North Korea's Medieval City Wins World Heritage Status

Twelve sites in the city, the heart of the Koryo dynasty which unified the Korean peninsula for the first time, were classified on the grounds of embodying "the political, cultural, philosophical and spiritual values" of the kingdom, UNESCO said.

The Kaesong monuments -- including sections of defensive walls -- have survived repeated assaults on the city, which served as the seat of the Koryo kings who ruled from 918-1392.

They are located several kilometres from an industrial park jointly run by the divided North and South which has been closed since April after a tensions between the bitter enemies reached boiling point.

Hailing Kaesong's "outstanding universal value" UNESCO said the monuments "are exceptional testimony to the unified Koryo civilization as Buddhism gave way to neo-Confucianism in East Asia".

As the decision was announced several black-suited North Korean delegates at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization committee annual session in Phnom Penh, stood and clapped.

Thanking UNESCO for the listing one of the North Koreans hailed the "joyful occasion" in a brief statement to the auditorium.

Kaesong was established in 919 as the capital of the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392) -- also known as Koryo -- which gave its name to the modern state of Korea.

The dynasty is credited with creating a unified national identity for the first time.

When the Korean peninsula was partitioned along the 38th parallel after World War II, Kaesong was in South Korea.

During the 1950-53 Korean War, it came under North Korean control and remained so until the end of the conflict, thus becoming the only city to change from South to North control as a result of the war.

UNESCO has this week granted World Heritage status to more than a dozen of natural wonders and cultural jewels, including two iconic volcanos -- Japan's Mount Fuji, known for its perfectly cone-shaped volcano, and Italy's Mount Etna -- as well as the Hill Forts of Rajasthan and the Namib Sand Sea.

It was expected later Sunday to give heritage status to twelve villas that once belonged to the famous renaissance-era Medici family in Tuscany and reach a decision over ancient ruins in Ukraine.

Source-AFP

View the original article here

World Anxiously Awaits British Royal Baby Name, Sex

Bookmakers say they expect that wagers on the arrival of Prince William and Catherine's first child will outstrip those for the couple's wedding in 2011, previously the biggest market for so-called novelty bets.

There is a right royal choice of odds ranging from the future monarch's sex, weight and hair colour to even whether Kate will be "too posh to push" and have a caesarean.

"It's a global market," Joe Crilly, a spokesman for British bookies William Hill, told AFP. "British people love the royal family and so do people around the world."

The big money is on the baby's name, which Crilly said people had been betting on with "full gusto."

Traditional names head the list, led by Alexandra and followed by Charlotte, Elizabeth, Diana and Victoria when it comes to girls' names, and George, James and Louis for boys.

Alexandra is Queen Elizabeth II's middle name, Charlotte is the middle name of Kate's sister Pippa and the name of King George III's wife, while Victoria would honour Britain's longest-serving monarch.

Unlikelier choices include Hashtag, the Twitter term on which Irish bookmaker Paddy Power took a bet at 500/1, and Wayne and Waynetta, after the slobby characters in a British television comedy, at 250/1 and 500/1 respectively. Punters can also get odds of 5,000/1 on Psy, after the South Korean pop star, or North, the name of rapper Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's new baby.

"We are seeing a tug of war with a quite modern couple like William and Kate on one hand but they have a royal family to appease, 1,000 years of tradition and they don't want to upset the queen," Rory Scott, a spokesman for Paddy Power, told AFP.

Girls' names dominate the odds because punters seem convinced the royal baby will be a girl, after Kate reportedly nearly let it slip during a public appearance earlier this year.

Odds are normally equal for both genders but in this case the odds are nearly twice as long on a male for most bookies.

The most volatile topic is the date of the birth, with several betting companies slashing the odds on the first week of July instead of the expected date of around July 13.

That was partly because of reports that Kate may follow Princess Diana, who gave the press the slip by announcing a later than actual due date when she was pregnant with William in 1981, said Scott.

But bookies said they had not taken many bets on that topic.

"Nobody knows when it was conceived, people are just speculating," said Crilly.

Punters are however weighing into other apparently unpredictable matters.

