The Rooster.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
August 11, 2005. The Iraqis never bargained for the thousands and thousands dead. They have been grappling with anarchy since the invasion. They have been able to protect their homes and families by banding together in their hamlets and forming militias. Those militias have proven invaluable to those communities to ward off assassinations of their Holy Men. Kufa/Najaf alone has seen the death of one of their clerics assistants at the hand of Sunnis who would see their elections set aside. Caption :: Shiites marched today in the holy city of Najaf in memory of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, who was killed in a huge bombing shortly after the fall of Baghdad.
Ms. Cindy Sheehan invites all of us to Camp Casey. As long as we are lawful and not overwhelming to Ms. Sheehan I think our presence can be helpful. This is about Casey and 1843 others who served their country in good faith and honor only to have the invasion to be proven a travesty and an economic front for Bush Cronies. This is about all of us from the stand point of stopping this insanity for now and forever. Our children are not to have their lives wasted in this way ever again. Casey lives forever !!
August 11, 2005. Mr. El Baradei has his concerns since removing the seals in Iran. Lives are on the line. An attitude difference with Iran. They were patient in working with the United Nations to remove the seals. North Korea did not. If that means anything. Caption :: Mohammed ElBaradei, left, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, talks with board chairwoman Ingrid Hall during a meeting in Vienna on Thursday.
Morning Papers - It's Origins
Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History …
1833, Robert Ingersoll, lawyer and agnostic
1865, Gifford Pinchot, forester
1897, Louise Bogan, poet and critic
1921, Alex Haley, Alex, American author, whose books helped popularize the study of black history and genealogy. Born in Ithaca, New York, Haley was educated at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College and at Elizabeth City Teachers College. From 1939 to 1959 he served in the United States Coast Guard, where he worked as a journalist. After retiring from the Coast Guard, Haley moved to New York City to pursue a writing career. In 1962 he interviewed American trumpeter Miles Davis for Playboy magazine. Also for Playboy, Haley interviewed American political activist Malcolm X, with whom he later collaborated to write The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965). The book, which recounts the life of Malcolm X and the evolution of his political and religious thought, had a strong influence on black nationalists. It also received praise from critics and was widely read in colleges and universities.
1926, Aaron Klug, molecular biologist
1933, Jerry Falwell, evangelist
1841 African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivers his first
public speech before the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in
Nantucket. Having escaped from slavery only three years earlier,
Douglass is legally a fugitive when he delivers his speech about
his life as a slave. The Massachusetts Society immediately hires
Douglass as a full-time lecturer.
1873 John Rosamond Johnson is born in Jacksonville, Florida. He will,
with Bob Cole, be part of the famous vaudeville team Cole & Johnson.
He will best be remembered as a composer who, with his brother James
Weldon Johnson providing the lyrics, will write "Lift Every Voice
and Sing."
1841, Fugitive slave Frederick Douglass, soon to be a well-known orator, speaks before a mostly white abolitionist meeting for the first time on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket.
1860, the nation's first successful silver mill began operation near Virginia City, Nev.
1909, the SOS distress signal was first used by an American ship, the Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, N.C.
1921 Alex Haley is born in Ithaca, New York. He will become an award-
winning author, most notably for his authorship with Malcolm X of
the latter's autobiography and for "Roots", which will win a special
Pulitzer Prize. "Roots" will be his most successful work, selling
over 1 million copies and contributing to a new interest in African
American history.
1925 Carl T. Rowan is born in Ravencroft, Tennessee. He will become one
of America's most outspoken journalist with NBC News and The Chicago
Daily News. As an author, he will write "Dream Makers, Dream Breakers:
The World of Justice Thurgood Marshall," "Breaking Barriers," "Wait
Till Next Year," "Go South in Sorrow," and "South of Freedom." He
will be appointed to the positions of Director: U.S. Information
Agency and U.S. Ambassador to Finland. He will join the ancestors on
September 23, 2000.
1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at the island prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.
1942 Otis Taylor is born. He will become a professional football player with
the Kansas City Chiefs, playing wide receiver. He will be the UPI AFC
Player of the Year in 1971, and will help lead his team to Super Bowl
I and a victory in Super Bowl IV.
1948 Amanda Randolph appears on the television series "The Laytons" on the
Dumont Network. She and Bob Howard of CBS' "The Bob Howard Show",
which premiered earlier in the summer, are the first African Americans
to be featured in a national network television series.
1949 Peter Murray Marshall of New York is appointed to the American Medical
Association's House of Delegates.
1952, Sixteen-year-old Hussein ibn Talal is proclaimed king of Jordan after his father is declared unfit to rule. King Hussein I remains on the throne until his death in 1999.
1960 The African country of Chad declares independence from France.
1962, the Soviet Union launched cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev on a 94-hour flight.
1962 After integrated groups try to use the facilities, police close the
Municipal parks and library in Albany, Georgia.
1964 A racially motivated disturbance occurs in Paterson, New Jersey.
1965 Racially motivated disturbances start in the Watts section of Los
Angeles, California. In six days, the death toll will stand at 34,
1,032 persons will be injured, 3952 will be arrested and $ 35
million in property will be lost.
J Rosamond Johnson, author, actor and co-composer (with hisJames Weldon Johnson) of "Lift Every Voice And Sing", born in Jacksonville FL, 1873-1954Watts Riots in Southeast LA, 1965
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/K-12/Today_B_History.html
1965: Black anger over discrimination and unemployment erupts in the first of six days of rioting in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.
1965 - The U.S. Senate confirms the nomination of Thurgood Marshall as U.S.
Solicitor General.
1980 - Reggie Jackson hits his 400th homer.
1992: The largest mall in the United States, the Mall of America, opens in Bloomington, a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
1997: Bill Clinton is the first U.S. president to use the line-item veto (a power granted by Congress to the president in April 1996 but ruled unconstutional by the Supreme Court in 1998).
U.S. service member killed in Afghanistan
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Suspected insurgents ambushed a group of U.S. military engineers on Thursday, killing one U.S. service member and wounding another, the military said.
Militants attacked the engineers' convoy with small-arms and rocket-propelled grenades near a road construction project in eastern Paktika province, the military said in a statement.
The wounded service member was taken to a nearby U.S. base for medical treatment, it said, without giving details of his condition.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Afghan%20Service%20Member%20Killed
Roberts advocated noncommittal stances
By JESSE J. HOLLAND
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge John Roberts, left, walks out of the office of Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., right, after a meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee John Roberts advised then-high court nominee Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981 to stand firm in her insistence not to talk about specific court cases like Roe v. Wade, saying it could bring up impropriety and possibly disqualification issues later.
In documents released by the National Archives Thursday, Roberts - then special assistant to Attorney General William French Smith and assigned to help O'Connor through her confirmation process - wrote O'Connor to rebut a university professor's memo.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1154&slug=Roberts%20Documents
Dean predicts changes for 2008 primaries
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CONCORD, N.H. -- Democratic National Party Chairman Howard Dean says there may be some changes in the 2008 presidential primary calendar, but nothing radical.
"There will be a little surgery, not major surgery," said Dean, a doctor, former Vermont governor and presidential hopeful in 2004.
For decades, the Iowa caucuses have been the first nominating contest, followed closely by New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apelection_story.asp?category=1131&slug=Dean%20Primary
Sunnis warn Iraq charter may be delayed
By ANTONIO CASTANEDA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Iraqis march with a portrait of the late leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim as they commemorate the anniversary of his death, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005, in the holy city of Najaf, 165 kms. (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq. Al-Hakim was killed in a car bombing of a Shiite shrine in Najaf on Aug. 29, 2003. Al-Hakim's brother, Iraqi Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, said on Thursday Shiites should have their own federal region taking in all the Shiite areas in oil-rich southern Iraq. (AP Photos/Alaa Marjani)
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A Shiite leader on Thursday threw his support behind a federal system of government that would create a Shiite south and a Kurdish north, but Sunni Arabs warned the move could postpone completion of a new constitution with a deadline only four days away.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Iraq
Saddam could be executed after first trial
By BASSEM MROUE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein could be executed after his first trial if he is convicted and sentenced to death for his alleged role in a 1982 Shiite massacre, even though he faces other charges, an official close to the proceedings said Thursday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Iraq%20Saddam
Lebanese forces arrest Muslim cleric
By JOE PANOSSIAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
A Lebanese police officer, left, and a Lebanese security man, right, guard the building of Future TV channel, started in 1993 by former slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, where Islamic fundamentalist cleric Omar Bakri was arrested by Lebanese police in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005. Lebanese police have arrested Bakri who is being investigated in Britain for his remarks on the London bombings, security officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Lebanese police have arrested Omar Bakri, the Islamic cleric who is being investigated in Britain for his remarks on the London bombings, security officials said Thursday.
