A cabin attendant from Japan's second largest air carrier All Nippon Airways

Japan's All Nippon Airways, which has asked passengers to visit the toilet before boarding to help the environment, said Tuesday it will fit its jets with a women-only lavatory.

Japan's All Nippon Airways, which has asked passengers to visit the toilet before boarding to help the environment, said Tuesday it will fit its jets with a women-only lavatory.

ANA will introduce one female-only toilet per aircraft on international flights next month after a survey of women fliers identified it as the second most attractive service they wished for after being offered desserts.

The rest of the toilets onboard will be for men and women as usual.

"We received many comments that having a women-only lavatory would be a factor in differentiating our airline from others," said an ANA spokesman.

"Many women said that they feel uncomfortable taking their time in the lavatory knowing that a male is waiting just behind them in line," he said.

The spokesman denied that the new service was introduced following complaints about men soiling the bathrooms, telling reporters: "Those opinions may exist, but we do not have that data on hand."

Since 2006 ANA has pursued a one-month awareness campaign each year in which it asks domestic fliers to visit the bathroom before boarding to reduce their body weight and therefore cut the plane's carbon-dioxide emissions.

The airline is also planning to install "washlets" in its aircraft -- electric toilet seats with water sprays for washing -- a common sight in Japan and generally a source of amusement for first-time visitors and users.

The "washlets" will be installed in the Boeing 777-300ER, due to begin operating in April, and the Boeing 787 fleet set to start flying this year.

More Than 1,000 Teachers in Kenya Fired for Sexual Abuse

Kenyan authorities say more than 1,000 teachers have been fired during the past two years for sexually abusing girls.Education officials say the teachers have been dismissed for impregnating students and committing other sexual offenses. More of the cases have occurred in public schools.

In addition to being fired from their jobs, some of the teachers have faced criminal proceedings in courts. Officials say more than 500 teachers have been fired so far this year for committing sexual abuses, and that 600 were dismissed last year.

Boy, 13, struck by lightning -- on Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th proved suitably unlucky for one 13 year-old boy who was struck by lightning before being taken to hospital -- at 13:13 on the dreaded date.
The boy, who has not been named, was treated for a minor burn after being hit along with two others at an air show in Suffolk, eastern England, a spokeswoman said.
Staff at the St Johns Ambulance service said there had been heavy rain all day before they witnessed a big flash of lightning and a loud clap of thunder over the sea off the Suffolk coast.
"We got a call that someone had been struck by lightning so we immediately sent our paramedics to the scene, followed by an ambulance," said Rex Clarke, head of the team of St John Ambulance volunteers at the event.
"Lightning strikes can cause cardiac arrest, but when our volunteers arrived the boy was conscious and breathing."
Clarke added that two other people were treated for injuries from lightning burns in the space of twenty minutes, and that all three people were holding umbrellas at the time which "acts as a conductor for electricity."
Jason Gillingham, a County Ambulance Officer and on scene at the show, said: "This was a minor burn to the boy's shoulder, but he was taken to hospital and is recovering well."

New Blood Test Predicts Heart Failure

A simple blood test may predict future heart disease.

A number of risk factors can predict your chance of getting a heart attack. High blood pressure or cholesterol, a history of smoking, just getting older - all of these make heart disease more likely.

When a suspected heart attack patient shows up at the hospital, doctors often test for a blood protein called cardiac troponin T, which can confirm a heart attack.

The newest versions of the test are super sensitive, measuring the protein at levels of just a few picograms - trillionths of a gram - per milliliter of blood.

"And this is allowing us to identify evidence of heart injury - troponin protein is released when heart cells die - in individuals who are seemingly without any obvious cardiovascular disease, whether it be chest pain and heart attacks, or whether it even be symptoms of heart failure," says University of Maryland medical professor Christopher deFilippi.

DeFilippi and his colleagues tested troponin levels in blood samples taken years ago from a group of almost 6,000 older Americans. Then, the researchers compared troponin levels with the health of the individuals as they aged. They found that higher levels of troponin correlated to a higher likelihood of heart failure, which is when the heart's pumping ability declines.

"So it could both identify individuals who were at the highest risk for developing the signs and symptoms of a failing heart, and also individuals who were at the highest risk of dying of heart disease."

DeFilippi says the troponin test turns out to be a strong predictor by itself of heart failure or of death from any kind of heart disease, and it does so independent of other risk factors.

"It is, as a blood test, similar to cholesterol, a measure of a continuum of values, so it's not a yes/no answer, but you're able to stratify people into very low risk, low risk, intermediate, [and] high risk for these events based upon the [troponin] number."

Christopher deFilippi says the test should be relatively affordable since the chemicals used to process each sample, only cost a dollar or so. And patients who learn they are on the path to heart failure can work with their doctor to minimize progression of the disease.

