity,” says Price.

Typically, he says, we would expect drier conditions to produce less lightning. However, researchers also found that while there were fewer thunderstorms, the ones that did occur were more intense. (IANS)

Woman's navigation skills can be judged by looking at her fingers

London, July 11: A woman’s finger length tells you all you need to know about her sense of direction, a new study has revealed.

Researchers have discovered that women who have a short ring finger compared to the length of the index finger are likelier to rely on satellite navigation technology to find their way round. But women whose ring fingers are a similar length or longer than their index finger have a greater sense of direction.

The reason behind this is thought to be that finger length reflects exposure to different levels of hormones in the womb.

Men tend to have longer ring finger as a result of greater exposure to testosterone during the developmental stage.

Women, on the other hand, generally tend to have ring and index fingers that are similar in length.

The same hormone exposure is also believed to play a crucial role in the way the brain develops in the early stages of life.

Experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US found that women with more male-like finger ratios performed much better at navigational tasks.

The researchers recruited 82 male and female students and measured the length of their fingers before putting them through a series of computerised navigational challenges.

The students had to watch a computer game clip, set among fields and rivers, and try and memorize the exact location of a tiny blue crystal that appeared on the screen.

The results showed that men had a better sense of direction than the women and were better able to find their way back to the precise location. But the women whose ring finger was longer than their index finger performed much better or similar to men.

“These results demonstrate for the first time that a difference in the sense of direction is associated with a more male-like digit ratio,” the Daily Mail quoted the researchers as saying in the report.

The length of the ring finger is determined by exposure to testosterone, usually by the 14th week of gestation.

Higher levels of testosterone in the womb make it more likely, for example, that a baby boy will grow up with a slightly longer ring finger on each hand. But babies exposed to more of the female hormone oestrogen tend to have shorter ring fingers. (Agencies)

Women hunched over desks for long gain weight

Sydney, July 11: Middle-aged working women who spend long hours hunched over their desks are more likely to gain greater weight, say Australian researchers. The study analysed the impact of job status and the number of hours worked on the weight of middle-aged women and found

those who worked in excess of 35 hours (in a week) were more likely to experience weight gain. Researchers led by Nicole Au, from the Centre for Health Economics at Monash University, analysed 9,276 women aged between 45 and 50 years, using the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health for 1996 and 1998, the International Journal of Obesity reports. The study found 55 percent of the women gained weight over the two-year period. On average the women gained 1.5 per cent of their initial weight while extreme amounts of weight gain were also evident. Au attributed longer working hours to increased weight gain with women spending less time maintaining their health and fitness levels, according to a Monash statement. “Extended work hours may reduce the time spent preparing home-cooked meals, exercising and sleeping which are risk factors for obesity. Policies that assist women who work long hours to reduce the time costs of sustaining a healthy diet and their physical activity routine may have positive benefits,” added Au. (IANS)

Public smoking 16 times more polluting: Study

Wellington, July 11: If you stand next to someone smoking at a bus stop, there are fair chances that you’ll be exposed to fine particulate pollution nearly 16 times higher than the background level, says a study. The study conducted by the University of Otago, New Zealand, has found that smoking on city street footpaths increases the amount of dangerous fine particulates many times in the air. The five-week-long study used a sensitive air monitor to measure air quality at a shopping centre as they passed 284 people who were smoking on the footpaths, the journal Health & Place reports. They found that when smokers were observed, at an average distance of 2.6 metres, there was an average 70 per cent more fine particulates in the air (PM2.5 or less than 2.5 mm in diameter) than when there were no smokers around, according to an Otago statement. When standing next to a smoker at a bus stop, the mean fine particulate pollution level was 16 times the background level, with a peak of 26 times the background level. George Thomson, researcher from Otago, pointed out that the problem of smoking on streets is being addressed with a growing number of cities successfully adopting smoke-free policies for at least some outdoor parts of shopping areas.  However, study co-author and associate professor Nick Wilson says that city administration should do more to help protect the health of pedestrians by implementing the smoke-free policies in shopping areas. Other likely benefits of smoke-free streets could be decreased street cleaning costs from less cigarette butt litter, a better public image for a city and the reduction of second-hand smoke drifting into shops and offices, the study said. (IANS)

