Briefly World

China activists,who wanted to meet Obama,detained

BEIJING: Two Chinese rights activists who sought a meeting with US President Barack Obama hours before he left Beijing said on Friday they were briefly detained by the police. Jiang Tianyong and Fan Yafeng said they were among several critics of Chinas restrictions on human rights who gathered near the US Embassy in the Chinese capital on Wednesday,hoping to meet Obama. Jiang and Fan said plainclothes security police took them away for a few hours of chats late into the night.

Low-profile leaders chosen for top EU posts

BRUSSELS: European Union leaders named Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy,who is little known outside his own country,as the blocs first President on Thursday to lead efforts to make it more influential on the world stage. They also chose Baroness Catherine Ashton,a Briton little known even in her own country,as EU foreign affairs chief under a deal that kept out more established figures such as Tony Blair,and raised questions about how the bloc plans to lift its profile.

200 websites spreading Qaeda message in English

Riyadh: Increasing number of English-language websites are spreading al-Qaedas message to Muslims in the West. They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and feature charismatic clerics. Most of the radical Islamic sites are not run or directed by al-Qaeda,but they provide a powerful tool for recruiting sympathisers to its cause of jihad,experts said. The number of such sites has risen from 30 seven years ago to more than 200,said Abdulmanam Almushawah,head of a Saudi programme to combat militant Islamic websites.

Norway: Mutation in H1N1 flu strain discovered

OSLO: Norwegian health authorities said on Friday they have discovered a potentially significant mutation in the H1N1 influenza strain that could be responsible for causing the severest symptoms among those infected. The mutation could be affecting the virus8217; ability to go deeper into the respiratory system,thus causing more serious illness,the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said in a statement.

Vatican condemns New Moon,says its deviant moral vacuum

London: New Moon,the second film in the Twilight Saga has landed into trouble with the Vatican,which has called it a deviant moral vacuum. The vampire flick which revolves around a romance between vampire Edward Cullen and Bella Swan has been slammed by the church on moral grounds,Daily Express reported. This film is nothing more than a moral vacuum with a deviant message and as such is something that should be of concern, Monsignor Franco Perazzolo,of the Pontifical Council of Culture,said.

N Korea tells citizens to keep hair tidy

Seoul: North Koreas reclusive regime has ordered its citizens to keep their hair tidy,saying they should look like people of the revolutionary age. In an article titled Tidy Up Your Hair Korean Style in Saturdays edition of the Rodong Sinmun,published by the ruling Workers Party,presents an officially recommended hair code for its citizens that it says is very important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. To keep your hair tidy and simple,as befits the socialist lifestyle and the contemporary sense of beauty,is a very important matter for setting the ethos of a sound lifestyle in the country, the paper said.

Gang killed people for human fat

LIMA: Peruvian police said on Thursday they had broken up a gang that allegedly killed dozens of people and sold their fat to buyers who used it to make cosmetics. Four Peruvians were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping,murder and trafficking in human fat. The group stored the fat it collected in used soda and water bottles,which police showed reporters. We have people detained who have declared and stated how they murdered people with the aim being to extract their fat in rudimentary labs and sell it, said Police Commander Angel Toldeo.