Extrahepatic portal vein obstruction: Indian doctor cures 10yr old using testube veins.

Doctor Holgersson in group photograph with his team A Mumbai-born Indian doctor Suchitra Holgersson made a landmark breakthrough in medical science, as the first biologically tissue-engineered vein grown from a patient's own stem cells has been successfully transplanted into a 10-year-old girl with portal vein obstruction, dramatically enhancing her quality of life, reports The Lancet. The report says, a team of doctors, funded by the Swedish government, grew veins in test tubes and successfully transplanted them in a Swedish child. The report says, "a 10 year old girl with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction was admitted to the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, for a bypass procedure between the superior mesenteric vein and the intrahepatic left portal vein. A 9 cm segment of allogeneic donor iliac vein was decellularised and subsequently recellularised with endothelial and smooth muscle cells differentiated from stem cells obtained from the bone marrow of the recipient. This graft was used because the patient's umbilical vein was not suitable and other strategies, like liver transplantation, require lifelong immunosuppression." The results could offer hope of growing human cells in laboratory and a potential new way for patients lacking healthy veins to undergo dialysis or heart bypass surgery without the problems of synthetic grafts (that are prone to clots and blockages) or the need for lifelong immunosuppressive drugs. Culled from NDTV

Ex-Tunisia president jailed 20yrs in absentia

Ali A Tunisian military court has convicted the former President in absentia of inciting violence and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown in a month-long popular uprising last year and fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14, 2011. Ben Ali's Wednesday conviction was for an incident, the day after he left when security forces opened fire on protesters in the central town of Ouardanine, killing four. Ben Ali has already been convicted of drug trafficking, illegal arms trading and abuse of the public funds and sentenced to 66 years in prison by a civilian court. At least 338 people died in the uprising and another 2,147 were wounded. Culled from NDTV

Protests rock Russia as tens of thousands march against Vladimir Putin’s rule

Putin .... Tens of thousands of Russians flooded Moscow’s tree-lined boulevards today- Tuesday in the first massive protest against President Vladimir Putin’s rule since his inauguration in May — a rally that came even as police interrogated key opposition leaders. Since embarking on his third presidential term, Putin has taken a stern stance toward the opposition, including signing a repressive new bill last week introducing heavy penalties for taking part in unauthorized rallies. Police on Monday searched opposition leaders’ apartments, carting away computers, cellphones and other personal items. They also demanded that opposition leaders come in for questioning Tuesday just an hour before the rally began — widely seen as a crude attempt by the government to scare the protesters. The march was being held on Russia Day, a national holiday that honors June 12, 1990, when Russian lawmakers decided that Russian laws should take priority over Soviet Union laws. The Soviet Union then collapsed in 1991. Leftist politician Sergei Udaltsov snubbed the summons, saying he considered it his duty to lead the protest as one of its organizers. Russia’s Investigative Committee said it wouldn’t immediately seek his arrest but would interrogate him later. Udaltsov said he and another opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, were handed summons by police right at the rally. Culled from Chicago SUN Times

Elinor Ostrom, 1st woman to win economics Nobel, dies at 78yrs

Elinor Ostrom ....... Indiana University professor Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in economics, has died at age 78. University spokesman Steve Hinnefeld said Ostrom died from cancer Tuesday morning at a Bloomington hospital. Hinnefeld says the school was informed of Ostrom’s death by her longtime friend and IU colleague, Michael McGinnis, a professor of political science. Ostrom shared the 2009 Nobel Prize for economics with Oliver Williamson from the University of California, Berkeley. Both researchers were honored for analyzing the rules by which people exercise authority in companies and economic systems. Ostrom had been an Indiana University faculty member since 1965. Culled from Chicago Sun Times

Police bar three veiled women from entering France

A police union has said that three Saudi women who refused to remove their face veils at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport have been barred entry to France. A 2011 French law bans people from wearing Islamic face-covering veils anywhere in public. An official with the SGP-FO police union said on Tuesday that border police asked the women to remove their veils after they arrived on Monday on a flight from Doha, Qatar. The official said the women refused, the border police refused them entry in France, and they returned to Doha on Monday night. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly for the police. Supporters of the ban say the veil contradicts France's principles of secularism and women's rights. Some Muslim groups say it stigmatises moderate Muslims. Culled from TIMES OF INDIA