The officials refused to say when and where Bakri was arrested. But the local Future TV channel reported that he was arrested Thursday as he left after giving an interview at its building in western Beirut.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Lebanon%20Cleric%20Arrested
Mauritanians say they're not terrorists
By AHMED MOHAMED
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania -- Islamic leaders freed from jail after last week's coup in Mauritania said Wednesday they were wrongly branded as terrorists - and that the toppled president himself was responsible for any extremism in this overwhelmingly Muslim nation.
Experts also said U.S.-allied President Maaya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya's allegations that Islamic terrorists were at work in Mauritania were exaggerated, adding to widespread resentment that led to his downfall in an Aug. 3 military putsch.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apafrica_story.asp?category=1105&slug=Mauritania%20Freed%20Islamists
Boston Globe
British Airways cancels Heathrow flights
August 11, 2005
LONDON --British Airways canceled all flights due to depart from London's Heathrow airport Thursday afternoon and diverted arriving flights after a labor dispute escalated.
Sixty-two short-haul and 44 long-haul outbound flights were canceled, while 14 short-haul flights and an unknown number of long-haul flights which were en route to Heathrow were being diverted to other airports in Britain. Other BA flights bound for London were being canceled before taking off.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/08/11/british_airways_cancels_heathrow_flights/
7-Eleven settles dispute over checking age of tobacco buyers
By David Koenig, AP Business Writer August 11, 2005
DALLAS --Convenience-store leader 7-Eleven Inc., the nation's largest cigarette seller, has agreed to toughen its procedures to catch underage shoppers who try to buy tobacco products.
Tobacco is 7-Eleven's biggest-selling product, accounting for 29.1 percent of its sales in the United States and Canada last year.
In a deal announced Thursday and covering stores in about 30 states, including Massachusetts, 7-Eleven agreed not to place tobacco signs next to products popular with minors, to ban vending machines for tobacco and remove outward-facing window signs for tobacco within 500 feet of schools or playgrounds.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/08/11/7_eleven_settles_dispute_over_checking_age_of_tobacco_buyers/
Supplier of Big Dig concrete investigated
Assurances voiced on safety
By Raphael Lewis and Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff August 11, 2005
State and federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Aggregate Industries, the largest supplier of concrete to the Big Dig, delivered substandard concrete to the $14.6 billion project on hundreds of occasions and falsified records to conceal the poor quality, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said yesterday.
http://www.boston.com/news/traffic/bigdig/articles/2005/08/11/supplier_of_big_dig_concrete_investigated/
Closure over 2 who fell in Vietnam
Mass. Marines' remains found after 37 years
By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff August 11, 2005
They were teenage toughs, Paul Czerwonka and Joseph Cook, sporting slicked-back hair and leather jackets and dingo boots.
Czerwonka never ran from a fight, and soon he volunteered for one, in Vietnam, with the US Marine Corps. Before heading to war, the Massachusetts duo bonded on predeployment assignment in Hawaii, chasing girls and swilling beer. CZ, as the grunts called him, would get them into trouble; Joe's wit would get them out of it.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/08/11/closure_over_2_who_fell_in_vietnam/
A survivor's drive fulfills MIA mission
By Bryan Bender and Charlie Savage, Globe Staff August 11, 2005
WASHINGTON -- On Mother's Day weekend in 1968, a few dozen Marines and special forces stationed at a jungle outpost near the border between Vietnam and Laos were overrun by the surging North Vietnamese Army.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/08/11/a_survivors_drive_fulfills_mia_mission/
North Carolina chamber passes $17.2 billion budget
August 11, 2005
MIAMI (Reuters) - North Carolina's House of Representatives gave final approval to a $17.2 billion budget that raises the state tax on cigarettes, keeps some expiring taxes alive and increases pay for state workers.
The two-year plan calls for an 8 percent increase in overall spending from the previous $15.9 billion budget and was passed on Wednesday by a vote of 61 to 59 in the state's Democrat-run lower legislative chamber.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/08/11/north_carolina_chamber_passes_172_billion_budget/
Wildlife moves to stay cool in a warmer world
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent August 11, 2005
OSLO (Reuters) - Salmon swim north into Arctic seas, locusts plague northern Italy and two heat-loving bee-eater birds nest in a hedge in Britain.
Signs of global warming fed by greenhouse gases produced by human activity, or just summertime oddities?
In the United States, some warblers are flying north to Canada. In Costa Rica, toucans are moving higher up into the mountains, apparently because of rising temperatures.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/08/11/wildlife_moves_to_stay_cool_in_a_warmer_world_1123792492/
Michael Moore Today
Welcome to Cindy Sheehan's Blog
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford (Day 5)
"Okeydoke"
History …
1833, Robert Ingersoll, lawyer and agnostic
1865, Gifford Pinchot, forester
1897, Louise Bogan, poet and critic
1921, Alex Haley, Alex, American author, whose books helped popularize the study of black history and genealogy. Born in Ithaca, New York, Haley was educated at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College and at Elizabeth City Teachers College. From 1939 to 1959 he served in the United States Coast Guard, where he worked as a journalist. After retiring from the Coast Guard, Haley moved to New York City to pursue a writing career. In 1962 he interviewed American trumpeter Miles Davis for Playboy magazine. Also for Playboy, Haley interviewed American political activist Malcolm X, with whom he later collaborated to write The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965). The book, which recounts the life of Malcolm X and the evolution of his political and religious thought, had a strong influence on black nationalists. It also received praise from critics and was widely read in colleges and universities.
1926, Aaron Klug, molecular biologist
1933, Jerry Falwell, evangelist
1841 African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivers his first
public speech before the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in
Nantucket. Having escaped from slavery only three years earlier,
Douglass is legally a fugitive when he delivers his speech about
his life as a slave. The Massachusetts Society immediately hires
Douglass as a full-time lecturer.
1873 John Rosamond Johnson is born in Jacksonville, Florida. He will,
with Bob Cole, be part of the famous vaudeville team Cole & Johnson.
He will best be remembered as a composer who, with his brother James
Weldon Johnson providing the lyrics, will write "Lift Every Voice
and Sing."
1841, Fugitive slave Frederick Douglass, soon to be a well-known orator, speaks before a mostly white abolitionist meeting for the first time on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket.
1860, the nation's first successful silver mill began operation near Virginia City, Nev.
1909, the SOS distress signal was first used by an American ship, the Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, N.C.
1921 Alex Haley is born in Ithaca, New York. He will become an award-
winning author, most notably for his authorship with Malcolm X of
the latter's autobiography and for "Roots", which will win a special
Pulitzer Prize. "Roots" will be his most successful work, selling
over 1 million copies and contributing to a new interest in African
American history.
1925 Carl T. Rowan is born in Ravencroft, Tennessee. He will become one
of America's most outspoken journalist with NBC News and The Chicago
Daily News. As an author, he will write "Dream Makers, Dream Breakers:
The World of Justice Thurgood Marshall," "Breaking Barriers," "Wait
Till Next Year," "Go South in Sorrow," and "South of Freedom." He
will be appointed to the positions of Director: U.S. Information
Agency and U.S. Ambassador to Finland. He will join the ancestors on
September 23, 2000.
1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at the island prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.
1942 Otis Taylor is born. He will become a professional football player with
the Kansas City Chiefs, playing wide receiver. He will be the UPI AFC
Player of the Year in 1971, and will help lead his team to Super Bowl
I and a victory in Super Bowl IV.
1948 Amanda Randolph appears on the television series "The Laytons" on the
Dumont Network. She and Bob Howard of CBS' "The Bob Howard Show",
which premiered earlier in the summer, are the first African Americans
to be featured in a national network television series.
1949 Peter Murray Marshall of New York is appointed to the American Medical
Association's House of Delegates.
1952, Sixteen-year-old Hussein ibn Talal is proclaimed king of Jordan after his father is declared unfit to rule. King Hussein I remains on the throne until his death in 1999.
1960 The African country of Chad declares independence from France.
1962, the Soviet Union launched cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev on a 94-hour flight.
1962 After integrated groups try to use the facilities, police close the
Municipal parks and library in Albany, Georgia.
1964 A racially motivated disturbance occurs in Paterson, New Jersey.
1965 Racially motivated disturbances start in the Watts section of Los
Angeles, California. In six days, the death toll will stand at 34,
1,032 persons will be injured, 3952 will be arrested and $ 35
million in property will be lost.
J Rosamond Johnson, author, actor and co-composer (with hisJames Weldon Johnson) of "Lift Every Voice And Sing", born in Jacksonville FL, 1873-1954Watts Riots in Southeast LA, 1965
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/K-12/Today_B_History.html
1965: Black anger over discrimination and unemployment erupts in the first of six days of rioting in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.
1965 - The U.S. Senate confirms the nomination of Thurgood Marshall as U.S.
Solicitor General.
1980 - Reggie Jackson hits his 400th homer.
