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Coloring Books For Children

2007-08-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

I was at the book store and found some interesting coloring book for children. It's not a classic coloring books where to color Donald Duck, Garfield or many other cartoons characters. Take a look if you have time, it's very interesting.

Peter F. Copeland's masterpiece of coloring bliss, Uniforms of the American Revolution. You never forget your first, and this was mine. I didn't get it because a couple pages had been defiled by a scribbler, but it sure brought back memories.

My own kids love character-based coloring books, like Rainbow Brite and Elmo. I've tried once or twice to get them into a Dover book, but they just aren't their thing.

So I went looking for other coloring books, and I found some cool ones. Check some of these out:

10 The George W. Bush Coloring Book.

Ha. Ha-ha. The artwork isn't all that skilled, but what the artist lacks in talent, she makes up for in hilarity.

9 The Cthulhu Coloring Book

I came across this one pretty randomly, and it's by a dude named Marc A Damicis.It appears to be self-published, but for Lovecraft fans, this might be a good addition to your wacky Cthulhu collection. ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! In other words, he also has a rainy-day activity book.

8 Militia Movements and Guerrilla Warfare Coloring Book.

The cover and description alone make me want to buy this:

This little zine-style coloring book provides images, info, and ideas about militias and guerilla movements through history. Bits on the Minutemen, Al-Qaeda, the Zapatistas, the Ku Klux Klan, the Black Panther Party, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Knights Templar, and more. Includes coloring instructions for each. Actual info in an entertaining format.

Art by Bwana Spoons.

7 The Law and Order Coloring Book

The show ain't what it used to be, but you can relive its glory days with this limited-edition masterwork by artist Brandon Bird. Link.

6 The Pat Robertson (and Friends) Coloring Book.

Everyone's favorite Evangelical from the 700 Club has his own book. There are two versions available. A traditional coloring book and one where 46 artists have already colored it in for you.

5 The #&@*! Coloring Book.

By Krystine Kryttre. Uh, I don't know wtf this book is about. But some of the sample pages freak me out.

Awesome.

4 The Gangsta Rap Coloring Book.

Contains images of famous and underground gangsta rappers.

The media has been trembling in their shoes over this one lately. Here is an article where they go off on how the world will explode of this book continues to be sold.

3 Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Coloring Book.

Unfortunately this one is no longer in print. But as a half Jew that has no problem with firearms, I'm all for it and I fully support the mission of Brasco The Liberty Bear and his quest to make patriots of all children.

2 Girls are Not Chicks! Coloring Book

Put together by a pair of broads who probably haven't ironed my shirt yet.

They also have another coloring book showing men doing girly jobs and girls doing manly jobs.

1 The C#nt Coloring Book.

Speaking of feminists.

I'm tempted to buy this one, but for my own amusement. (NSFW)

Microsoft Copy Protection Cracked Again

2007-07-17T04:29:00.000-07:00

The latest version of the FairUse4M program, which can crack Microsoft’s digital rights management system for Windows Media audio and video files, was published online late Friday. In the past year, Microsoft plugged holes exploited by two earlier versions of the program and filed a federal lawsuit against its anonymous authors. Microsoft dropped the lawsuit after failing to identify them.

The third version of FairUse4M has a simple drag-and-drop interface. PC users can turn the protected music files they bought online _ either a la carte or as part of a subscription service like Napster _ and turn them into DRM-free tunes that can be copied and shared at will, or turned into MP3 files that can play on any type of digital music player.

"We knew at the start that no digital rights management technology is going to be impervious to circumvention," said Jonathan Usher, a director in Microsoft’s consumer media technology group, in a phone interview.

Usher said Microsoft employs a full-time team to combat such breaches, and that the Windows Media DRM system was designed to be quickly modified to shut down this type of attack.

He did not say how many songs have been stripped of copy protection, or how long it will take for Microsoft to combat the hack again. But the music industry is aware of the nature of Microsoft’s technology, he said, and added that he does not expect record labels to lose patience with the process.

The Recording Industry Association of America, a trade group, declined to comment.

While Usher said Microsoft will remain committed to copy protection, attitudes around the industry are starting to shift.

Apple Inc. has modified its own online store, iTunes, to block similar efforts to break its FairPlay copy protection scheme. But Apple’s chief, Steve Jobs, started calling for an end to digital music-locking earlier this year.

"There are many smart people in the world, some with a lot of time on their hands, who love to discover such secrets and publish a way for everyone to get free (and stolen) music," Jobs wrote in an online essay in February. "They are often successful in doing just that, so any company trying to protect content using a DRM must frequently update it with new and harder to discover secrets. It is a cat-and-mouse game."

Apple’s iTunes store started selling DRM-free music from EMI Group PLC’s catalog in May. The same month, Web retailer Amazon.com Inc. said its much-anticipated digital music store will sell tracks in the unprotected MP3 format.

Josh Bernoff, an industry analyst at research group Gartner Inc., said he expects music DRM to fade out in the next couple of years as record companies begin to realize selling unprotected tracks online won’t hurt sales. After all, Bernoff said, the same tracks are already circulating unprotected, copied from CDs and on file-sharing networks.

New richest man?

2007-07-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the richest person on the planet, the Mexican financial website Sentido Comun reported.
Sentido Comun said the Mexican billionaire's wealth had rocketed past Gates following the red-hot performance of his telecommunications firm, America Movil.

US-based Forbes magazine, renowned for its rankings of the world's wealthiest individuals, updated its listings in April to rank Slim as the second richest individual in the world, as he bested the legendary US investor Warren Buffett.

The Mexican financial website said Slim's lead over Gates amounted to billions of dollars.

"Thanks to a 26.5-percent rise in the shares of America Movil during the second quarter, Slim, who controls a 33-percent interest in Latin America's largest mobile phone company, is substantially richer than Gates," Sentido Comun said.

"The difference between their two fortunes is around nine billion dollars in favor of Slim," the financial website claimed.

It said it had based its calculations largely on the share price movements of companies controlled by Slim.

The website said soaring performances from Slim's other business interests had also helped propel him past Gates.

Aside from America Movil, Slim controls the INBURSA financial group and the Grupo Carso industrial firm with interests spanning retail stores, coffee shops and restaurants.

One reason for Slim's meteoric rise might be because he is also still working.

Gates stepped aside as Microsoft chief in 2000 to devote his energies to the philanthropic foundation he runs with his wife, Melinda.

Forbes in April had pegged Slim's wealth at a staggering 53.1 billion dollars, and said Gates was sitting on a 56-billion-dollar fortune.

Slim, the son of Lebanese immigrants, has had business in his blood from his early days when he helped out in his father's shop, "The Star of the Orient."

The 67-year-old started out in real estate and was already affluent enough when he graduated from university with an engineering degree to buy stakes in a stock brokerage and a bottling firm.

