Colombo, Dec. 9 : During a UNDP meeting held here, experts have proposed a five-point action agenda to reduce inequalities within and between countries in Asia, which they say have contributed to social strife.

It was felt that while Asia and the Pacific is the fastest growing region in the world, the benefits of growth have been distributed unevenly, benefiting certain countries more than others.

Hong Kong  - A 75-year-old businessman has been jailed for 55 months after masterminding a 265-million-Hong-Kong-dollar (34-million-US-dollar) fraud, a media report said Tuesday.

Chen Xun had denied five counts of conspiracy to defraud three banks to issue letters of credit by providing false documents, The Standard newspaper said.

Accomplice Lau Ka-ping, 54, who also acted as a prosecution witness against Chen, received a 32-month sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud.

Deputy judge Johnny Chan jailed Chen even though the money had been fully repaid. The judge said granting leniency by giving Chen a lighter sentence would send the wrong message to the public.

A FDA advisory panel recommended approving the drug ‘Latisse’ to promote longer, thicker, darker eyelashes. Latisee is derived from the glaucoma drug Lumigan, which is approved by FDA since 2001, as an eye drop. The drug company Allergan Inc., studied the drug to know how it promoted eyelash growth, thickness, and darkness when used as an eye liner at the roots of the eyelashes on the upper eyelid.

A new study suggests that poverty afflicts children’s brain. Researchers from University of California, Berkeley, have shown that the brains of poor children work differently from the brains of wealthy children, affecting language development and ‘executive function’ or the ability to plan. The Scientists reported that normal 9- and 10- year’s old children, differing only in socioeconomic status have detectable differences in the response of their prefrontal cortex, the brain’s part that is critical for problem solving and creativity.

Cape Town (South Africa), Dec. 9 : The ICC Chief Executives’ Committee met here on December 7 and 8 and discussed a range of issues relating to the playing and the business of cricket, some of which will be considered by the ICC Board when it next meets, in Perth at the end of January.

The results of the meeting were as follows:

Perth, Australia  - Serena Williams is booked for a series of three exhibitions this week in the United States, but that fact has not kept the world number two from withdrawing as defending champion at next month's Hopman Cup.

Williams and James Blake had been due to defend their title at the eight-nation mixed team competition starting January 3.

But Williams, claiming a hamstring injury, said she would be unable to participate. Her place in the team of five-time champion US will be taken by world number 50 Meghann Shaughnessy.