SEOUL Alex English Women's Jersey , May 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and visiting European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Friday reaffirmed that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear weapons program is unacceptable, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

During their meeting, the two diplomats reaffirmed their determined opposition to what they called the DPRK's further provocation, including another nuclear test, agreeing to strengthen cooperation in deterring DPRK provocation and achieving the denuclearized DPRK.

Tensions are running high on the Korean Peninsula as the DPRK threatened a new form of nuclear test after firing some 90 short- range missiles in late February and March. The latest nuclear test of the DPRK was conducted in February 2012.

Pyongyang on Thursday fired two artillery shells in waters near a South Korean naval ship sailing around the disputed maritime border.

Yun and Ashton shared the view that move was very regrettable and intolerable. Ashton pledged to strengthen cooperation with South Korea in tackling the DPRK issues.

After the meeting, the two diplomats singed a basic participatory agreement on crisis management, which covers natural disasters, piracy control and peacekeeping activities.

Ahead of the meeting, Ashton paid a courtesy call to President Park Geun-hye and visited the joint memorial altar in Seoul for the victims of the ferry Sewol disaster, which left more than 300 people, mostly high school students, dead or missing.

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CHICAGO, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Kidney disease increases the risk for diabetes, not just the other way around, a study of the Washington University at St. Louis has found.

Researchers at the university found that kidney dysfunction can lead to diabetes, and that a waste product called urea plays a role in the two-way link between the two diseases.

The study involved the analysis of medical records over a five-year period for 1.3 million adults who did not have diabetes. About 9 percent had elevated urea levels, a sign of reduced kidney function. That's the same rate as in the general population.

People with high urea levels were 23 percent more likely to develop diabetes than those with normal urea levels, the study found.

""The risk difference between high and low levels is 688 cases of diabetes per 100,000 people each year, which means that for every 100,000 people, there would be 688 more cases of diabetes each year in those with higher urea levels,"" said study senior author Ziyad Al-Aly, an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

""We have known for a long time that diabetes is a major risk factor for kidney disease, but now we have a better understanding that kidney disease, through elevated levels of urea, also raises the risk of diabetes,"" Al-Aly said.

""When urea builds up in the blood because of kidney dysfunction, increased insulin resistance and impaired insulin secretion often result,"" he said.

The findings about the role of urea may help improve treatment and possibly prevent diabetes. The study has been published online in the journal Kidney International.

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by Mahmoud Fouly

CAIRO， Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- As the countdown is ticking for the conclusion of the 48th round of annual Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF)， paper books in Egypt are still struggling to survive recent price hikes as well as prevailing legal and illegal online books.

The massive 16-day book fair has seen over two million visitors in the first ten days， although about 100 Egyptian publishing houses failed to join this year due to the recent price hikes of paper and ink after the local currency devaluation.

"Price hikes of books surely affected their sales. Personally， if I used to buy 20 books during the book fair， I only buy 10 now. It's a direct effect，" said Karim Mostafa， a civil engineer， while shopping for books at the fair in Cairo.

"With regards to e-books， I don't think they affect the sales of printed ones， because those who love reading books do not enjoy online reading. Personally， when I want a book， I find a bookstore and buy it. I never look for it online，" the 32-year-old engineer told Xinhua.

At a nearby large booth belonging to a big Egyptian publishing house， youth writer Ahmed Khair El-Deen was celebrating with his readers the release of his first book when he said that prevailing online books surely affected the sales of paper books and made many readers resort to illegal pdf copies.

"Some publishers started to pay attention to this and produce e-books to target online readers. I hope this can be activated in the rest of publishing houses to be a parallel means of profit，" the writer said.

He added that soaring prices affected book sales "but less than expected，" for some publishers were aware of the problem and made sale offers to encourage more people to visit the fair and buy cheaper books.

Out of total 670 publishing houses from 35 participant countries， only 451 Egyptian publishers joined the CIBF this year compared to 550 last year， due to the hike of paper and ink prices that reportedly raised book prices by about 150 percent.

Sobhy Khamis， member of the Egyptian Publishers Association (EPA)， said that a lot of people thought that e-books would surpass paper books yet visitors turnout at the CIBF and the amount of sales proved the opposite.

"Readers cannot do without paper books. E-books are important sometimes in researches and studies for those looking for specific parts or paragraphs. But paper books are eternal for book lovers who like to obtain valuable books and create their own libraries，" the publisher said.

The EPA member argued that despite the leap in e-books， the paper books still maintain their value as proved . Wholesale Jerseys   Cheap NFL Jerseys   Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping   Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping   Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Online   Wholesale Hockey Jerseys   Wholesale NCAA T-Shirts   Wholesale Basketball Hoodie   Wholesale Baseball Hats   Wholesale Adidas NHL Hats