HAPPY DAYS AHEAD FOR BULGARIA AND ROMANIA WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION FAMILY OF STATES!

This post is really just a benchmark for their point of entry into the European Union. Future progress can be compared much more easily then. So, here's a tribute to both countries, for their dogged pursuit of economic happiness and societal upliftment:


[Last Updated: Thursday, 21 December 2006, 18:12 GMT


Bulgaria: Key facts and figures

Bulgaria joins the European Union on 1 January 2007, along with Romaria. Together they take the number of EU members to 27.


POLITICS

Bulgaria's transition from communism to democracy and a market economy has not been a smooth one. Political instability and strikes blighted the first half of the 1990s and former communists remained a powerful influence.

Over the past five years, Bulgaria's economy has grown, unemployment has fallen from highs of nearly 20% and inflation has been brought under control. But incomes and living standards have remained low.

Bulgaria also joined Nato in March 2004.

President Georgi Parvanov won a second five-year term with a landslide victory in October 2006, beating nationalist Volen Siderov, who opposed the country's entry to the EU.

SOCIETY

Bulgaria's population has fallen by a million to 7.7m over the last eight years.

According to the 2001 census, the major groups in Bulgaria's population are Bulgarians, 83.9%, Turks, 9.4% and Roma, 4.7% - but some reports say the Roma population in 2006 was more than 7%.

In 2005, about 70% of the population was urban, but the capital Sofia is by far the largest city with a population of 1.2 million.

Levels of development vary from one region to the next. The North-West region is the poorest, while the South-West region, and the area around the capital Sofia, are the wealthiest.

In early 1997, more than a third of the population was living in poverty. By 2003, the figure had shrunk to 13%.

Poverty is most widespread in rural and northern areas. Human rights organisations have criticised the lack of support for homeless people, and particularly children and minorities such as the Roma.

The European Commission highlighted some key areas of concern in its report ahead of Bulgaria's accession on 1 January 2007.

It said there had been limited progress in providing care for disabled and mentally ill people, but some progress with regard to the integration of Roma.

The commission also said Bulgaria had improved measures to protect children and prevent people-trafficking.

ECONOMY

In 2005, Bulgaria's GDP was 19.5bn euros or 2,643 euros per capita (£13bn or £1,774 per capita), an increase of 5.5% compared with 2004.

Annual real GDP growth was a thumping 5.8% in 2006.

Important market reforms were carried out by Bulgaria's former king, Simeon II, when he was prime minister between 2001 and 2005. Unemployment fell from highs of nearly 20% and inflation come under control, but incomes and living standards remained low.

In 2006, the unofficial grey economy accounted for up to 30% of GDP.

Bulgarian collective farms once exported vegetables and fruit to most of the Eastern bloc. But when the Soviet Union collapsed, the market for Bulgaria's produce went with it. Agricultural and industrial productivity dropped sharply and the country suffered a major national economic crisis in the late 1990s.

Production of apples and grapes, Bulgaria's main fruit products, has decreased since the communist era, but there has been a significant increase in the export of wine. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are the most important vegetable exports.

Telecommunications is one of the country's fastest growing industries. Reports say every town and many villages have a fast internet connection.

MIGRATION

Bulgarians can no longer depend on the state for employment and some villages are emptying as people leave in search of work.

Migrant Watch UK says unemployment and low incomes are the major reason for labour migration from former Eastern Bloc countries.

In Poland, unemployment is about 17.7% and annual GDP per head is around 9,613 euros (£6,454) compared to 5.1% and 23,391 euros (£15,704) in the UK. In Bulgaria, unemployment is about 9.9% and annual incomes are about 6,814 euros (£4,574).

As Bulgarians look for work in wealthier European countries, there is also an opposite tendency for investors from Western Europe to buy property at low prices in Bulgaria.

ENVIRONMENT

In the early 1990s, it was estimated that 60% of agricultural land was polluted by fertilisers and pesticides, two-thirds of rivers were polluted, and two-thirds of primary forests had been levelled.

Observers say environmental awareness has improved since the communist era, but the state's lack of administrative power, and fears of unemployment, allowed bad practices to continue.

The four reactors of Bulgaria's only nuclear power station, at Kozloduy, were declared unsafe in the early 1990s, but the first of its reactors was only closed in 2002.

The plant, which supplied more than 40% of Bulgaria's electric power in 2005 is expected to cease all exports in 2007. Two of its remaining four reactors must be closed by 2007 to comply with EU standards.

Construction of the delayed Belene nuclear plant resumed in 2006 but will not be completed until at least 2011. ]


SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6206378.stm



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-----------------------------xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



[Last Updated: Saturday, 30 December 2006, 21:21 GMT


Romania: Key facts and figures

Romania joins the European Union on 1 January 2007, along with Bulgaria. Together they take the number of EU members to 27.

POLITICS

Romania's communist-era leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, was executed at the culmination of a national uprising, on Christmas Day 1989, but his legacy endured for years.

Former communists under President Ion Iliescu dominated the country's politics for seven years. The country applied for EU membership in 1993, but it took the election of a centrist government in 1996 for the country to orient itself fully towards the West.

When Mr Iliescu and the left returned in 2000, they continued this pro-Western policy and took the country into Nato in 2004. However, centrists were back in power by the time the EU Accession Treaty was signed in 2005.

The current Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu, who leads an alliance of Liberals and Democrats, has prioritised the fight against corruption.

A number of senior officials and members of the judiciary are being investigated, including Mr Iliescu. Former Social Democrat prime minister Adrian Nastase, faces trial on charges of bribe-taking, blackmail and abuse of public office. He denies taking 1.37m euros ($1.76m; £921,000) in bribes during his 2002-2004 term in office.


SOCIETY

Romania has a population of about 22 million. This represents a drop of some 1.5m since 1990 - however, some experts say these figus underestimated the number of Romanians who have gone to live and work abroad, which is sometimes put at two million.

More than 54% of the population live in urban areas. Those living in rural areas often work hard to enjoy a minimal standard of living.

In 1990, all farming land was collective property - agricultural co-operatives or state farms. The end of communism allowed a large number of former owners to get back up to 10 hectares of their land - creating almost four million small private farms.

In 2005, some 22% of Romanians, including about 80% of Roma (which make up about 2.5% of the total population), lived below the poverty line. The north-eastern region had the highest poverty rate, Bucharest the lowest.

In 2006, the infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births was 25.5 - one of the highest in Europe.

The child welfare system, a legacy of the Ceausescu regime, was a serious problem until the end of the 1990s. But the number of children abandoned at hospitals decreased by 50% between 2003 and 2005. Further efforts to improve child welfare laws were made in 2005.

Romania seeks EU-standard childcare

The European Commission has praised Romania's progress in tackling human trafficking, improving detention conditions and child protection. But it says limited progress has been made regarding the treatment of people with disabilities and the integration of minorities.

ECONOMY

Romania's average 5.8% annual economic growth over the past five years makes it one of Europe's fastest-growing economies.

In Bucharest and the west of country, unemployment has dropped to about 2%. There were even concerns about a lack of available labour when foreign companies such as Procter and Gamble set up production plants.

But economic growth has not alleviated widespread poverty, and corruption and bureaucracy is still said to hinder business activities.

Observers say the unemployment rate is kept unrealistically low in part by emigration of Romanians in search of employment. It is estimated that between 600,000 and two million Romanians have gone to live and work abroad since 1989.

Romania was historically a major agricultural producer - but the sector is now weak. According to the US Library of Congress, agriculture accounted for more than 30% of total employment in Romania in 2004 and contributed only 10% of GDP.

ENVIRONMENT

Romania's geography is a mixture of the Carpathian mountains, the Transylvanian plateau in the north-west, and the plains bordering the Danube river in the south-east.

The Danube is Romania's major waterway, travelling 1,000km through or along the country, forming the southern frontier with Serbia and Bulgaria. One of Europe's largest hydroelectric stations is located at the Iron Gate, where the river passes through a gorge separating the Carpathian mountains from the foothills of the Balkan mountains.

Under Ceausescu, environmental laws were never fully enforced. Observers say toxic air emissions are the biggest environmental hazard, but pollution of waterways is also a concern.

In January 2000, 100 tonnes of cyanide spilled from a gold mine in northern Romania into rivers in Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia. It wiped out all fish and plant life for several hundred kilometres and was described by the UN as one of the worst river pollution accidents in Europe.

In 2006, the European Commission gave Romania extra time to reach required environmental standards.


CULTURE

The Transylvanian city of Sibiu, with its medieval centre and ethnically mixed population, has been named European Capital of Culture 2007.