During the crippling Latin American economic crisis of the early 1980s, Slim snapped up and reformed a number of distressed businesses, banking massive profits for Grupo Carso.

Carso gained its name from the first three letters of Slim's name and the first two of his late wife's, Soumaya Gemayel.

Analysts say one of Slim's smartest and most lucrative deals occurred when he took control of Telefonos de Mexico (Telemex) in 1990 as the then government moved to privatize the sprawling monopoly.

Slim oversaw a 1.8-billion-dollar investment to take over Telemex, but he then overhauled the company and expanded its service as the telecom firm became the star of the Mexican stock exchange and more than returned Slim's initial investment.

The Mexican billionaire has also made some savvy stock picks.

In 1997, he bought about three percent of Apple Computer at 17 dollars a share shortly before the company launched its hit iMac computer. Twelve months later, Apple's shares topped 100 dollars.

Despite his vast riches, Slim reportedly shuns corporate jets and flashy offices and sported a plastic watch during the 1990s.

Widowed in 1999, Slim has boosted his philanthropic presence and overseen his three sons' careers within his business empire.

Like Gates, he has developed a strong profile on the philanthropic front.

Earlier this month he allied himself with the foundation of former US president Bill Clinton and with Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra to launch an anti-poverty campaign in Latin America.

Fifty-three percent of Mexico's population of 104 million live in poverty, which is defined as living on less than two dollars a day, World Bank data show.

Russia Says To Respond If U.S Snubs Missile Offer

2007-07-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

Russia will take steps to ensure its security if Washington rebuffs its offer of cooperation on missile defense, local media quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying on Wednesday.

"If our proposals are not accepted -- and I cannot rule that out -- Russia will continue to persistently and patiently explain its position on this issue," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Ivanov as saying.

"But at the same time, we will take adequate measures to ensure security, we are already taking these measures, an asymmetrical and effective response has been found." Ivanov did not say what that response involved.

At a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed an expanded plan for missile defense cooperation that would involve Russia and NATO sharing data about missile launches from "rogue states."

Putin said his proposal would remove the need for the United States to proceed with its plan to locate elements of a planned missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Washington says the shield is needed to protect from possible missile attacks from states such as North Korea and Iran. Moscow has argued the shield is a threat to its own national security.

Bush said he would study the Russian proposals, calling them "very innovative." But he insisted the anti-missile system must still be based in eastern Europe.

Ivanov is in overall charge of Russia's defense sector and many analysts believe he one of the leading candidates to become the country's next president.

War Fugitive Ratko Mladic Is In Serbia: U.N. Prosecutor

2007-07-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

Fugitive former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic is in Serbia and should be arrested by the end of the year, chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte said on Tuesday.

She said Mladic, wanted on genocide charges over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of about 8,000 Muslims, was probably moving around more than in the past because the recently appointed Serbian government is seriously trying to arrest him.

"Mladic is in Serbia because all the indications we have from the authorities, also in Serbia, are that he's there," she told a news conference at the European Policy Centre after talks with EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.

Mladic was avoiding using mobile or fixed telephones after fugitive former Croatian general Ante Gotovina was located in the Canary Islands in 2005 after a cell phone call with his wife was intercepted by Croatian security services, she said.

That evidence, presented to her by Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, enabled the prosecutor to give the European Union the green light to open membership talks with Croatia.

Del Ponte repeated her plea to the EU not to sign an agreement on close relations with Serbia, currently under negotiation, before Mladic was handed over to the Hague International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

She confirmed that she had agreed to stay on an extra three months until the end of this year, partly in the hopes of bringing the four remaining indicted fugitives to justice before her term expires.

She said she had no current information on the whereabouts of former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and was concentrating for the moment on bringing in Mladic.

"I don't know where Karadzic is. Since months we have received no information. Last year we received some information that he was in a monastery in Montenegro," she said.

"We will get him because we are not forgetting him."

Former Bosnian Serb General Zdravko Tolimir refused to enter a plea at the Hague tribunal on genocide charges on Tuesday and demanded an inquiry into the circumstances of his arrest, saying he had been illegally kidnapped and transferred from Serbia to Bosnia.

U.K. Plots May Be Blueprint

2007-07-04T04:21:00.000-07:00

Some of the eight people held over last week's failed terror plots in England and Scotland had previously come to the attention of British security agencies, according to media reports.

The MI5 intelligence material failed to alert authorities to the planned attacks in London and Glasgow but helped police arrest suspects quickly, the Press Association said Wednesday, quoting unidentified government sources.

"It appears that there are some linkages which refer to some of the individuals that have been detained," PA quoted one source as saying.

"As a result of these linkages we have been able to assist the police in their investigations and to help speed up some of the investigations."

There was no indication why any of the suspects were on the intelligence agency's database, which is said to contain 2,000 names.

The Daily Telegraph also reported that at least one suspect was on a Home Office watch list, so his or her travel in and out of Britain would have been monitored. Six people were still being questioned on Wednesday at a London police station. A seventh man remains critically ill with severe burns in a Glasgow hospital and an eighth, Dr. Mohammed Haneef, 27, is being questioned in Brisbane, Australia.

Most those held are reported to be linked to Britain's National Health Service as doctors or trainee doctors while the only woman arrested is a trained laboratory technician. Two men who sparked a terrorism alert in Blackburn were discounted from the inquiry after evidence of a cannabis factory was allegedly found.

U.S. officials said at least some of the suspects were recruited by al Qaeda while they were living in the Middle East.

Al Qaeda has been trying to recruit people who can travel easily to the United States and Europe and assimilate into society without causing suspicion, according to law enforcement officials.

Counterterrorism officials told CNN they believe the plots in Britain may be a blueprint for al Qaeda attacks on the United States. But, the officials say, the degree of what might be in the works and timing of any potential attack remain unknown.

"Some wonder why they just don't do vehicle bombs here. It would certainly cause panic and terror, and soft targets do exist here in abundance. But I continue to think they don't want to waste their shot here on something that isn't fairly spectacular," one counterterrorism official said.

"There's a strong conviction we are vulnerable here," another official said. "They are planning and trying to put something together, and given that these are people who play by no rules, are willing to die -- it doesn't matter how much we harden targets, they will still find some way to get through."

"The next attack here is likely to focus on some sort of infrastructure," a third counterterrorism official said. It was unclear if those two were in police custody.

Counterterrorism officials note doctors' expertise in biology and chemistry and have access to radiological material such as medical isotopes, could be used in terrorist acts.

According to officials, there has been long-standing concern that Iraq is a breeding ground for a new generation of terrorists who have been testing tactics of urban warfare, which can then be used in Western nations. Terrorism analyst Marco Vicenzino, the director of the Global Strategy Project, says the world could be seeing a shift in jihadist tactics.

