:::::~News from around the World~:::::

[ElusiveFugitive]

Philippine typhoon victims buried in mass graves Monday December 4, 2006By Pedro Uchi DARAGA, Philippines - Villagers in the central Philippines buried their dead in mass graves yesterday after landslides and raging flood waters triggered by Typhoon Durian killed hundreds. Officials fear the death toll from Durian, which swept into the South China Sea on Saturday, could reach 600 after torrential rain and winds of up to 225km/h sent tidal waves of mud crashing onto communities circling an active volcano. Soldiers, miners and locals, some using their bare hands, continued to pull corpses and body parts from areas surrounding Mount Mayon, about 320km south of Manila. There was little hope of finding anyone alive under the fetid sludge. The National Disaster Coordinating Council said 309 people had been killed due to landslides, flooding and flying debris and 298 were still missing across the central Bicol region. In worst-hit Albay province, unembalmed corpses littered the streets and, amidst the stench of rotting flesh, survivors were forced to pile the dead into mass plots. "Some of the corpses are almost decomposed," said Cedric Daep, head of the provincial disaster coordinating council. More than 800,000 people were affected by the typhoon, which triggered flooding so intense some people, vainly clinging onto coconut trees, were washed out to sea. Thousands were still without food, electricity and fresh water yesterday after nearly 120,000 homes were damaged, communication lines uprooted and fruit trees, rice paddies and irrigation systems destroyed. Durian, one notch below a category 5 "super typhoon" when it hit the Philippines, later weakened to a category 1 typhoon over the South China Sea and was expected to cross Vietnam's coast today, potentially disrupting the coffee harvest. Residents around Mayon thought they had escaped catastrophe in September when the volcano subsided after months of spewing lava and rocks, raising fears of a major eruption and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. The debris left behind proved deadly when Durian struck. Once lively villages were reduced to sticks and roofs protruding from the mud. Thousands of survivors crammed into schools and churches as disaster agencies called for fresh water, food and medicine. Named after a pungent Asian fruit, Durian was the fourth typhoon to hit the Philippines in three months. Forecasters expect one more before the end of the year. In September, 213 people were killed when Typhoon Xangsane battered the north and centre of the country, leaving millions without electricity or running water for days. Xangsane also killed dozens in Vietnam.

[444trumpets]

Brand new substance created from water




If you think we know all there is to know about water, think again. Scientists claim they have created a totally new alloy of hydrogen and oxygen molecules by splitting water.
It takes high-energy X-rays and an extremely high pressure, but the end result is a solid mixture of H2 and 02 that has never been identified before, they say. The discovery could change our understanding of the complex chemistry of water.
The new alloy is "a highly energetic material", says Wendy Mao at Los Alamos National Laboratory, US, who led the research. "It may help us find a way of storing energy."
Mao’s team subjected water to a pressure 170,000 times greater than atmospheric pressure at sea level. Then they bombarded it with X-rays, causing the water molecules to split and reform into a previously unknown crystalline solid made of H2 molecules and 02 molecules.
Just right

The phenomenon has been missed by hundreds of previous experiments, researchers say, because it only happens after several hours of exposure to 10-kiloelectronvolt-X-rays. "We managed to hit on just the right level of X-ray energy input," says team member Russell Hemley, at the Carnegie Institution’s geophysical laboratory in Washington DC, US.
"Any higher, and the radiation tends to pass right through the sample. Any lower, and the radiation is largely absorbed by the diamonds in our pressure apparatus," he explains.
After making several nanograms (10-9 of a gram) of the new alloy, researchers tested its properties by subjecting it to a range of temperatures and pressures, and further bombardment by X-rays and laser radiation. As long as it remained under a pressure 10,000 times greater than at sea level, it was "surprisingly stable", they say.
Fresh avenues

Under pressure, water is known to form 15 different types of ice, with a variety of crystal structures. But in all of them hydrogen and oxygen atoms remain bound to each other.
The discovery that molecules of oxygen and hydrogen can form an alloy opens up fresh avenues of research, including new possibilities for studying molecular interactions between oxygen and hydrogen, the researchers say.
"The existence of this new alloy is very interesting but not hugely surprising," says Sean McWhinnie, at the Royal Society of Chemistry in London, UK.
"Given high enough pressures, even hydrogen will behave as a metal. All, the other heavier elements in hydrogen's group of the periodic table are metals," she points out.

