Pakistan interested in North-South corridor

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 15

By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:

Pakistan is interested in the North-South transport corridor project, said Pakistani prime minister’s special adviser on foreign affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi in a meeting with Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev in Baku, said Azerbaijani Economy Ministry.

During the meeting, Mustafayev praised the economic ties between Baku and Islamabad.

“Azerbaijan, located at intersection of the East-West and North-South transport corridors, has a favorable geographic position and transit opportunities. The country has modern transport infrastructure and work is underway to implement the North-South project, as part of which a railway bridge will be constructed across the Astarachay River before the end of the year,” said Mustafayev.

He added that a free trade area is being created at the Baku International Sea Trade Port with participation of an UAE company.

According to Mustafayev, Pakistan may make use of Azerbaijan’s transit opportunities, the free trade area and the North-South corridor.

In turn, Tariq Fatemi said Pakistan is interested in the North-South project.

Pharmaceutics, tourism, agriculture and trade issues were also discussed during the meeting.

The North-South corridor is meant to connect Northern Europe to South-East Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia.

It is planned to transport 5 million tons of cargo via the North-South corridor per year at the initial stage and later to increase the figure to more than 10 million tons.

Suicide bombing, shootouts kill around 55 in Iraq

Around 55 people were killed in Iraq in attacks on Saturday that targeted a Shi'ite Muslim gathering, a police check-point and the family of a Sunni paramilitary leader opposed to Islamic State, according to security and medical sources, Reuters reported.

The escalation comes as Iraqi forces are getting ready to launch an offensive to take back Mosul, the last Iraqi city still under control of Islamic State, in northern Iraq.

The heaviest toll was caused by a suicide bomber who detonated an explosive vest in the middle of a Shi'ite gathering in Baghdad, killing at least 41 people and wounding 33.

Busan film festival to strive for fresh start after bumpy year

SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- This year's Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) may have lacked some of the festive atmosphere it enjoyed in the past, but it still did well highlighting the latest trends in the film industry as a whole that could lay the foundation for a fresh start going forward.

The 21st edition of the festival is scheduled to end on Saturday, wrapping up its 10-day run.

Everything went smoothly except the outdoor events scheduled to take place on Haeundae beach, which the festival had to move to the Busan Cinema Center, the main festival venue, as Typhoon Chaba tore down various makeshift facilities on the beach on the eve of opening day.

The typhoon left at least seven people dead on South Korea's southern coast before heading towards Japan through the East Sea.

A view of the opening ceremony of the 21st Busan International Film Festival on Oct. 6, 2016 (Yonhap)

But even before Chaba's arrival, the Busan festival went through another typhoon: strife over allegations of "municipal interference" between organizers and the Busan metropolitan government, which funds around half of the festival's annual budget.

It looked unclear whether this year's festival would be able to be held as usual when an emergency task force composed of nine film groups decided in April to boycott it, escalating a crisis that threatened the BIFF's status as Asia's premier film festival.

The trouble began in 2014 when then-festival director Lee Yong-kwan pushed for the screening of a controversial documentary in spite of opposition from Busan mayor and then-BIFF organizing committee Chairman Suh Byung-soo.

The film "The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol," also known as "Diving Bell," criticized the central government's handling of the Sewol ferry sinking in April that claimed more than 300 lives, mostly teenage students.

The Busan metropolitan government conducted an unprecedented audit into Lee and other executive committee members and cut about half of its annual funding for the festival in what some filmmakers claimed as "political retaliation."

A venue for the Busan International Film Festival on the city's Haeundae beach sits in shambles on Oct. 5, 2016, after being destroyed by Typhoon Chaba. (Yonhap)

The tense standoff relaxed a little when Kim Dong-ho, the festival's founding director, took over the chairmanship from the Busan mayor. In July, both sides amended the Busan festival's bylaws to include a clause that guarantees its artistic freedom. Of the nine groups, four decided to end the boycott as the festival opening neared, while four, including the Directors' Guild of Korea, chose not to attend. One group stayed undecided.

Without major Korean filmmakers and actors attending, the festival acquired a largely sedate atmosphere.

It was hard to see the enthusiasm of local fans that heated up events on Haeundae beach in previous years.

This atmosphere brought only 165,149 people to see the films at the festival this year, down 27.4 percent from last year's 227,377.

Another factor behind the lessened festivities was the strict anti-corruption law that came into force about a week before the festival's opening.