Confident after wounding the United States and its allies in Iraq, jihadists "are determined to take their combat experience directly to the superpower and its allies at home and around the world," Vicenzino said.

Kidnapped BBC Reporter Freed In Gaza

2007-07-04T03:33:00.000-07:00

British Broadcasting Corp. reporter Alan Johnston was freed Wednesday after being held in solitary confinement by Palestinian gunmen for four months in the Gaza Strip, an experience he said was "like being buried alive."

Gaza's Hamas rulers said Johnston's release marked the beginning of a new era of law and order in the lawless coastal strip, but also acknowledged they would not disarm Johnston's al-Qaida-inspired kidnappers, who call themselves the Army of Islam and have close ties to one of Gaza's most powerful clans.

Hamas also said Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, kidnapped by Hamas-allied militants last year, could be freed next, provided Israel frees hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Israel, however, has balked at such demands.

At a news conference with Hamas officials, Johnston — who was held in captivity far longer than any other foreigner kidnapped in Gaza — described his experience as "occasionally terrifying."

"The last 16 weeks, of course, were just the very worst you can imagine of my life, like being buried alive, really, removed from the world," he said.

Headed by a man known as Abu Khaled, he said, his kidnappers were "often rude and unpleasant." They kept him chained and in solitary confinement for 16 weeks and "did threaten my life a number of times in various ways," Johnston said.

Johnston described his captors as a small "jihadi" group focused less on the Palestinian conflict with Israel than on "getting a knife into Britain in some way," he said. In exchange for Johnston, the Army of Islam had originally demanded that Britain free a radical Islamic cleric with ties to al-Qaida.

A native of Scotland who covered Gaza for three years, Johnston was snatched from a Gaza City street by gunmen on March 12.

Hamas had demanded Johnston's freedom since it violently seized control of Gaza last month, apparently hoping to curry favor with Western countries that have unanimously condemned the takeover.

After his release, Johnston was surrounded by armed Hamas security men and hustled to a press conference with Ismail Haniyeh, the former Palestinian prime minister who now heads the Hamas regime in Gaza. Haniyeh draped a Palestinian flag around Johnston's shoulders — which he quickly removed — and pinned a Palestinian flag pin on his blue blazer.

Haniyeh would not disclose details of the deal that led to the reporter's release.

But on Monday, Hamas snatched the Army of Islam's spokesman, possibly as a bargaining chip, and then released him on Tuesday. Hamas also said Tuesday there would be no crackdown on the group, which is dominated by the powerful, heavily armed Doghmush clan.

Shortly after his release, Johnston told the BBC in a telephone interview that it was "indescribably good to be out."

"It is just the most fantastic thing to be free," he said. He said he had feared hours before his release that his captors would kill him if Hamas stormed their hideout.

"I thought there was a chance that they might really kill me, that they might not let Hamas get what they came for," Johnston told the BBC.

After a breakfast of beans and falafel with Haniyeh, Johnston set out for Jerusalem in the company of British diplomats, arriving at Britain's Jerusalem consulate later in the morning and waving to a crowd of reporters waiting outside. The BBC's Jerusalem bureau was decorated with colorful balloons, and bottles of champagne were open on the newsdesk.

At the consulate, Simon Wilson, the BBC's Jerusalem bureau chief, said Johnston was "in extraordinarily good shape, but we mustn't underestimate what may happen in the next few days," adding that the reporter had been through a "very stressful situation."

Johnston had no plans to leave for Britain on Wednesday, Wilson said. A press conference was planned later in the day.

After his release in Gaza, Johnston recounted for reporters how he was chained up for 24 hours at one point, moved twice during his captivity and beaten "a bit" in the last half hour before he was released.

After getting sick because of the food early in his captivity, he said, he was given a simple diet of bread, cheese and eggs. After the first month, he was confined to an apartment where the shutters were always drawn.

"It's been basically three months since I saw the sun," he told BBC TV.

Johnston praised Hamas for winning his freedom. "If it hadn't been for that real serious Hamas pressure, that commitment to tidying up Gaza's many, many security problems, then I might have been in that room for a lot longer," he told the news conference.

Asked if he would return to Gaza, Johnston told Al-Jazeera satellite news, "After many months of kidnapping, I think I need a break."

Last week, the Army of Islam posted a video message from Johnston on an Islamic militant web site wearing an explosives belt that he said would be detonated if there were an attempt to free him. That was the second sign of life from Johnston during his captivity, the first being a brief videotape in early June.

In a statement Wednesday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Johnston's release "will come as a great relief to his family and friends and all those who have worked to see him freed."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hailed Johnston's release, calling him "the Palestinian people's friend." Abbas said militias like the Army of Islam "destroy the authority of law and create a chaotic situation" and must be dismantled.

An Abbas aide, Yasser Abed Rabbo, alleged Wednesday that Hamas and the Army of Islam were allies who coordinated the reporter's kidnapping and release. "I think that this was staged by Hamas to appear as if it respects international law," Abed Rabbo said.

Abbas disbanded Haniyeh's government after Hamas' Gaza takeover and set up an emergency Cabinet in the West Bank. Hamas has not recognized that government's authority, and parallel Palestinian governments have in effect been operating in the West Bank and Gaza since mid-June.

The Abbas government has been backed by the West, while Hamas — sworn to Israel's destruction and considered a terror group by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union — remains internationally isolated.

Following Johnston's release, Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad called for renewed dialogue with Abbas "so that we can return to a normal situation."

Ahmed Yousef, an aide to Haniyeh, told Sky News that Johnston's release proved Hamas can establish law and order. "Gaza is safe, Gaza is clean, Gaza is green," Yousef said, the color a reference to Hamas' flag.

The Army of Islam, whose formerly close relations with Hamas soured earlier this year, was one of three Hamas-allied groups that captured Shalit, the Israelis soldier, more than a year ago.

At the news conference with Johnston, Haniyeh said Hamas was interested in ending Shalit's captivity through an "honorable" prisoner exchange deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert congratulated Johnston on his release, saying in a statement that Israel "joins in the happiness of his family and all of Britain." Olmert also demanded Shalit's immediate release.

More London Bombings On Way, Warns Muslim

2007-07-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

JERUSALEM – The thwarted car bombings in London last week and the terror attack against Scotland's busiest airport were "completely justified" and likely the beginning of many more attacks in Britain, a prominent UK Islamist leader connected to terror supporting groups told WND yesterday.

"There is no doubt whatsoever that there will continue to be attacks against the British government, its interests and the home front as long as we see the continued British and American occupation of Muslim land in Iraq and Afghanistan, support for criminal Israel, and draconian measures taken against Muslims in the UK," said Anjem Choudary, founder and former chief of two Islamic groups disbanded by the British authorities under antiterror legislation.