It has a significant Hungarian minority - a result of the years Transylvania spent within the Hungarian Empire - and Romania's largest German community. There are also Roma, Slovak and Ukrainian communities.

According to legend, the lost children of Hamelin emerged from the "Almasch" cave into Transylvania, somewhere close to Sibiu.

One of Romania's most popular tourist attractions is the 14th Century Bran Castle, associated with the cruel prince known as Vlad the Impaler, who inspired Irish author Bram Stoker to write the horror novel, Dracula. ]


SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6206390.stm

IF WOMEN WERE TO BECOME IMMUNE TO THE HIV VIRUS, CHILDREN WOULD NOT ACQUIRE AIDS!

That's the ultimate goal in the fight against the spread of HIV / AIDS. In reality, this lofty goal is nearing attainment. Here's the latest on this pioneering effort:


[Last Updated: Sunday, 31 December 2006, 00:21 GMT

'Molecular condom' to combat HIV


A "molecular condom" to protect women against HIV is being developed by US scientists.

The liquid formulated by a University of Utah team turns into a gel-like coating when inserted into the vagina.

Then, when exposed to semen, it returns to liquid form and releases an anti-viral drug to attack HIV.

However, the technology, featured in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, is still around five years away from being tested in humans.

And the researchers predict it will be around 10 years before it might be in widespread use.

Researcher Dr Patrick Kiser said: "The ultimate hope for this technology is to protect women and their unborn or nursing children from the Aids virus."

The Utah project is part of a worldwide research effort to develop "microbicides" - drug-delivery systems such as gels, rings, sponges or creams to prevent infection by HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

They are seen as a way for women to gain power by protecting themselves from HIV, particularly in impoverished nations where Aids is widespread, where rape is rampant, or, where conventional condoms are taboo, not reliably available or where men resist using them.

Short-term effect

First-generation microbicides now being tested are expected to be available within four years and to be 50-60% effective.

However, Dr Kiser said they lasted only for a short time, meaning they had to be used shortly before sex.

The potential advantage of his technology is that it would be much longer lasting.

"We're shooting for a microbicide delivery system that would be used once a day or once a month," he said.

Tests have already shown that their 'hydrogel' is unlikely to cause significant side effects, or discomfort.

It is designed not to dehydrate vaginal cells, which can trigger infections, and not to be diluted by other fluids.

The next stage will be to see whether anti-viral drugs incorporated into the hydrogel can be released with the same efficiency as in the lab.

Indeed the researchers are hopeful that because the gel would be much thinner inside a woman than it was in the lab tests, the release of drugs should be even more effective.

High hopes

Yusef Azad, of the National Aids Trust, said: "Millions of women currently have little control over their sexual health and microbicides could put the power of preventing HIV into women's hands.

"It is vitally important that sufficient funding is channelled into the development of effective microbicides so that women have a range of options of products such as gels, liquids and creams that could provide a barrier to contracting HIV during sex."

Roger Pebody, treatment specialist for the HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust said microbicides were one of the biggest hopes for preventing new HIV infections in the near future.

He said: "This is one of many projects that are in the early stages of development, however other microbicides could be as little as five years away." ]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6216197.stm



"ISN'T THAT SPECIAL?"

WOULD YOU WILLINGLY EAT CLONED MEAT TODAY IF YOU KNEW IT TO BE SO BEFOREHAND?

For me, that's a very tough question to deal with right now. Details of the cloning process, the organization involved, and other niggling issues would first of all need to be settled sufficiently in my mind before I would buy, let alone eat, such rare fare!

However, the following view may be more reassuring to us all:


[Last Updated: Thursday, 28 December 2006, 20:09 GMT


US body backs sale of cloned food



Meat and milk from cloned animals is safe for human consumption, the US food regulator said in a draft ruling.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that cloned cattle, pigs and goats produced food "as safe as the food we eat every day".

The recommendation, coming after a five-year study, is a major step towards allowing food from animals onto US supermarket shelves.

A public consultation period will take place before final approval is given.

Opponents say a majority of US consumers are against animal cloning.


The FDA study examined meat and milk products from cattle, pigs and goats, but not sheep.

It concluded that the cloned animals produced food products virtually indistinguishable from more traditional offerings.

The agency suggested that the results meant it would be unlikely to recommend placing special labels on food from cloned animals.

A final decision on labelling would not be taken until the end of the public consultation period due to begin soon, an FDA official said.

'Bad decision'

Cloned animals are developed when cells are removed from a fertilised embryo and encouraged to develop into duplicate embryos with identical DNA.

A sheep, Dolly, was the first animal successfully cloned, in 1996.

"No unique risks for human food consumption were identified in cattle, swine or goat clones," the FDA said.

It recommended no special safeguards on food produced from cloned animals.


But consumer groups were less keen on the ruling, which could see the US become the first country to allow cloned food products into the food supply.

Carol Foreman, of the Consumer Federation of America, described the ruling as potentially "a very bad decision".

"We are urging people to write to the FDA, to members of Congress, to urge them to tell the FDA to back off," she told the AFP news agency.

Another group, the International Dairy Food Association, appeared cautious. "Animal cloning is a relatively new technology, and it's important that we have a thorough, deliberative dialogue," the group said in a statement.

Previous scientific studies have come to conclusions similar to those of the FDA.]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6215541.stm




BY THE WAY, JUST A FLASH OF THOUGHT, IF AN ANIMAL IS CLONED FROM THE CELLS OF ANOTHER HEALTHY AND 'NORMAL' ANIMAL, WHY SHOULDN'T IT'S CLONE BE HEALTHY AND NORMAL AS WELL?

THE LATEST THREAT TO LIFE ON PLANET EARTH, AS WE KNOW IT?

The above series never seems to run out! It's all so saddening and points to the fact that perhaps Man ought to treat the Earth better, especially since it's known generally that "...This Earth is not our home." The latest episode is as detailed below:


[Last Updated: Friday, 29 December 2006, 22:52 GMT


Huge Arctic ice break discovered


Scientists have discovered that an enormous ice shelf broke off an island in the Canadian Arctic last year, in what could be sign of global warming.

It is said to be the largest break in 25 years, casting an ice floe with an area of 66 sq km (25 square miles).

It occurred in August 2005 but was only recently detected on satellite images.

The chunk of ice bigger than Manhattan could wreak havoc if it moves into oil drilling regions and shipping lanes next summer, scientists warned.


"The Arctic is all frozen up for the winter and it's stuck in the sea ice about 50km (30 miles) off the coast," said Luke Copland, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa.

"The risk is that next summer, as that sea ice melts, this large ice island can then move itself around off the coast and one potential path for it is to make its way westward toward the Beaufort Sea where there is lots of oil and gas exploration, oil rigs and shipping."

'Quite amazing'

The ice break was initially undetected due to the remoteness of the northern coast of Ellesmere island, which is about 800km (500 miles) from the North Pole.


Satellite images showed the 15km (9mile) crack, then the ice floating about 1km (0.6 miles) from the coast within about an hour, said Mr Copland, a specialist in glaciers and ice masses.

"You could stand at one edge and not see the other side, and for something that large to move that quickly is quite amazing," he said.

Mr Copland said a combination of low accumulations of sea ice around the edges of the ice mass, as well as the Arctic's warmest temperatures on record, contributed to the break.

The region was 3C (5.4F) above average in the summer of 2005, he said.

Ice shelves in Canada's far north have shrunk by as much as 90% since 1906.

"It's hard to tie one event to climate change, but when you look at the longer-term trend, the bigger picture, we've lost a lot of ice shelves on northern Ellesmere in the past century.

"This is that continuing and this is the biggest one in the last 25 years," he said.]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6218333.stm

HARDWORKING IMMIGRANTS SCORE DECISIVE POINTS AGAINST IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWNS!

Immigration has always been a hot topic in every nation, especially when the relatively homogeneous indigenous stock begins to notice that the immigrant population can no longer be ignored or considered negligible.

Then, pride, indignation, prejudice, retaliation, and other human emotional foibles come into play; and, the calm is disturbed at some point. This story illustrates some positive benefits of immigration:


[Last Updated: Friday, 29 December 2006, 20:32 GMT


A tale of two European villages

By Oana Lungescu
BBC News, Aguaviva and Peretu

When Romanians become citizens of the European Union on 1 January, they will find they are barred from working in most European countries.

But more than two million Romanians, a tenth of the country's population, are already there, mainly in Spain and Italy.

Overall, they send home more than 3bn euros (£2bn) per year.

This exodus is changing the face of local communities both in Romania, and in the countries where the settlers make their new home.

Working people

The Spanish village of Aguaviva is in the middle of nowhere, more than 100km from the nearest city. An imposing baroque church towers over tightly-knit rows of houses built in the local pale stone.