[444trumpets]

Giant catfish scares tourists


The 2.3 metre European catfish eats two or three ducks a day and has even taken a few small dogs, reports Hetlaatste News.
Dutch divers reckon 'Big Mama', in the lake of a Centerparcs at Kempervennen, could be the world's biggest.
Remco Visser, head of a Dutch diving school which uses the lake for practice dives, said the fish had scared a number of divers.
But he added: "They don't have to worry because catfish don't eat humans. Most of the ducks have moved to another lake but visiting ducks, who don't know there is a catfish in the water, get caught."
Centerparcs guards patrol the lake to keep away fishermen who have been trying to climb over the fences at night to catch Big Mama.
Biologist Jean Henkes, of Centerparcs, added: "The catfish has grown so big because of the excellent water quality, enough food and rest."

[ElusiveFugitive]

Thursday December 7, 2006 The growers' lobby Horticulture NZ wants a "thorough review" of procedures for importing sweetcorn seed. HortNZ chief executive Peter Silcock said growers wanted assurances that "robust biosecurity systems" could ensure shipments contaminated with genetically-engineered seeds were not brought into the country. Biosecurity Minister Jim Anderton said in Parliament on Tuesday that about 4420kg of sweetcorn seed was being investigated for possible GE contamination. About two-thirds of the seed, 3067.5kg, was planted in the Hawkes Bay, Gisborne, and Mid-Canterbury regions. The remaining 1352.5kg of seed had not been planted and had been "secured". Mr Silcock said the announcement was a worry. "Growers have planted this seed in good faith. If the crops are to be destroyed, it will have a big impact on those growers and we will be expecting compensation". If the growers, on 25 properties, were ordered to destroy their crops soon, they might still have time to replant, he said. "We would like to see these decisions happen quickly so growers aren't left hanging and can make decisions about the future use of the land," Mr Silcock said. Sweetcorn is a major horticultural crop, and 5000ha to 6000ha is grown annually. The crops being investigated total 373.3ha. Mr Anderton said Biosecurity NZ was consulting growers and seed producers, but it was "almost certain" that the unplanted seeds and the crops which were growing would be destroyed. And questions were being asked about how the seeds were able to enter the country despite documents accompanying at least two of the consignments showing the parent batches from which the seeds originated had GE-contaminated seed in them. "The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is conducting a stringent inquiry," he said. "There will be accountability here." New Zealand has a "zero-tolerance" policy on GE seed contamination. Asked by Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons if the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was trying to implement its preference for a threshold below which GE contamination was legal - an acceptable level of "inadvertent" contamination - Mr Anderton said seed producers claimed they had a system of control that eliminated GE contamination. "The ministry is rather questioning of that possibility, but that is what the seed producers say," he said. None of the crops was likely to create any long-term problem as long as the plants were removed before they set seed. Ms Fitzsimons said any GE seeds in the shipments were unapproved organisms under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act and were illegal under the Biosecurity Act. "MAF does not have the authority to decide, after 'consultation', to let them mature, flower and seed," she said. The suspect sweet corn came from the American company Syngenta, which was known as Novartis when it supplied the seeds that caused the 2002 "Corngate" controversy. It also supplied the seeds which in 2003 led to a Japanese pizza-maker complaining that a topping from New Zealand contained GE-sweetcorn.

[ElusiveFugitive]