"A war is being waged against Muslims on every level. There are many in Britain who take their ideology from Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida and are ready to carry out many more attacks," Choudary said.

Choudary said the attempted terror attacks the past few days were "probably carried out by local British Muslims."

Choudary currently presents himself as an Islamic lecturer and a leader of Britain's Shariah Islamic court. He is a founder and former chief of Al Muhajiroun, a British group that sought to impose an Islamic state on the UK and that was allied with the goals of al-Qaida.

Al Muhajiroun, officially disbanded by the British government citing antiterrorism laws in 2004, and its main leader, Omar Bakri Muhammad, were banned from the UK in 2005. Choudary then became a leader of Al Ghurabaa, which was reportedly a continuation of Al Muhajiroun. Al Ghurabaa was banned in 2006 by the UK for reportedly supporting terrorism.

Former Al Muhajiroun members led by Choudary reportedly continue their activism at public protests and on Internet forums under a new banner group called Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah.

Choudary last weekend led a protest outside London's Central Mosque attended by WND and Talk Radio Network's "The Rusty Humphries Show." The protest called for the downfall of the British government for offering knighthood to novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie, who was accused by Muslims of defaming Islam and Muhammad in his 1988 book "The Satanic Verses."

Depictions of British flags were burned at Choudary's protest. Ralliers chanted, "Down with Britain, down with the Queen."

Choudary told WND the perpetuators of the attempted terror attacks in London the past few days "have their own justifications for carrying out their plans."

"Muslims in Britain are under siege. There has been unjustified internment, innocent Muslims are in prison, extradition laws have been applied for made up crimes, individuals are arbitrarily arrested. ... Don't be surprised when Muslims fight back," he said.

British police said they arrested five people yesterday in conjunction with the airport attack carried out by two men driving a fuel-filled Jeep rammed into Scotland's busiest airport. Police called the incident a terrorist attack linked to failed car bombings in London last week. The two men in the Jeep, who witnesses described as Asians, were immediately taken into custody. According to reports, one of them men was wearing an explosive device around his waist, said to be a suicide-bomb belt.

The airport attack came barely 36 hours after police thwarted what is being described to the media by security officials as a possible al-Qaida plot in London in which two cars loaded with fuel, gas canisters and nails were left in the center of the city poised to detonate.

Newly installed British Prime Minister Gordon Brown addressed his nation yesterday, stating Britons must realize the terrorist threat their country faces is long-term and sustained and that they must remain constantly vigilant about security.

The British Home Office raised the national security alert level to "critical," the highest ranking and one which indicates further attacks are expected imminently.

"I want all British people to be vigilant and want them to support the police and all the authorities. ... I know the British people will stand together united, resolute and strong," Brown said.

The last terror attack in Britain took place in July 2005, when four British Islamists blew themselves up on London's transport system, killing 52 commuters.

Doctors Focus Of UK terror probe (latest news)

2007-07-03T05:58:00.000-07:00

With the UK still at a critical state of alert, heightened security measures were in place at London's Heathrow Airport on Tuesday following the discovery of a suspicious bag. Police said they had carried out controlled explosions in London and Glasgow.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told CNN the 27-year-old Indian national, identified in British media reports as Dr. Mohammed Haneef, had been detained at an airport in Brisbane, Queensland, "in the context" of the British investigation.

"We are assisting the British rather than this being a standalone inquiry," said Downer.

At a Tuesday news conference, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the man was working in the country under a temporary visa.

"He was sponsored by the Queensland Health Department," Howard said. "He was working as a registrar at the Gold Coast Hospital."

Haneef had previously worked at a Liverpool hospital where another doctor who was taken into police custody late Saturday was employed, according to hospital and police officials.

A second doctor in Australia was being questioned, but had not been detained in police custody, according to Queensland Premier Peter Beattie.

Australian police were executing search warrants at locations in the Brisbane area, including at the Gold Coast Hospital in Southport, Queensland, where the man worked as a doctor, according to Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock.

Beattie said both doctors were recruited from Liverpool last year, through an ad in the British Medical Journal, to work in Australia.

The doctor who was in custody was considered a good employee in the emergency department and was "regarded as a model citizen, excellent references," Beattie said.

Travelers at Heathrow were warned to expect delays as authorities introduced measures including "secondary searches" of departing passengers in response to the discovery of the suspicious bag at the airport's Terminal 4.

"Contingency plans have now been activated to ensure that we are able to effectively manage the increase in resource that this secondary search requires," the British Aviation Authoritysaid in a statement. "We are working with the police to bring a swift resolution to the incident."

Also in west London, British Transport Police detonated a suspect package outside Hammersmith underground station.

In Scotland, a bomb disposal unit carried out a controlled explosion on a suspicious car parked outside a mosque in Glasgow, where two men rammed an explosives-laden SUV into the city's airport terminal building on Saturday.

Authorities said they had no "specific information" linking the vehicle to the weekend's attacks, but the detonation followed a series of similar controlled explosions Sunday and Monday at a hospital where one of the suspects in Saturday's attack is being treated for severe burns.

Seven people are in custody in the UK, including the two men believed to have both carried out the attempted bombing in Glasgow and been linked to two car bombs parked in central London on Friday.

Sources said one of the two suspects behind the Glasgow attack worked as a doctor at the local Royal Alexandra Hospital, although it is not clear which one.

Authorities have identified an Iraqi doctor, named in media reports as Bilal Abdulla, 27, as one of two men allegedly involved in the airport attack.In addition to Abdulla, police also arrested Dr. Mohammed Asha, a Jordanian-educated physician who moved to England two years ago, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

Asha, 26, was picked up late Saturday on a motorway in the Cheshire area of northern England, a source said. Police said he was arrested with a 27-year-old woman, identified by Asha's family as his wife.

Asha's house in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, has been searched since his arrest Saturday night. Neighbors there told CNN that another doctor was also part of the investigation.

Police had sealed the home of the unnamed doctor and his wife, which is about two miles from Asha's home in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Forensic teams were searching the house, where the doctor and his wife had lived for about a year, neighbors said. Police would not confirm any details about their search.t was unclear if the doctor and his wife were in police custody.

In Amman, Jordan, Asha's older brother Ahmed Asha told CNN that his family was distraught and had not heard anything from the British Embassy or from London.

Asha was not a religious person and had been in the top of his medical class, focusing on neurosurgery, his brother said.

The family was especially worried about Asha's two-year-old son, who was born in Britain shortly after the couple moved there. The family does not know who is taking care of the boy since both parents have been arrested, the brother said.

The government said on Monday that police had searched at least 19 locations for evidence. Seven suspects had been detained in Britain, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told the House of Commons.