Corrupt practices: S/Africa police chief Bheki Cele fired by Jacob Zuma

South African President Jacob Zuma has fired police chief Gen Bheki Cele, who had been accused of corruption. Mr Zuma told a press conference in Pretoria he had "decided to release Gen Cele of his duties". Gen Cele was suspended in October after it emerged that he had been implicated in alleged unlawful property deals - he had denied any wrongdoing. He played a key role in Mr Zuma's hard-fought campaign to be elected president in 2009. Last year a South African corruption investigator, Thuli Madonsela, ruled that police buildings were leased from a company at inflated prices. Ms Madonsela - who is South Africa's public protector, a role similar to that of an ombudsman - accused Gen Cele of being among those who were ultimately responsible for the "fatally flawed" deals. She investigated leases for buildings intended to serve as police headquarters in the capital, Pretoria, and the eastern city of Durban. She ruled that the government paid the company inflated prices, concluding that the deals were "illegitimate". Gen Cele was promoted to become police chief in 2010, when his predecessor Jackie Selebi was convicted of taking $156,000 (£100,378) in bribes from drug dealer Glenn Agliotti. Culled from BBC

NATO apologizes for deaths in Afghan airstrike

The commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan apologized Friday for civilian deaths in a coalition airstrike earlier this week -- the first confirmation by NATO forces that civilians were killed in the operation. Marine Gen. John Allen flew to Logar province to personally deliver his regrets to villagers and provincial officials for the deaths of women, children and village elders in Wednesday's pre-dawn raid to capture a Taliban operative. Afghan officials have said the airstrike called in by NATO troops killed 18 civilians. "I know that no apology can bring back the lives of the children or the people who perished in this tragedy and this accident, but I want you to know that you have my apology and we will do the right thing by the families," Allen told the group of about two dozen Afghans gathered at a base at the provincial capital of Pul-i-Alam. NATO and Afghan officials have said the troops were on an operation to capture a Taliban leader who had holed up in the house in Baraki Barak district's Sajawand village. As they tried to breach the compound, they came under fire and fought back, eventually calling in an airstrike. Villagers have said there was a wedding at the house the evening before and that it was full of families visiting for the celebration. The morning after the bombing, they piled the bodies of the dead into vans and drove them to the provincial capital to protest the strike. An Afghan doctor who examined the bodies and interviewed two women injured in the airstrike said a group of Taliban fighters decided to spend the night in the house because they thought the wedding would provide them cover. When NATO and Afghan troops started advancing on the house in the middle of the night, they called out for civilians to come out, but the insurgents didn't allow them to leave, said Wali Wakil. "The Taliban stopped them from getting out of the house," Wakil said. He said the 18 dead civilians including four women, two old men, three teenage boys and nine young children. Six Taliban fighters were also killed, Wakil said, citing the witnesses. Allen said that the troops did not know that there were civilians inside the house when they called in the airstrike. "They were taken under fire. A hand grenade was thrown. Three of our people were wounded. We called for the people who were shooting to come out and then the situation became more grave and innocent people were killed," he told The Associated Press after talking with the group gathered in Logar. "Our weapons killed these people," Allen said. In Logar, Allen met with the governor before taking his message to the assembled group of Baraki Barak residents and local officials. He invoked his own family, saying that he kept seeing the faces of his own children as he thought about the children who had been killed. Nighttime raids on militants taking cover in villages have been a repeated source of strain between the Afghan government, which says the raids put civilians in the crossfire, and its international allies, who say such operations are key to capturing and killing insurgent leaders. A deal signed in April was supposed to resolve the issue by putting the Afghan government in charge of such operations and the troops involved in Wednesday raid included both NATO and Afghan military. But Afghan President Hamid Karzai has put the blame for this week's deaths squarely on the international coalition, condemning their actions and calling for them to give a full account of how civilians ended up dead. Culled from FOXNEWS