But the food shop sells Romanian salami and cheese, and if you go into the local cafe you are as likely to hear Romanian as Spanish.

The young woman behind the bar, Elena Hetea, comes from a Romanian village. She's among some 100 Romanians who now call Aguaviva home.

"If only my parents were here, then it would really feel like home," Elena told me.

Her husband is working on a building-site close by and her sister also has a job in the village. After four years in the province of Teruel, one of the most sparsely populated regions in Europe, Elena mixes her Romanian with the odd Spanish word. She's the sort of immigrant they like around here.

"All the Romanians who came settled down without any problems," a local builder says.

"They're all working and buying houses. They're like us, normal people from a poor background."

He is less impressed with the Argentine immigrants who came to Aguaviva. "They have got everything here, more than us Spaniards, but they don't like to work as hard."

Ghost-town

Immigration has become a hot topic in Aguaviva in the last few years.

Like thousands of rural communities across Spain, it was fast turning into a ghost-town, as the young went to work in the cities and the old passed away.

So in 2000, the mayor Luis Bricio - who's also a family doctor - tried something new and bold.

"When the patient is dying, you have to try everything," he said.

First, Luis Bricio went to Argentina, looking for families eager to flee the economic crisis there and willing to repopulate his village. He then went to Romania on a similar recruiting mission, offering cheap housing and guaranteed jobs.

Now the population of Aguaviva has grown to over 700 people, including 150 foreigners, mostly from Romania.

Many Argentines found life here too harsh and went elsewhere in Spain. Despite this unexpected setback, the mayor is convinced that controlled migration was the only way to save his village.

"It hasn't been easy, but it's been very positive for Aguaviva," Luis Bricio says.

"The local economy has doubled in size, property prices are 10 times higher, and some 100 jobs have been created because of the immigrants. Aguaviva was a declining village, but it now has a future."

Suspicion

The growth of the local economy is clear to see in an industrial hall on the outskirts of the village. Left empty for years, it's now buzzing to the sound of Aguaviva's first factory, manufacturing electric cables.


Set up by an Argentine, Marcelo Martinez, and his family, it employs a Romanian, an Argentine and soon, two locals.

The school is also a lively mix. Agustin comes from Argentina, Darius from Romania, Ana from Aguaviva.

Immigration and cultural diversity are nothing new in Spain. In school, the children speak both Spanish and Catalan. The headmaster, Pedro Cucalon, was born in the Netherlands. His family were among 1m Spaniards who fled poverty in the 1960s and only came back just before Spain joined the EU 20 years ago.

In a small place like Aguaviva, suspicion of the outsiders was inevitable. Some parents complained about children who "are not from here".


But when Pedro Cucalon asked where his students' grandparents were born, it turned out that only one family was originally from Aguaviva.

"You have to work at integration, it's not natural," he says. "But it's easier in children than their parents. Romanian children, for instance, can learn Spanish in three months because both languages have Latin roots."

Divisions

In a school at the other end of Europe, many children can also speak fluent Spanish.

But this is Peretu, a village in southern Romania, where children pay a much higher price for migration.

Of more than 700 students, one quarter are left in the care of grandparents or aunts. Their parents have gone to work as builders and cleaners in Spain, where they can earn several times more than at home.

"Their grades are lower after the parents leave, they don't study as hard," says English teacher Cristiana Motoane. "Alone at home, they do whatever they want to do."

Emigration also creates social and psychological divisions.


"Other children, whose parents stay here, are a little bit envious because the others are always wearing fashionable clothes," Ms Motoane explains.

"They are better dressed than us teachers, and they think they are superior. So it's a divided village, with very poor families and very rich."

Floarea Calea's family is now among the rich of Peretu - "the Spaniards," as they call them.

Her three sons are all working in Spain, but she's come back to do some home improvements - a brand new kitchen and bathroom, Spanish-style. Floarea's pride and joy is her flush toilet, in the brand new blue-tiled bathroom. "I no longer need to the privy at the bottom of the garden," she smiles.

Spanish politeness

The streets of Peretu aren't paved and the vehicle of choice here remains a cart drawn by horses or donkeys.

But many houses are brand new, painted in pastel colours to show that the money comes from Spain.


The mayor of Peretu, Ionel Olteanu, has noticed other changes in most of those who have worked abroad. "They come to pay their taxes," he says.

"After a year or so, they come to the town hall to pay, because they have seen that's how things work over there. But they also want the local officials to treat them more politely, just like they do in Spain. It's difficult for some, but we're starting to change too!"

The mayors of Peretu and Aguaviva have never met. But for both, migration is a mixed blessing rather than a curse. And for both, the outcome is uncertain.

In Spain, 60 other villages have started to invite immigrant families to settle, following the model of Aguaviva. In Peretu, one family family has come back to set up a small shop. Others may follow across Romania, if EU subsidies make villages a better place to stay, as they did decades ago in Spain.

Back in Elena's cafe, her eight-year-old son Danut knows exactly why his family came to Aguaviva. "We came for more money," he says, peering shyly from under the bar.

He'd like to go back to his native country, but, he says in broken Romanian, "only now and then".

His parents still dream of returning to their village one day, but only when it becomes much more like Aguaviva. ]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6217889.stm

WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THE DEATH PENALTY?

The Holy scriptures and mankind have often disagreed at critical periods. This topic is definitely one of them. The Scriptures state, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord", while mankind maintains, "An eye for an eye...".

Even the Intercession by Jesus, "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to the Lord what is the Lord's", is largely ignored; most notoriously by governments in various nations.

So, let's explore what the major nations of the world feel about the death penalty:


[Last Updated: Saturday, 30 December 2006, 04:07 GMT


Who stands where on the death penalty
By Kathryn Westcott
BBC News website


The execution of Saddam Hussein has provoked mixed reactions around the world and focused attention on varying attitudes towards capital punishment.

The European Union has used Saddam Hussein's trial and conviction to reiterate its deeply entrenched opposition to the death penalty. It led the way in calling for the former Iraqi leader not to go to the gallows.

However, while the EU maintained its firm position, some of its member-countries stepped out of line by applauding the death sentence when it was passed in November.

The Czech Republic's Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek, welcomed it, describing it "an act of justice" and a warning to other dictators. Poland's President Lech Kaczynski described it as "the only possible outcome".

According to recent polls, the populations of both countries are supportive of capital punishment.

Poland abolished capital punishment in 1997, following a moratorium on executions imposed in 1988. But polls carried out a few years ago suggested that 70% of the population supported capital punishment.

EU clash

In the summer of 2006, Poland clashed with the EU after Mr Kaczynski called for a Europe-wide debate on capital punishment. He wanted the EU to either change its policy or allow the issue to be a matter for an individual country's legislation.

Abolition of the death penalty is a requirement for countries seeking EU membership - Turkey has recently abandoned it - and officials say that members that reintroduce it will be punished.

Most Western European countries abandoned the death penalty in the 1960s while Eastern European states did so in the 1990s.

Russia, a member of the Council of Europe, has yet to formally abolish the death penalty - although it has had a moratorium on capital punishment since 1990. Belarus has applied to become a member of the council but will have to abolish the death penalty before it can do so.

The US and Japanese governments - both of which exercise capital punishment - welcomed the former Iraqi leader's sentence when it was passed.

Japan executed four prisoners on 25 December, the first hangings in more than a year. At least 80 prisoners remain on death row.

The death penalty had been put on hold since September 2005 after the former justice minister refused to sign off any more executions, saying they went against his Buddhist beliefs.

The new justice minister, however, used the latest hangings as an opportunity to remind the world that more executions were to come and that the vast majority of the public were supporters of the death penalty.

According to official government statistics, some 80% of the country's population support capital punishment. Nonetheless, there is a small but increasingly vociferous abolitionist movement in the country.

Most executions

The US stands alongside China, Saudi Arabia and Iran as carrying out the greatest numbers of executions per year. According to Amnesty International 94% of the 2005 executions took place in those countries - with about 80% of those taking place in China.

Although a majority of Americans back the death penalty, polls suggest public support is decreasing while the alternative sentence of life without the possibility of parole is gaining in popularity.

The number of people on death row in the US has continued to decline, falfling to 3,344 by October 2006, according to the US Death Penalty Information Center. In its annual report, it says that the number of convicts on death began to all in 2000 after 25 years of steady increases.

It also finds that executions dropped to their lowest in 10 years, with 53 carried out this year, 12% less than last year.

Challenges to the lethal injection process have resulted in executions being stayed in some states in 2006. They are currently suspended in Maryland, Florida and California.

About a dozen US states do not have the death penalty.

Chinese review

China is the world's leader in executions.