Police were tracking the two men suspected in the Glasgow attack even before it occurred, sources said.

It is believed that the two suspects shared a rental house in the village of Houston -- about two miles from Glasgow's airport. Police searching the house would not provide any details about who lived there or why it was part of the investigation.

Bill Clinton hits the campaign trail for Hillary

2007-07-03T03:56:00.000-07:00

"I would be here tonight, if she asked me, if we weren't married," he told an enthusiastic crowd of about 3,000 in Iowa, the state that kicks off the 2008 presidential race in less than seven months.

"She is by a long stretch the best qualified nonincumbent I have ever had a chance to vote for president," he said, noting 2008 would be his 40th year as a voter.

The appearance at a rally on the Iowa state fairgrounds was the public campaign unveiling for the political power couple. Bill Clinton had limited his previous campaign help to behind-the-scenes advice and joint appearances at closed fund-raising events.

He said her community organizing and anti-poverty and civil rights work before they were married, and her efforts to build schools and improve education in Arkansas when he was governor there, were signs of her ability and commitment.

He also mentioned her failed initiative as first lady on health care. "I think that's a good thing, not a bad thing," he said.

After her husband's effusive introduction, Hillary Clinton cracked a joke. "If I was as smart as Bill seems to suggest I am, I would say nothing," she said.

While the New York senator has led the Democratic presidential field in national opinion polls all year, she trails rival John Edwards in Iowa polls.

She also was rocked on Sunday by news that top rival Barack Obama had raised more than $30 million in the second quarter for the Democratic primary battle -- about $10 million more than Clinton expects to report.

Dracula's Castle' for sale

2007-07-03T02:46:00.001-07:00

The medieval Bran Castle, perched on a cliff near Brasov in mountainous central Romania, is a top tourist attraction because of its ties to Prince Vlad the Impaler, the warlord whose cruelty inspired Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, "Dracula."

Legend has it that the ruthless Vlad — who earned his nickname because of the way he tortured his enemies — spent one night in the 1400s at the castle.

The Habsburgs formally put the Bran Castle on the market Monday, a U.S.-based investment company said. No selling price was announced.

Bran Castle was built in the 14th century to serve as a fortress to protect against the invading Ottoman Turks. The royal family moved into the castle in the 1920s, living there until the communist regime confiscated it from Princess Ileana in 1948.

After being restored in the late 1980s and following the end of communist rule in Romania, it gained popularity as a tourist attraction known as "Dracula's Castle."

In May 2006, the castle was returned to Princess Ileana's son, New York architect Archduke Dominic Habsburg. He pledged to keep it open as a museum until 2009.

Habsburg, 69, offered to sell the castle last year to local authorities for $80 million, but the offer was rejected.

On Monday, he put the castle up for sale "to the right purchaser under the right circumstances," said Michael Gardner, chief executive of Baytree Capital, the company representing Habsburg. "The Habsburgs are not in the business of managing a museum."

He predicted the castle would sell for more than $135 million but added that Habsburg will only sell it to a buyer "who will treat the property and its history with appropriate respect."

Habsburg said in a statement: "Aside from the castle's connection to one of the most famous novels ever written, Bran Castle is steeped in critical events of European history dating from the 14th century to the present."

According to a contract signed when the castle was returned, the government pays rent to Habsburg to run the castle as a museum for three years, charging admission. After 2009, Habsburg will have full control of the castle, Gardner said.

The government has priority as a buyer if it can match the best offer for the castle, he said.

Opposition lawmakers have claimed the government's decision to return the castle to Habsburg was illegal because of procedural errors.

In recent years, the castle — complete with occasional glimpses of bats flying around its ramparts at twilight — has attracted filmmakers looking for a dramatic backdrop for films about Dracula and other horror movies.

Some 450,000 people visit the castle every year, Gardner said.

Medical workers the focus of U.K. plot

2007-07-03T01:37:00.000-07:00

The controlled explosion was carried out early Tuesday morning on a suspicious car parked outside the Forth Street Mosque in Glasgow, the city were two men attempted to set off a car bomb at the airport on Saturday. Police said there was no indication that the mosque had any connection to the bombing attempt in Glasgow, or to two cars packed with gasoline and gas canisters discovered in London on Friday.

British police confirmed a Palestinian doctor and Iraqi physician were among those held, while Australian officials said an Indian doctor working there had been detained. British media outlets reported that another Indian doctor was arrested in England.

Australian authorities said they arrested the suspect there while he was at the airport in the eastern city of Brisbane.

"The first person taken into custody is an Indian national who came to Australia sponsored by the Queensland (state) health department," Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters.

Howard said that a second doctor was being interviewed.

A British security official said Monday that Pakistan and several other nations were asked to check possible links with the suspects. British-born terrorists behind the bloody 2005 London transit bombings and others in thwarted plots here were linked to terror training camps and foreign radicals in Pakistan.

Authorities said police searched at least 19 locations as part of the "fast-moving investigation," which has come at a time of already high vigilance before the anniversary of the suicide bombings in London that killed 52 people on July 7, 2005.

In the latest attacks, two car bombs failed to explode in central London on Friday and two men rammed a Jeep Cherokee loaded with gas cylinders into the entrance of Glasgow International Airport and then set it on fire Saturday. No bystanders were hurt.

The British government security official said investigators were working on one theory that the same people may have driven the explosives-laden cars into London and the blazing SUV in Glasgow.

The unidentified driver of the Jeep was being treated for serious burns at Royal Alexandra Hospital in Glasgow, where he was under arrest. Bomb experts carried out a second controlled explosion on a car at the hospital Monday, after a similar blast Sunday. Police said the car was linked to the investigation, but no explosives had been found.

Authorities identified Bilal Abdulla, an Iraqi doctor who worked at the Glasgow hospital, as the other man arrested at the airport.

According to the British General Medical Council's register, a man named Bilal Talal Abdul Samad Abdulla was registered in 2004 and trained in Baghdad. Staff at the Glasgow hospital said Abdulla was a diabetes specialist.

A man arrested late Saturday on a highway in central England was also a physician, Mohammed Jamil Abdelqader Asha, police said. A Jordanian official said Asha was of Palestinian descent and carried a Jordanian passport.

Britain's The Independent and The Muslim News newspapers reported that a man arrested in Liverpool late Saturday was a 26-year-old doctor from Bangalore, India, who worked at Halton Hospital in Cheshire, northern England. Police would not immediately comment on the reports.

The Muslim News also said the Indian doctor had used the car, cell phone and Internet account of a fellow physician who had moved from England to Australia around a year ago. It said police had asked friends of the Indian for details about the man who went to Australia.