Army seizes power in Fiji: 'We have taken over' UPDATED 10.35pm Tuesday December 5, 2006By Phil Taylor and agencies SUVA - The military has finally seized control in Fiji in the fourth coup in 20 years after days of shadow boxing. At a press conference at 7pm, Commodore Frank Bainimarama said he had established military law in Fiji and installed himself as President. "As of six o'clock this evening, the military has taken over the government, has executive authority and the running of this country," Bainimarama told reporters. He added: "We urge all citizens to stay calm." New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark immediately branded the Commodore as "deluded" and said his actions were a "display of military arrogance". And Fijian PM Laisenia Qarase said the action was illegal, a "national embarrassment" and the action "raped" the Fiji constitution. The coup came after days of pressure by the military in an effort to force Qarase to step down. A calm-looking Bainimarama read a lengthy statement which included legal arguments over the military's right to take control under what he called the "doctrine of necessity". "Having taken over from the president I dismiss the Prime Minister Qarase." He said soldiers would accompany police on patrols through Fiji and he gave Cabinet Ministers one month to clean out their desks in Government. "The stalemate has forced me to step forward and the military has taken over government," Bainimarama said. He said Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's refusal to agree to President Ratu Josefa Iloilo's request to resign had left Fiji in "limbo" and forced him to act. Bainimarama said the interim prime minister would be Jona Baravilala Senilagakali, a former Army medic in his 70s who has little political experience except as head of the Fiji Medical Association. Asked how effective the new interim prime minister would be, given his lack of political experience, military spokesman Major Neumi Leweni said: "What do you mean he's got no qualifications. That's your interpretation". Senilagakali was paraded before the media following the press conference but did not take any questions. The coup, the fourth in 20 years, came after a prolonged period of uncertainty in which the military and the Government squared off over controversial laws. At a press conference tonight, Qarase said a military regime was "illegal and unconstitutional". He was quoted on fijilive.com as saying; "What the military commander has done is that he has raped the constitution and we have become the laughing stock of the world. "They (military) have bought shame to the country, it is a national embarrassment. "I don't think that we should take this lying down," he said. Speaking minutes after Cdre Bainimarama announced in Suva that he had taken over, Miss Clark said she could only conclude the commander was "severely deluded". "He called on people not to break the law -- the military commander has just ripped up Fiji's constitution and chucked it out the window," she said on TV One's Close Up programme. "It is supreme arrogance to say other people shouldn't break the law when you have just single-handedly set out to destroy the law." Miss Clark described Cdre Bainimarama's actions as "simply an extraordinary display of military arrogance". Miss Clark said Cdre Bainimarama had talked about government ministers not being arrested, but Mr Qarase had told her during a phone conversation at 1.45pm he was going to be taken to the offshore island where convicted traitor George Speight is imprisoned. "The tragedy of this is that Mr Bainimarama has turned himself into a Speight, and history will be his judge," she said. Speight was the leader of a failed coup in 2000, backed by army mutineers. He pleaded guilty to treason and is serving a life sentence. Miss Clark praised Mr Qarase's courage, and has urged him to continue resisting Cdre Bainimarama's demands that he resign. "He knows he's absolutely in the right," she said. Miss Clark brokered talks in Wellington last week between the two men, hoping they would be able to at least agree to a framework for negotiation. Cdre Bainimarama initially agreed to negotiate, but reneged on that when he reached Suva and said the talks had failed. The Auckland-based Coalition for Democracy in Fiji (CDF) condemned the military's actions. "We are saddened that Fiji is yet again being subjected to an illegal and armed usurping of parliamentary democracy," CDF chairman Ahmed Bhamji said. "We call on those forces in Fiji that are undermining democracy to pull back and uphold the constitution." Earlier, Qarase was placed under house arrest with soldiers surrounding his home. But he refused an official request from President Ratu Josef Iloilo to give into military demands or resign, saying he still has the backing of his cabinet. He told ABC radio: "We are totally unarmed and we can't give in to the commander's demands and I am not prepared to resign voluntarily or even by force." He said he was not frightened but expected to be taken away by the military. "So basically if they want to carry out the coup, they have all the freedom to do it now," he said. Australia refused a last ditch plea for military help from the Fijian prime minister. Qarase earlier phoned Prime Minister John Howard from his home in Suva, appealing for assistance. Mr Howard rejected the plea, declaring it was not in Australia's national interest to become involved in the political crisis. "The possibility of Australian and Fijian troops firing on each other in the streets of Suva was not a prospect that I for a moment thought desirable," he told reporters. The Fiji military had made it clear in the lead-up to today's coup that it would not welcome foreign intervention

[ElusiveFugitive]

9.20am Thursday December 7, 2006 CANBERRA - Thousands of Australians living with debilitating diseases have been given new hope of a cure, with federal parliament overturning the ban on therapeutic cloning. Liberal senator Kay Patterson's private member's bill will allow researchers to clone embryos using donor eggs and cells without sperm, and extract their stem cells for medical research. Prime Minister John Howard and new Labor leader Kevin Rudd both spoke against the bill before it passed the House of Representatives last night. Mr Howard said he struggled with his decision, but ultimately could not support the bill to overturn the legislation passed in 2002 banning therapeutic cloning. "I don't think the science has shifted enough to warrant the parliament changing its view," he said. Mr Rudd said he found it very difficult to support a law that would allow human life to be created for the explicit purpose of experimentation and ultimate destruction. Senior cabinet ministers Peter Costello, Tony Abbott and Kevin Andrews also spoke against the technology. It was the second conscience vote in parliament this year, following a vote on the abortion drug RU486 in February. But after an emotional four-day debate, the final vote was an anti-climax -- with MPs electing not to call a division and have their choice recorded.