No one knows how many people are put to death in the country each year but Amnesty International estimates that in 2005, it carried out an estimated 1,770 executions and sentenced nearly 4,000 people to death.

This year, the government took steps to reform the process by restoring to the Supreme Court the right to review all death sentences.

The move followed a series of embarrassing miscarriages of justice. These were the result of the lower courts being given the right to approve the death sentence in the 1980s.

A new law comes into affect in January 2007.

Capital punishment has a long history in China, and there is no indication the country is ready to give it up.

Stoning controversy

Most Muslim countries retain capital punishment, with Iran and Saudi Arabia carrying out the most executions.

Methods of execution in Islamic countries vary and can include beheading, firing squad, hanging and stoning.

In some countries public executions are carried out to heighten the element of deterrence.

In 2006 in Iran, a group of human rights defenders, mostly women, began a campaign to abolish stoning to death, after reports that a man and woman had been stoned to death in Mashhad, despite an official moratorium on such executions.

Amnesty maintains that the trend toward abolishing the death penalty continues to grow.

In 2006, the only country to abolish the death penalty was the Philippines, after overwhelming votes in both houses of its legislature.

That leaves 69 countries that retain and use the death penalty. ]




SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6211741.stm

HOUSEWORK HAS BECOME A HEALTHY VIRTUE FOR THE MODERN GOOD WOMAN!

Down-and-dirty, sweaty, and tiring housework has some major health benefits, it has turned out. Will this spell doom for dishwasher and laundry machine sales? Well, not in the near future maybe; but see this story for the benefits of doing regular housework:

[Last Updated: Friday, 29 December 2006, 01:26 GMT

Housework cuts breast cancer risk



Women who exercise by doing the housework can reduce their risk of breast cancer, a study suggests.

The research on more than 200,000 women from nine European countries found doing household chores was far more cancer protective than playing sport.

Dusting, mopping and vacuuming was also better than having a physical job.

The women in the Cancer Research UK-funded study spent an average of 16 to 17 hours a week cooking, cleaning and doing the washing.

Experts have long known that physical exercise can reduce the risk of breast cancer, probably through hormonal and metabolic changes.

But it has been less clear how much and what types of exercise are necessary for this risk reduction.

And much of past work has examined the link between exercise and breast cancer in post-menopausal women only.

The latest study looked at both pre- and post-menopausal women and a range of activities, including work, leisure and housework.

All forms of physical activity combined reduced the breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women, but had no obvious effect in pre-menopausal women.

Chores protected

Out of all of the activities, only housework significantly reduced the risk of both pre- and post-menopausal women getting the disease.

Housework cut breast cancer risk by 30% among the pre-menopausal women and 20% among the post-menopausal women.

The women were studied over an average of 6.4 years, during which time there were 3,423 cases of breast cancer.

The international authors said their results suggested that moderate forms of physical activity, such as housework, may be more important than less frequent but more intense recreational physical activity in reducing breast cancer risk.

Dr Lesley Walker of Cancer Research UK said: "We already know that women who keep a healthy weight are less likely to develop breast cancer.

"This study suggests that being physically active may also help reduce the risk and that something as simple and cheap as doing the housework can help."

He recommend that men and women take regular exercise and maintain a healthy body weight to help prevent cancer.

The research is published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6214655.stm

NEW VERSION OF THE AGE-OLD CHURCH VERSUS STATE CONTROVERSY?

Came across this rather odd piece of news item. The social status / position occupied by the characters involved in the story attracted my attention. See for yourself:


[Last Updated: Friday, 29 December 2006, 12:07 GMT

CAR leader orders house burning


The president of the Central African Republic has ordered the army to set fire to the homes of two church leaders "to teach them a lesson".

The Baptist Church pastors had burnt down the home of another pastor in a row over the use of a chapel for Christmas services in the capital.

One of the men was subsequently beaten up and the other has been arrested.

Francois Bozize said he wanted them "to experience the suffering they had inflicted on others".

The BBC's Joseph Benamse says people in the capital, Bangui, are surprised that the order came from the head of state.

But Mr Bozize confirmed on a private radio station and he himself gave the instructions.

"It is the anger of God which strikes those who offend or do wrong to a servant of God," AFP news agency quotes him as saying.]


SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6216837.stm




WOULDN'T IT BE JUST MARVELOUS IF THE FIRST VICTIMIZED PASTOR HAD NO CLOSE PERSONAL CONNECTION OR TIES TO ANYONE IN THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT?

NEW WAY TO PHYSICALLY SPIKE VIRUSES AND BACTERIA TO DEATH?

It now seems that diseases can now be literally stabbed to death using spikes! Yes, the story below gives the inside details:

[Last Updated: Friday, 29 December 2006, 15:13 GMT

Spiky surface 'kills infections'



Adding a special "spiky" coating to surfaces can kill bacteria and viruses, research suggests.

US scientists found painting on spike-like structures kept the surfaces infection-free.

The spikes, they believe, rupture bacteria and virus particles on contact, inactivating them.

The team, writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest their findings could help to fight the spread of diseases.

The researchers painted glass with long chains of molecules, called polymers, which anchored to the surface to form tentacle-like spikes.

When the team then applied the surfaces with E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus (both common disease-causing forms of bacteria) and the influenza virus, they found the coating killed them with 100% efficiency within minutes.

The scientists said they believed the tethered spikes were inactivating the particles by rupturing their surfaces.

The team, based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, said many diseases were spread by particles that settle on surfaces and are subsequently touched by others.

Longevity?

They said the spread of infection could be prevented if common things encountered by people are coated with paints that inactivated the disease particles.

"In terms of virucidal and bactericidal efficiencies, painting with [this polymer] seems optimal.

"Given the simplicity of the coating procedure, it should be applicable to various common materials, thereby enabling them to interrupt the spread of both viral and bacterial infections."

Professor Ian Jones, a microbiologist from Reading University, said: "This is an interesting paper, from the point of view that it is a new and simple approach to fighting infection that seems to be effective against both bacteria and viruses."

However, he said he was less convinced the spikes were piercing the particles and thought another, more chemical, mechanism could be at play.

"The other thing that is important to find out is the longevity of the effect. If a toilet door handle, for example, is coated with this material, would it last for days, hours, weeks? It would be vital to know how often it needs to be applied."]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6144076.stm

SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE SPACE EXPLORATION BEGAN!

Well that's my humble view; but the thought's dogged me for, yes, well over a decade now. Here's the story that caught my fancy in this regard:

[Last Updated: Thursday, 28 December 2006, 12:14 GMT


Robot heading for Antarctic dive

By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC News


The mysteries of the Antarctic deep will be probed by a new vessel capable of plunging 6.5km (four miles) down.

Isis, the UK's first deep-diving remotely operated vehicle (ROV), will be combing the sea-bed in the region in its inaugural science mission.

Researchers hope to uncover more about the effects of glaciers on the ocean floor, and also find out about the animals that inhabit these waters.

The mission begins in mid-January and will last for about three weeks.

While the scientists and engineers begin their long journey to the Antarctic at the start of January, Isis left the UK shores in November and has only just arrived at its destination.

Once unpacked from its containers, the ROV will be placed aboard the British Antarctic Survey's ship - the RSS James Clark Ross - ready to explore the Marguerite Bay area on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Diving deep

With Isis, scientists hope to bring the UK to the forefront of deep-sea research.

The submersive vessel, which is based at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Southampton, was built in the US in collaboration with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The project cost about £4.5m, and Isis is based on of WHOI's Jason II remotely operated vehicle.

UK marine scientists can book time on Isis to carry out their research into the deep.

Isis was built to withstand enormous pressure, explained Peter Mason, the Isis project manager at NOC.

It measures 2.7m (9ft) long, 2m (6.5ft) high and 1.5m (5ft) wide, and weighs about 3,000kg (6,600lb) in the air.

Ten kilometres of cable connect it to its "mother ship", allowing scientists to control the vehicle and receive the data it collects in real-time.

On the ROV, Mr Mason said, were lights, cameras to produce high-quality video and still pictures, sonars for acoustic navigation and imaging, and two remotely controlled manipulator arms to collect samples or place scientific instruments on the sea-bed.

Isis, he added, also had extra capacity to carry a range of scientific tools, such as borers, nets etc, so that scientists could tailor the vehicle to their research needs.

Professor Julian Dowdeswell, director of the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, is the principal investigator on this three-week-long inaugural research cruise.

He will be using Isis to investigate in fine detail the sea-floor sediments, which have been delivered to Marguerite Bay by the massive ice-sheets that covered the bay about 20,000 years ago.

The ROV will be traversing the relatively shallow waters of the bay to the continental shelf edge and then down the steeper continental slope beyond.