18 year old girl offers her virginity for £10,000

2007-07-03T01:32:00.000-07:00

The British 18 year old used a false name to advertise herself on a website popular with prostitutes, with her parents having no idea of the bizarre way of getting cash for university.

The ad reads: "Virginity For Sale £10,000," she adds:

"Hey, I think the title says it all. I'm an 18-year-old virgin with student funds to pay and I'm looking to sell my first time right here. I'm brunette, 34C, green eyes, all in proportion and good looking."The young woman, who still lives with her parents, is one of thousands of students who are struggling to afford the £20,000 fees which cover tuition and accommodation.

She told a journalist: "For as long as I can remember I've wanted to keep my first time special and wait for the right guy. I'm not like other girls who want rid of it from the word go.

"I'm getting curious about myself and the opposite sex. I want to explore and I want someone to teach me.

"I've also found myself in a financial situation where I need to fundmy studies. I figured this could be killing two birds with one stone.

"I get lots of guys wanting to help me out with my 'problem' - some replies are really creepy. But I got so frustrated with the empty offers that I turned them down."

She explained: "I have to be careful, you could have been someone I know, even one of my teachers."

After we asked for proof of her age, she showed her provisional driving licence and joked: "I'm shocked you think I'm so young."

She explained she was due to start a four-year physics course at Salford University in September.

She admitted doing nothing more than holding hands with a guy - and didn't want to go to university a virgin.

"Why do you want a discount?"

Asked how she wanted to be paid, the greedy teen replied: "Cash would be perfect but what does £10,000 look like? I don't want to wander round with that much money in case I get robbed." But she got angry when our man asked if she was a prostitute and lying about losing her innocence.

"I don't know how to prove to you that I'm a virgin. You'll have to trust me."

Asked how she imagined how she'd lose her virginity, she said: "Maybe we can have a meal, relax, and go back to your hotel. I hope you don't feel offended, but do you mind wearing a condom? That's one thing I'm worried about."

After our man left, she bombarded him with texts saying: "I'm really excited. Why don't we meet at mine and stay till six? That way I'm not telling so many lies to my family."

But her mood changed when our reporter asked for a lower price. She said: "Why do you want a discount? No, seriously, it's got to be ten, that's what the deal was."

When The People asked about her plans to sell her virginity, Carys said: "I've been offered the money in cash and I'm going to do it this Thursday. Sorry I'm at work so I can't speak any more."

Denied Service For Using Her Feet, Woman Says

2007-07-02T13:07:00.001-07:00

In a lifetime of using her feet the way most people use their hands, Dawn Larson never felt as discriminated against as she did at McDonald's, she said.

Born with Holt-Oram Syndrome, Larson has diminutive hands about six inches from her shoulder.

That has never stopped her from leading a productive life.

"I drank my baby bottle with my feet. Nobody ever taught me how to do it, I just did it," Larson said. "I can ride a regular 10-speed bike. I can swim. It has not been a problem in my life at all. It didn't stop me from having four boys. I've never dropped one of them."

On Nov. 3, Larson pulled up to the speaker at a McDonald's in Rockford and ordered food for her and her boys totaling $23.59. She drove to the first window and passed them her credit card, gripped with the toes of her left foot. The cashier took the card, processed her payment and handed the card back to her.

According to a lawsuit Larson filed against the restaurant's owner last week in Winnebago County, when Larson pulled up to the second window to get her food, an employee said "with a tone of disgust and repulsion," "What's the matter with you? . . . You ain't got no arms. ... Let me see your arms," and drew back the bags of food from Larson's outstretched foot. After making more allegedly rude statements, the employee closed the window and went to consult a manager, the suit states.

The manager appeared at the window and likewise stared in disgust at Larson while her children watched from their seats in the car, the suit states. Larson suggested that they hand the bags to her son, who has one full-size arm. He reached over and took them.

Larson later called a manager at McDonald's to complain and was told "corrective action has been taken" against the employees, the suit says. McDonald's sent her $10 in gift certificates.

'Oh, no, I'm not doing this'
On Feb. 15, Larson went to a different McDonald's in Rockford and the same thing happened, she alleges. The employee at the first window was happy to take her card from her foot, but the employee at the second window threw up her hands and said, "Oh, no, I'm not doing this," and closed the window, the suit states.

The employee would not hand the bags to her son, either, the suit says. Larson asked her friend to enter the restaurant and get the food, and they would not give it to him. After several minutes, an employee came out and handed the food to the friend.

A company spokeswoman first told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Under no circumstance was this customer denied any service at any of our locations," then later e-mailed this statement from Larry Taylor, director of operations for McDonald's Restaurants of Illinois Inc., which owns the two restaurants:

"We care very much about our customers and take this allegation seriously. We do our very best to serve our customers with the utmost care and respect. We have a strict policy prohibiting any form of discrimination in our restaurants. We have not seen the lawsuit and, as such, it would be inappropriate to comment."

Larson's attorney, Laurel Wykes Smith, said the two incidents add up to a violation of her civil rights.

"I felt discriminated against, harassed, embarrassed," Larson said. "All I wanted was the food I had paid for with my money card. I just wanted to feed my kids."

Seven Suspects Detained Over British Bomb Plot

2007-07-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

British police arrested two more suspects in a hunt for members of a suspected al Qaeda cell which rammed a jeep packed with fuel into an airport and left two car bombs in London, police said on Monday.

Cars and other vehicles were banned from directly approaching airports and security measures were stepped up across the country as authorities kept the threat level at "critical", meaning the possibility of an attack is "imminent".

Government ministers said good progress was being made in the investigation and police sources said it was highly likely more suspects would be detained. The latest two arrests, made on Sunday night, took the number of people detained to seven.

Police said the two men, aged 25 and 28, were not believed to be of Scottish origin and were detained as a result of an "intensive police operation" in the Paisley area, which is west of Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city.

"This continues to be a fast-moving investigation," said Assistant Chief Constable John Malcolm of Strathcylde police in Scotland. "I would continue to urge people to be vigilant."

A British security source said it was premature to say whether all those arrested were foreigners. "That's still an area that's being looked at. That's far from certain, as to what nationalities the people are."

The attacks are a stiff test for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who last week replaced Tony Blair. In 2005, Britain was the first country in Western Europe to be hit by Islamist suicide bombers and since then several plots have been foiled.

Brown has said he believes those behind the botched attacks were associated with militant group al Qaeda.

Blair was known for an aggressive stance on security and a foreign policy which strongly supported the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq. The home-grown bombers who struck London transport two years ago, killing 52 commuters, said in videos they were punishing Britain for Blair's policies.

Home Secretary (interior minister) Jacqui Smith said Britain was facing a "serious and sustained threat of terrorism" and urged the public to remain on alert. Smith was due to make a statement to parliament on Monday afternoon.

