The government's advisers on medicine knew that patients were at risk of contracting Aids from imported blood products as early as 1983, but ruled against a ban because of fears it would cause a shortage of supply.
Minutes obtained by the Guardian of a meeting held on July 13 1983 reveal that the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) knew that "patients who repeatedly receive blood clotting-factor concentrates appear to be at risk" of Aids.
Chinese shares have fallen after former US Federal Reserve head Alan Greenspan said its stock market was overvalued and due for a "dramatic contraction".
His remarks had an impact on markets in the US, Europe and Asia, fanning already prevalent fears of a slowdown in China's booming economy.
Signs that Beijing was trying to rein in its startling growth earlier this year led to a temporary fall in shares.
John Reid faced growing anger as he signalled the Government was ready to declare that Britain faced an "emergency" over terrorism and opt out of human rights legislation.
As the recriminations flew over the disappearance of three radical Islamists who had been on control orders, he made clear his determination to bring in tougher curbs on terror suspects. The Home Secretary said that could mean "derogating" from the European Convention on Human Rights ... (more)
At some point in the not too distant future, a moth will take flight in the hills of northern Pakistan, and flap towards a suspected terrorist training camp.
But this will be no ordinary moth.
Inside it will be a computer chip that was implanted when the creature was still a pupa, in the cocoon, meaning that the moth’s entire nervous system can be controlled remotely.
The moth will thus be capable of landing in the camp without arousing suspicio... (more)
Households who do not recycle rubbish could have to pay more, under government plans to boost recycling.
Environment Secretary David Miliband wants much tougher targets for councils and businesses in England to reduce landfill waste and meet EU objectives.
He is expected to allow councils to vary charges according to the amount of non-recycled rubbish generated.
But the Tories said the proposals were an unfair "steal... (more)
“Americans now view the war in Iraq more negatively than at any time since the war began, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Six in 10 Americans surveyed say the United States should have stayed out of Iraq, and more than three in four say that things are going badly there — including nearly half who say things are going very badly, the pol... (more)
It is a place of Palestinian fury - and almost as much Palestinian blood. The bandage-swaddled children whimpering in pain, frowning at the strange, unfatherly doctors, the middle-aged woman staring at us with one eye, a set of tubes running into her gashed-open stomach, a series of bleak-faced, angry, young men, their bodies and legs torn apart.
There was eight-year Youssef al-Radi who was cut open by shrapnel in the arm and back yesterday morning and brought to the Palestinian S... (more)
SOMERSWORTH — Adding audio to the existing video surveillance equipment on school property and buses is under consideration by the School Board.
Two proposed policies discussed at the board's Tuesday meeting have been recommended by the New Hampshire School Boards Association and would give the Somersworth school district the audio option.
The addition would "ensure the health, welfare and safety of all staff, students and visitors t... (more)
Can you smell the putrid fumes of authoritarianism rising like smoke from burning trash, filling our senses with the toxins of despotism? Do you see these clouds of tyranny surpassing the morning horizon, their darkened haze making blind our eyes, deaf our ears and ignorant our minds? Can you hear the America of yesterday screaming in agonizing pain as the cancer of the authoritarian personality slowly devours her from within? If so, you are not alone, for e... (more)
"Americans are forever proclaiming our boastful aspersions to the world . . . that our government was based on the consent of the people," though in fact "it rests upon force, as much as any government that ever existed." : Letter from Robert E. Lee to E.G.W. Butler, Oct. 11, 1867
"[H]ad the Confederates somehow won, had their victory put them in position to bring their chief opponents before some sort of tribunal, they would have found themselves justified . . . in stringing up P... (more)
Among other gag-worthy characteristics, the new immigration billannounced last week is said to cost over 2 trillion (yes, it seems we have a couple of trillion to spare, according to the new,new math).
A country already mired in debt and credit needs to shell out 2 t... (more)
Israel is destroying any notion of a state of Palestine and is being allowed to imprison an entire nation. That is clear from the latest attacks on Gaza, whose suffering has become a metaphor for the tragedy imposed on the peoples of the Middle East and beyond. These attacks, reported on Britain's Channel 4 News, were "targeting key militants of Hamas" and the "Hamas infrastructure". The BBC described a "clash" between the same militants and Israeli F-16 aircraft.