The favourite for hair colour is brown followed by blonde or black, with ginger hair like the new arrival's uncle Prince Harry generally the least favoured.

Meanwhile William and Kate are both equally placed to be the one who holds the baby outside the hospital for the traditional photograph.

The bookmakers said that there was always the risk of an "insider bet" from members of the royal inner circle, with a couple of bets on names raising eyebrows in recent months.

But the betting companies said they were unlikely to close their books even if such bets came in.

"I don't think that would be very good -- we have had some big bets but we will keep them open until the formal announcement," said Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes.

Overall the market is huge.

"We thought the royal wedding last year was the biggest royal betting event but the royal baby will be bigger," said Donohue.

Scott said Paddy Power had taken 10,000 bets and expected takings to be a "good 30 percent up" on the wedding with turnover of ?300,000 (350,000 euros, $450,000), while William Hill's Crilly said it had taken ?50,000 so far and also believed turnover would exceed that for the wedding.

Commonwealth countries and those with large numbers of British expatriates were particularly good for business, Crilly added.

While the figures are smaller than for big sporting events such as the Grand National where a single bookmaker can take ?50 million, the growing market reflects the fascination with the British royal family.

Veteran William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe, who has worked for the company for 40 years, said the first time they had ever taken royal bets was on Charles and Diana's wedding and first child.

"Prior to that it was frowned upon, but as soon as Diana joined the royal family everything lightened up a bit. We thought it was time to test the waters as the waters broke, so to speak," he told AFP.

Ironically they then took a hit when a big bet came in a few days before the birth -- on the name William.

Source-AFP

View the original article here

80 Year Old Japanese Man Sets World Record

by Bidita Debnath on? May 26, 2013 at 12:00 AM Lifestyle News An 80-year-old Japanese climber reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming the oldest person to scale the world's highest mountain, his website and a Nepalese official revealed.

Yuichiro Miura and his party arrived at the summit at around 9am (0315 GMT), according to the website.

"I feel like the happiest person in the world. How could I have come so far at the world's oldest age of 80," Miura said. "I have never felt like this in my life. But I've never been more exhausted than this."

"I can see the scenery of the Himalayas below me. I really thank every one of you for your support."

It was his third conquest of the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) peak, and his latest feat means he recaptures the record he previously held for being the oldest person to climb Everest.

He previously reached the summit when he was 70 and 75.

His 2003 record was broken in 2007 when fellow Japanese Katsusuke Yanagisawa scaled the summit when he was 71 years old.

Miura conquered Everest for the second time in May 2008, just one day after Nepal's Min Bahadur Sherchan made it to the top at the age of 76.

Until Thursday morning, the Nepalese had been the world record holder, according to Guinness World Records.

Miura was now climbing back down the mountain, a Nepalese tourism official said, confirming the successful ascent.

"He reached the summit this morning and is currently descending to camp four," the official, Gyanendra Shrestha, told AFP from Everest Base Camp.

Veteran adventurer Miura came to worldwide attention in 1970 when he became the first person to ski down Everest.

His parachute-aided descent was documented in the 1975 film "The Man Who Skied Down Everest" which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

High-octane endeavours are in his blood -- his father Keizo skied down Mont Blanc at age 99.

More than 3,000 people have successfully scaled Everest, but the mountain claims lives regularly, with even the best climbers falling victim to its fickle weather.