Suicide bomber strikes police HQ in Borno

The Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State, was on Friday afternoon struck by a bomb explosion. Eyewitnesses said a suspected suicide bomber drove a bomb-laden car into the headquarters. The car exploded at the gate of the Borno State police command on Damaturu road, directly opposite Government Secondary school in Maiduguri. Although, casualties are reported, the number could not be immediately ascertained. Culled from DAILY TIMES

UK ministers boycott England games in Ukraine

UK government ministers are boycotting England's three group games in the European football championships over Ukraine's treatment of a jailed opposition leader. The move is in protest at the "selective justice" being handed out to Yulia Tymoshenko. Attendance at later matches, such as the final in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, is to be kept "under review". Other EU leaders have threatened to boycott games over the issue. Ms Tymoshenko played a key role in the Orange Revolution in 2004 and says her imprisonment is an act of political revenge by Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych. The authorities have rejected Ms Tymoshenko's allegations. She was jailed for seven years in October, for abuse of power during her time as prime minister. Last week, she ended a 20-day hunger strike after being moved to a hospital in Kharkiv where she is being treated by a German doctor. Culled from BBC

Birmingham riots: Six men jailed

Five men and a teenager have been jailed after police were "lured" to a pub fire and shot at in Birmingham during riots last August. The men, who were convicted of rioting, reckless arson and firearms possession, were given sentences ranging from 18 to 30 years at Birmingham Crown Court. Amirul Rehman, 17, was sentenced to 12 years for riot and firearms offences. Twelve shots were fired at police after a petrol bomb attack on the Bartons Arms, Aston. Judge William Davis said the aim of the disorder was to draw police to the area and attack them. He said: "Members of the group attacked the building. They smashed windows, they went inside and ransacked the premises. They threw chairs and tables out on to the pavement. "Other members of the group stayed on the pavement outside the building. Some threw missiles, bottles and the like, at a passing police car. Others lit petrol bombs that had been brought to the scene. "The purpose of all this was not to loot or to steal. Nor was it mindless vandalism. The purpose, the common purpose, was to behave in such a way that the police would come to the scene and then to attack the police." He told the court that at least four different firearms were used, at least 12 shots were fired and it was "wholly a matter of luck" nobody was injured. He added that a "wave of lawlessness" had spread across many towns and cities and "severe penalties" had to be imposed to act as a punishment and a deterrent. The five men were convicted of riot, reckless arson and possession of firearms with intent to endanger life. Rehman, of Aston, was convicted of riot and firearms offences but cleared of arson. The teenager has been named after the judge lifted earlier reporting restrictions. Nicholas Francis, 26, of Thetford Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, described by the judge as the most dangerous of the men, was jailed for 30 years. Tyrone Laidley 20, of Chadsmoor Terrace, Nechells and Jermaine Lewis, 27, of Summerton Road in Oldbury were sentenced to 23 years. Wayne Collins, 25, from Ouseley Close in Luton and Renardo Farrell, 20, of The Terrace, Finchfield, Wolverhampton, were jailed for 18 years. In sentencing Mr Justice Davies said he had to take into account "the wellbeing of the city of Birmingham" faced by an "armed gang prepared to act in this way". There were shouts from the public gallery as the sentences were handed down. Jurors in the six-week trial were shown CCTV footage of a gunman, said by the prosecution to be Laidley, firing at the police helicopter as it tracked suspects during disturbances in the early hours of 10 August. Two other defendants, Joyah Campbell, 19, of Hanover Court, Aston, Birmingham, and a 17-year-old, were acquitted last week of riot, arson and firearms possession. Culled from BBC

Lake Chad Shrinks from 25,000 to 2,000km2

Lake Chad is believed to host over 100 million inhabitants, out of which 50 million are Nigerians whose livelihoods are now threatened due to the drying up of the lake. The water surface of the Lake Chad basin has gradually shifted since the 1960s from 25,000 kilometres square to less than 2,000 kilometres square as at today, largely due to climate change, population increase and water demand. Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, disclosed this while marking the ‘Lake Chad Day’ in Abuja, where she called for concerted efforts to save the lake and restore its dwindling fortunes. .She said: “The causes of this severe shrinkage include not only climate change which is responsible for the decrease in rainfall pattern in the region and runoff from the Lake’s tributaries, but also water demands for agricultural activities and other human needs. “This population is expected to grow and it is also a known fact the population solely depends on the natural resources of the lake and the region is suffering from a high poverty rate,” she added. She lamented that if the situation was not addressed would affect wildlife and the economy of the states sharing its resources as well as encourage insecurity and conflicts over scarce resources. House committee Chairman on Lake Chad, Abubakar Wambai, sadly noted that the lake Chad only retains 5 per cent of its original size; hence the need to urgently carry out an earlier planned inter-basin water transfer from River Congo through the Chari/Ubangi rivers as part of efforts to resuscitate and rescue the Lake from completely drying up. Culled from THISDAY