“Hello police? I want to report a possible crime in the White House. Oh, it’s out of your jurisdiction? Whom can I call to report this? Nobody? Oh, this is America and there is no place to report crimes committed by the President.”
When a US president orders the CIA to interfere with the internal affairs of another nation, help fix foreign elections or instigate, support or conduct political coups by way of military takeovers or assassinations, is he breaking the... (more)
A 43-year-old man found dead in a Scottsdale apartment last week was a New York City firefighter who survived 9/11.
Salvatore J. Princiotta, 43, was found dead May 14 in his condominium near Raintree Drive and Thompson Peak Parkway.
A death notice published in Newsday on May 18 said Princiotta died "as a result of post 9/11 lung complications." But Scottsdale police on Tuesday said they are investigating the death as a homicide.
Farmers in southern Iraq have started to grow opium poppies in their fields for the first time, sparking fears that Iraq might become a serious drugs producer along the lines of Afghanistan.
Rice farmers along the Euphrates, to the west of the city of Diwaniya, south of Baghdad, have stopped cultivating rice, for which the area is famous, and are instead planting poppies, Iraqi sources familiar with the area have told The Indep... (more)
You would think that after after all the official and unofficial lies that came out of the Washington spin machine during the 2002-03 run-up to the war in Iraq, newspapers would be a little more skeptical about similarly unsupported, high-level but anonymous and bellicose allegations about Iran (or anyone else).And you would doubly think that about a newspaper that,... (more)
President George W. Bush has sparked much alarm by openly declaring himself to be a dictator in the event of a national emergency under new provisions that will effectively nullify the U.S. constitution, but such an infrastructure has been in place for over 70 years and this merely represents a re-authorization of the infrastructure of martial law.
New legislation signed on May 9, 2007, declares ... (more)
A 16-year-old Crystal Lake girl facing a felony hate crime charge alleging she and a friend distributed anti-homosexual fliers at her high school must remain locked up until her case goes to trial, a McHenry County judge ruled Tuesday.
Citing concerns over the girl’s home environment and her already lengthy juvenile record, Judge Michael Chmiel denied the girl’s request for home detention. Instead Chmiel ordered her held in the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center while... (more)
As everyone except for a dwindling band of Bush supporters now knows, the US is in a terrible situation in Iraq from which it cannot extract itself. For Bush and Cheney, their own pride and delusion are more compelling than US casualties, the destruction of Iraq and its people, and the inflaming of sectarian strife and anti-American violence throughout the Middle East.
Congress is complicit in the great strategic blunder. Repub... (more)
The number of innocent children placed on the Government's vast DNA database for life has quadrupled in the past year to more than 100,000, it has emerged.
The astonishing increase, which follows a controversial change to the law, was described by opposition MPs as an "extremely sinister development".
It will fuel concerns that police are targeting for arrest youngsters who have done nothing wrong, simply to get their hands on their DNA.
They sailed through the Strait of Hormuz by day - according to US Navy officials for training exercises. The vessels carry around 17,000 combat and marine personnel. They include the two aircraft carriers, USS Nimitz and USS Stennis, as well as the USS Bonhomme Richard LHD 6 Group, the world’s biggest amphibious strike force. Iran was not notified of the planned arrival.
DEBKAfile reports the maneuvers take place less than two weeks after Vice President Dick Cheney visited t... (more)
The city of Baltimore was on the verge of martial law this week as a proposal by a city council member to impose curfews, grant police extended search powers and shut down businesses was seriously considered in an effort to tackle violent crime.
Baltimore lawmakers have rejected a proposal to allow the mayor to lock down streets and close businesses in high-crime zones, the most recent attempt to curb violence t... (more)
Al Hurra television, the U.S. government's $63 million-a-year effort at public diplomacy broadcasting in the Middle East, is run by executives and officials who cannot speak Arabic, according to a senior official who oversees the program.
That might explain why critics say the service has recently been caught broadcasting terrorist messages, including an hour-long tirade on the importance of anti-Jewish violence, among other questionable pieces.
Presidential candidate, Congressman Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX) continues to be a "hot ticket" on nightly newscasts. On Friday, May 25, he is appearing on the Bill Maher program, "Real Time" and sources say that he may also appear on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and maybe The Colbert Report as well.
"The Daily Show seems to be wrapped up," said one source close to the campaign. "They just have to pick a date. Colbert may be happening as well."