[444trumpets]

Scientists have shown that the genetic make-up of humans can vary hugely - far more than was previously thought.


Humans show big DNA differences

DNA comparisons: Gains (green), losses (red), the same (yellow)


A UK-led team made a detailed analysis of the DNA found in 270 people and identified vast regions to be duplicated or even missing.
A great many of these variations are in areas of the genome that would not damage our health, Matthew Hurles and colleagues told the journal Nature.
But others are - and can be shown to play a role in a number of disorders.
"We were certainly surprised; we expected to find that there would be some variation, but we weren't expecting to find quite this much," Dr Hurles told BBC News.
To date, the investigation of the human genome has tended to focus on very small changes in DNA that can have deleterious effects - at the scale of just one or a few bases, or "letters", in the biochemical code that programs cellular activity.
And for many years, scientists have also been able to look through microscopes to see very large-scale abnormalities that arise when whole DNA bundles, or chromosomes, are truncated or duplicated.
But it is only recently that researchers have developed the molecular "tools" to focus on medium-scale variations - at the scale of thousands of DNA letters.
Big factor
This analysis of so-called copy number variation (CNV) has now revealed some startling results.
It would seem the assumption that the DNA of any two humans is 99.9% similar in content and identity no longer holds.
The researchers were astonished to locate 1,447 CNVs in nearly 2,900 genes, the starting "templates" written in the DNA that are used by cells to make the proteins which drive our bodies.
This is a huge, hitherto unrecognised, level of variation between one individual and the next.
"Each one of us has a unique pattern of gains and losses of complete sections of DNA," said Matthew Hurles, of the UK's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
"One of the real surprises of these results was just how much of our DNA varies in copy number. We estimate this to be at least 12% of the genome.
"The copy number variation that researchers had seen before was simply the tip of the iceberg, while the bulk lay submerged, undetected. We now appreciate the immense contribution of this phenomenon to genetic differences between individuals."
Evolving story
The new understanding will change the way in which scientists search for genes involved in disease.
"Many examples of diseases resulting from changes in copy number are emerging," commented Charles Lee, one of the project's leaders from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, US.
"A recent review lists 17 conditions of the nervous system alone - including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease - that can result from such copy number changes." Scientists are not sure why the copy variations emerge, but it probably has something to do with the shuffling of genetic material that occurs in the production of eggs and sperm; the process is prone to errors. As well as aiding the investigation of disease and the development of new drugs, the research will also inform the study of human evolution, which probes genetic variation in modern populations for what it can say about their relationship to ancestral peoples.

[ElusiveFugitive]

Friday December 8, 2006By Mike Houlahan New Zealand should press the Tongan Government to investigate claims that prisoners arrested during the November riots were abused and tortured, Green MP Keith Locke says. Tonga's National Centre for Women and Children has issued a report which alleges widespread maltreatment of prisoners after unrest in the capital, Nuku'alofa. The centre, which is partly funded by NZAID and combats domestic violence, said its report exposed systematic torture and abuse by Tongan Defence Service personnel and police. The Tongan Government has said it condemns torture and abuse of prisoners and will look at the report's claims. Mr Locke, the Greens' foreign affairs spokesman who was in Tonga last week, said the report tallied with what he had been told. "The pictures I've seen ... they've all got very puffed-up and bruised faces and they didn't just walk into a door or anything ... It all adds to a picture that needs to be investigated." New Zealand and Australia rushed soldiers and police to Tonga to help to restore order after a pro-democracy protest disintegrated into violence. Several police officers are still there. The report did not mention any abuse involving foreigners. "The Government, particularly as it has police and has had military over there, we don't want them to be tainted by what the Tongan military in particular are doing," Mr Locke said. "I think it's important that the Government look closely at that report and our diplomatic people over there fully investigate what has been going on and express our serious concerns." Prime Minister Helen Clark and Foreign Minister Winston Peters were unavailable for comment. A spokesman for Defence Minister Phil Goff said there was no evidence New Zealanders were implicated in any way in claims of abuse. The report said treatment amounting to torture under Tongan and international law had been reported. Injuries included facial cuts, swelling and bruising, ripped ears, broken and missing teeth, split lips and heavily bruised ribs. "I saw bloody people come into the cells every day. People with smashed faces - it just became normal," one former prisoner said. Cells were overcrowded - one cell for 16 reportedly had 64 prisoners in it on one day. They lacked bedding and proper toilet facilities. One prisoner estimated that 40 per cent of prisoners in his cell had been subjected to some form of violence during interrogation.