1992: The largest mall in the United States, the Mall of America, opens in Bloomington, a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
1997: Bill Clinton is the first U.S. president to use the line-item veto (a power granted by Congress to the president in April 1996 but ruled unconstutional by the Supreme Court in 1998).
Missing in Action
1967 BERUBE KENNETH ALLEN MONSON MA
NEW !! POW-MIA Search Engine (Search by Name, DOB, Loss-Date, or Country-State )
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Governor to declare emergency as new fire near Davenport prompts evacuations
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gov. Christine Gregoire prepared to declare a wildfire emergency Thursday, as firefighters scrambled to keep up with a half-dozen large wildfires in Eastern Washington.
Gregoire scheduled an afternoon news conference at her office in Olympia to sign an emergency declaration. At least a half-dozen large fires were burning across the state Thursday, and dozens of residents were evacuated from their homes.
U.S. service member killed in Afghanistan
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Suspected insurgents ambushed a group of U.S. military engineers on Thursday, killing one U.S. service member and wounding another, the military said.
Militants attacked the engineers' convoy with small-arms and rocket-propelled grenades near a road construction project in eastern Paktika province, the military said in a statement.
The wounded service member was taken to a nearby U.S. base for medical treatment, it said, without giving details of his condition.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Afghan%20Service%20Member%20Killed
Roberts advocated noncommittal stances
By JESSE J. HOLLAND
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge John Roberts, left, walks out of the office of Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., right, after a meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee John Roberts advised then-high court nominee Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981 to stand firm in her insistence not to talk about specific court cases like Roe v. Wade, saying it could bring up impropriety and possibly disqualification issues later.
In documents released by the National Archives Thursday, Roberts - then special assistant to Attorney General William French Smith and assigned to help O'Connor through her confirmation process - wrote O'Connor to rebut a university professor's memo.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1154&slug=Roberts%20Documents
Dean predicts changes for 2008 primaries
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CONCORD, N.H. -- Democratic National Party Chairman Howard Dean says there may be some changes in the 2008 presidential primary calendar, but nothing radical.
"There will be a little surgery, not major surgery," said Dean, a doctor, former Vermont governor and presidential hopeful in 2004.
For decades, the Iowa caucuses have been the first nominating contest, followed closely by New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apelection_story.asp?category=1131&slug=Dean%20Primary
Sunnis warn Iraq charter may be delayed
By ANTONIO CASTANEDA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Iraqis march with a portrait of the late leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim as they commemorate the anniversary of his death, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005, in the holy city of Najaf, 165 kms. (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq. Al-Hakim was killed in a car bombing of a Shiite shrine in Najaf on Aug. 29, 2003. Al-Hakim's brother, Iraqi Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, said on Thursday Shiites should have their own federal region taking in all the Shiite areas in oil-rich southern Iraq. (AP Photos/Alaa Marjani)
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A Shiite leader on Thursday threw his support behind a federal system of government that would create a Shiite south and a Kurdish north, but Sunni Arabs warned the move could postpone completion of a new constitution with a deadline only four days away.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Iraq
Saddam could be executed after first trial
By BASSEM MROUE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein could be executed after his first trial if he is convicted and sentenced to death for his alleged role in a 1982 Shiite massacre, even though he faces other charges, an official close to the proceedings said Thursday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Iraq%20Saddam
Lebanese forces arrest Muslim cleric
By JOE PANOSSIAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
A Lebanese police officer, left, and a Lebanese security man, right, guard the building of Future TV channel, started in 1993 by former slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, where Islamic fundamentalist cleric Omar Bakri was arrested by Lebanese police in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005. Lebanese police have arrested Bakri who is being investigated in Britain for his remarks on the London bombings, security officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Lebanese police have arrested Omar Bakri, the Islamic cleric who is being investigated in Britain for his remarks on the London bombings, security officials said Thursday.
The officials refused to say when and where Bakri was arrested. But the local Future TV channel reported that he was arrested Thursday as he left after giving an interview at its building in western Beirut.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Lebanon%20Cleric%20Arrested
Mauritanians say they're not terrorists
By AHMED MOHAMED
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania -- Islamic leaders freed from jail after last week's coup in Mauritania said Wednesday they were wrongly branded as terrorists - and that the toppled president himself was responsible for any extremism in this overwhelmingly Muslim nation.
Experts also said U.S.-allied President Maaya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya's allegations that Islamic terrorists were at work in Mauritania were exaggerated, adding to widespread resentment that led to his downfall in an Aug. 3 military putsch.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apafrica_story.asp?category=1105&slug=Mauritania%20Freed%20Islamists
Boston Globe
British Airways cancels Heathrow flights
August 11, 2005
LONDON --British Airways canceled all flights due to depart from London's Heathrow airport Thursday afternoon and diverted arriving flights after a labor dispute escalated.
Sixty-two short-haul and 44 long-haul outbound flights were canceled, while 14 short-haul flights and an unknown number of long-haul flights which were en route to Heathrow were being diverted to other airports in Britain. Other BA flights bound for London were being canceled before taking off.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/08/11/british_airways_cancels_heathrow_flights/
7-Eleven settles dispute over checking age of tobacco buyers
By David Koenig, AP Business Writer August 11, 2005
DALLAS --Convenience-store leader 7-Eleven Inc., the nation's largest cigarette seller, has agreed to toughen its procedures to catch underage shoppers who try to buy tobacco products.
Tobacco is 7-Eleven's biggest-selling product, accounting for 29.1 percent of its sales in the United States and Canada last year.
In a deal announced Thursday and covering stores in about 30 states, including Massachusetts, 7-Eleven agreed not to place tobacco signs next to products popular with minors, to ban vending machines for tobacco and remove outward-facing window signs for tobacco within 500 feet of schools or playgrounds.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/08/11/7_eleven_settles_dispute_over_checking_age_of_tobacco_buyers/
Supplier of Big Dig concrete investigated
Assurances voiced on safety
By Raphael Lewis and Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff August 11, 2005
State and federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Aggregate Industries, the largest supplier of concrete to the Big Dig, delivered substandard concrete to the $14.6 billion project on hundreds of occasions and falsified records to conceal the poor quality, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said yesterday.
http://www.boston.com/news/traffic/bigdig/articles/2005/08/11/supplier_of_big_dig_concrete_investigated/
Closure over 2 who fell in Vietnam
Mass. Marines' remains found after 37 years
By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff August 11, 2005
They were teenage toughs, Paul Czerwonka and Joseph Cook, sporting slicked-back hair and leather jackets and dingo boots.
Czerwonka never ran from a fight, and soon he volunteered for one, in Vietnam, with the US Marine Corps. Before heading to war, the Massachusetts duo bonded on predeployment assignment in Hawaii, chasing girls and swilling beer. CZ, as the grunts called him, would get them into trouble; Joe's wit would get them out of it.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/08/11/closure_over_2_who_fell_in_vietnam/
A survivor's drive fulfills MIA mission
By Bryan Bender and Charlie Savage, Globe Staff August 11, 2005
WASHINGTON -- On Mother's Day weekend in 1968, a few dozen Marines and special forces stationed at a jungle outpost near the border between Vietnam and Laos were overrun by the surging North Vietnamese Army.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/08/11/a_survivors_drive_fulfills_mia_mission/
North Carolina chamber passes $17.2 billion budget
August 11, 2005
MIAMI (Reuters) - North Carolina's House of Representatives gave final approval to a $17.2 billion budget that raises the state tax on cigarettes, keeps some expiring taxes alive and increases pay for state workers.
The two-year plan calls for an 8 percent increase in overall spending from the previous $15.9 billion budget and was passed on Wednesday by a vote of 61 to 59 in the state's Democrat-run lower legislative chamber.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/08/11/north_carolina_chamber_passes_172_billion_budget/
Wildlife moves to stay cool in a warmer world
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent August 11, 2005
OSLO (Reuters) - Salmon swim north into Arctic seas, locusts plague northern Italy and two heat-loving bee-eater birds nest in a hedge in Britain.
Signs of global warming fed by greenhouse gases produced by human activity, or just summertime oddities?
In the United States, some warblers are flying north to Canada. In Costa Rica, toucans are moving higher up into the mountains, apparently because of rising temperatures.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/08/11/wildlife_moves_to_stay_cool_in_a_warmer_world_1123792492/
Michael Moore Today
Welcome to Cindy Sheehan's Blog
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford (Day 5)
-- a message from Cindy Sheehan, Crawford, TX
Today started at 4am when the rain started blowing into my tent and my head and my feet started getting soaked then thunder and lightening came over my tent. I was really frightened for my life, so I abandoned ship and went into Crawford.
By the time we made our way through the floods and got into Crawford, I had a fever, sore throat, and bad headache. So I was made to rest and not have any interviews until noon.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php
Dear Mr. Bush,
On August 3 you said the soldiers who were killed in Iraq, "died in a noble cause."
Cindy Sheehan's son Casey died in Iraq, but she takes no comfort in your words.
