Obesity Rates Triple In Developing World

The number of overweight and obese people has reached almost one billion in the developing world - overtaking rates in industrialised countries, a report has found.

The report by the UK's Overseas Development Institute said the number of obese people has more than tripled in the developing world since 1980.

In 2008, more than 900 million people in poor countries were classed as overweight compared with around 550 million in high-income countries - almost twice as many.

Steve Wiggins, the report's author, said: "The statistics are quite sensational, it is a tripling of the number of people who are considered overweight and obese in the developing world since 1980.

"That takes the number to more than 900 million and that is more than the number of overweight and obese people that we have in the high-income countries, which is probably around 570 million, something like that.

"It is a very rapidly emerging problem and it is now of a very large size."

Obesity rates in China have almost doubled since 1980

Rates of obesity are still rising in richer countries, but not at the same rate as in the developing world.

Two countries with particularly high obesity rates are China and Mexico, where the numbers of overweight people have almost doubled since 1980.

In South Africa, obesity has risen by a third and now has a higher rate than the UK.

North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America all have similar overweight and obesity rates to Europe.

Explaining the developing world's obesity epidemic, Mr Wiggins said: "It is associated with incomes and urbanisation and a more sedentary lifestyle, so it is those emerging countries which have done the best at raising their incomes.

"It's the middle-income countries, it is the Chinas, it is the Mexicos, which are the countries which are seeing the highest rates of overweight and obesity at the moment."

The report predicts that if current rates continue there will be a huge increase in people suffering certain types of cancer, diabetes, strokes and heart attacks.

It also warns that governments are not doing enough to tackle the crisis, partly due to politicians' reluctance to interfere at the dinner table, the powerful farming and food lobbies and "a large gap" in public awareness as to what constitutes a healthy diet.

Countries singled out for praise in tackling obesity are Denmark and South Korea.

In Denmark, laws against trans-fatty acids have made Danish McDonalds among the healthiest in the world, while in South Korea the government launched a large-scale public education campaign 20 years ago which has turned around obesity rates.

Mr Wiggins said: "A few decades ago the government of Korea said we must encourage our traditional foods, which are low in fats and oils, high in vegetables, high in sea food and so on.

"And there was a lot of public education, a lot of training and a sense that Korean food is good for you."

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North Korea Ski Resort May Breach UN Sanctions

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent in Beijing

A new ski resort in North Korea has been supplied with equipment which may breach United Nations sanctions against the country.

Photographs of the new resort, the country's first, at Masik show newly manufactured North American and European ski equipment.

One photograph shows three modern snow ploughs. Two of them are manufactured by the Italian firm Prinoth.

Another photo shows some skiers riding on a Ski-Doo snowmobile, which is made by the Canadian firm Bombardier.

A third photograph shows state-of-the-art snow cannons, which are used to artificially create snow.

The cannons, which can be seen dotted all the way up the mountain, are made by Areco of Sweden. They cost upwards of £14,000 each.

North Korea is subject to United Nations sanctions which ban the import of a wide range of products.

The three snow ploughs, two of them made by the Italian firm Prinoth

The latest resolution, adopted in March 2013, reaffirmed earlier resolutions.

Each one bans member states from exporting weapons and associated goods, equipment which could aid the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and "luxury goods" to North Korea.

However, the UN fails to itemise the specific items which would fall within its "luxury goods" bracket, thus providing North Korea and its suppliers with potential loopholes.

The European Union has issued its own list of "luxury goods" banned from export to North Korea. It states clearly that European companies are banned from exporting "articles and equipment for skiing, golf, diving and water sports" to North Korea.

It is almost certain that the equipment came through China. The two countries share a border across which almost all of North Korea's goods flow.

North Koreans ride a snowmobile at the resort, built by conscripts

China has its own ski resorts and it is possible that the European and North American firms thought their products were destined for China.

Speaking to NK News, a website which focuses on North Korea, the CEO of Areco Johan Erling said he had "no idea" how at least seven Areco snow cannons had turned up in North Korea.

Mr Erling told NK News that his company sells about 40 snow ploughs to its Chinese reseller every year.

Last week, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was photographed at the opening of the new resort, the building of which is believed to have been his personal ambition. Mr Kim was educated in Switzerland, though it is not clear whether he can actually ski.

He was pictured taking a ride, without skis, on one of the resort's chair-lifts which appeared not to be new. The two-seater lift looked conspicuously dated.