The so-called Kim Young-ran law, named after the former head of the Anti-Corruption Civil Rights Commission, bans public servants, educators and journalists from receiving free meals valued over 30,000 won (US$27), gifts worth more than 50,000 won or congratulatory or condolence money of more than 100,000 won. For fear of breaking the law, the nation's four major film distributors -- CJ Entertainment, Showbox, Next Entertainment World and Lotte Entertainment -- skipped their annual events to announce upcoming film projects to reporters. The announcement used to be followed by a late-night party where film industry figures and reporters mingled.

Film scholars and those who rate films for the state-run Korea Media Rating Board were not invited to the festival because their hotel and flight fees could no longer be covered by the festival budget with the law's enactment.

Despite all the trouble, there is common consensus from film reporters from around the world that this year's lineup, the essence of any film festival, was pretty good.

Kang Soo-youn (C), executive director of the Busan International Film Festival, and jurors pose for a photo during a news conference to mark the closure of the 21st edition in Busan on Oct. 15, 2016. (Yonhap)

Kang Soo-youn, the festival's executive director, said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday that "it was close to a miracle" that BIFF put together a lineup that largely holds up against previous editions. The festival featured 299 films from 69 countries around the world.

She said focusing on the essentials of the Busan festival was the only thing that the organizers could do amid the festival's uncertainty. They were discovering, supporting and educating young up-and-coming Asian directors and promoting solidarity for, and presenting a vision of, Asian film.

"I and other BIFF organizers shared the thought that we should scale down not a single program dedicated to the roles. Fortunately, many people said that we did well in this regard."

Four films invited to the Gala Presentation section for screening the latest works from contemporary master directors -- "Bleed for This" by Ben Younger, "Daguerrotype" by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, "Rage" by Lee Sang-il, and "Your Name" by Makoto Shinkai -- received positive reviews from both critics and audiences.

Directors Lee Chang-dong (L) of South Korea, Hou Hsiao-hsien (C) of Taiwan and Hirokazu Koreeda of Japan pose for a photo after a special forum on the solidarity of Asian film at the 21st Busan International Film Festival on Oct. 10, 2016. (Yonhap)

A Window on Asian Cinema section fulfilled its role as a credible channel to let the world know of new Asian films. Despite the large share of Chinese and Japanese films, experimental and diverse Asian films such as "A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery" from the Philippines, "A Woman from Java" from Indonesia and "#BKKY" from Thailand were shown in the category.

Although film fans had less chances than before to meet their favorite stars, a special forum featuring Asia's master directors -- Lee Chang-dong of South Korea, Japan's Hirokazu Koreeda and Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-hsien -- was crowded with cinephiles and journalists. The three auteurs visited the fest as a show of support for the event even though they didn't have any recent film invited.

Eleven films from 10 countries, including Indian director Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy's "A Billion Colour Story" and "In Between Seasons" by South Korea's Lee Dong-eun, vied for awards in the "New Currents" section for up-and-coming Asian directors.

Leading the 299 titles was Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu's "A Quiet Dream," which depicts the story of a young Korean woman who runs a bar and takes care of her paralyzed father and the three men trying to woo her.

Special programs included retrospectives for veteran Korean filmmaker Lee Doo-young and Abbas Kiarostami, the multi-award-winning Iranian director who died in July, and a focus on Colombian cinema.

Unlike the quietness of the film festival, the Asian Film Market at BEXCO convention center bustled with film industry people coming to buy Asian films from all around the world.

It drew 157 exhibitors from 24 countries and a daily average of 3,000 visitors during the Oct. 8-11 period, resulting in more business contracts and film sales than last year.

The Entertainment Intellectual Property Market (E-IP Market), which the Busan festival opened last year for the first time in the world, already consolidated its footing as a new type of film market.

The market, where original stories can be bought and sold for film adaptations across a number of media platforms, drew a lot of attention from overseas buyers.

The Busan festival is set to close on Saturday with the screening of Iraqi director Hussein Hassan's "The Dark Wind," a film about innocent love, traditional values and the collision of conflicting religious beliefs.