"The environmental history of the Antarctic is held in these sediments," he said.

"Using the ROV, we can look at the sea-floor and its sub-surface structure on a very detailed scale."

This will help the researchers better understand the record of past glacial activity in the Antarctic.

Sea creatures

Another project will also be running alongside. Professor Paul Tyler, a deep-sea biologist at NOC, will use Isis to survey the sea creatures of Marguerite Bay.

"I'm interested in the effects of glaciers on the sea-bed and how this affects the fauna - the animals. I'm also interested in how the animal life in Antarctica changes as one goes deeper and deeper into the water," Professor Tyler said.

"Using the real-time imagery from the ROV, we will be able to look at what is happening as it happens, helping us to answer questions such as why some creatures exist at one depth and not another.

"We are hoping to see a whole bunch of large creatures such as star fish, sea cucumbers, sea fans, sea pens, etc, that inhabit the deep shelf slope and abyssal depths."

He added: "Essentially no-one has explored Antarctica using a ROV at these depths."

After this expedition, Isis will be sent to investigate the deep-sea floor off the Portuguese coast.

Professor Tyler said: "It is great to have this kind of facility in the UK."]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6198019.stm



WELL, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER! CAN'T WAIT FOR THE RESULTS TO START FILTERING IN.

WHAT COULD MAKE A MAN HIJACK A PLANE WITH HIS FAMILY ONBOARD?

It's bad enough having aircraft crashing from yet-unknown causes and terrorist or other organized attacks based on some obscure or irrational reasons. Now this happens! The story:

[Last Updated: Thursday, 28 December 2006, 15:43 GMT

'Hijack' drama on Russian plane


A Russian passenger plane has made an emergency landing in Prague after a man tried to enter the cockpit, saying he had an explosive device.

A spokesman for the airline, Aeroflot, said the Russian citizen wanted the Moscow-Geneva flight diverted to Cairo.

Czech police described the incident as an attempted hijacking, but Aeroflot said it was a case of "hooliganism".

The man has been detained, and all the 168 passengers on the Airbus A-320 are said to be well.

The plane taxied to an isolated area of Prague's Ruzyne airport after landing, where it was surrounded by emergency vehicles.

Police have been carrying out checks on the plane itself, and on the luggage.

Man tied-up

"Today, on flight 271 Moscow-Geneva, one of the passengers on the flight declared that he had an explosive device," said Aeroflot deputy chief executive Lev Koshlyakov.

"The crew, in accordance with the current rules, asked to make an emergency landing in Prague and landed at Prague airport. Local law enforcement apprehended the passenger.

"The preliminary version is that this was a case of hooliganism."

Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted another Aeroflot spokesman as saying that a drunken passenger provoked a brawl, threatened to damage the plane and demanded that it change course.

Czech police chief Vladislav Husak said the man had been overpowered by other passengers and crew after trying to break into the cockpit.

According to some reports, he was then tied up.

'Not terrorism'

Czech Defence Ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek said two Gripen fighters were in the air ready to intervene, but proved unnecessary.

Jan Subert, A spokesman for the Czech counterintelligence service, the BIS, said that terrorism apparently was not involved.

"From what we know, the incident had nothing to do with terrorism," he said.

Aeroflot said the man was travelling with eight family members, three of them children.]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6214191.stm

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS TO WORSHIP INSIDE THE SAME BUILDING?

This rather mind boggling question must have crossed the minds of both camps when the request was made recently, in Spain. The following gives more details of the event:

[Last Updated: Thursday, 28 December 2006, 12:50 GMT

Spain cathedral shuns Muslim plea

The Roman Catholic bishop of Cordoba in southern Spain has rejected an appeal from Muslims for the right to pray in the city's cathedral, a former mosque.

Juan Jose Asenjo rejected the request made by Spain's Islamic Board in a letter to the Pope.

It had asked that the cathedral become an ecumenical temple where believers from all faiths could worship.

The bishop said such a move would not contribute to the peaceful co-existence between people of different religions.

On the contrary, he said in a statement late on Wednesday, the joint use of temples and places of worship would only generate confusion amongst the faithful.

Shared use of places of worship could make sense in airports or an Olympic village, said the bishop, but not in a consecrated Catholic cathedral.

Spain's Islamic Board, which represents a community of some 800,000 in a traditional Catholic country of 44 million, argued in its plea to the Pope that such a move in Cordoba could serve to "awake the conscience" of followers of both faiths and help bury past confrontations.

"What we wanted was not to take over that holy place, but to create in it, together with you and other faiths, an ecumenical space unique in the world which would have been of great significance in bringing peace to humanity," the letter said.

World renown

The board's general secretary, Mansur Escudero, said Muslims came from around the world to see Cordoba's cathedral.

But security guards often stopped Muslim worshippers from praying inside the old mosque, he added.

The Cordoba mosque was turned into a Catholic cathedral in the 13th Century after the city was conquered by King Ferdinand III in the war to drive the Moors from the Iberian peninsula.

It is now a Unesco world heritage site.]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6213665.stm

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WHEN YOUR JOB BECOMES A SOURCE OF DANGER TO YOUR LIFE?

That should be a very scary thought for the average person. For an 'Oil Worker' in the Petroleum Industry of many countries, it's just an occupational hazard to which the appropriate allowance would be allocated in lieu of any other compensatory benefits. The story below gives a new twist to this type of work:

[Last Updated: Friday, 20 January 2006, 05:26 GMT


Working in a danger zone
By Alexis Akwagyiram
BBC News

Four foreign oil workers have been kidnapped by militants in Nigeria.

BBC News asks what steps can be taken to protect people working in dangerous areas.

Shell has decided to review the deployment of its staff following a spate of attacks on workers based in the Niger Delta.

After four foreign workers - from the UK, US, Bulgaria and Honduras - were taken hostage by armed men in speedboats just over a week ago, the multi-national company is trying to reconcile oil production with the safety of its workers.

Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil exporter and the biggest in Africa. Last year crude exports averaged around 2.6m barrels per day.

But Nigeria can be a particularly volatile environment for foreign workers.

On Wednesday the militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said that it would attack all oil companies in Nigeria and that its aim was to stop Nigeria's oil exports.

It said: "Pipelines, loading points, export tankers, tank farms, refined petroleum depots, landing strips and residences of employees of these companies can expect to be attacked.

"We know where they live, shop and where the children go to school."

When faced with such threats, what can a company do to combat any threat to its workforce?

The first step taken by Shell was to re-consider where its staff would work.

In a statement, the company said: "We continue to monitor developments in the western area of our operations in the Niger Delta and are taking necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of staff and contractors and the communities in which we operate.

'Civil unrest'

"We continue to keep staff deployment in the western Niger Delta under close review. The safety of our staff, contractors and the communities in which we operate is our top priority and we will deploy staff as conditions dictate.

"We will also return to areas evacuated when normality is restored."

But it is clear from the Foreign Office's travel advice concerning Nigeria that foreign workers are at particular risk in the country.

It points out that seven oil workers - two US and five Nigerian - were killed in an attack on their boat in April 2004.

And the advice, on the Foreign Office website, goes on: "Hostage taking for ransom has occurred in Delta, River and Bayelsa States. Local youths have occupied oil facilities, including offshore rigs, to extort money from oil companies.

"Demonstrations and outbreaks of localised civil unrest and violence can occur with little notice throughout the country."

Violent incidents have slashed Shell's production in Nigeria by some 220,000 barrels a day - almost 10% of the country's average output.

Many companies employ risk assessors in a bid to combat any threat to staff.

Tara O'Connor is one such expert.

Ms O'Connor, who works in Africa for risk assessment firm Kroll, said many oil installations are difficult to protect because they are in isolated areas and local police are overstretched.

She said: "In high risk areas there is quite a corporate responsibility to ensure the safety and security of individuals.

"Most companies that operate in the Niger Delta have sophisticated security programmes, most of which involve moving workers who are at risk in certain areas.

"And the best advice that you can give to an individual is to make sure that before they go they get a security briefing so that they are aware of the risks to expect."

But not everyone heeds this advice, according to Norman Hoppe, a consultant who has worked in Nigeria.

"The biggest problem where there are expats from comfortable countries is that many suffer from 'it won't happen to me syndrome'.

"There is a tendency to view those giving advice as melodramatic and reject what they say."

He said many expats fail to heed advice until it is too late or they have either fallen foul of crime themselves, or those close to them have been robbed violently.

But Mr Hoppe had words of reassurance for westerners intending to relocate to countries which were struggling to cope with civil unrest.