Hundreds of thousands may lose Internet in July, Facebook warns

Facebook announced Tuesday that it had joined a consortium of other companies and security experts to help alert hundreds of thousands of websurfers of a computer infection called DNSChanger that may knock their computers off the Internet this summer. Unknown to most of them, their problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers around the world. In a highly unusual response, the FBI set up a safety net months ago using government computers to prevent Internet disruptions for those infected users. But that system will be shut down July 9 -- killing connections for those people. The FBI has run an impressive campaign for months, encouraging people to visit a website that will inform them whether they're infected and explain how to fix the problem. After July 9, infected users won't be able to connect to the Internet. Infected Facebook users will now be treated to a special message when visiting the social network that informing them of their potential risk as well as helping them clean it up. "Facebook's Product Security Team is working constantly to protect users from malicious content and malware like viruses, trojans, and worms," Facebook wrote in a blog post Tuesday, June 4. "As a result of our work with the DNSChanger Working Group, Facebook is now able to notify users likely infected with DNSChanger malware and direct them to instructions on how to clean their computer or networks." Facebook followed in the footsteps of Google, who on May 22, announced that it would throw its weight into the awareness campaign, rolling out alerts to users via a special message that will appear at the top of the Google search results page for users with affected computers. “We believe directly messaging affected users on a trusted site and in their preferred language will produce the best possible results,” wrote Google security engineer Damian Menscher in a post on the company’s security blog. “If more devices are cleaned and steps are taken to better secure the machines against further abuse, the notification effort will be well worth it,” he wrote. The challenge, and the reason for the awareness campaigns: Most victims don't even know their computers have been infected, although the malicious software probably has slowed their web surfing and disabled their antivirus software, making their machines more vulnerable to other problems. Last November, when the FBI and other authorities were preparing to take down a hacker ring that had been running an Internet ad scam on a massive network of infected computers, the agency realized this may become an issue. "We started to realize that we might have a little bit of a problem on our hands because ... if we just pulled the plug on their criminal infrastructure and threw everybody in jail, the victims of this were going to be without Internet service," said Tom Grasso, an FBI supervisory special agent. "The average user would open up Internet Explorer and get `page not found' and think the Internet is broken." On the night of the arrests, the agency brought in Paul Vixie, chairman and founder of Internet Systems Consortium, to install two Internet servers to take the place of the truckload of impounded rogue servers that infected computers were using. Federal officials planned to keep their servers online until March, giving everyone opportunity to clean their computers. But it wasn't enough time. A federal judge in New York extended the deadline until July. Now, said Grasso, "the full court press is on to get people to address this problem." And it's up to computer users to check their PCs. This is what happened: Hackers infected a network of probably more than 570,000 computers worldwide. They took advantage of vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows operating system to install malicious software on the victim computers. This turned off antivirus updates and changed the way the computers reconcile website addresses behind the scenes on the Internet's domain name system. The DNS system is a network of servers that translates a web address -- such as http://www.foxnews.com -- into the numerical addresses that computers use. Victim computers were reprogrammed to use rogue DNS servers owned by the attackers. This allowed the attackers to redirect computers to fraudulent versions of any website. The hackers earned profits from advertisements that appeared on websites that victims were tricked into visiting. The scam netted the hackers at least $14 million, according to the FBI. It also made thousands of computers reliant on the rogue servers for their Internet browsing. When the FBI and others arrested six Estonians last November, the agency replaced the rogue servers with Vixie's clean ones. Installing and running the two substitute servers for eight months is costing the federal government about $87,000. The number of victims is hard to pinpoint, but the FBI believes that on the day of the arrests, at least 568,000 unique Internet addresses were using the rogue servers. Five months later, FBI estimates that the number is down to at least 360,000. The U.S. has the most, about 85,000, federal authorities said. Other countries with more than 20,000 each include Italy, India, England and Germany. Smaller numbers are online in Spain, France, Canada, China and Mexico. Vixie said most of the victims are probably individual home users, rather than corporations that have technology staffs who routinely check the computers. FBI officials said they organized an unusual system to avoid any appearance of government intrusion into the Internet or private computers. And while this is the first time the FBI used it, it won't be the last. "This is the future of what we will be doing," said Eric Strom, a unit chief in the FBI's Cyber Division. "Until there is a change in legal system, both inside and outside the United States, to get up to speed with the cyber problem, we will have to go down these paths, trail-blazing if you will, on these types of investigations." Now, he said, every time the agency gets near the end of a cyber case, "we get to the point where we say, how are we going to do this, how are we going to clean the system" without creating a bigger mess than before. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Culled from FOXNEWS