This photo, provided by the Busan International Film Festival, shows the Asian Film Market on Oct. 10, 2016. The market was held from Oct. 8-11 during the 21st BIFF in Busan. (Yonhap)

sshim@yna.co.kr

Preserve dialogue with Russia says Italy

(ANSA) - Rome, October 14 - Italy believes in preserving dialogue with Russia, Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti said Friday. "Italy's policy is that dialogue with Russia is necessary," she said. "We don't underestimate the fact that there have also been breaches of international legitimacy with the crisis in Ukraine. Notwithstanding, we think there must be a dialogue with Russia". Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in early 2014. Pinotti's remarks came after Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova berated what she called NATO's "destructive policy". "The Alliance is busy building new dividing lines in Europe instead of solid, deep-rooted relationships based on being good neighbors," Zakharova told ANSA in response to an interview NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg gave Italy's La Stampa daily, in which he said a contingent of Italian soldiers will be among NATO troops to be deployed in Latvia in 2018.

How to avoid war with Russia

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov speaks when Secretary of State John Kerry chairs a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Syrian civil war and international efforts to combat the Islamic State in New York last December. Relations between the United States and Russia have only gotten more tense with frustrations in Syria. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

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Several years before World War I exploded in 1914, while war clouds were enveloping Europe, the outlook on the situation was vastly different in Paris and Berlin. At the Qui D'orsay in Paris, senior diplomats believed conditions in Europe were serious but not yet critical. Wags at the chancellery in Berlin demurred cynically, concluding that the situation was critical but not fully serious.

Given the standoff between Russia and the United States, it is unclear which of those two competing views might apply today. How critical and how serious are relations between these powers? Syria is perhaps the test case, although Ukraine and allegations of cyberhacking by Moscow are greatly contributing to the tensest and lowest level of U.S.-Russian relations since the Cold War ended a quarter-century ago.

In Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry broke off talks over agreeing to a cessation of hostilities to allow some humanitarian relief to reach Aleppo. Reports are that the eastern part of Syria's once most thriving city is destroyed and that Iraqi Shiite militia have joined Syrian President Bashar al Assad's side and are settling into abandoned areas around Aleppo. Kerry has described this as "six wars" when all the competing Shia, Sunni, Kurdish, terrorist and other factions are counted along with Russia, Iran who is supporting Assad, Hezbollah, Turkey, Iraq and America -- all with competing interests.

The nightmare scenario is that U.S. and Russian or Syrian aircraft could find themselves engaging each other by accident, if a no-fly zone were enforced or if air cover was provided to assure arrival of emergency aid to Aleppo. The Russians have brought in S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to complement S-400s in place and added two warships to the Mediterranean Eskadra. The Russian military has issued warnings about attacking its forces in Syria. And the ongoing presidential campaign in America has produced a flurry of attacks against President Barack Obama's alleged failure to engage in Syria, likening the huge loss of life in Aleppo to Sarajevo during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s and the Rwanda massacres about the same time.

Meanwhile, the Baltic states worry that Russian President Vladimir Putin might see an opportunity to apply intimidation tactics in that region to test NATO in light of American inaction elsewhere, and of course the Brexit vote in Britain has raised profound questions about the future of the European project. A Washington think tank recently released a study that showed how Russia could overwhelm NATO defenses in the Baltic and occupy those states in a military assault while preventing reinforcement through its substantial anti-access, area denial weapons systems.

Violence continues in Ukraine, as well. Does a repeat of 1914 not look at least conceivable especially as the U.S. Defense Department is overtly planning to deter and if necessary to defeat Russia should war break out? How worried should we be? Or is the situation being overly hyped? And, most importantly, what can be done to de-escalate or prevent a really nasty outcome from occurring should some form of U.S.-Russia conflict occur, no matter the cause or intent?

First, no matter how grave conditions may appear, a bit of history is important. Consider 1946-49. The Soviet Union occupied eastern Europe and tried to overthrow the Greek government. The partition of India in 1947 led to the deaths of a million or more. The creation of Israel in 1948 laid the groundwork for the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict that persists today. In 1949, Moscow got the bomb and China fell to Mao.

The 1950s were filled with the Korean War; the expulsion of France from Indochina; the repression of Hungary; Sputnik; and the hydrogen bomb. Similarly, the 1960s and 1970s had frightening times from the Cuban Missile Crisis to the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the American nuclear alert. By those standards, today is not quite so worrisome.

What is needed is a grand bargain or at least the attempt to seek one between Russia and America. The West has the huge lever of sanctions. While Syria is many bridges too far for a settlement at the moment, tensions over Ukraine and Russian activities that challenge Europe might be relieved.

It will be argued that the Obama administration is too much of a lame duck to take any action. But why not take the chance to find out. As Winston Churchill reminded us, "Jaw, jaw is better than war, war."