"The advice is very simple and straightforward: heed the advice from people about places that are not safe to go, be alert and use common sense in decision-making." ]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4625390.stm

INCENTIVE TO COMBAT LOW BIRTH RATES CREATES PROBLEMS FOR SOON-TO-BE MOTHERS

When a good policy is set to take off, sometimes new factors have to be considered before deciding whether to go ahead as planned or change some elements of the plan in order to put a more humane face on the set agenda.

In any event, however, man proposes but God disposes. Here's the relevant story, from Germany:

[Last Updated: Wednesday, 27 December 2006, 11:55 GMT

Pregnant Germans seek cash bonus


Many German mothers-to-be are reportedly trying to delay labour so their births coincide with a generous new government scheme.

Parents of babies born on or after 1 January will be entitled to up to 25,200 euros (£16,911, $33,300) to ease the financial burden of parenthood.

But those born even a minute earlier will not be covered by the scheme.

The cash subsidies are part of a government initiative to boost Germany's dwindling birth rate.

German women have an average of 1.37 children, well below the average of 2.1 needed to keep a population stable. One minister recently warned of "the lights going out".

Under the current system of Elterngeld, parents receive a maximum of 7,200 euros (£4,831, $9,472) over two years.

But the parents of children born in 2007 will be granted over two thirds of their former salary for up to a year - up to 25,200 euros.

'Let nature take its course'

Doctors have been warning women not to take any medication to try to delay labour, and few, they stress, would put the life of their baby at risk for the sake of the money.

But what many mums-to-be do in order to bring on labour, pregnant Germans are now anxious to avoid.

These include drinking red wine, eating curries and taking part in physical activity.

Midwives are also advising women to avoid cinnamon and cloves - a staple of German Christmas cooking.

And it was to the government's festive spirit that a Berlin bishop appealed this week when he asked for the start date for the new benefits to be brought forward.

"It would be an anti-bureaucratic act in the spirit of Christmas to move the date from 1 January to 24 December," Wolfgang Huber, a leader of the Protestant church, said in the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper.]


SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6211737.stm



I GUESS WE'LL ALL HAVE TO WAIT TO SEE WHAT THE NEW YEAR BRINGS FORTH.

MANY BUNDLES OF JOY, IN MANY RESPECTS, HOPEFULLY IN GERMANY AND ELSEWHERE!

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF THIS HAPPENING IN A LESS DEVELOPED NATION?

Nought, zero or nil immediately come to my mind. I am talking about the chances of a member of the incumbent ruler's family getting sentenced by a court to serve a jail term! The following story will explain this a bit more.

[Last Updated: Wednesday, 27 December 2006, 08:24 GMT

Taiwan leader's son-in-law jailed

The son-in-law of Taiwan's embattled President Chen Shui-bian has been sentenced to six years in jail for insider trading.

Chao Chien-min was found guilty of using inside information to profit from buying shares in a property company.

Chao, who is married to President Chen's daughter, is expected to appeal.

The high-profile case is the latest setback for the president, whose wife is also on trial for embezzlement and forgery in a separate proceeding.

The first lady denies illegally using state funds for personal expenses.

Her husband faces similar accusations but is protected from prosecution by presidential immunity.

He has promised to resign if she is found guilty.]



SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6211549.stm



NOW, THAT'S A GUY AFTER MY OWN HEART!

MY NEW YEAR WISH: EVERY THIRD WORLD LEADER TO FOLLOW THIS SHINING EXAMPLE OF HUMANITY.

THERE ARE STILL NO DIGITAL ANSWERS FOR SOME THINGS!

The following entry was obtained courtesy of MAGS ON THE NET. Hope you like it, too.


"December 26th, 2006

Joke of the Week

My 50-something friend Nancy and I decided to introduce her mother to the magic of the Internet. Our first move was to access the popular "Ask Jeeves" site, and we told her it could answer any question she had. Nancy's mother was very skeptical until Nancy said, "It's true, Mom. Think of something to ask it." As I sat with fingers poised over the keyboard, Nancy's mother thought a minute, then responded, "How is Aunt Helen feeling?"



contributed by

Reader's Digest"

INTRODUCTION OF A NEW BOOK PUBLISHED

It was published on Christmas eve. Your feedback will be highly appreciated after visiting the following link to check out the preview pages and / or buying the newly published book.

Thank you.




Having come in contact with this book, I am recommending it to you as a gift worth checking out.

SEASON'S GREETINGS!

To all viewers of Tulsa-smith:

"This very special greeting comes to

wish you nothing less than

a really perfect season

filled with joy and happiness"






From: Tulsa-smith and Family.
I-think

ANTI-MRSA DRUG WILL BE TESTED NEXT YEAR AND MAY BE AVAILABLE IN FIVE YEARS

Well, that’s really great news, excerpt for anyone suffering presently from MRSA, that is. Hopeful news item but not very uplifting under such circumstances. It shows clearly the more positively reassuring effects of words such as ‘shall’ and ‘can’ over ‘will’ and ‘may’, respectively. The story follows:

[Last Updated: Saturday, 23 December 2006, 00:34 GMT

New drugs 'could halve treatment'

A new generation of antibiotics could halve the length of time people need to take medication, scientists say.

London researchers are developing what they hope will be the first of these - a compound to treat the hospital superbug MRSA in the nose.

It tackles bacteria currently "left behind" because they are resistant to standard antibiotics.

The anti-MRSA drug will be tested in humans next year and may be available in five years.

It is hoped similar compounds being examined by the team will also prove effective against Staphylococcus bacteria, which cause sore throats and tuberculosis.

Developing a way of tackling antibiotic resistance is important because it could mean the antibiotics which already exist could be given a longer life.

At the moment, years of work can be put into developing a conventional antibiotic but it may be possible to use it for around only 18 months before resistance develops.

Family of drugs

HT61 is being developed as a cream to tackle persistent MRSA bacteria in the nose, the most important part of the body where it is carried.

Many hospitals already test people before they come in for operations to see if they are carriers of MRSA.

But, like all bacterial infections, it is made up of two forms of bacteria - the fast-dividing sort targeted by existing antibiotics - and non-multiplying, or persistent, bacteria.

It is this latter form that lurks in the body and causes repeat infection, and can lead to resistance if it is exposed to medication.

HT61, which has been tested in the lab and in "very successful" animal trials, is effective against persistent MRSA bacteria.

It will be tested on around 60 people next year.

The team may later seek to tackle MRSA once it has got inside the body.

Sir Anthony Coates, professor of medical microbiology at St George's Medical School, who is leading the research, said research so far showed it was "potent against MRSA".

Clive Page, professor of pharmacology at King's College London, who is also working on the study, said the work opened up the possibility of a whole family of drugs which could treat persistent bacteria in a range of conditions.

He said: "It may lead to us providing a combination of drugs - one to target the dividing bacteria and one to target the persistent form.

"If you take something like penicillin, and put this with it, you might be able to get a treatment course which lasts one or two days, rather than the current five to seven."]


SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6190907.stm

RULES WHICH CAME INTO FORCE IN 2005 GIVE AIR TRAVELERS COMPENSATION RIGHTS

Air travelers in all categories and from all countries can now claim compensation for flight cancellations, delays, and so on. As always, conditions apply, of course. See the story below for the latter:

[Q&A: Air passenger rights

Each year several million air passengers are the victims of sudden cancellations of flights or lengthy delays. However, rules which came into force in 2005 give air travellers compensation rights.

What if my flight is cancelled?

If the reason for your flight's cancellation is "within the airline's control", it must pay compensation.

You should be offered a refund of your ticket, along with a free flight back to your initial point of departure, when relevant. Or alternative transport to your final destination.

You should also have rights to meals, refreshments, hotel accommodation if necessary and, perhaps, even free e-mails or telephone calls.

However, airlines do not have to pay compensation if the reason for delays or cancellations is due to "extraordinary circumstances".

Airlines are likely to argue that bad weather, strike action, or delays caused by air-traffic control or security alerts are outside their control.

Compensation for cancellations must be paid within seven days.

However, if the airline has given passengers at least two week's notice or has provided an alternative flight, close to the time of the original, it does not have to compensate those customers.

What if my flight is delayed?

When a flight is delayed, the airline is obliged to supply meals and refreshments, along with accommodation if an overnight stay is required.

Whether you qualify will depend on the length of the flight and the delay.

For example, for flights of 1,500km or less where there is a delay of more than two hours, a passenger should be given meals and refreshments, along with two free telephone calls, e-mails, telexes or faxes.

If the delay is for five hours or more, passengers are also entitled to a refund of their ticket with a free flight back to your initial point of departure if this is relevant.

Do the rules only apply to EU residents?

No. Although the regulations have been created by the EU, you do not have to live within the EU to benefit.