Mr Kim was not seen skiing at the resort

Last year, it emerged that North Korea had tried to purchase ski-lifts from Switzerland but was blocked from doing so by the Swiss government.

A Swiss journalist who was permitted to visit the resort when it was being built claimed that the failure to secure Swiss ski-lifts prompted the North Korean authorities to relocate an old chair-lift from elsewhere in the country.

It was only long enough to stretch half way up the mountain.

The resort was built largely by hand and by conscripted soldiers to a tight deadline set by Mr Kim.

North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries. Its people remain largely cut off from the outside world.

United Nations sanctions were first imposed on the country following nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. The latest resolution, adopted in 2013, followed the test-launch of a long range Unha-3 rocket from the country's west coast.

Sky News has contacted both Bombardier Recreational Products and Prinoth. Neither has yet responded to our emails.

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Cambodia: Deadly Crackdown On Garment Workers

Three people have been killed in Cambodia as police opened fire to try to quell a protest by garment factory workers.

Workers armed with sticks, rocks and Molotov cocktails clashed with armed police in the capital Phnom Penh.

Deputy police commissioner Chuon Narin confirmed three people died and two others were injured.

The workers are part of a nationwide strike demanding a doubling of the minimum wage to £97 a month.

Prime Minister Hun Sen faces a growing challenge to his almost three-decade rule from protesting textile workers and opposition supporters demanding that he step down and call a new election because of alleged vote fraud.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy denounced the crackdown.

"It's an unacceptable attempt to break not only a worker strike but the whole worker movement as well as the democratic movement which is developing in Cambodia following the July elections," he said.

Human rights activist Chan Soveth, of local rights group Adhoc, who was at the scene of the clashes, said as many as 10 striking workers were badly injured.

Security forces "used rifles and other things to crack down on the strikers," he said. "They beat them on their heads."

Military police spokesman Kheng Tito said the crackdown came after nine policemen were injured by missiles.

"We were afraid about the security so we had to crack down on them," he said. "If we allow them to continue the strike it will become anarchy."

Disputes over wages and safety conditions are common in Cambodia's clothing industry which supplies brands like Gap, Nike and H&M.

The sector employs about 650,000 people and is a key source of foreign income for the impoverished country.

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Ariel Sharon: Ex-Israeli PM 'Deteriorating'

Former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon's health is "deteriorating" with his "vital organs" failing, hospital officials have said.

The 85-year-old has been in a coma for almost eight years after suffering an incapacitating stroke from which he has never recovered.

Doctors at the Tel Hashomer hospital said his health has declined to a "critical" condition and his "life is in danger".

Zeev Rotstein, director at the facility, said: "In the last few days, we have seen a gradual decline in the functioning of Ariel Sharon's vital organs, which are essential for his survival."

"His state is classed as critical, meaning his life is in danger.

"The medical staff and Sharon's family are expecting a turn for the worse."

Mr Sharon's family were by his bedside, he added.

In an MRI scan in January last year, Mr Sharon showed "significant brain activity" and was found to be responding to family photographs.

His condition reportedly started to worsen on Wednesday when he suffered serious kidney problems after an operation.

The long-time leader and architect of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory was first elected prime minister in February 2001.

In a surprise move, he left the right-wing Likud four years later to set up a new party, Kadima, frustrated by hardliners opposed to his withdrawal of troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, and to any further concessions in the occupied West Bank.

The iconic and controversial figure suffered a massive stroke on January 4, 2006, slipping into a coma at the height of his political power.

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Pakistan: Musharraf Suffers 'Heart Problem'

Pakistan's former president, Pervez Musharraf, has been taken to hospital after reportedly suffering a heart problem on his way to court.

The country's ex-military ruler felt unwell while he was heading to a hearing in his treason case under heavy security, police said.

The 70-year-old man had been summoned to the special tribunal in Islamabad after failing to show up for two previous sessions due to security threats against him.

Police officers stand guard at the gate of the Special Court in Islamabad

Jan Mohammad, a senior police official, told the court: "He has been shifted to Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (in the nearby city of Rawalpindi) after he got heart problem."

An aide to Mr Musharraf, who is facing a series of criminal cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule, said the retired general was in "bad shape".

Meanwhile, his lawyers walked out of court, complaining they were being threatened and harassed by the government.

Anwar Mansoor Khan, one of the lawyers, told the court he had been unable to sleep the previous night due to someone banging on his door.