Harlan Ullman is UPI's Arnaud de Borchgrave Distinguished Columnist and serves as senior adviser for Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the Atlantic Council and Business Executives for National Security and chairs two private companies. His last book is "A Handful of Bullets: How the Murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Still Menaces the Peace." His next book, due out next year, is "Anatomy of Failure: Why America Loses Wars It Starts."

Exercise can help manage type 1 diabetes

-- Aerobic exercise can benefit people with type 1 diabetes who are on insulin pumps, a small study suggests.

The three-month study found that the six people with type 1 diabetes who did aerobic workouts had better blood sugar control, used less insulin and had fewer high blood sugar events than the seven who did no exercise.

The study was published online Oct. 11 in the journal Cell Transplantation.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that causes the body's immune system to attack the body's insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. People with type 1 diabetes are left with little to no insulin -- a hormone necessary for the body to use the carbohydrates found in food.

Because people with type 1 diabetes don't have enough insulin to meet the body's needs, they must take insulin multiple times a day. This can be done through multiple daily injections, or via a small tube inserted under the skin and attached to an insulin pump, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Combined with insulin therapy, exercise can help people with type 1 diabetes manage the disease, and may help people use less insulin, according to the study. However, exercise alone cannot be used to treat the disorder. Insulin is always needed for people with type 1 diabetes, the ADA says.

"We found that being physically active can improve [blood sugar] control for patients with type 1 diabetes," study co-author Dr. Livio Luzi said in a journal news release. Luzi is with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine's Diabetes Research Institute.

"Our results suggest that an educational program addressed to [type 1 diabetes] patients, and focused on insulin injecting monitoring, diet and exercise, is highly advantageous for management of [type 1 diabetes]," Luzi added.

Further studies with larger numbers of patients need to be conducted, according to the researchers.

"The current study provides physiological data that demonstrate exercise is an important factor in improving and managing type 1 diabetes," said Dr. Rodolfo Alejandro, also from the Diabetes Research Institute, and section editor of the journal.

"With the increasing rate of diabetes, including an exercise program as part of treatment is highly recommended and, when coupled with insulin therapy, may yield better results for patients," Alejandro said.

More information

The American Diabetes Association has more on type 1 diabetes.

Typhoon Sarika intensifies as it threatens landfall in the Philippines

Typhoon Sarika has begun to strengthen as it prepares to make landfall in the Philippines. The storm is expected to make landfall between midnight and 2 a.m. PHT carrying approximately 86 mph winds and gusts of up to 121 mph as well as heavy rainfall. Screen capture/Weather Channel/AOL

MANILA, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Typhoon Sarika has intensified as it continues to move toward the Philippines, threatening landfall as early as Sunday morning local time.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the eye of the storm, known locally as Typhoon Karen, was located 96 miles east of he city of Quezon during its 8 p.m. PHT advisory, according to CNN Philippines.

The storm is carrying approximately 86 mph winds and gusts of up to 121 mph as it moves West Northwest toward the province of Aurora where it is expected to make landfall between midnight and 2 a.m. PHT.

PAGASA said Metro Manila other parts of the Luzon landmass can expect heavy rainfall beginning 8 p.m. PHT on Saturday to early Sunday, GMA News reported.

The weather bureau estimated a moderate to heavy amount of rainfall within the storms 310-mile diameter.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council was placed on red alert status in preparation for the storm's arrival.

Residents in five municipalities were evacuated, according to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in Aurora.

Another 3,000 people were evacuated in Catanduanes, while 4,000 passengers were stranded in different ports of Luzon and Visayas as PAGASA warned of flash floods and landslides in areas facing tropical cyclone warnings.

Scientists have discovered why the stress more pressure on women than on men

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Geneticists have discovered why people die and turn gray with grief

Isolation CRHBP oxytocin receptors, as they say, scientists, slows down the entire chain of synthesis of stress hormones, which explains why males and females are much less susceptible to stress than the females, and women, and recover more quickly afterwards.

How to find Heinz and his colleagues, CRHBP does not help women cope with stress for the reason that their body initially produces more corticotropin than a body of men, because of what data the nerve cells and produced them CRHBP can not reduce the concentration of this hormone to an acceptably low level.

In addition to differences in the behavior of women and men, especially in the work of the chain of neurons, scientists say, could explain why some people are more emotional than others, and vice versa.