She wants to meet with you to ask you directly: Why did my son die? What was the noble cause that he died for?
We, the American people, urge you to meet with Cindy Sheehan to answer her questions.
http://elandslide.org/elandslide/petition.cfm?campaign=cindy
The Lone Star Iconoclast - Crawford, Texas
President Bush Ditches Mother Of Slain Soldier
By Nathan Diebenow
Associate Editor
CRAWFORD — The mother of a U.S. soldier slain in Iraq was denied a face-to-face meeting with President Bush here Saturday after she walked through a ditch-like path in the August heat to the President’s Prairie Chapel Ranch.
“I didn’t come all this way from California to stand here in a ditch,” said Cindy Sheehan, 48, co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, attempting to continue her trek to the ranch.
Even though two of the President’s aides later agreed to deliver her message to him, Sheehan said that she would remain in Crawford for the whole month, if need be, until she is granted a private audience with the commander-in-chief to ask him for what “noble cause” did her son die overseas.
http://198.65.14.85/News/2005/31-40/32news01.htm
Globe and Mail
IAEA Expresses Serious Concern over Iran
Vienna — The UN nuclear watchdog expressed “serious concern” Thursday over Iran's resumption this week of nuclear activities that could lead to an atomic bomb, but the agency left open the possibility of further negotiations.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of directors adopted a resolution that said “outstanding issues relating to Iran's nuclear program have yet to be resolved.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050811.wiran0811/BNStory/International/
The Jerusalem Post
Yesha Council launches Operation 'Orange Dawn'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Over 150,000 anti-disengagement protesters packed Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday for what will, in effect, be the last stand of the anti-disengagement orange camp.
The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip (Yesha Council) launched what it called Operation "Orange Dawn", which aims to "disrupt or delay the destruction machine until new elections or a national referendum on disengagement are announced."
Yesah leaders called on the protesters to head down south next week. Council Chairman Bentzi Lieberman told Channel 2 that the goal of the operation was not to enter Gush Katif "because that is impossible" but rather to arrive at the Kissufim entry route to Gaza and remain there "without using any violence" against IDF soldiers or police officers.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1123727187894
IAEA settles for Iran condemnation
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
The UN nuclear watchdog agency's 35-nation board adopted a resolution Thursday expressing "serious concern" over Iran's resumption of uranium conversion - a process that some fear could be used to help build a bomb - and asked it to stop.
The resolution said "outstanding issues relating to Iran's nuclear program have yet to be resolved, and that the agency is not yet in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1123727188266
Aliyah down in first half of 2005
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Aliyah decreased in the first half of 2005, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday. Between January and June, 8,120 people made aliyah, a decrease of five percent from the same period in 2004.
New immigrants from the United States numbered 429, as opposed to 507 last year.
Immigration from the former Soviet Union decreased by 18% from the first half of 2004, and totaled 3,649.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1123727187803
The Arab News
Turki Blasts Britain on Saudi Dissidents Issue
Arab News
LONDON, 11 August 2005 — Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to London blasted the British government for ignoring his constant warnings on Saudi dissidents, a British newspaper reported yesterday.
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, a former chief of Saudi intelligence, told The Times he had been “going round in circles” with British authorities over the threat posed by Saudi dissidents in Britain.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=68255&d=11&m=8&y=2005
Louvre to Exhibit Islamic Artifacts in Riyadh Museum
Mohammed Rasooldeen, Arab News
RIYADH, 11 August 2005 — The world famous Louvre Museum in Paris will mount an exhibition of Islamic artifacts at the national museum here next January, according to Erick Pinon, cultural attaché at the French Embassy.
Pinon said Prince Waleed ibn Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, donated a gift of $20 million to the Louvre as part of his effort to promote Islam in the West.
“The exhibition in the capital will be a major step in the cultural relations between Paris and Riyadh,” Pinon said, adding that such activities could bring the two countries still closer.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=68261&d=11&m=8&y=2005&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Jeddah’s Sewage Problem to Be Finally Solved
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News
New water pipes being installed in a Jeddah street this year. (AN photo by Salman Marzouki)
JEDDAH, 11 August 2005 — Water and Electricity Minister Abdullah Al-Hussayen has promised to end Jeddah’s sewage water problem within four years. “Once the ongoing sewage pipeline project is completed, we hope the problem would be solved once and for all,” he said.
Speaking to reporters after inspecting the sewage pipeline project in Jeddah on Tuesday, the minister said works on the project are now in progress in the northern part of the city. “Contracts will be awarded soon to implement the project in South Jeddah,” he said.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=68259&d=11&m=8&y=2005&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Street Dwellers Affect Businesses Negatively, Say Merchants
Manal Quota, Arab News
JEDDAH, 11 August 2005 — Businesses are suffering a downturn in sales due to beggars and itinerant hawkers roaming the streets. Their presence irritates and discourages customers from entering stores which results in businesses losing profits. Authorities realize this is a continuing problem and have taken direct action against the beggars and unauthorized hawkers.
Beggars of all ages crowd the fronts of malls and shops looking for easy targets. Some beggars have severe deformities but most are perfectly healthy.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=68260&d=11&m=8&y=2005&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Passport Errors Causing Serious Problems
Manal Quota, Arab News
JEDDAH, 11 August 2005 — Misinformation entered on passports by the Passports Department is causing problems for Saudi travelers. Names misspelt and birthdates incorrectly transcribed from Hijra to Gregorian dates are the main difficulties. Travelers to the US, where accuracy is particularly important due to computer-held data, frequently encounter long delays at immigration.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=68264&d=11&m=8&y=2005&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Police Called to End Wedding Fight
Arab News
MAKKAH, 11 August 2005 — When most people express their joy and happiness at a wedding by dancing and singing, one newly-wed’s family faced a different situation. Al-Madinah newspaper reported that the police were called to a wedding hall in Makkah because of a fight between the families of the bride and groom. The bride’s family had refused to hand the bride over to her husband, and this led to harsh words which in turn led to an actual fight. After the police arrived, the matter was peacefully resolved and the bride and groom left for their honeymoon.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=68292&d=11&m=8&y=2005&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
New York Post
REV.'S SECRET 'LOVE' SHACK
August 11, 2005 -- St. Patrick's Cathedral's top priest and his longtime leggy assistant turned a quaint Hamptons hideaway hotel into their personal love nest — keeping their tryst so hush-hush, they didn't even use their own names in the registry, sources told The Post yesterday.
An employee of the White Sands Resort Hotel, a secluded oceanfront inn nestled in the dunes, said neither Monsignor Eugene Clark, 79, nor his married gal pal, Laura DeFilippo, was listed as a guest on July 21.
That's when the two were secretly videotaped entering the hotel to rent a room in the early afternoon. They left about 51/2 hours later with their heads bowed, wearing different clothes — she in sexy short-shorts.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/26878.htm
Haaretz
Soldier jailed for eight years for killing British activist in Gaza
By The Associated Press
A military court sentenced a former Israel Defense Forces soldier to eight years in prison on Thursday, after finding him guilty of the fatal shooting of a British pro-Palestinian activist in 2003.
Taysir El-Heyb was convicted in June of manslaughter for shooting activist Tom Hurndall in the head during a military operation in the Gaza Strip in April 2003. Witnesses said Hurndall, 22, a member of the International Solidarity Movement, was helping Palestinian children avoid IDF tanks.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/611406.html
Travel warning remains in effect for Israelis headed to Turkey
By The Associated Press
A travel warning urging Israeli citizens to avoid Turkish beach resorts will remain in effect due to a continued threat of attack, an Israeli security official said Thursday, despite arrests in Turkey of those involved in an alleged Al-Qaida plot to attack Israeli cruise ships on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
The official said Israel believes the Turkish arrests have not halted the plot, and that other suspects remain at large.
"It's not enough for us," said the official. "We can't say that the situation allows us to cancel the travel warning."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/611417.html
IDF, police wrap up final evacuation exercise ahead of pullout
By Amos Harel and Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondents
Israel Defense Forces and police on Thursday afternoon wrapped up their final joint training session ahead of next week's evacuation from the Gaza Strip. The drill's commanders lauded the forces' conduct.
Border Police Commander Roni Ohana said that "the behavior of the soldiers and police officers brought to light mainly their mental preparation, their sensitivity and at the same time their determination."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/611440.html
New York Times
U.N. Agency Sets Deadline for Iran to Suspend Nuclear Program
By THOMAS FULLER,
International Herald Tribune
Published: August 11, 2005
VIENNA, Aug. 11 - The governing board of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency passed a resolution today that imposes a September deadline on Iran to again suspend its nuclear program, diplomats here said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/11/international/middleeast/12irancnd.html?hp&ex=1123819200&en=1fc141886e882558&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Key Shiites Demand Autonomy in Southern Iraq as Deadline Nears
Published: August 11, 2005
Filed at 11:11 a.m. ET
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - With four days left until Iraq's leaders have promised a draft constitution, powerful Islamist leaders made a dramatic bid on Thursday to have a big, autonomous Shi'ite region across the oil-rich south.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-iraq.html?hp&ex=1123819200&en=b933c30af5d19a23&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Bush to Meet With Foreign Policy Team in Crawford
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 11, 2005
Filed at 12:07 p.m. ET
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- President Bush is looking at world hot spots from Baghdad to Pyongyang, without leaving Texas.
