Today's other stories in brief
Study claims HRT increases cancer risk
LONDON - Hormone replacement therapy may have caused the deaths of more than 1,000 women in the UK from ovarian cancer since 1991, scientists reveal today. HRT has been used by millions of women to alleviate the symptoms of menopause.
But today's authoritative study by Prof Valerie Beral and colleagues from Oxford University, reveals that those who take HRT for five years or more are risking death from a particularly lethal form of cancer. The research, published online by the Lancet medical journal today, will not be the last straw for HRT, but it may well reduce the numbers willing to take the risk of hormone treatment. - (Guardian service)
UN to check arms smuggling claims
NEW YORK - The UN Security Council has authorised a mission to check on reports of arms smuggling from Syria to Lebanon, which Britain said yesterday could trigger another crisis.
The council, in a statement late on Tuesday, agreed with a proposal by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to send an independent mission to fully assess the monitoring of the border and make recommendations. - (Reuters)
Sudanese deny defying resolutions
WASHINGTON - A confidential UN report says the Sudanese government is flying weapons and other military equipment into Darfur, violating UN Security Council resolutions, the New York Times reported yesterday.
The government had the letters "UN" stencilled on the wing of a Sudanese armed forces aircraft at an airport in Darfur, and disguised government airplanes were being used to bomb and carry out aerial surveillance of villages and transport cargo, the paper quoted the report as saying. Sudan has denied the allegations. - (Reuters)
Pope gets invite to visit UN
VATICAN CITY - UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon invited Pope Benedict to make an official visit to the UN headquarters in New York after they met privately yesterday, the Vatican said. - (Reuters)