Musharraf is accused over the death of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto

"I was under total threat," he told the court. "From 1am to five in the morning. Someone was banging on my door and ringing my bell."

When asked who was threatening him, Mr Khan answered: "This very government."

"This never happened in my 40 years of practice. I will walk out," Mr Khan said; which he did.

He had earlier told the court he had been attacked in his car while travelling to the eastern city of Lahore following a hearing.

Mr Musharraf's lawyers have previously claimed the treason case is an attempt by the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whom Mr Musharraf ousted in a coup in 1999, to settle old scores through the courts.

The treason allegations follow a series of criminal cases faced by Mr Musharraf since he returned to Pakistan in a failed bid to run in last May's general election.

The charges include murder, over the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

Mr Musharraf appeared briefly in court in August 2013 were he denied the charges.

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Antarctica: Shokalskiy Rescue Bid Launched

Scientists and tourists on a research ship trapped by Antarctic ice since Christmas Eve have been airlifted to safety.

They were flown by helicopter from the MV Akademik Shokalskiy to an ice floe next to Australian icebreaker the Aurora Australis, and then taken by a small boat to the vessel.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue Coordination Centre, which is overseeing the rescue, confirmed that 48 passengers had made it on to the Aurora.

Expedition leader Professor Chris Turney tweeted: "We've made it to the Aurora australis safe & sound. A huge thanks to the Chinese & @AusAntarctic for all their hard work!"

Expedition leader Chris Turney said the rescue operation was underway

A helicopter carried the passengers a dozen at a time in an operation that lasted  for around five hours.

The Aurora will take them to Tasmania, arriving around mid-January.

A helicopter had been expected to airlift passengers to a Chinese icebreaker, the Snow Dragon, on New Year's Day with a barge then ferrying them to the Aurora.

A Chinese helicopter tested a makeshift helipad before taking passengers

However, before the operation could begin, sea ice had blocked the path of the barge that needed to make it to the Snow Dragon.

And because the Aurora is not built to handle a helicopter landing, the rescue was postponed.

The rescue operation for the scientists, tourists and crew on the Russian ship has been plagued by a number of problems.

Three icebreakers were initially dispatched to try to crack their way through the thick ice surrounding the ship, but all failed.

The boat has been trapped since Christmas Eve

The Aurora came within 12 miles (20km) of the ship on Monday, but fierce winds and snow forced it to retreat to open water.

The Akademik Shokalskiy is not in danger of sinking, and there are supplies for those on board, but the vessel cannot move.

The 22 Russian crew members are expected to stay on board for as long as it takes to free the ship from the pack ice surrounding it.

It became stuck after a blizzard pushed the sea ice around it, freezing it in place about 1,700 miles (2,700km) south of Hobart, Tasmania.

The scientific team on board had been recreating Australian explorer Douglas Mawson's 1911 to 1913 voyage to Antarctica.

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Kim Jong-Un: Uncle's Killing Removed 'Filth'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has hailed the elimination of "factional filth" after the execution of his uncle last month.

In his New Year message, broadcast on state television, Mr Kim said: "Our party took resolute action to remove ... scum elements within the party last year."

He accused General Jang Song-Thaek, who was once considered the second most powerful individual in the North, of trying to build his own power base within the ruling party.

Jang (L) was seen as North Korea's second-most powerful man

"Our party's timely, accurate decision to purge the anti-party, anti-revolutionary elements helped greatly cement solidarity within our party," Mr Kim said.

General Jang's death was announced by state news agency KCNA on December 13.

Branding him a "traitor" it said General Jang had been executed after a special military trial for committing such a "hideous crime as attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to grab the supreme power of our party and state".

South Korean media said they believed he was killed by machine gun, a relatively common form of execution in the North.

Kim Jong-Un was pictured at a newly-built ski resort this week

General Jang, who was seen as vital in helping Mr Kim secure power after the death of his father, had earlier been removed from regime posts because of allegations of corruption, drug use, gambling, womanising, and generally leading a "dissolute and depraved life".

He was shown being dragged from his seat at a meeting and arrested on state TV shortly before his execution was announced.

Mr Kim also used his New Year message to warn that another war on the peninsula would prompt a "massive nuclear disaster" and the US would not be safe.

"We are faced with a dangerous situation in which a small, accidental military clash can lead to an all-out war," he said.