Keeping up an annual tradition, Bush was meeting with his defense and foreign policy teams on Thursday at his ranch, where he is spending August.
Vice President Dick Cheney and top-rung advisers, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, will come casual for serious talks about issues ranging from ongoing violence in Iraq and standoffs with Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs to anti-American sentiment abroad, especially in the Middle East.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Bush.html?hp&ex=1123819200&en=5434868215d389f9&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Afghanistan Attack May Have Hit Civilians
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 11, 2005
Filed at 9:41 a.m. ET
QALAT, Afghanistan (AP) -- Villagers in southern Afghanistan said Thursday that U.S. airstrikes during operations against militants this week killed civilians and wounded others, including an infant. A U.S. service member was killed in the east -- the sixth American fatality in a week.
Zabul province Gov. Ali Khail said U.S.-led coalition forces had ''made a mistake'' during recent operations in the province, but gave no details. The U.S. military denied any civilians had been in the area of the Day Chopan district where the fighting had taken place on Monday. The military said earlier that 18 suspected insurgents and one U.S. service member were killed in the fighting.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Afghan-Violence.html?
States Opposing Plan to Shutter Air Guard Bases
By ERIC SCHMITT
Published: August 11, 2005
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 - A proposed overhaul of more than two dozen Air National Guard units has emerged as the most contentious issue in the Pentagon's larger plan to close, consolidate or realign hundreds of military sites nationwide.
Nineteen F-15 fighter jets based at the Oregon Air National Guard compound in Portland might be moved.
The Air Force wants to retire aging aircraft from many Guard units, close or consolidate some of their bases and give some units new missions, like flying remotely piloted Predator aircraft, that are better suited to today's national security environment, Air Force officials say.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/11/politics/11bases.html?hp&ex=1123819200&en=13d850aeaee63b75&ei=5094&partner=homepage
continued …
Morning Papers - concluding
Tah - Tah Box
Scientists to create 'frozen zoo' of mutant mice
11.08.05
LONDON - British scientists are heading a European project to create a vast "frozen zoo" which can supply on demand mutant mice for use in medical experiments.
Up to 20,000 embryos deliberately mutated to eliminate certain genes will be stored in the genetic library.
Scientists say laboratories will be able to select specific mutants to view the effects of different gene mixtures in studies aimed at alleviating human suffering and disease.
Allowing mutant embryos to develop normally allows scientists to compare the effect of a defective gene on health and subsequent development.
"Mice are pivotal for looking at relationships between genes and disease," said Professor Steve Brown of the Medical Research Council's Mammalian Genetics Unit.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340213
Trace Genetics purchased in all-stock deal
Trace Genetics Inc. of Richmond has a new owner.
The firm agreed this week to be acquired by DNAPrint Genomics Inc., a Sarasota, Fla. partner, in an all-stock transaction. Trace shareholders exchanged all of the outstanding shares of the company for 25 million shares of DNAPrint common stock (OTC BB: DNAP) and options to purchase 5 million additional shares at 2 cents a share.
http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2005/06/20/daily24.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Protein Design, Genentech in deal
JUN. 22 9:35 A.M. ET Protein Design Labs Inc. said Wednesday that biotech leader Genentech Inc. is sub-licensing a potential prostate cancer treatment that the smaller drug maker originally licensed from Seattle Genetics Inc.
"Given (Protein Design's) existing resources and our desire to bring focus to our clinical development programs, out-licensing this program is the most efficient way to continue its development," Chief Executive Mark McDade said in a statement.
The company did not provide financial details of the deal in a news release, but said it will receive an upfront fee, along with additional payments as development milestones are reached and royalties on any sales. In return, South San Francisco-based Genentech will receive rights to develop and commercialize a group of experimental therapies designed to target and kill cells that appear to be involved in prostate cancer.
Protein Design received the rights to develop the therapies against a number of antigen targets as part of a collaboration with Bothell, Wash.-based Seattle Genetics.
The experimental treatments are "antibody-drug conjugates" that link the targeting function of an antibody -- these proteins bind to specific antigens in the body -- along with a cell-killing drug. Protein Design said this type of joined treatment means that the drug is only released within the cancer cells, making it possible to leave more healthy cell intact. Currently, prostate cancer is treated by surgery and chemotherapy drugs, or radiation.
Seattle Genetics said the Genentech deal will expand an ongoing collaboration with Genentech on antibody-drug conjugates.
Protein Design shares rose 31 cents, or 1.6 percent, in premarket trading, while Seattle Genetics shares added 12 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $4.79.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8ASMI0G1.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down
Genetically Modified Cells Migrate to Brain and Treat Neurodegeneration in St. Jude Model
Wednesday June 22, 11:49 am ET
Immune system cells find damaged neural cells by following a trail of protein signals released as part of inflammatory response to lysosomal storage disease process, according to St. Jude researchers
MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Physicians might one day be able to treat a disease that destroys brain cells in children using genetically modified cells to transport a "drug" to the site of the dying neural cells (cells that transmit impulses). This discovery occurred based on results of a laboratory study of the technique published by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. A report on this work appears in the prepublication online issue of Blood.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050622/clw041.html?.v=9
Promise of new techniques putting stem cell legislation at risk
By Ceci Connolly and Rick Weiss, Washington Post July 10, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Promising but still unproven new approaches to creating human embryonic stem cells have suddenly jeopardized what once seemed to be certain Senate passage of a bill to loosen President Bush's four-year-old restrictions on human embryo research.
The techniques are enticing to many conservative activists and scientists because they could yield medically valuable human embryonic stem cells without the creation or destruction of embryos.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/07/10/promise_of_new_techniques_putting_stem_cell_legislation_at_risk/
Gender may play role in Alzheimer's disease
23 Jul 2005
Researchers from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center found that plaques and tangles in the brain, the changes seen in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD), are more likely to be expressed as dementia in women than in men.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=27877
Morning Briefing Genetics tell only a part of the Armstrong story
IN THE BLEACHERS
Lance Armstrong is expected to pedal into Paris on Sunday and win his unprecedented seventh consecutive Tour de France title before he retires to his home in Austin, Texas.
But does his physiological makeup - Armstrong has a heart proportional to the size of someone 6 feet 6, although he stands 5-10 - give him an unfair advantage?
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/sports/12204788.htm
Lorenzo's Oil shows much promise in its first long-term study
Supplement put together by couple with ailing child appears to delay rare, deadly illness
By ALEX RAKSIN
Los Angeles Times
Lorenzo's Oil — a dietary supplement concocted by Virginia parents in a last-ditch effort to save their son's life — appears to delay the effects of a rare genetic disease in boys if taken early and in concert with a low-fat diet, according to the first long-term study of the treatment.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/health/3278781
Genetically engineered stem cells heal rat spines
27.07.05 12.20pm
WASHINGTON - Genetically engineered stem cells can help rats' severed spinal cords grow back together, according to a study published today.
Rats given the treatment, using stem cells taken from rat embryos, could move their legs again after their spines were severed in the lab, said the researchers' report in the Journal of Neuroscience.
The scientists hope the approach, which generated a new fatty cover for the spinal cord cells called the myelin sheath, also could be shown to work in people.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10337814
Myriad Genetics Phase 3 Trial in Alzheimer's Disease is Proceeding on Schedule
Tuesday August 2, 11:19 am ET
SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN - News), announced today that enrollment in its Phase 3 trial of Flurizan in patients with mild stages of Alzheimer's disease is proceeding on schedule. The Company's amended protocol was reviewed by the FDA without any changes or request for modification and the central Investigational Review Board covering a majority of the investigational sites has given its approval of the modified protocol. More than 120 sites across the United States have been enlisted and most are now screening and enrolling patients into the study. Myriad anticipates completing enrollment for the 12-month study during the first half of 2006 and reporting the results of the Phase 3 trial in the third calendar quarter of 2007.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050802/latu086.html?.v=19
Corautus Genetics Inc. to Host Conference Call on August 11, 2005
Tuesday August 2, 8:00 am ET
ATLANTA, August 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Corautus Genetics Inc. (Nasdaq: VEGF - News), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative gene transfer therapy products for the treatment of cardiovascular (severe angina) and peripheral vascular disease, will release its second quarter 2005 financial results on Thursday, August 11, 2005. The Company will also webcast a conference call to discuss the results and progress of its therapeutic development program at 11:00 A.M. Eastern time on August 11. Richard Otto, President and Chief Executive Officer of Corautus, will host the call.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050802/cltu508.html?.v=6
Targeted Genetics Strengthens Intellectual Property for AAV Vector Manufacturing
Tuesday August 2, 7:30 am ET
SEATTLE, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Targeted Genetics Corporation (Nasdaq: TGEN - News) today announced the issuance of a patent covering additional approaches to manufacturing AAV (adeno-associated virus) vectors. The patent, U.S. No. 6,924,128, is titled "Methods and Cell Line Useful for Production of Recombinant Adeno-Associated Viruses" and covers the production of AAV vectors using cell lines that have necessary AAV functions turned on during the manufacturing process.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050802/sftu024.html?.v=21
Relative Genetics Introduces Leading Edge DNA Testing Method for Genealogy to Singapore; New Approach to Genealogical Research Helps Shepherdson Families in Singapore Confirm Centuries-Old Genetic Relationship
SALT LAKE CITY & SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2005--Relative Genetics today announced that it will introduce to Singapore its global-standard method for using DNA analysis to support and verify genealogical research. The company will present its genealogical approach to Singaporeans at an exhibition titled "Who Am I? The Joy of Discovering Your Family History," the first-ever family history exhibition in Singapore. The event, which is co-organized by the Singapore National Library Board and Singapore's Shepherdson family, will be held from Aug. 2-28 at the new National Library premises.