Protests rock Israel as thousands oppose unpopular bill proposed by Netanyahu

Five people were arrested on Wednesday as thousands of right-wing activists burned tires at the entrance to Jerusalem in protest against the Knesset’s rejection of a bill that would have regularized unapproved settlements and saved five buildings in the Givat Ulpana outpost from demolition. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had opposed the bill and instead proposed an alternative plan to build additional housing units in Beit El proper in exchange for the five buildings slated to be removed. The bill was defeated in a raucous Knesset session, with 69 opposed and 22 in favor, with 29 abstentions. The buildings in Givat Ulpana are slated for destruction on July 1 by order of the High Court of Justice, after it was determined they were built on private Palestinian land. MK Zevulun Orlev (Jewish Home) said in his arguments for the bill that the issue was broader than the five Ulpana buildings. He noted that the date, June 6, was the same date the Sharon government decided to clear out Gaza’s Gush Katif settlements. Orlev reiterated his intention to leave the coalition government given the bill’s failure to pass, along with 11 other Religious Zionist members of Netanyahu’s government. In his arguments on behalf of the government, MK Benny Begin (Likud) said that the state was not giving up the Jewish people’s right to the land, but that the High Court decision must be respected. He noted that the settler movement was now entering its third generation. Despite earlier statements that they would support the bill, MKs Gila Gamliel (Likud), Ayoub Kara (Likud) and Daniel Hershkowitz (Jewish Home) all abstained. All three hold ministerial positions, and Netanyahu had threatened to remove from their posts any ministers who voted for the bill. Eight Likud MKs defied the prime minister’s instructions and voted in support of the bill: Carmel Shama-HaCohen, Ofir Akunis, Zeev Elkin, Danny Danon, Tzipi Hotovely, Chaim Katz, Yariv Levin and Miri Regev. MKs supporting the bill met with reporters Wednesday morning and criticized the prime minister and the Likud ministers opposing the bill. Culled from TIMES OF ISRAEL