Radio waves from black hole detected

Sydney, July 11: Surprisingly, scientists have for the first time ever detected the radio waves emanating from a mid-sized black hole, called the HLX-1, around 300 million light years away, located in a galaxy called ESO 243-49. A team led by Sean Farrell from the University of Sydney’s School of Physics, which detected those signals, said these also allow them to estimate the size of the newly discovered black hole. “Black holes are areas where the matter is so densely squeezed into a small space that it makes gravity pull strongly enough to stop light from escaping,” said Farrell, in the journal Nature. “Astronomers have classified black holes into stellar mass black holes, which are up to tens of times the mass of our sun, and super massive black holes, which are millions to billions of times the mass of our sun,” said Farrell, according to a Sydney statement. “HLX-1 lies in between these two sizes at around 20,000 times the mass of our sun. So we’ve called it an intermediate mass black hole,” said Farrell. “HLX-1 is located in a galaxy called ESO 243-49 about 300 million light years away from us,” he added. Using the Australia Telescope Compact Array and NASA’s Swift satellite, the team that included scientists from France, Britain and the US examined radio emissions during two state transitions of the black hole HLX-1 in 2010 and 2011.  (IANS)

Dog awakes diabetic owner from coma by licking her

London, July 11: A labrador saved his blind mistress’ life by licking her awake from a diabetic coma. Seven-year-old Herbie, nudged and nuzzled 42-year-old Suzanne West for six hours until she finally came around. West, whose 43-year-old partner David Colclough had gone out on a fishing trip, was then able to get to her lifeline alarm and call for help. Even after she had been treated by paramedics, the dog stayed by her side all night until Colclough returned. West, of Poole, Dorset, had slipped into a coma after going for a nap last week. “I woke up to the feeling of someone slapping a flannel round my face, which was Herbie, and I was covered in dog hair,” the Mirror quoted her as saying. “He had stood by me the whole time to ensure I woke up. If it wasn’t for him I would have died, because my blood sugar levels would have fallen to a fatally low point. I’ve only fallen into a coma once before. Herbie literally saved my life. It was scary,” she added. (Agencies)

US teen jokes through pain after losing arm to alligator

New York, July 11: A teenage boy from Florida kept his remarkable sense of humour alive even after sacrificing his arm to save his own life from an alligator. Trapped in the vise-like jaws of an alligator, Kaleb Langdale faced a stark choice - give up his life, or give up his arm. “He knew he was losing his arm. If it would have grabbed his body ... he would have drowned,” the New York Daily News quoted his sister, Rebecca, as telling the Fort Myers News-Press. “So he just took his feet, buried his feet in the alligator’s head and just pushed so that he could get it free. Once it popped loose, Kaleb swam to the dock where his friends pulled him ashore and tended to him before paramedics arrived,” she said. At the hospital, the plucky 17-year-old masked his despair at losing the lower portion of his right arm with jokes. “Well, it looks like you’re not gonna be the only left-handed person in the family,” Langdale said to his sister. “He’s making jokes. The first thing he told my mom when she arrived on the scene was, ‘At least it didn’t get my left arm. I can still drive my airboat because the airboat is powered with the left.’” Rebecca said. Langdale, who is known as Fred to his buddies, was swimming Monday in the Caloosahatchee River when the 11-foot gator suddenly attacked. Another of his friend Gary Beck, who was on the shore when the incident happened, said that the alligator came after Langdale as soon it saw him. His friends told WBBH-TV that the next thing that they saw was Langdale pop out of the water, screaming “My arm is gone!” While Langdale was rushed to a Fort Myers hospital, Florida game officials hunted down and killed the alligator to retrieve his arm but officials said that it was too damaged to reattach. (Agencies)

Chinese ancient liquor breweries eye heritage list

Beijing, July 11: Two Chinese provinces are making a joint bid to have their ancient distilleries of baijiu, or Chinese liquor, recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage sites, according to authorities. The “Chinese Baijiu Culture Landscape” includes a distillery in north China’s Shanxi province and six distilleries in southwest China’s Sichuan province, Xinhua reported. An application to UNESCO has already passed pre-examination and the group’s decision will be announced in August, said Liu Jingan, director of the enterprise culture research centre under the Fenjiu Group, a state-owned company. The Fen Liquor workshop in Shanxi dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and was put under state protection in 2006. The government has spent over 15 million yuan (about $2.5 million) for its protection since 2007, Liu said. The brewery will receive more funding if it is added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the official added. The world heritage list includes 962 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. (IANS)