FIREBALL

Police declined to identify any of the people under arrest. British newspapers said two were doctors -- one an Iranian who worked at North Staffordshire Hospital in central England. A spokeswoman at the hospital declined to comment.

On Saturday, police arrested the passenger and badly-burned driver of a Jeep Cherokee who had rammed the vehicle into the entrance of Glasgow's airport, causing a huge fireball.

The attack came 36 hours after police in London defused two Mercedes car bombs packed with fuel canisters, propane tanks and nails, parked in the heart of the capital's bustling theatre and nightclub district.

The other arrests included a 26-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman seized on a motorway in northern England on Saturday, and a 26-year-old man in Liverpool on Sunday.

A police spokesman said two of the suspects had been taken to London for questioning on Monday.

Police and ministers said protective security measures would be stepped up across Britain, particularly at transport hubs.

Dave Bryon, an aviation consultant and former director of British airline bmibaby, said attacks on airports posed a less controllable security threat than those targeting flights.

"When it's a landside incident you actually have very limited control, because not only have you got travelers, but you have people meeting and greeting, people dropping off ... and the taxi drivers and chauffeurs," he said.

Key To A Good Marriage? Share Housework.

2007-07-02T05:24:00.001-07:00

The Pew Research Center survey on marriage and parenting found that children had fallen to eighth out of nine on a list of factors that people associate with successful marriages — well behind "sharing household chores," "good housing," "adequate income," a "happy sexual relationship" and "faithfulness."

In a 1990 World Values Survey, children ranked third in importance among the same items, with 65 percent saying children were very important to a good marriage. Just 41 percent said so in the new Pew survey.

Chore-sharing was cited as very important by 62 percent of respondents, up from 47 percent in 1990.

The survey also found that, by a margin of nearly 3-to-1, Americans say the main purpose of marriage is the "mutual happiness and fulfillment" of adults rather than the "bearing and raising of children."

The survey's findings buttress concerns expressed by numerous scholars and family-policy experts, among them Barbara Dafoe Whitehead of Rutgers University's National Marriage Project.

"The popular culture is increasingly oriented to fulfilling the X-rated fantasies and desires of adults," she wrote in a recent report. "Child-rearing values — sacrifice, stability, dependability, maturity — seem stale and musty by comparison."

Virginia Rutter, a sociology professor at Framingham (Mass.) State College and board member of the Council on Contemporary Families, said the shifting views may be linked in part to America's relative lack of family-friendly workplace policies such as paid leave and subsidized child care.

"If we value families ... we need to change the circumstances they live in," she said, citing the challenges faced by young, two-earner couples as they ponder having children.

The Pew survey was conducted by telephone from mid-February through mid-March among a random, nationwide sample of 2,020 adults. Its margin of error is 3 percentage points.

Among the scores of questions in the survey, many touched on America's high rate of out-of-wedlock births and of cohabitation outside of marriage. The survey noted that 37 percent of U.S. births in 2005 were to unmarried women, up from 5 percent in 1960, and found that nearly half of all adults in their 30s and 40s had lived with a partner outside of marriage.

According to the survey, 71 percent of Americans say the growth in births to unwed mothers is a "big problem." About the same proportion — 69 percent — said a child needs both a mother and a father to grow up happily.

Breaking down the responses, the survey found some predictable patterns — Republicans and older people were more likely to give conservative answers that Democrats and younger adults. But the patterns in regard to race and ethnicity were more complex.

For example, census statistics show that blacks and Hispanic are more likely than whites to bear children out of wedlock. Yet according to the survey, these minority groups are more inclined than whites to place a high value on the importance of children to a successful marriage.

The survey found that more than 80 percent of white adults have been married, compared with about 70 percent of Hispanics and 54 percent of blacks. Yet blacks were more likely than whites and Hispanics to say that premarital sex is always or almost always morally wrong.

Among those who have ever been married, blacks (38 percent) and whites (34 percent) were more likely than Hispanics (23 percent) to have been divorced.

Delving into one of the nation's most divisive social issues, the survey found that 57 percent of public opposes allowing gays and lesbians to marry. However, opinion was almost evenly divided on support for civil unions that would give same-sex couples many of the same rights as married couples.

Asked about the trend of more same-sex couples raising children, 50 percent said this is bad for society, 11 percent said it is good, and 34 percent said it made little difference.

Key To A Good Marriage? Share Housework.

2007-07-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

Chore-sharing was cited as very important by 62 percent of respondents, up from 47 percent in 1990.

The survey's findings buttress concerns expressed by numerous scholars and family-policy experts, among them Barbara Dafoe Whitehead of Rutgers University's National Marriage Project.

"If we value families ... we need to change the circumstances they live in," she said, citing the challenges faced by young, two-earner couples as they ponder having children.

The Pew survey was conducted by telephone from mid-February through mid-March among a random, nationwide sample of 2,020 adults. Its margin of error is 3 percentage points.

Among those who have ever been married, blacks (38 percent) and whites (34 percent) were more likely than Hispanics (23 percent) to have been divorced.

Asked about the trend of more same-sex couples raising children, 50 percent said this is bad for society, 11 percent said it is good, and 34 percent said it made little difference.

Ten-million dollar club

2007-07-02T02:56:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest offseason free-agent spending sprees still wasn't enough to eat up much of the NFL's available salary-cap space. As a result, the league could be in for another significant rise in player salaries this year and next.

Fourteen of the NFL's 32 teams have not used at least $10 million of the $109-million salary cap, according to figures from the NFL Players Association. And of those 14, seven have at least $15 million in cap space.

TEAMS WITH $10M OR MORE OF CAP ROOM
1.	Cleveland	$22 million
2.	Buffalo	$21 million
3.	Minnesota	$20 million
4.	Jacksonville	$16.5 million
5.	Kansas City	$16.2 million
6.	Green Bay	$16 million
7.	Tennessee	$15.3 million
8.	Dallas	$13.8 million
9.	Oakland	$12.5 million
10.	Philadelphia	$11.5 million
11.	St. Louis	$11.5 million
12.	New Orleans	$11.2 million
13.	Seattle	$10.5 million
14.	N.Y. Jets	$10 million
– Source: NFLPA

That means contracts for average players will continue to rise as they did at the start of free agency this year when offensive linemen such as Derrick Dockery and Eric Steinbach received deals that averaged $7 million a year.

"There's no way to eat up all the money that's out there this year," said one agent. "Teams are going to do everything they can to sign their young guys to long-term deals, but it still isn't going to be enough. When teams start to roll over money to next year, it's going to be unreal what some guys are going to get."

The Cleveland Browns lead the league with $22 million in available cap space followed by the Buffalo Bills ($21 million) and Minnesota Vikings ($20 million). The Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers each have at least $16 million, followed closely by the Tennessee Titans with $15.3 million.