Chinese PEs, more room for growth

Development of Chinese private equity (PE) funds has topped the list in Asia in terms of scale and speed of introduction to the market, said Liu Lefei, rotating chairman of Beijing Private Equity Association.
Liu, also chairman and chief executive of Citic Private Equity Funds Management Co that leads China's biggest yuan denominated-fund - the 9-billion-yuan ($1.36 billion) Mianyang Industrial Fund, said in the past seven years, PE funds in China have achieved a compounded growth rate of 40 percent every year, far exceeding other Asian countries.
Opportunities for further development is huge, he said, as China's PE sector penetration rate at present is low, a mere 0.1 percent of the country's GDP.
The PE penetration rate in the United States is at 0.8 percent, and 2 percent in Britain, he said this at the 2010 Global PE Beijing Forum held on Sunday.
Opportunities abound for the PE industry when China's GDP maintains a rapid growth rate along with higher penetration rate, said Liu.
McKinsey & Company, a global consulting firm, estimated that China's private equity fund penetration rate may reach between 0.4 and 0.5 percent by 2015, with a total investment demand of more than 200 billion yuan within the industry.
As China's pension funds step up its investments, the PE funds are seen as favorites to attract investments. Thanks to a regulation announced in September, which allows domestic insurance companies to invest in PE funds, the PE sector is certainly seeing more money supply.
In the first nine months, China's total fund raising in the PE sector reached $28.4 billion. About 144 new funds were established during the same period, in which 90 percent are yuan-denominated funds, according to latest reports by Zero2IPO, a leading Chinese venture capital research and advisory company.
This year alone, 128 Chinese companies that were backed by PEs went for IPO, gaining as much as $20 billion from the open market, the Zero2IPO reports said.
"Among those 128 companies, 98 are listed in the domestic stock markets, and institutional investors (PE funds) are repaid by more than ten times," said Liu of Citic Private Equity Funds Management Co.
Wang Zhongmin, deputy director-general of the National Council for Social Security Fund, said his fund has already invested in eight private equity funds, with an investment commitment of 11.7 billion yuan.
The National Social Security Fund, with a total asset of 800 billion yuan, is allowed to invest up to 10 percent of its asset to private equity funds.
"The social security fund receives probably 100 billion yuan as new asset annually. It means, in addition to the 80 billion yuan that we can now earmark for investing in PE funds, there is another 10 billion yuan to add into our investment portfolio every year," Wang said.
"We pay a lot of attention to China's PE industry as our fund wants to grow together with it."

U.S. officials are stressing the threat posed to South Asia by Taliban militants

President Barack Obama met at the White House last Wednesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

　

The U.S. commander responsible for American military operations in South Asia and the Middle East says an emboldened Taliban poses a true threat to Pakistan.

General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, says there is a growing awareness throughout Pakistan the Taliban militants must be stopped.

During an appearance on the Fox News Sunday television program, he said the nation has been galvanized.

　

"There is a degree of unanimity that there must be swift and effective action taken against the Taliban in Pakistan," he said.

　

Pakistani President Zardari says his country's commitment is sound. But he says the Taliban threat goes beyond Pakistan, and should be a worldwide concern.

　

He spoke in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press recorded after the White House summit.

　

"I think the world need to understand that this is the new challenge of the 21st century, and this is the new war," said Mr. Zardari.

　

Afghan President Karzai was also interviewed by Meet the Press following the talks. He said he has more confidence in Mr. Zardari than in the previous Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf.

"We had a very good meeting in Washington," said Mr. Karzai. "I hope this will be taken into further steps, meaning implementation on the ground. I am a lot more confident and a lot more hopeful."

The White House summit was held during an investigation into the deaths of dozens of Afghan civilians who were said to have died in a U.S. bombing raid.

President Karzai has called for the U.S. military to stop the air attacks. But White House National Security Advisor James Jones says further bombing raids are possible.

"Certainly, to tie the hands of our commanders and say we are not going to conduct air strikes would be imprudent," said Jones. "That is part of the combined arms package so we probably would not do that."

Tony Chan Driver Charged With Running Up Tab

Doesn't this limo driver know whom he's messing with?

According to U.S. prosecutors, a New York-area limousine driver cheated Hong Kong's most notorious feng shui master out of $794,986 after driving him into midtown Manhattan two years ago.

Tony Chan, a Hong Kong multimillionaire who quickly became one of the most talked-about men in Asia after mounting an unsuccessful legal battle for the fortune of deceased property heiress Nina Wang, may have the upper hand in this case.

Prosecutors say Mr. Chan was charged the rightful sum for the 13-mile ride from New Jersey's Teterboro Airport in July 2008. But Mr. Chan's ultimate tab multiplied after the driver, identified by federal prosecutors as Peter Rahhaoui, used the feng shui master's American Express card to ring up nearly $800,000 over the next four months.

All the while, it appears, Mr. Chan had other things on his mind than to glance through his AmEx statements, which he seems to have paid. During those four months, Mr. Chan was under siege by Hong Kong photographers encamped outside his gated compound in Hong Kong's tony Mid-Levels district, after staking a claim to the Chinachem fortune of Ms. Wang.

An email to Mr. Chan's lawyer in Hong Kong hasn't been answered.

The complaint, now accessible on the federal court system's website, was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal on Monday. The federal case against Mr. Rahhaoui was reported by the New York Post on Monday.

The alleged scam against Mr. Chan is the latest twist in a legal quagmire over one of Asia's great family fortunes─a two-decade-long story that has captivated Hong Kong.