[ElusiveFugitive]

Friday December 8, 2006 Some of the soldiers who felt the mist of Agent Orange on their backs or drank it in their water during the Vietnam War are disappointed by the compensation package. They say it is unnecessarily restrictive, barring from compensation conditions which are covered for US veterans. Ray Beatson, a veteran who has helped the campaign for compensation, said yesterday that many would be upset when they read details of the package and realised they were not covered. Conditions such as heart and circulatory diseases ought to have been included, he said. The package limits ex-gratia payments to veterans of up to $40,000 to four kinds of cancer and a skin condition, chloracne. Payments of up to $30,000 to veterans' children are limited to two types of cancer, spina bifida, cleft lip and cleft palate. John Jennings, who served in Vietnam's Phuoc Tuy and Bien Hoa provinces, recalls the chemical smell from when he was sprayed by Agent Orange - a herbicide used to kill jungle and deny the enemy cover - from an aircraft in the late 1960s. He has suffered an itchy rash since and developed a condition, linked to dioxins in the herbicide, that left him blind in one eye. His daughter, Marrakech Jennings-Lowry, has had to spend thousands of dollars on her wide range of health problems, one of which left her unable to have children. Mr Jennings said it was hoped a wider range of conditions would be covered, in light of Massey University research showing that Vietnam veterans had a significant degree of genetic damage. His hope now was that the $7 million trust fund included in the package would help a wider group. Mrs Jennings-Lowry said that despite her lung, heart and other conditions, she would not qualify for compensation. "The package is sadly lacking." Mr Beatson, a lieutenant when he went to Vietnam with the infantry in 1967 for nearly eight months, said he decided to help press the case for Government compensation after realising the death rate among his war comrades was extraordinarily high. By last May, from a platoon of 36 men, 12 had died. Eight were seriously unwell, a group that has grown since. "Last year, I went to a funeral of one of the many in my platoon. The wake-up call for me was that five of the six pallbearers were beneficiaries - because of service in Vietnam," said Mr Beatson, now aged 63. He said there was scepticism among veterans about the compensation package, which fell short of what was sought. "One of the recommendations [to the Government] was that veterans have access to an annual free medical. The press statement [yesterday] says one-off comprehensive medical examination. There's a certain amount of flannelling going on." Roly Flutey, 59, who served in the artillery, remembers a mist of Agent Orange from aircraft falling on him and his mates. They were shirtless while playing basketball at Nui Dat camp. "It seemed like a nice cooling drop of water at the time." He said he had had skin cancer and still suffered from the skin condition psoriasis, a type of arthritis, deafness and post-traumatic stress disorder. While he did not wholly blame Agent Orange, he said it played a part. He would not qualify for compensation. He objects to the plans for a Defence Force welcome home parade for veterans. "It's too late. I would not go if they called it a welcome home get-together or parade."