"We are honored to participate in this great exhibition and feel privileged to introduce our revolutionary methods of using DNA and genetics to assist Singaporeans in their family history work," said Relative Genetics Chief Scientific Officer Lars Mouritsen, who will represent the company at the Family History Exhibition's Aug. 2 opening. Relative Genetics provides the industry's most comprehensive DNA testing, genetic interpretation and genealogical analysis to establish family connections.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050802005199&newsLang=en
Study links diet and genetics
02/08/2005 - A study of how genes vary between individuals could help determine how to adjust the nutritional content of foods to suit individual diets, according to UK scientists.
While we all share the same genetic code, how those genes express themselves at an individual level presents a challenge for scientists in developing medicines and dietary advice.
Now scientists at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) have completed what they say is one of the first studies to define how unique we are on the genetic level. The initial study on 18 individuals found that the way our genes function varies significantly, particularly in some key areas including the immune system.
http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/news-ng.asp?n=61672-study-links-diet
Scientists will create mutant mice to examine genetics and disease
British scientists will spearhead a European project to create a vast store of mutant mice that could help to alleviate human suffering from incurable diseases.
The mice will be kept as frozen embryos and will be created from embryonic stem cells that have been deliberately mutated to eliminate disease genes that scientists want to study.
Removing certain genes from a mouse embryo and allowing it to develop normally allows scientists to study the effects of having a defective gene on health and subsequent development.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article304908.ece
Study Yields Insights Into Pathogenic Fungi—and Beer
Libraries
Science News
Keywords
PATHOGENIC FUNGI, DRUG RESISTENT PATHOGENIC FUNGI, IMMUNE SYSTEM
Contact Information
Available for logged-in reporters only
Description
Chemotherapy and organ transplantation can compromise the immune system and leave patients vulnerable to infections from pathogenic fungi. Researchers have discovered one possible reason why these fungal microbes are such a scourge.
Newswise — Chemotherapy and organ transplantation not only take a huge toll on patients, but they can compromise the immune system and leave patients vulnerable to infections from microbes such as pathogenic fungi—the fastest-growing cause of hospital-acquired infections. Now researchers from Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have discovered one possible reason why these fungal microbes are such a scourge.
According to the research appearing in the August 7 online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, fungal microbes can quickly alter the appearance of their cell surfaces, their “skin,” disguising themselves in order to slip past the immune system’s vigilant defenses. And, for all the world’s brewers, the study also helps explain why certain beers are cloudy and others are clear.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/513583/
Study links brain's genetic 'off switches' to autism
Related news from the Web
By Sandy Kleffman
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Providing one more clue for solving the autism mystery, researchers have discovered that the brain mechanism that stops or slows nerve impulses contributes to the disorder.
A team at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., found that genes that serve as "off switches" in the brain's neurons play a role.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050807/NEWS06/508070408/1012
Drug maker targets county Iceland's deCode has reputation for cutting-edge use of genetics
By Jim Totten
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
Why would an Icelandic company blazing a path in drug research with its cutting-edge use of genetics open a small office in Brighton?
With headquarters in Iceland and facilities in Boston, Chicago and Seattle, deCode Genetics picked Brighton for one important reason - exceptional talent.
The company recently hired three of the top people from pharmaceutical-giant Pfizer and plans to open a small office in an industrial_commercial park owned by Corrigan Construction.
http://hometownlife.com/Hartland/News.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=119442&Section=Page%201&OnlineSection=Page%201&SectionPubDate=Sunday,%20August%207,%202005&RefDate=8/7/2005
The New Zealand Herald
Women join workforce in record numbers
11.08.05 4.00pm
By Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh
A fall in the unemployment rate, bringing it close to a 20-year low, has seen more women join the labour force than ever before, latest Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) figures released today show.
The figures show 60.9 per cent of women of working age are employed in some way, the highest proportion ever recorded.
This compares with 74.8 per cent of men.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said when opening Parliament in February that raising the participation rate by getting more women in work was a Government goal as part of the effort to lift living standards.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10340312
New Zealander pleads guilty to fraud in US court
11.08.05 11.00am
A New Zealand man accused of scamming 30 investors out of more than US$16 million ($24 million) pleaded guilty yesterday in a United State federal court to three counts of fraud.
In the US federal court at Central Islip, New York, he admitted the charges in a plea bargain in which he forfeited five properties in the Bahamas valued between US$12 million ($17.5 million) and US$13 million ($19 million). Including this money, he will have to pay more than US$16 million ($23 million) in restitution.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10340286
Women's dog and cats kidnapped and tortured in extortion bid
11.08.05
Pets belonging to two Hutt Valley women have been kidnapped and tortured in a macabre extortion racket.
Police have investigated but, despite having "grave suspicions and concerns" about the behaviour of a man living in the community while on bail, say they do not have enough evidence to secure a conviction.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10340246
Family Court changes to help reduce delays
11.08.05
By Rebecca Walsh
A shake-up of the Family Court would see a counselling and mediation service established to handle disputes, freeing up judges for the most high-risk and complex cases.
Chief Family Court Judge Peter Boshier outlined the proposals in a speech to the Auckland Family Courts Association last night, saying the changes would help to reduce delays in the system.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10340248
Children with skin infections get free care after hours
11.08.05
By Rebecca Walsh
Children with skin infections in east Auckland are getting free after-hours care after doctors discovered that many were ending up in hospital.
The free visits stem from a joint venture between White Cross clinics and the Maori-led Tamaki primary health organisation (PHO), which found cellulitis was the most common problem among its Maori patients.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10340239
UN aid distribution in Niger begins at last
11.08.05 1.00pm
By Kim Sengupta
GUIDAMONJI, Niger - What little food they had ran out a long time ago and, if they were "looking well fed", as their president has said, it was on leaves and plants.
But yesterday the dispossessed of Guidamonji were the first to benefit from the start of the long-awaited UN aid distribution in Niger.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340300
African Union appoints mediator in Zimbabwe crisis
11.08.05 1.00pm
By Basildon Peta
JOHANNESBURG - The African Union has appointed former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano to mediate in the Zimbabwe crisis, to try to nudge President Robert Mugabe into negotiating with his political foes.
Mr Chissano, who performed a rarity in Africa by voluntarily retiring from office early this year, is a close friend of Mr Mugabe and was best man at the Zimbabwean leader's 1996 wedding to his second wife, Grace.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340299
UN watchdog to urge Iran to resume nuclear freeze
11.08.05 12.30pm
VIENNA - Top nations of the UN nuclear watchdog will call on Iran to halt sensitive nuclear work it resumed this week but will stop short of calling on the UN Security Council to take action, diplomats said.
Iran has broken UN seals at a uranium processing plant, escalating a confrontation with Western nations which fear it may develop nuclear weapons.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340296
Cuban spy convictions overturned on appeal
11.08.05
MIAMI - A United States appeals court has overturned the convictions of five accused Cuban spies and said pervasive prejudice against the Government of President Fidel Castro had prevented them from getting a fair trial in Miami.
The US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ordered new trials for the "Cuban five", convicted in 2001 on conspiracy and espionage charges.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340214
Bird flu drug race
11.08.05
Negotiations are under way to stockpile bird flu-fighting drugs for Southeast Asia to help guard against a potential global flu pandemic, the United Nations health agency said.
The World Health Organisation hopes to initially acquire one million doses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu - the only drug known to be effective for humans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340217
Retrovirus jumps from primate to man
11.08.05
A little-known retrovirus has jumped from primates to humans in Asia, scientists on Bali have warned.
Simian foamy virus has not been known to cause disease, but a recent study triggers questions about its potential to do so in the future.