Passengers travelling on all domestic and international flights taking off from any airport in the European Union, including French overseas territories, are covered by the regulations.

If you are travelling from an EU airport, all airlines - whether European or not - are subject to the rules.

People flying into the European Union from overseas are also be covered by the rules, as long as they are travelling on a European airline.

Are only scheduled flights covered by the compensation scheme?

It doesn't matter if you are flying no-frills, on a charter or scheduled service.

Flights originating from the EU, which have been sold as part of a package tour, are also covered.

What happens if my flight is overbooked?

Compensation must be paid immediately.

Passengers must also be offered the choice of a refund, a flight back to their original point of departure, or an alternative flight to continue their journey.

If an aeroplane has been overbooked, passengers who have already been allocated seats can choose if they want to volunteer their seat in return for cash, negotiated with the airline.

If you volunteer you should also be offered the choice of a refund, a flight back to their original point of departure, or an alternative flight to continue your journey.

Passengers who are inconvenienced through overbooking have rights to meals, refreshments, hotel accommodation if necessary and, perhaps, even free e-mails, faxes or telephone calls.]

SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6199297.stm

DIGGING A LITTLE DEEPER INTO GENDER TESTING PROCEDURES AND METHODS

Here’s some food for thought, and some contacts for those who want to find out more first-hand from the researchers themselves. I hope the question and answer format will guide you appropriately to the answers you need or to the proper framing of the questions that you’d like more answers to. Here’s the presentation in the following documentation:

[Hans Goerl: ETHI: gender testing responses

archive of HUM-MOLGEN mails

[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Author Index][Topic Index]

To: Multiple recipients of list HUM-MOLGEN <HUM-MOLGEN@NIC.SURFNET.NL>
Subject: ETHI: gender testing responses
From: Hans Goerl <GENETHICS@delphi.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 23:21:13 -0500

---

Well, the Olympics are over and I now have had time to review the responses

to my inquiry. There were quite a few duplicates and I thank those whose

responses are not included below.

Hans Goerl

ETHI editor

*****************************************************************************

****************

From:   IN%"Marilyn_Owens@cc.chiron.com"  "Marilyn Owens" 30-JUL-1996

19:36:08.7

     Your inquiry was forwarded to me by a co-worker.  I was responsible

     for the Gender Verification Program at both the Los Angeles 1984

     Olympic Games and the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympic Games.  Our testing

     procedure was mandated by the IOC Medical Commission.

     Briefly:  we obtained multiple buccal smear specimens from each female

     athlete (about 3600 in LA, 1600 in Calgary) which were immediately

     fixed in ethanol for transport to the laboratory.  One slide per

     athlete was stained for Barr bodies and a second (with quinacrine) for

     y chromatin.  All staining batches included blind controls.

     There were no misreads in the controls.  Four athletes had "abnormal"

     results for presumptive XX females in LA: Two XY females, one XO

     mosaic and one XY male!  In Calgary: only one "abnormal", an XO

     mosaic.  These were detected as having "lower than expected" Barr

     bodies and/or presence of y chromatin.  In each case, the athlete was

     called in with coach and team physician for discussion of results, had

     a physical exam, and then some were asked to give blood for a complete

     karyotype.  I don't know if any abnormals were "missed" in this

     process, but I do know that one of our XO mosaics brought in her

     medical files and verified that she was mosaic.

     My understanding is that these tests were eliminated from the Olympic

     Games in the early 1990's.  I believe, although am not certain, that

     routine physical exams have been substituted for the buccal smears.

     Would appreciate your feedback if you obtain any more data on the

     current practice in the Olympics,

     Marilyn Owens

*****************************************************************************

****************

From: Betsy Gettig 

Sechin Cho, MD did the gender testing for the Korean Olympics and has

fascinating stories of the experience.  Athletes who are in previous

Olympics have certificates for testing and therefore are not

re-tested but those new to the Olympics must be tested.  The 1%

figure appears to be correct.  Sechin can be reached at the

University of Kansas -

Louis "Skip" Elsas is doing the testing in Atlanta but I would not

call now as he probably is mega busy. He is at Emory.

*****************************************************************************

******************

From: Teresa Binstock 

I am among the watchers of SRY studies; hopefully as results of Mr.

Goerl's quiry arrive, they shall be shared by posting to the list.

Thank you,

Teresa C. Binstock, Researcher

Developmental & Behavioral Neuroanatomy

B140 Fragile X Section

The Children's Hospital

1056 E. 19th Avenue

Denver CO 80218 USA

*****************************************************************************

******************

From: "" 

You might be interested in reading the collection of related articles in

this week's (17 July, 1996) Journal of the American Medical Association.

Allan T. Bombard, MD

Director, Division of Reproductive Genetics

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center

1695 Eastchester Road, Suite 301

Bronx, NY 190461

*****************************************************************************

********************

From: "Angela Scheuerle, M.D." 

Well, the Olympics were using Barr body testing of cheek scrapings up until

a few years ago.  Doesn't that have a higher error rate than SRY testing?

What was the false positive rate for any gender testing in the past?  And

what confirmatory testing is used?

In a more general sense, the whole purpose of doing 'gender identity'

testing of the women participants seems to be based on a few assumptions 1)

all male athletes are inherently stronger/faster/more coordinated than all

female athletes, and 2) all male athletes would outperform all female

athletes in any given Olympic sport.  I'm not sure that there is support

for 1) given the wide range of somatic variability of people.  Likewise for

2) there are some sports (equestrian events and archery come to mind) in

which gender is probably really irrelevant.

So, texting modality aside, the bigger ethical questions that I see are:

A) Is this sex-discrimination parading as 'protecting the women' since the

male athletes don't have to undergo the testing?

B) Should gender testing only be used in those events which are direct

measures of physical prowess of the athlete and not test those competing in

events that do not divide parcipants by gender such as equestrian, archery

(?), bowling, ping pong, etc.

C) Is any genetic test really more accurate than a thorough standardized

physical exam which is more easily performed and significantly less

expensive? (and has the added benfit of being able to asses the overall

health of the athlete and their fitness to compete.)

D) Understanding that the purpose of testing is to try to 'level the

playing field' (as it were) should we extend catagorization of competitors

in all sports into flyweight -> heavyweight type catagories so that each

athele is competing only against those with whom they are 'fairly' matched?

Lastly, it is less likely that a male athlete would undergo the necessary

modifications to pass as a female than that a female would use anabolic

steroids or other enhancing medications, and use them far enough in advance

that they would be cleared from the system at the time of testing. Should

we take testing so far as to do muscle biopsies on everybody to look for

evidence of steroid use?

-A

Angela E. Scheuerle, M.D.

Assistant Professor

Division of Medical Genetics

Department of Pediatrics

UT Health Science Center - Houston

6431 Fannin, MSB 3.144

Houston TX  77030

ascheuer@ped1.med.uth.tmc.edu

*****************************************************************************

******************

From: David Barton 

Malcolm Ferguson-Smith in Cambridge has been very active in

correspondence and lobbying over this question in the recent past.  You

might want to contact him about current practice and associated problems.

  | Dr David E Barton

  | Chief Scientist & Honorary Lecturer in Molecular Genetics

  | National Centre for Medical Genetics

  | Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children

  | Crumlin, Dublin 12, Ireland.

  | Tel +353 1 455 0515 Fax 455 8873]

SOURCE: http://hum-molgen.org/mail-archive/1996-Aug/msg00003.html

THE GENDER TESTING CONTROVERSY – WHAT MAKES A WOMAN FEMININE?

These days, it seems, that tomboy may just turn out to be a boy after all! So, does voluptuousness alone always make the woman? Or, are there additional factors that must be determined before gender verification can become conclusive and laid to rest in any particular doubtful instance?

Let’s investigate the article and links below to see what we are really up against:

[From Medscape Women's Health:

http://womenshealth.medscape.com/Medscape/WomensHealth/journal/2000/v05.n03/wh7218.gene/wh7218.gene.html

Gender Verification No More?

Myron Genel, MD

[Medscape Women's Health 5(3), 2000. Copyright 2000 Medscape, Inc.]

While there has been abundant publicity regarding the testing of Olympic athletes for use of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, it is not well known that for more than 30 years the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has required all female competitors to undergo "gender verification." The purported rationale is to detect male imposters who would have an unfair competitive advantage. In point-of-fact, genuine imposters have not been uncovered; however, gender verification procedures have resulted in substantial harm to a number of unassailable
women athletes born with relatively rare genetic abnormalities that affect development of the gonads or the expression of secondary sexual characteristics.[1] The recent decision by the IOC to suspend gender verification, at least for the forthcoming summer games in Sydney, Australia, now offers hope that these inappropriate procedures will soon disappear (A. Ljungqvist, personal communication).