[444trumpets]

Pluto: Down But Maybe Not Out


If you did not like Pluto's demotion, don't give up hope.
Arguments over the newly approved definition for "planet" are likely to continue at least until 2009, and astronomers say there is much that remains to be clarified and refined.
While it is entirely unclear if the definition could ever be altered enough to reinstate Pluto as a planet, astronomers clearly expect some changes.
In a statement today, the largest group of planetary scientists in the world offered lukewarm support for the definition, which was adopted last week by a vote of just a few hundred astronomers at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly meeting in Prague.
Lukewarm support

The definition basically states that the eight worlds from Mercury to Neptune are planets, and that Pluto and other small round objects in the outer solar system are not planets but will be referred to as dwarf planets.
The wording has been heavily criticized as being vague and arbitrary and failing to include planets around other stars. One highly controversial aspect is the idea that a planet must control a zone of space by clearing it of other objects. In fact, Earth and some of the giant planets have not cleared their paths—asteroids cross the planetary orbits frequently and in some cases orbit in lockstep with the planets.
Nonetheless, the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) "recognizes the authority of the IAU to render a decision," today's statement reads. "All definitions have a degree of fuzziness that requires intelligent application: what does 'round' really mean? What does it mean to 'control a zone'?"
The statement suggests there are at least three years of wrangling ahead:
"These are technical issues to be addressed by Division III of the IAU, currently chaired by Ted Bowell, a fellow DPS member. There is still work to be done, too, in constructing a definition that is generally applicable to extra-solar planetary systems. These and other changes, radical or moderate, presumably will be addressed at the next IAU General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2009, and the DPS community will continue to be involved in all stages of this process.

[UPDATE 9:10 p.m. ET: A separate group of more than 300 astronomers announced today they will not use the new definition.]
Lack of authority?
Other astronomers have said or indicated that the IAU decision might not carry much weight.
David Morrison, an astronomer at NASA's Ames Research Center, was in Prague for the debates and the vote. He called the resulting definition "reasonable" but termed the IAU process "highly convoluted."
"The definition of a planet is not primarily a science issue. Scientists can (and often do) use all sorts of jargon," Morrison told SPACE.com. "This issue is of interest because non-scientists, including writers of science textbooks, want a definition. Now they have one. But it is not obvious to me that planetary scientists will adjust their terminology because of the IAU votes."

The IAU's final proposal was lambasted by many astronomers for having been slapped together at the last minute and for not adhering to recommendations from two separate committees. Morrison was on an IAU committee of astronomers that debated for months on a definition proposal. The one they adopted, Morrison said, was approved by the committee in a vote of 11-8. But it never saw the light of day. Ultimately, another committee of seven, including historians, was formed by the IAU, and the second committee's proposed definition was scrapped too, in the last moments in Prague.
"Is Pluto, then, still a planet? Yes and no," Morrison said. "The answer is semantic, based on whether dwarf planets are planets, just as dwarf pines are pines. I would say that Pluto is a planet, but it is a dwarf planet, and the first example of the class of trans-Neptunian dwarf planets."
Lack of science

The whole debate, many astronomers say, has little if anything to do with science.
Geoff Marcy, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, has led the discovery of dozens of planets outside our solar system. "The astrophysics of planetary bodies is so rich and complex that defining 'planet' has never been an issue under discussion among professionals," Marcy said in an email interview earlier this week.

Pressed on whether the definition made any sense, Marcy said: "It makes no scientific sense to have a definition that pertains only to our solar system and not to other planetary systems."
The DPS represents 1,300 astronomers, about a third of them from outside the United States. Today's statement included a phrase that hints at the discontent felt among many members and the likelihood that all is not said and done:
"Ultimately, the definition of a planet will come through common usage and scientific utility. There is no need to throw away current school texts; Pluto has not gone away."

[MASTER PAI MEI]

Wow the Water and clone articles are interesting...Keep it up!!!! and Thanks!!

[Alcryt]

Dont know if this has been posted anywhere else but..
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LONDON (Reuters) - A severe tornado ripped roofs off homes and tore down walls in a residential area of northwest London on Thursday, injuring six people.

Television footage showed a trail of destruction in Kensal Rise, with trees uprooted and cars damaged by falling debris. Tornadoes in Britain are normally weak and rarely cause damage.

Local resident Daniel Bidgood was in his house when the tornado, which he said was about 20 meters (yards) across, smashed his windows.

"It was very large and certainly very powerful," he told BBC television. "You could see it ripping up heavy chunks of mortar and smashing it into cars."

One man in his 50's was taken to hospital with head injuries. Five other adults were treated for shock and minor injuries after the tornado struck at around 1100 GMT.

Around 100 houses were damaged, a Fire Brigade spokesman said, "so I would imagine several hundred people may be displaced." Some of those evacuated were being housed in local churches.