Some scientists believe the HIV virus evolved decades after it jumped species to humans.
Lead researcher Lisa Jones-Engel of the University of Washington sampled 82 people near the Sangeh temple "monkey temple" north of Denpasar on Bali. One farmer, bitten and scratched by macaques, tested positive for SFV, becoming Asia's first known case.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340216
Blondes 'less likely to feel pain'
11.08.05
Blondes may have more fun but redheads are less likely to feel pain, according to a British study.
For reasons that have yet to be understood, women with red hair appear to be more resistant to pain compared with other women.
The Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh will probe the preliminary findings.
One of the aims is to see if there is mechanism at work in redheads that can be adapted to help in developing new pain-killers and anaesthetics, said Professor Ian Jackson.
Studies on "redhead" mice which have blond fur but carry a similar gene to the one that causes red hair in humans is helping the scientists target the pain-reducing mechanism.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340219
Oil scam's surcharge
11.08.05
Half the 4500 firms that took part in the United Nations oil-for-food programme in Iraq allegedly paid kickbacks or illegal surcharges.
Investigators said an October report would outline "the management and corruption" of the programme and its "shortfalls and the benefits".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340218
concluding ...
Scientists to create 'frozen zoo' of mutant mice
11.08.05
LONDON - British scientists are heading a European project to create a vast "frozen zoo" which can supply on demand mutant mice for use in medical experiments.
Up to 20,000 embryos deliberately mutated to eliminate certain genes will be stored in the genetic library.
Scientists say laboratories will be able to select specific mutants to view the effects of different gene mixtures in studies aimed at alleviating human suffering and disease.
Allowing mutant embryos to develop normally allows scientists to compare the effect of a defective gene on health and subsequent development.
"Mice are pivotal for looking at relationships between genes and disease," said Professor Steve Brown of the Medical Research Council's Mammalian Genetics Unit.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340213
Trace Genetics purchased in all-stock deal
Trace Genetics Inc. of Richmond has a new owner.
The firm agreed this week to be acquired by DNAPrint Genomics Inc., a Sarasota, Fla. partner, in an all-stock transaction. Trace shareholders exchanged all of the outstanding shares of the company for 25 million shares of DNAPrint common stock (OTC BB: DNAP) and options to purchase 5 million additional shares at 2 cents a share.
http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2005/06/20/daily24.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Protein Design, Genentech in deal
JUN. 22 9:35 A.M. ET Protein Design Labs Inc. said Wednesday that biotech leader Genentech Inc. is sub-licensing a potential prostate cancer treatment that the smaller drug maker originally licensed from Seattle Genetics Inc.
"Given (Protein Design's) existing resources and our desire to bring focus to our clinical development programs, out-licensing this program is the most efficient way to continue its development," Chief Executive Mark McDade said in a statement.
The company did not provide financial details of the deal in a news release, but said it will receive an upfront fee, along with additional payments as development milestones are reached and royalties on any sales. In return, South San Francisco-based Genentech will receive rights to develop and commercialize a group of experimental therapies designed to target and kill cells that appear to be involved in prostate cancer.
Protein Design received the rights to develop the therapies against a number of antigen targets as part of a collaboration with Bothell, Wash.-based Seattle Genetics.
The experimental treatments are "antibody-drug conjugates" that link the targeting function of an antibody -- these proteins bind to specific antigens in the body -- along with a cell-killing drug. Protein Design said this type of joined treatment means that the drug is only released within the cancer cells, making it possible to leave more healthy cell intact. Currently, prostate cancer is treated by surgery and chemotherapy drugs, or radiation.
Seattle Genetics said the Genentech deal will expand an ongoing collaboration with Genentech on antibody-drug conjugates.
Protein Design shares rose 31 cents, or 1.6 percent, in premarket trading, while Seattle Genetics shares added 12 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $4.79.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8ASMI0G1.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down
Genetically Modified Cells Migrate to Brain and Treat Neurodegeneration in St. Jude Model
Wednesday June 22, 11:49 am ET
Immune system cells find damaged neural cells by following a trail of protein signals released as part of inflammatory response to lysosomal storage disease process, according to St. Jude researchers
MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Physicians might one day be able to treat a disease that destroys brain cells in children using genetically modified cells to transport a "drug" to the site of the dying neural cells (cells that transmit impulses). This discovery occurred based on results of a laboratory study of the technique published by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. A report on this work appears in the prepublication online issue of Blood.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050622/clw041.html?.v=9
Promise of new techniques putting stem cell legislation at risk
By Ceci Connolly and Rick Weiss, Washington Post July 10, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Promising but still unproven new approaches to creating human embryonic stem cells have suddenly jeopardized what once seemed to be certain Senate passage of a bill to loosen President Bush's four-year-old restrictions on human embryo research.
The techniques are enticing to many conservative activists and scientists because they could yield medically valuable human embryonic stem cells without the creation or destruction of embryos.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/07/10/promise_of_new_techniques_putting_stem_cell_legislation_at_risk/
Gender may play role in Alzheimer's disease
23 Jul 2005
Researchers from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center found that plaques and tangles in the brain, the changes seen in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD), are more likely to be expressed as dementia in women than in men.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=27877
Morning Briefing Genetics tell only a part of the Armstrong story
IN THE BLEACHERS
Lance Armstrong is expected to pedal into Paris on Sunday and win his unprecedented seventh consecutive Tour de France title before he retires to his home in Austin, Texas.
But does his physiological makeup - Armstrong has a heart proportional to the size of someone 6 feet 6, although he stands 5-10 - give him an unfair advantage?
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/sports/12204788.htm
Lorenzo's Oil shows much promise in its first long-term study
Supplement put together by couple with ailing child appears to delay rare, deadly illness
By ALEX RAKSIN
Los Angeles Times
Lorenzo's Oil — a dietary supplement concocted by Virginia parents in a last-ditch effort to save their son's life — appears to delay the effects of a rare genetic disease in boys if taken early and in concert with a low-fat diet, according to the first long-term study of the treatment.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/health/3278781
Genetically engineered stem cells heal rat spines
27.07.05 12.20pm
WASHINGTON - Genetically engineered stem cells can help rats' severed spinal cords grow back together, according to a study published today.
Rats given the treatment, using stem cells taken from rat embryos, could move their legs again after their spines were severed in the lab, said the researchers' report in the Journal of Neuroscience.
The scientists hope the approach, which generated a new fatty cover for the spinal cord cells called the myelin sheath, also could be shown to work in people.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10337814
Myriad Genetics Phase 3 Trial in Alzheimer's Disease is Proceeding on Schedule
Tuesday August 2, 11:19 am ET
SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN - News), announced today that enrollment in its Phase 3 trial of Flurizan in patients with mild stages of Alzheimer's disease is proceeding on schedule. The Company's amended protocol was reviewed by the FDA without any changes or request for modification and the central Investigational Review Board covering a majority of the investigational sites has given its approval of the modified protocol. More than 120 sites across the United States have been enlisted and most are now screening and enrolling patients into the study. Myriad anticipates completing enrollment for the 12-month study during the first half of 2006 and reporting the results of the Phase 3 trial in the third calendar quarter of 2007.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050802/latu086.html?.v=19
Corautus Genetics Inc. to Host Conference Call on August 11, 2005
Tuesday August 2, 8:00 am ET
ATLANTA, August 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Corautus Genetics Inc. (Nasdaq: VEGF - News), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative gene transfer therapy products for the treatment of cardiovascular (severe angina) and peripheral vascular disease, will release its second quarter 2005 financial results on Thursday, August 11, 2005. The Company will also webcast a conference call to discuss the results and progress of its therapeutic development program at 11:00 A.M. Eastern time on August 11. Richard Otto, President and Chief Executive Officer of Corautus, will host the call.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050802/cltu508.html?.v=6
Targeted Genetics Strengthens Intellectual Property for AAV Vector Manufacturing
Tuesday August 2, 7:30 am ET
SEATTLE, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Targeted Genetics Corporation (Nasdaq: TGEN - News) today announced the issuance of a patent covering additional approaches to manufacturing AAV (adeno-associated virus) vectors. The patent, U.S. No. 6,924,128, is titled "Methods and Cell Line Useful for Production of Recombinant Adeno-Associated Viruses" and covers the production of AAV vectors using cell lines that have necessary AAV functions turned on during the manufacturing process.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050802/sftu024.html?.v=21
Relative Genetics Introduces Leading Edge DNA Testing Method for Genealogy to Singapore; New Approach to Genealogical Research Helps Shepherdson Families in Singapore Confirm Centuries-Old Genetic Relationship
SALT LAKE CITY & SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2005--Relative Genetics today announced that it will introduce to Singapore its global-standard method for using DNA analysis to support and verify genealogical research. The company will present its genealogical approach to Singaporeans at an exhibition titled "Who Am I? The Joy of Discovering Your Family History," the first-ever family history exhibition in Singapore. The event, which is co-organized by the Singapore National Library Board and Singapore's Shepherdson family, will be held from Aug. 2-28 at the new National Library premises.