WHO warns of increasing drug resistance to gonorrhea that infect millions

A potentially dangerous sexually transmitted disease that infects millions of people each year is growing resistant to drugs and could soon become untreatable, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. The U.N. health agency is urging governments and doctors to step up surveillance of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, a bacterial infection that can cause inflammation, infertility, pregnancy complications and, in extreme cases, lead to maternal death. Babies born to mothers with gonorrhea have a 50 percent chance of developing eye infections that can result in blindness. "This organism has basically been developing resistance against every medication we've thrown at it," said Dr. Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan, a scientist in the agency's department of sexually transmitted diseases. This includes a group of antibiotics called cephalosporins currently considered the last line of treatment. "In a couple of years it will have become resistant to every treatment option we have available now," she told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of WHO's public announcement on its 'global action plan' to combat the disease. Lusti-Narasimhan said the new guidance is aimed at ending complacency about gonorrhea and encouraging researchers to speed up their hunt for a new cure. Once considered a scourge of sailors and soldiers, gonorrhea — known colloquially as the clap — became easily treatable with the discovery of penicillin. Now, it is again the second most common sexually transmitted infection after chlamydia. The global health body estimates that of the 498 million new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections worldwide, gonorrhea is responsible for some 106 million infections annually. It also increases the chances of infection with other diseases, such as HIV. "It's not a European problem or an African problem, it's really a worldwide problem," said Lusti-Narasimhan. Scientists believe overuse or incorrect use of antibiotics, coupled with the gonorrhea bacteria's astonishing ability to adapt, means the disease is now close to becoming a super bug. Bacteria that survive antibiotic treatment due to a mutation that makes them resistant then quickly spread their genes in an accelerated process of natural selection. This is a general problem affecting all antibiotics, but gonorrhea is particularly quick to adapt, said Lusti-Narasimhan. "If it didn't do so much damage it would actually be a fun organism to study," she said. Resistance to cephalosporins was first reported in Japan, but more recently has also been detected in Britain, Australia, France, Sweden and Norway. As these are all countries with well-developed health systems, it is likely that cephalosporin-resistant strains are also circulating undetected elsewhere. Therefore the Geneva-based agency wants countries not just to tighten their rules for antibiotic use, but also to improve their surveillance systems so that the full extent of the problem can be determined. Better sex education is also needed, as proper condom use is an effective means of stopping transmission, said Lusti-Narasimhan. "We're not going to be able to get rid of it completely," she said. "But we can limit the spread." Culled from FOXNEWS

46yr old gardener pleads guilty to murder of 86yr old employer

Williamson ...... A woman has admitted bludgeoning an 86-year-old to death at her home in south-east London. Karen Williamson, 46, pleaded guilty to the murder of Jean Jobson in Oakridge Road, Downham, in February 2011, where she was paid to clear the garden. Williamson, of Rangefield Road, Downham, who has worked as an extra in EastEnders, attacked the victim with a hammer and heavy glass jug. Ms Jobson was found at her home with severe injuries........................................................................................................................... Ms Jobson ....................................................................................................................................... The killer, a crack cocaine addict who worked as a delivery driver and casual gardener, was paid in advance by the victim for the gardening work. But she had not finished the work and later went to see the widow and attacked her, the court heard. She also took some items of jewellery, which she sold for £61. The victim had lived in the house for more than 40 years. In a victim impact statement from Ms Jobson's nephew Mark Montgomery said: "We can't express the anger we feel towards the person responsible for Pat's horrific murder. "My entire family are bewildered as to how this ever occurred, especially to Aunty Pat who was loved and respected by so many. "She was in good health for her age and in no way deserved to have her life cut short in such a cruel and despicable manner." Prosecutor Brian Altman QC told the court: "The manner of the killing of this elderly woman in the sanctity of her home defies belief because of its nature and savagery." Culled from BBC

American mom jailed for posing as dead son to collect insurance money

Donna Gibbs...................... .............. A woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to pretending to be her dead son in order to set up an insurance policy and then collect a payoff. Donna Ellis Gibbs received $151,000 from Monumental Life Insurance Co. on a policy she took out in her deceased son's name two months after he died, the Fulton County District's Attorney's Office said in a news release. The insurance company was notified of her deception when the scheme was uncovered by her ex-husband, prosecutors said. Gibbs was charged with five counts of insurance fraud and one count of theft by taking. In December 2002, Gibbs' son died in a car crash. While acting as her son, she later submitted an application to the insurance company for an accidental death policy. When she submitted a claim, she used altered documents -- including police reports and a death certificate -- to show that her son died in April 2003, authorities said. Almost four years later, Gibbs’ ex-husband, the father of her late son, found out about the policy. He investigated and sent authentic documents on his son's death to the insurer after notifying the company of the fraud, prosecutors said. Gibbs was sentenced to 20 years’ probation, which can be lifted after five years if she complies with her plea agreement. She must pay full restitution to the insurance company, perform 200 hours of community service, and undergo drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment, the news release said. Culled from ATLANTA NEWS