15:55 14/10/2016

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MOSCOW, October 14 - RIA Novosti . The differences between men and women in response to stress, may be related to the fact that in men present special protein which, under certain conditions blocks the brain chains associated with anxiety states, according to the article published in the journal Cell .

"This is a very unusual phenomenon, as those cells that are responsible for this reaction, are arranged and look the same in the brains of men and women, and are in them in the same amount. It rarely happens that the same cells in completely different ways respond to the same stimuli in the body of individuals of different sexes "- said Nathaniel Heintz (Nathaniel Heintz) from the Rockefeller University in New York (USA).

Heinz and his colleagues came to this conclusion by studying how the brain a few mouse-males and females respond to various external stimuli and molecules hormones inserted into nerve cells genes that allow scientists to "turn on" and "off" neurons using blue pulses Sveta.

Recently, as Heinz says, his group discovered an unusual chain of neurons in the brains of female mice, which respond to oxytocin molecule, a hormone happiness and love. Hormone stimulation of these cells molecules, as shown by further experiments, mice were more sociable makes interaction with males.

Scientists have confirmed that stress actually damages the brain

A similar chain of nerve cells, according to biologists, is present in the male brain, and scientists became interested to know what functions they perform in their body. When the researchers injected mice oxytocin nose, no visible changes in behavior have occurred.Trying to understand why this is happening, the Heinz team began to expose mice to various tests.

Enable and disable the cells, they suddenly noticed that the woman's "communication center" in the brain of males played a completely different role - its inclusion led to the fact that rodents ceased to feel anxious and worried when they were in a stressful situation. Nothing like that is interesting, did not occur with females, were subjected to the same "execution."

The reason for this, as it turned out after the analysis of the cells, the hormone was CRHBP, which cells produce data in stressful situations. This substance, according to scientists, is blocking the work of another hormone - corticotropin. He is responsible for the beginning of the stress response and is a "trigger" for the assembly of molecules "real" stress signals - kortikotropnogo hormone and cortisol.

A man experiencing stress. Archival photo

Geneticists have discovered why people die and turn gray with grief

Isolation CRHBP oxytocin receptors, as they say, scientists, slows down the entire chain of synthesis of stress hormones, which explains why males and females are much less susceptible to stress than the females, and women, and recover more quickly afterwards.

How to find Heinz and his colleagues, CRHBP does not help women cope with stress for the reason that their body initially produces more corticotropin than a body of men, because of what data the nerve cells and produced them CRHBP can not reduce the concentration of this hormone to an acceptably low level.

In addition to differences in the behavior of women and men, especially in the work of the chain of neurons, scientists say, could explain why some people are more emotional than others, and vice versa.

First Minister of Scotland in Scotland's independence is assured as ever

A pair of Scottish flags and propaganda posters in Eyemouth, Scotland. Archival photo

GLASGOW (Scotland), October 15 -. RIA Novosti, Maria Tabak First Minister of Scotland, and the head of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon said that now more than ever believe in that one day Scotland becomes independent, but noted that it will happen only when the majority of Scots consider it the best way for your country.

Two days ago Sturgeon announced that next week will be published a draft bill for a new referendum on Scottish independence.

Cities of the world. Edinburgh. Archival photo

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Scotland's First Minister announced the creation of a new Council for Trade

"This year marks 30 years since I joined our party ... All these 30 years, I have no doubt that Scotland will one day become an independent country. And I now believe it's more than kogda-libo before," - said Sturgeon whose big it completes three-day conference of the Scottish national party in Glasgow.

"But I always knew that this happens only when the majority of our fellow citizens believe that independence - the best way to build together a better future", - she noted.

Sturgeon recalled that in 2014 the Scots voted against independence, but this is explained by the fact that much of what independence "no" believed that the preservation of a part of the United Kingdom is economically justified to do this. But after the referendum on EU membership, which voted in favor of the British withdrawal from the EU, the situation has changed dramatically, according to the first minister of the region.

"Of course, independence will bring us their problems, as well as all independent countries in the world, but when solutions are our independence." - Said Sturgeon.

She again promised that he would seek from the British government to prevent "hard" Brexit, that is, out of the common European economic space.

"But if it refuses, no doubt: Scotland should have the opportunity to choose a better future. And I'll do anything to her was such an opportunity. If such a time comes, not because we do not respect the result of the referendum in 2014. This will happen because that promises of Scotland data in 2014 have not been implemented, "- she said.

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