"We are honored to participate in this great exhibition and feel privileged to introduce our revolutionary methods of using DNA and genetics to assist Singaporeans in their family history work," said Relative Genetics Chief Scientific Officer Lars Mouritsen, who will represent the company at the Family History Exhibition's Aug. 2 opening. Relative Genetics provides the industry's most comprehensive DNA testing, genetic interpretation and genealogical analysis to establish family connections.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050802005199&newsLang=en
Study links diet and genetics
02/08/2005 - A study of how genes vary between individuals could help determine how to adjust the nutritional content of foods to suit individual diets, according to UK scientists.
While we all share the same genetic code, how those genes express themselves at an individual level presents a challenge for scientists in developing medicines and dietary advice.
Now scientists at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) have completed what they say is one of the first studies to define how unique we are on the genetic level. The initial study on 18 individuals found that the way our genes function varies significantly, particularly in some key areas including the immune system.
http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/news-ng.asp?n=61672-study-links-diet
Scientists will create mutant mice to examine genetics and disease
British scientists will spearhead a European project to create a vast store of mutant mice that could help to alleviate human suffering from incurable diseases.
The mice will be kept as frozen embryos and will be created from embryonic stem cells that have been deliberately mutated to eliminate disease genes that scientists want to study.
Removing certain genes from a mouse embryo and allowing it to develop normally allows scientists to study the effects of having a defective gene on health and subsequent development.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article304908.ece
Study Yields Insights Into Pathogenic Fungi—and Beer
Libraries
Science News
Keywords
PATHOGENIC FUNGI, DRUG RESISTENT PATHOGENIC FUNGI, IMMUNE SYSTEM
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Available for logged-in reporters only
Description
Chemotherapy and organ transplantation can compromise the immune system and leave patients vulnerable to infections from pathogenic fungi. Researchers have discovered one possible reason why these fungal microbes are such a scourge.
Newswise — Chemotherapy and organ transplantation not only take a huge toll on patients, but they can compromise the immune system and leave patients vulnerable to infections from microbes such as pathogenic fungi—the fastest-growing cause of hospital-acquired infections. Now researchers from Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have discovered one possible reason why these fungal microbes are such a scourge.
According to the research appearing in the August 7 online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, fungal microbes can quickly alter the appearance of their cell surfaces, their “skin,” disguising themselves in order to slip past the immune system’s vigilant defenses. And, for all the world’s brewers, the study also helps explain why certain beers are cloudy and others are clear.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/513583/
Study links brain's genetic 'off switches' to autism
Related news from the Web
By Sandy Kleffman
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Providing one more clue for solving the autism mystery, researchers have discovered that the brain mechanism that stops or slows nerve impulses contributes to the disorder.
A team at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., found that genes that serve as "off switches" in the brain's neurons play a role.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050807/NEWS06/508070408/1012
Drug maker targets county Iceland's deCode has reputation for cutting-edge use of genetics
By Jim Totten
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
Why would an Icelandic company blazing a path in drug research with its cutting-edge use of genetics open a small office in Brighton?
With headquarters in Iceland and facilities in Boston, Chicago and Seattle, deCode Genetics picked Brighton for one important reason - exceptional talent.
The company recently hired three of the top people from pharmaceutical-giant Pfizer and plans to open a small office in an industrial_commercial park owned by Corrigan Construction.
http://hometownlife.com/Hartland/News.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=119442&Section=Page%201&OnlineSection=Page%201&SectionPubDate=Sunday,%20August%207,%202005&RefDate=8/7/2005
The New Zealand Herald
Women join workforce in record numbers
11.08.05 4.00pm
By Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh
A fall in the unemployment rate, bringing it close to a 20-year low, has seen more women join the labour force than ever before, latest Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) figures released today show.
The figures show 60.9 per cent of women of working age are employed in some way, the highest proportion ever recorded.
This compares with 74.8 per cent of men.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said when opening Parliament in February that raising the participation rate by getting more women in work was a Government goal as part of the effort to lift living standards.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10340312
New Zealander pleads guilty to fraud in US court
11.08.05 11.00am
A New Zealand man accused of scamming 30 investors out of more than US$16 million ($24 million) pleaded guilty yesterday in a United State federal court to three counts of fraud.
In the US federal court at Central Islip, New York, he admitted the charges in a plea bargain in which he forfeited five properties in the Bahamas valued between US$12 million ($17.5 million) and US$13 million ($19 million). Including this money, he will have to pay more than US$16 million ($23 million) in restitution.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10340286
Women's dog and cats kidnapped and tortured in extortion bid
11.08.05
Pets belonging to two Hutt Valley women have been kidnapped and tortured in a macabre extortion racket.
Police have investigated but, despite having "grave suspicions and concerns" about the behaviour of a man living in the community while on bail, say they do not have enough evidence to secure a conviction.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10340246
Family Court changes to help reduce delays
11.08.05
By Rebecca Walsh
A shake-up of the Family Court would see a counselling and mediation service established to handle disputes, freeing up judges for the most high-risk and complex cases.
Chief Family Court Judge Peter Boshier outlined the proposals in a speech to the Auckland Family Courts Association last night, saying the changes would help to reduce delays in the system.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10340248
Children with skin infections get free care after hours
11.08.05
By Rebecca Walsh
Children with skin infections in east Auckland are getting free after-hours care after doctors discovered that many were ending up in hospital.
The free visits stem from a joint venture between White Cross clinics and the Maori-led Tamaki primary health organisation (PHO), which found cellulitis was the most common problem among its Maori patients.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10340239
UN aid distribution in Niger begins at last
11.08.05 1.00pm
By Kim Sengupta
GUIDAMONJI, Niger - What little food they had ran out a long time ago and, if they were "looking well fed", as their president has said, it was on leaves and plants.
But yesterday the dispossessed of Guidamonji were the first to benefit from the start of the long-awaited UN aid distribution in Niger.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340300
African Union appoints mediator in Zimbabwe crisis
11.08.05 1.00pm
By Basildon Peta
JOHANNESBURG - The African Union has appointed former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano to mediate in the Zimbabwe crisis, to try to nudge President Robert Mugabe into negotiating with his political foes.
Mr Chissano, who performed a rarity in Africa by voluntarily retiring from office early this year, is a close friend of Mr Mugabe and was best man at the Zimbabwean leader's 1996 wedding to his second wife, Grace.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340299
UN watchdog to urge Iran to resume nuclear freeze
11.08.05 12.30pm
VIENNA - Top nations of the UN nuclear watchdog will call on Iran to halt sensitive nuclear work it resumed this week but will stop short of calling on the UN Security Council to take action, diplomats said.
Iran has broken UN seals at a uranium processing plant, escalating a confrontation with Western nations which fear it may develop nuclear weapons.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340296
Cuban spy convictions overturned on appeal
11.08.05
MIAMI - A United States appeals court has overturned the convictions of five accused Cuban spies and said pervasive prejudice against the Government of President Fidel Castro had prevented them from getting a fair trial in Miami.
The US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ordered new trials for the "Cuban five", convicted in 2001 on conspiracy and espionage charges.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340214
Bird flu drug race
11.08.05
Negotiations are under way to stockpile bird flu-fighting drugs for Southeast Asia to help guard against a potential global flu pandemic, the United Nations health agency said.
The World Health Organisation hopes to initially acquire one million doses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu - the only drug known to be effective for humans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340217
Retrovirus jumps from primate to man
11.08.05
A little-known retrovirus has jumped from primates to humans in Asia, scientists on Bali have warned.
Simian foamy virus has not been known to cause disease, but a recent study triggers questions about its potential to do so in the future.
Some scientists believe the HIV virus evolved decades after it jumped species to humans.
Lead researcher Lisa Jones-Engel of the University of Washington sampled 82 people near the Sangeh temple "monkey temple" north of Denpasar on Bali. One farmer, bitten and scratched by macaques, tested positive for SFV, becoming Asia's first known case.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340216
Blondes 'less likely to feel pain'
11.08.05
Blondes may have more fun but redheads are less likely to feel pain, according to a British study.
For reasons that have yet to be understood, women with red hair appear to be more resistant to pain compared with other women.
The Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh will probe the preliminary findings.
One of the aims is to see if there is mechanism at work in redheads that can be adapted to help in developing new pain-killers and anaesthetics, said Professor Ian Jackson.
Studies on "redhead" mice which have blond fur but carry a similar gene to the one that causes red hair in humans is helping the scientists target the pain-reducing mechanism.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340219
Oil scam's surcharge
11.08.05
Half the 4500 firms that took part in the United Nations oil-for-food programme in Iraq allegedly paid kickbacks or illegal surcharges.
Investigators said an October report would outline "the management and corruption" of the programme and its "shortfalls and the benefits".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10340218
concluding ...
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