The New York Jets, who are in the middle of a contract dispute with guard Pete Kendall over a $1 million raise, rounded out the group with $10 million in space. The San Francisco 49ers, who already have locked up starting running back Frank Gore to a contract extension and spent heavily on free-agent cornerback Nate Clements, just missed the $10-million club at $9.8 million.

The New England Patriots, who are in difficult negotiations with cornerback Asante Samuel over a long-term deal, have $8.4 million in cap space. The Patriots could actually increase to more than $10 million free if they agree to a long-term deal with Samuel, who counts for $7.8 million against the cap this season after being franchised in February.

Although teams have to account for unsigned draft picks (no first- or second-round picks have signed), that won't have an overwhelming impact on cap space. The average rookie cap for each team is only $4.27 million this season.

Likewise, teams generally average about $4 million in incentives and other bonus payments earned during a season.

In other words, even if the Buffalo Bills use all of their rookie cap money and their players earn around $5 million in bonuses, they would still have more than $12 million in cap space remaining and could roll that into their 2008 allowance.

As one NFLPA executive said: "I'd say it's going to be another good year for players next year."

China's terracotta tomb site hides mystery building

2007-07-02T02:48:00.000-07:00

After five years of research, archaeologists have confirmed that a 30-meter-high building is buried in the vast mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang near the former capital, Xian, in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.

Duan Qingbo, a researcher with Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology, said the building might have been constructed for the soul of the emperor to depart.

Archaeologists have been using remote sensing technology since 2002 to study the internal structure of the unexcavated mausoleum.

They concluded that the building, buried above the main tomb, had four surrounding stair-like walls with nine steps each, Xinhua said.

Qinshihuang unified China in 221 BC.

The life-size terracotta army, buried in pits near the mausoleum to guard the emperor in the afterlife, was accidentally unearthed in 1974 by farmers who were digging a well.

Potential cure for HIV discovered

2007-07-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

The scientists engineered an enzyme which attacks the DNA of the HIV virus and cuts it out of the infected cell, according to the study published in Science magazine.

The enzyme is still far from being ready to use as a treatment, the authors warned, but it offers a glimmer of hope for the more than 40 million people infected worldwide.

"A customized enzyme that effectively excises integrated HIV-1 from infected cells in vitro might one day help to eradicate (the) virus from AIDS patients," Alan Engelman, of Harvard University's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, wrote in an article accompanying the study.

Current treatments focus on suppressing the HIV virus in order to delay the onset of AIDS and dramatically extend the life of infected patients.

What makes HIV so deadly, however, is its ability to insert itself into the body's cells and force those cells to produce new infection.

"Consequently the virus becomes inextricably linked to the host, making it virtually impossible to 'cure' AIDS patients of their HIV-1 infection," Engelman explained.

That could change if the enzyme developed by a group of German scientists can be made safe to use on people.

That enzyme was able to eliminate the HIV virus from infected human cells in about three months in the laboratory.

The researchers engineered an enzyme called Tre which removes the virus from the genome of infected cells by recognizing and then recombining the structure of the virus's DNA.

This ability to recognize HIV's DNA might one day help overcome one of the biggest obstacles to finding a cure: the ability of the HIV virus to avoid detection by reverting to a resting state within infected cells which then cease to produce the virus for months or even years.

"Numerous attempts have been made to activate these cells, with the hope that such strategies would sensitize the accompanying viruses to antiviral drugs, leading to virus eradication," Engelman wrote. "Advances with such approaches in patients have been slow to materialize."

New experiments must be designed to see if the Tre enzyme can be used to recognize these dormant infected cells, he wrote.

"Although favorable results would represent perhaps only a baby step toward eventual use in patients, the discovery of the Tre recombinase proves that enzymatic removal of integrated HIV-1 from human chromosomes is a current-day reality," he said.

The researchers who developed the enzyme were optimistic about their ability to design additional enzymes which would target other parts of the virus's DNA.

However they warned that there were significant barriers to overcome before the enzyme could be used to help cure patients.

"The most important, and likely most difficult, among these is that the enzyme would need efficient and safe means of delivery and would have to be able to function without adverse side effects," wrote lead author Indrani Sarkar of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden.

"Nevertheless the results we present offer an early proof of principal for this type of approach, which we speculate might form a useful basis for the development of future HIV therapies," Sarkar concluded.

Afghan Suicide Attack Hits NATO Troops

2007-07-01T03:25:00.000-07:00

Three British soldiers and three Afghan civilians were injured Gereshk mayor Dur Ali Shah told the BBC.

British forces in Helmand Province are checking details of the incident.

Mr Shah says about 45 civilians and 62 Taleban fighters were killed in bombardments by foreign forces, but they are questioning the number.

Air strikes were launched on Taleban fighters at the Gereshk village of Hyderabad on Friday night after they ambushed a joint convoy of US and Afghan government troops.

'Day of burials'

Spokesmen for both US-led forces and the European-led, mainly Nato force, Isaf, have questioned the number of civilian losses being given by Afghan officials.

A US spokesman, Chris Belcher, said he was aware that "remains of some people who apparently were civilians were found among insurgent fighters who were killed in firing positions in a trench line".

Isaf spokesman Maj John Thomas said the military had no information to corroborate such large numbers of dead and insisted Nato troops would not have fired on positions if they knew civilians were nearby.

Mohammad Khan, a resident of Hyderabad, said seven members of his family, including his brother and five of his brother's children, were killed by air strikes.

Speaking to the Associated Press by phone, he said villagers were burying a "lot of dead bodies" on Sunday.

Israel president sex case delayed

2007-07-01T03:17:00.000-07:00

Some 20,000 people rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday against the deal struck with Attorney General Menachem Mazuz.

Under the bargain, he was due to be charged with lesser sexual offences and faced a suspended sentence.

Now Mr Mazuz, who earlier said evidence of rape was not "sufficiently solid", has 24 hours to justify his decision.

Rape convictions in Israel carry a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.

Mr Katsav finally resigned as president on Sunday. Former Prime Minister Shimon Peres will replace him formally on 15 July.

Society 'sullied'

Michael Partem, vice-chairman of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel group, said the plea bargain had to be voided.

Mr Katsav has vigorously defended his reputation in the past

"Instead of prosecuting the president as an ordinary person and applying the rule of law equally, it goes easy on the president... it's been reduced to a slap on the wrist," he said.

Women's groups and victims of sex attacks led the protest against the attorney general's decision to drop rape charges against Mr Katsav.

"It's a deal that stains us all, we should not agree to let this sully our society," Education Minister Yuli Tamir told the crowd on Rabin Square.

Correspondents say the turnout for the rally was the highest in years for a women's rights protest in Israel.

There have long been complaints that the authorities do little to counter sexual harassment at work.