Source-AFP

var xmlHttpvar imgpath,imagefunction RefreshImage(ImageId){image=document.getElementById(ImageId);//alert(ImageId);xmlHttp=GetXmlHttpObject();if (xmlHttp==null) { alert ("Your browser does not support AJAX!"); return; } var url="http://www.medindia.net/captcha/captcha.asp";url=url+"?x="+Math.random();imgpath=url;xmlHttp.onreadystatechange=stateChangedReg;xmlHttp.open("GET",url,true);xmlHttp.send(null);} function stateChangedReg(){if (xmlHttp.readyState==4){image.src = imgpath;}}function RequestCode(){xmlHttp=GetXmlHttpObject();if (xmlHttp==null) { alert ("Your browser does not support AJAX!"); return; } var url="http://www.medindia.net/captcha/reqimgvalue.asp";url=url+"?x="+Math.random();xmlHttp.onreadystatechange=stateChangedReq;xmlHttp.open("GET",url,true);xmlHttp.send(null);} function stateChangedReq(){if (xmlHttp.readyState==4){var seccode=xmlHttp.responseText;if(seccode==document.getElementById("scode").value){//alert(seccode + "same value");}else{document.getElementById("scode").value=xmlHttp.responseText;}}}function GetXmlHttpObject(){var xmlHttpNew=null;try { // Firefox, Opera 8.0+, Safari xmlHttpNew=new XMLHttpRequest(); }catch (e) { // Internet Explorer try { xmlHttpNew=new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP"); } catch (e) { xmlHttpNew=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } }return xmlHttpNew;}function GetXmlHttpObject(){var xmlHttp=null;try { // Firefox, Opera 8.0+, Safari xmlHttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); }catch (e) { // Internet Explorer try { xmlHttp=new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP"); } catch (e) { xmlHttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } }return xmlHttp;} function fnsearch(){day1 = document.search.SelDay.value;month1 = document.search.SelMonth.value;year1 = document.search.SelYear.value;tmpdate=month1+"/"+day1+"/"+year1 fromdate=new Date(year1,month1-1,day1)if (!((fromdate.getDate()==day1)&&(fromdate.getMonth()+1==month1)&&(fromdate.getFullYear()==year1))){alert("Please Select a valid Date")document.search.SelDay.focus();return false;}tmpcatid=document.search.ncategoryid.value;tmpkeyword=document.search.keyword.value;document.search.action="http://www.medindia.net/news/newsday_list.asp?ddate="+tmpdate+"&ncategoryid=" +tmpcatid +"&keyword=" +tmpkeywordreturn true;}News Categories:?? Latest Health News Popular News AIDS/HIV News Alcohol & Drug Abuse News Alternative Medicine News Anti-Aging News Bird Flu News Cancer News Celebrity Health News Chikungunya News Child Health News Cholesterol News Clinical Trials News Corporate News Dengue News Dental News Diabetes News Diet & Nutrition News Drug News Education News Environmental Health General News Genetics & Stem Cells News Health Insurance News Heart Disease News Hospital News Hypertension News Indian Health News Lifestyle News Medical Gadgets Medical PDA News Medico Legal News Men?s Health News Mental Health News News on IT in Healthcare Nursing Profession News Obesity News Organ Donation News Research News Respiratory Disease News Senior Health News Sexual Health News Tropical Disease News Weight Loss Women Health News

View the original article here

In Slovakia, a victory in the Championship of the world of French wines

Unknown wines from the host country took sixth place, continuing a series of successes in some of the most prestigious competitions of the world.

Slovakia tied with world renowned French cousins based on the percentage of the awarded medals, taking into account the number of these wines.

"France retains its leading position with 709 medals, followed closely by Spain (524 medals), Portugal (288 medals), Italy (276), Chile (109), Slovakia (60),"CMB said in a Friday press release.

While less than one percent of the 8,200 entries won the Grand Gold Medal, Slovak wines managed to capture three.

"It's a huge success that recalls the previous successful appearances of Slovak wines in contests of prestigious wines, such as the Vinalies Internationales Paris earlier this year," Slovak Member to the oenologist and jury, Edita Durcova told AFP.

Slovak wines has attracted to the top-rated Vinalies Internationales Paris in March, winning nine gold and 38 silver medals to surpass even the France, not to mention the best-known wines of neighboring Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and the Hungary.

Friday, Grand gold medalists included Slovak Cabernet Sauvignon Rose by Martin Pomfy - Mav n winery, Mojmirovce Cabernet Sauvignon Rose by PD Mojmirovce cellar and Riesling by the cave Leah & SK.

During its history of almost twenty years, the CMB based in Belgium took place in seven Western European countries before East this year to Slovakia for the first time. Brussels will host the next year's competition.

"It was more than normal that we finally moved to Central Europe," CMB Chief Thomas Costenoble told AFP at the launch of the event last Friday.

"It's an opportunity for the members of the jury to the discovery of new grape varieties, that they did not in the traditional country," he said.

Source-AFP

View the original article here