South Carolina mom jailed for cheering too loudly at daughter's graduation

Cooper............................................................. A proud mother was arrested and put in jail for several hours for disorderly conduct after cheering too loudly at her daughter's high school graduation ceremony in South Carolina. Shannon Cooper says she spent several hours in jail Saturday night after being escorted from her daughter Iesha's South Florence High School graduation in handcuffs, WPDE-TV reported. Police told the station they had warned attendees prior to the graduation ceremony that anyone who cheered or screamed would be escorted from the venue. While not commenting on Cooper's case directly, they said those who were disorderly as they were escorted out were arrested. But Cooper said she could not believe the decision to remove her from the Florence Civic Center, where the ceremony was held. "Disorderly conduct? What's the disorderly conduct?" she said. "How was I so disorderly you know any different from just a happy parent? I didn't resist arrest, nothing." Cooper was booked into jail for several hours before posting a $225 bond. Culled from FOXNEWS

Venus makes rare movement across Sun

Planet Venus has put on a show for skywatchers by moving across the face of the Sun as viewed from Earth.The transit was a very rare astronomical event that would not be seen again for another 105 years. Observers in north and central America, and the northern-most parts of South America saw the event start just before local sunset. The far northwest of America, the Arctic, the western Pacific, and east Asia witnessed the entire passage. While the UK and the rest of Europe, the Middle East, and eastern Africa waited for local sunrise to try to see the closing stages of the transit. Venus appeared as a small black dot moving slowly but surely across the solar disc. The traverse lasted more than six and a half hours. Some of the best pictures of the event were provided by the US space agency's (Nasa) Solar Dynamics Observatory, which studies the Sun from a position 36,000km above the Earth. "We get to see Venus in exquisite detail because of SDO's spatial resolution," said agency astrophysicist Dr Lika Guhathakurta. "SDO is a very special observatory. It takes images that are about 10 times better than a high-definition TV and those images are acquired at a temporal cadence of one every 10 seconds. This is something we've never had before." Many citizens keen to observe the transit first hand attended special events at universities and observatories where equipment for safe viewing had been set up. In Hawaii, one of the best places to see the whole event, the university's Institute of Astronomy set up telescope stations on Waikiki beach. Scientists observed the transit to test ideas that will help them probe Earth-like planets elsewhere in the galaxy, and to learn more about Venus itself and its complex atmosphere. Venus transits occur four times in approximately 243 years; more precisely, they appear in pairs of events separated by about eight years and these pairs are separated by about 105 or 121 years. The reason for the long intervals lies in the fact that the orbits of Venus and Earth do not lie in the same plane and a transit can only occur if both planets and the Sun are situated exactly on one line. This has happened only seven times previously in the telescopic age: in 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882 and 2004. The next pair will not now occur until 2117 and 2125. Culled from BBC

Heat waves kill 30 in Western Bengal

The intense heat wave sweeping West Bengal, in the eastern region of India has claimed the lives of 30 people during the past five days with the average temperature hovering at 45 degrees Celsius. While nine people died in Burdwan district, three each were killed in Kolkata and Purulia district. Another 16 unnatural deaths from various hospitals in the Burdwan district was recorded on Tuesday The Regional Meteorological Office said Birbhum, Burdwan, Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore districts recorded around 45 degree Celsius or more during the day on Monday, while Kolkata registered the season's highest of 40.2 degree Celsius. -- five degrees above normal - the temperature rose even higher in the other parts of South Bengal. As a temporary measure to check the ugly trend of intense heat wave which might result in more casualties, the District Magistrate OS Meena told Indo-Asian News Service that the government have arranged for additional beds and generators in the hospitals. He said drinking water tankers are also being placed in various parts and schools have been asked to extend the summer holidays. Culled from NDTV

Chineese hospitals to pay 785 dollars to sperm donors

China's hospitals are offering sperm donors about 5,000 yuan ($785.05) to meet the demand of infertile couples. Female egg donors are paid three to four times more since egg extraction is a complicated process, a source said. Major hospitals make it mandatory for donors to visit the sperm centre about 10 times, and the hospital will have the right to impregnate up to five women with the sperm. The Jiangsu Provincial recently announced it was raising the price from 4,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan per donor. Donors must sign a contract saying they would not go to any other sperm bank. The idea is to enable one institution to track an individual and avoid the possibility of incest, in case future descendants of a particular donor marry or have a sexual relationship. In India, hospitals pay sperm donors about Rs 300 to Rs 500. Culled from TIME OF INDIA