In part, the controversy over gender verification reflects the increasing popularity of women's sports. The original Olympic Games in ancient Greece were limited to men, who competed in the nude. Women spectators were prohibited. When the Olympic Games were revived in 1896, the founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, was opposed to any women competing, [2] reflecting general cultural attitudes about the "weaker sex" that prevailed at the sunset of the Victorian era. Nineteen women competed, however, in the 1900 Olympic Games, and 57 in 1912; by 1960, in
Rome, there were 610 female competitors. During the past 4 decades, the number of women competing has increased substantially in both the winter and summer games, so that by the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta there were 3800 women athletes.[3] This reflects not only increased interest but also the inclusion of additional events for women, as antiquated notions regarding the suitability of women to compete in more strenuous competitive events, such as the marathon, have dissipated. The recent phenomenal success of the US World Cup soccer team provides yet another example of the increasing acceptance and popularity of women's sports.

The sociologic changes, improved training, and the attraction of more women into sports have naturally led to some striking improvement in athletic achievements by women.[4] For example, Joan Benoit's time for the marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the first year this event
was run for women, would have beaten all men's times before the 1956 Olympics. Women's times in the swimming events are even closer to those of men. The women's Olympic record in the 100-meter freestyle, set in 1992, would have beaten all men's times before the 1964 Olympics, including the 1924 time of the legendary Johnny Weissmuller, by almost 5 seconds. The 1988 Olympic record in the women's 400-meter freestyle would have beaten all men's times before the 1972 Olympics, including the 1924 time of Johnny Weissmuller, by over a minute. Even more striking is the comparison of men and women in cross-country skiing, arguably an event that puts greater premium on agility and coordination as well as endurance. In the 15-kilometer race, the women's Olympic record of 1994 would have beaten all men's before 1992; in the 30-kilometer race, the women's time in 1992 would have beaten men's in all previous Olympic events.

As women's athletic competition became more acceptable and popular, increasing attention was devoted to the concept of a "level playing field."[5] In a number of instances, questions were raised regarding the "femininity" of highly successful female competitors, in particular during the Cold War era of competition between the United States and the former Soviet Union. These rumors were abetted by anecdotal reports of recognized athletes who were found to have varying degrees of intersexuality. In 1 case, a Polish sprinter with an apparent chromosomal mosaicism was stripped of her medals.[6] Three track and field champions who competed as women before World War II subsequently underwent reconstructive surgery and sex reassignment. These cases led to efforts to ensure that women competing at international events were in fact women, initially with rather crude and demeaning efforts at physical examination. In 2 instances, women athletes were required to parade nude before a panel of female physicians, and at another event women athletes were required to undergo direct gynecologic examination.[2]

These initial crude attempts at gender verification were soon replaced by less direct measures: first, the use of a buccal smear for sex chromatin, which was implemented at the 1968 winter games in Grenoble on an experimental basis and formally adopted at the 1968 summer games in Mexico City.[5] Until the last decade, this remained the standard for gender verification, notwithstanding that by the mid-1970s, the test was discarded by medical professionals as technically unreliable. More importantly, the test detected athletes who were unassailably feminine
but who happened to have an XY chromosomal pattern. Many of these individuals had variants of androgen resistance, either complete or partial -- in which case, they are naturally resistant to the strength-promoting qualities of testosterone. Others had variants of XY gonadal dysgenesis.[7] Ironically, the sex chromatin test would have permitted recognized males with an XXY karyotype, or Klinefelter's syndrome, and XX males, who have a portion of the testicular determining gene (SRY) transposed onto the X chromosome, to compete.[1,2]

Concerns regarding the appropriateness of sex chromatin for gender verification were voiced continuously in the 1970s and 1980s, but their impact was limited because of the absence of information regarding the frequency of positive results and the subsequent diagnoses and follow-up. At virtually every Olympic event, however, abundant rumors circulated; in one instance, this author was informed that women athletes who were detected as "positive" were instructed to feign injuries or in some cases were actually fitted with casts. In 1 celebrated case, a Spanish hurdler, Maria Patino, was publicly disclosed after failing her femininity test during an event in Tokyo, at the cost of public disgrace and loss of her athletic scholarship. It took 2 years and the active intercession of a number of medical authorities for Ms. Patino, who has androgen
resistance, to be reinstated.[8]

Circumstances such as these and the efforts of a number of dedicated professionals resulted in some changes by the early 1990s. This author has had the privilege of working with an international group of professionals, some of whom were convened by the International Amateur
Athletic Federation (IAAF) for a Workshop on Methods of Femininity Verification held in late 1990 in Monte Carlo. Our group concluded that laboratory-based sex determination should be discontinued,[9] a recommendation that was accepted shortly thereafter by the IAAF and subsequently by all but 4 of the international athletic federations. The IOC, however, instead replaced sex chromatin with DNA-based methods to detect Y chromosomal material, principally the SRY sex-determining locus on the Y chromosome, implementing this procedure at the 1992 winter games in Albertville.[10] At the insistence of the organizers, the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta included a comprehensive process for screening, confirmation of testing, and counseling of individuals detected. Eight of 3387 female athletes (1:423) had positive test results. Of these, 7 had androgen insensitivity, 4 incomplete, and 3 complete; the other athlete had previously undergone gonadectomy and is presumed to have 5-alpha-steroid reductase deficiency. All individuals were given appropriate gender verification certificates and were permitted to compete.[11]

After the Atlanta Olympics, efforts continued to persuade the IOC to abandon gender verification. Indeed, by the time of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, essentially all of the relevant professional societies had endorsed resolutions that called for elimination of gender verification, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Endocrine Society, the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, and the American Society of Human Genetics.[12] It was argued that the current clothing used in athletic competition, as well as the requirement that urine for doping control be voided under direct supervision, made it virtually certain that male impostors could not escape detection[7]; furthermore, gender verification
procedures are complex, expensive, and counterproductive.[11]

Still, it was not until the IOC's Athletes' Commission called for discontinuation of the IOC system of gender verification that the IOC's executive board, at its June 1999 meeting in Seoul, decided to discontinue the practice on a trial basis at the forthcoming summer Olympic games in Sydney. The proposal by the Athletes' Commission, similar to the IAAF plan that has been in place for track and field since the early 1990s, permits intervention and evaluation of individual
athletes by appropriate medical personnel if there is any question regarding gender identity.[13] Since the IAAF policies were instituted in 1992, this has never been invoked, nor is it likely to be in Sydney under the circumstances described above, especially because of the requirement
for freshly voided urine for doping testing. I truly hope that the IOC's decision will become permanent with the conclusion of the Sydney games and that laboratory verification of the gender of female athletes will reside in the historical chronicles of the Olympic Games together with competition in the nude of their ancient male predecessors.

References:

1. de la Chapelle A. The use and misuse of sex chromatin screening for "gender verification" of female athletes. JAMA. 1986;256:1920-1923.

2. Ferguson-Smith MA. Gender verification and the place of XY females in sport. In: Harris W, Williams C, Stanish W, Micheli L, eds. Oxford Textbook of Sports Medicine. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press; 1998;35:355-365.

3. Elsas LJ, Ljungqvist A, Ferguson-Smith MA, et al. Gender verification of female athletes. Genet Med. In press.

4. Genel M. Gender differences in growth and maturation: are these relevant for athletic competition? J Women Health. 1995:425.

5. Hay E. Sex determination in putative female athletes. JAMA. 1972;4:39-41.

6. Langlais D. The road not taken: the sex secret that really didn't matter. Running Times. October 1988:21-22.

7. Simpson JL, Ljungqvist A, de la Chapelle A, et al. Gender verification in competitive sports. Sports Med. 1993;16:305-315.

8. Carlson AS. When is a woman not a woman? Women Sport Fitness. March 1991:24-29.

9. Ljungqvist A, Simpson J. Medical examination for health of all athletes replacing the need for gender verification in international sport. JAMA. 1992;277:850-852.

10. Serrat A, Garcia de Herreros A. Determination of genetic sex by PCR amplification of Y-chromosome-specific sequences. Lancet. 1993;341:1593-1594.

11. Elsas LJ, Hayes RP, Muralidharan K. Gender verification in the Centennial Olympic Games. J Med Assoc Ga. 1997;86:50-54.

12. Stephenson J. Female Olympians' sex tests outmoded. JAMA. 1996;276:177-178.

13. IAAF/IAF Reports on Approved Methods of Femininity Verification. Monte Carlo, November 1990.

Myron Genel, MD, is Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Dean,
Government and Community Affairs, Yale University School of Medicine, New
Haven, Connecticut. ]

SOURCE: http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/OlympicGenderTesting.html