<B>YORK. Can?t quit chocolate? Don?t fret, it?s no addiction </B>

■ Resistance is futile. The more we try to fight off a craving for chocolate, the more our desire for it grows, a British researcher said recently. But chocoholics can take heart that such sweets are not addictive despite the fact many people consider themselves as having no control over their urges to eat the sweets, said Peter Rogers, a psychologist at the University of Bristol. ?Food behavior can look like addictive behavior in extreme situations but chocolate does not fit these criteria,? Rogers told a meeting sponsored by the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Many people point to certain compounds found in chocolate such as phenylethylamine ? that produce a buzz when they reach the brain as evidence chocolate is addictive, Rogers said.

<B>BEIJING. China cigarette packs to get skull health warnings </B>

■ Chinese cigarette packs will have skulls, blackened teeth or diseased lungs printed on them in the latest effort to tackle smoking, but one expert said the images may actually attract younger people to take up the habit. The images would have to take up at least 30 percent of the pack?s surface area under rules that would come into force from January 2009, the Beijing Morning Post said, citing an official at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Similar images are already printed on packs in countries including Singapore, Thailand and Canada. It was part of a plan that would also see tobacco advertising banned in China by 2011, the report added. Chinese are the world?s most enthusiastic smokers, with a growing market of more than 300 million making it a magnet for cigarette companies and a focus of international health concern.

<B>MADRID. Neanderthal man cleaned his teeth, experts find </B>

■ Two molar teeth of around 63,400 years old show that Neanderthal predecessors of humans may have been dental hygiene fans, the Web site of newspaper El Pais reported yesterday. The teeth have ?grooves formed by the passage of a pointed object, which confirms the use of a small stick for cleaning the mouth,? Paleontology Professor Juan Luis Asuarga told reporters, presenting an archaeological find in Madrid. The fossils, unearthed in Pinilla del Valle, are the first human examples found in the Madrid region in 25 years, the regional government?s culture department said. Neanderthals were predecessors of modern humans who inhabited much of Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia from about 125,000 to 30,000 years ago. ?There are two (teeth), perfectly preserved, in which the wear and tear of a human of about 30 years old is perceptible,? a government statement said.

<B>BERLIN. Town ditches traffic lights to cut accidents </B>

■ A town council in Germany has decided the best way of improving road safety is to remove all traffic lights and stop signs downtown. Since September 12, all traffic controls have disappeared from the center of the western town of Bohmte to try to reduce accidents and make life easier for pedestrians. In an area used by 13,500 cars every day, drivers and pedestrians are enjoying equal right of way, Klaus Goedejohann, the town?s mayor, told Reuters. ?Traffic will no longer be dominant,? he said.

<B>LONDON. First known planet to survive red-giant phase found </B>

■ Astronomers have discovered the first known planet to survive its ?red-giant? phase, a period when an aging star expands and engulfs bodies orbiting it. The discovery of the gas-giant planet three times the size of Jupiter offers a look at the future of our own solar system and what will happen to the Earth when the sun grows old and collapses, the researchers said.