Jang was shown on state television being arrested

South Korea worries instability in the North Korean regime could lead to attacks on the South. The two countries are still technically at war after the Korean War ended in a 1953 armistice.

Last week, Pyongyang sent Seoul a fax warning of a "merciless" strike after effigies of the North Korean leader and his father were set on fire by crowds in the South.

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Volgograd Bombings: Putin Meets Survivors

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been to the city of Volgograd, where two suicide bombings in two days killed dozens of people.

He placed flowers at a makeshift shrine to the victims and visited some of the wounded still being treated in hospital.

No group has yet said it carried out the bombings at the main railway station on Sunday and on a city tram on Monday, killing 34 people and wounding more than 100.

President Putin lays flowers at the shrine to the bomb victims

Opening a meeting of federal security chiefs in the city Mr Putin said: "Whatever motivated the criminals' actions, there's no justification for committing crimes against civilians, especially against women and children."

Mr Putin with senior federal security officials in Volgograd

The attacks come after the leader of an Islamic insurgency in Russia's south called for attacks in the run-up to February's Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

On Monday, Mr Putin said the games would be "safe and secure", but the attacks in Volgograd, which is 430 miles northeast of Sochi, have demonstrated the reach of the insurgents and the vulnerability of the public transport system.

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Michael Schumacher: F1 Star Remains 'Stable'

Schumacher's Injuries 'Dangerous'

Updated: 12:14pm UK, Monday 30 December 2013

A leading neurosurgery specialist has described Michael Schumacher's condition as "very dangerous", warning that his injuries may take several days to "reach their peak".

Christopher Chandler, of the London Neurosurgery Partnership, said the haematoma and bruising the F1 champion suffered could cause "ferocious swelling".

"An intra-cranial haematoma is a blood clot, which causes swelling and pressure on the brain," he said. "The scenario may be that he had a blood clot in his brain that required immediate removal, which would explain the surgery.

"By bilateral lesions, I suspect they mean contusions or bruising to the brain. That bruising of the brain, which you can see on a scan, causes ferocious swelling and that is really serious.

"(Cerebral) contusions are often the most significant injury. Once you remove the clot, the swelling carries on and bruising precipitates and propagates that swelling.

"If you have a brain injury with sufficient severity to cause a coma, that indicates a very serious situation. The longer a patient is in a coma, the less likely they are to make a full recovery.

"You can't say that they won't recover, and you can't say they won't be brain- damaged, but an injury such as bilateral bruising, which means on both sides of the brain, is very serious, and can be very dangerous."

The consultant continued: "Brain swelling takes a number of days to reach its peak. The brain has a rigid unyielding box around it - the skull - which allows no room for growth, making swelling very, very dangerous.

"And once that injury occurs it's a vicious circle where a little bit of swelling causes more pressure, which causes more swelling, more pressure, and it starts to accelerate and affect vital parts of the brain.

"When that happens, you are in really deep trouble, but this man received probably the best possible care that you could imagine in the circumstances.

"He had the brain injury and within minutes a team of medics were there and they airlifted him to hospital. Within half an hour he was assessed and being flown to the neurological unit in Grenoble."

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Right-To-Life Family Wins Jahi Court Order

A family in California have won an 11th-hour court order to keep a brain-dead girl on life support until at least January 7.

A judge ordered that 13-year-old Jahi McMath should be kept alive beyond a prior court-appointed deadline, which was set for 5pm local time Monday (1am UK time).

Jahi's family want to move her to a New York facility (Pic: KPIX/CBS)

The new order was issued by Judge Evelio Grillo in the Alameda County Superior Court.

Jahi suffered complications after she underwent a tonsillectomy at the Children's Hospital of Oakland on December 9.

She began to bleed heavily when she awoke from the operation, and eventually went into cardiac arrest.

Both the hospital and an independent paediatric neurologist from Stanford University have concluded the girl is brain dead.

But Jahi's family are hoping to keep her alive and move her to a facility in New York.

Speaking after the latest court order, Jahi's mother Latasha Nailah Winkfield said: "I need some more time to get her out of here, so I'm really, really happy about this. 

"I believe my daughter is alive. I don't care what they say."

After two California care homes withdrew offers to accept her, Jahi's family view the New York option as their "last, last hope", according to the family's lawyer, Chris Dolan.

The hospital says it would need to confirm there is "lawful transportation" included in any plan to transfer Jahi, and written permission from the coroner.

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