More than 20 fire engines were sent to the scene and the area was cordoned off.

"SEVERE"

The London tornado was rated at T4 on a scale of 0 to 10. This means winds were moving at between 115 and 136 mph (185-219 kph), rating the tornado as severe, said a spokesman for the Meteorological Office.

Britain experiences between 30 and 40 tornadoes in an average year, he said, but they rarely hit built-up areas. In July 2005, a tornado in Birmingham, central England, damaged dozens of homes.

The cost in London could run into millions of pounds. Houses in the area cost an average 550,000 pounds ($1.08 million), a local estate agent said. The Association of British Insurers said most home insurance policies would cover the costs.

"You're not likely to find the word 'tornado' in a UK insurance policy," a spokesman said. "But it would be covered under 'storm damage'."

Tornadoes are a vortex of swirling air caused by a build-up of heavy thunder clouds. The Met Office spokesman said it was impossible to tell if global warming had a role to play in the London tornado.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for southern England, with heavy rains and winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour, after the warmest autumn in the last 347 years.
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Yikes!! Didnt even know we got tornados in the UK

[Aboriginal God]

There's a few things you need to know about the United Nation's Draft Declaration on the Rights Of Indigenous Peoples.
1.Firstly, as the name implies, it's a draft document - it hasn't be ratified yet.The "Draft Dec", As it;s Known more widely, has been several decades in the making.
Momentum really started to gather in 1995, the year which marked the start of the UN's International Decade Of The Worlds Indigenous Peoples.
The Process has been moving at a fast pace ever since, although getting all the nations on earth to agree on a single set of principles in just 10 years proved to be unrealistic.
As this edition Of NIT goes to print, the Draft Declaration is still sitting in the UNs Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (basically, a sub commitee of the United Nations).
But the good news is that the Draft Dec is expected to be passed by the end of this year.
In December the Draft Declaration goes before the entire United Nations where it's expected to be ratified.
But there is a hitch.That's the second thing you need to know about the Draft Dec.
2.Throughout the process, there have been four nations (known as member states in the UN) that have provided the roles of spoilers.
Three Of those states are New Zealand, Canada and the United States.
They've opposed much of the progress over the last decade for a variety of reasons, but chief among them is the belief that the finacial cost of recognising the rights of Indigenous peoples ( as articulated by the world community) would be astronomical.In other words, doing the right thing - giving Indigenous peoples the same rights as everyone else - would be expensive.
Who knew you could really put a price on human rights?
The fourth nation playing the spolier role has been Australia.But we're in a league of our own.
Even Canada, New Zealand and the US are embarassed not by just Australia's conduct in relation to Indigenous rights, But by how far behind the rest of the world we really are.
Canada, New Zealand And the US all accept - to varying degrees - the rights to self determination.
Australia prefers the term "self management".
Canada, New Zealand and the US each have treaties with their Indigenous peoples.
Australia has none.
Canada, New Zealand and the US make special provisions for self-government of Indigenous peoples.
Australia doesn't.It prefers "mainstreaming".
Canada, New Zealand and the US accept that Indigenous peoples should have rights to resources and mineral wealth.
Australia doesn't.It prefers to keep it all for the whitefellas.
Canada, New Zealand and the US accept that land rights are an intergal part of Indigenous rights.
Australia doesn't.It has been busy undermining land rights and native title.
In short, If Canada, the US and New Zealand are the "Axis of evil" when it comes to the rights of Indigenous peoples, then Australia is from another planet.
Even so, with or without the objections of the four rogue states (plus possibly Russia, which is trying to cosy up to the US), the UN Draft Declaration will pass.
There are 192 member states in the UN, and despite their wealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand And the US only get four votes.
3.Third, the Draft Dec has been negoiated by the world's Indigenous peoples for the world Indigenous peoples.In Australia, a multitude of Aboriginal people have been involved over the decades, but in recent years the process has been led by Les Maelzer, Tom Calma ( Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Comissioner) and Megan Davis, a lawyer and expert in international law.
4.The final thing you need to know about the Draft Dec is that it is not legally binding - Australia may live in a "global commmunity", but provided it doesn't invade other countries,it doesn't necessarily have to abide by its rules.
Particularly not in the treatment of its own citizens( or refugees, for that matter).
The legal effect of the Draft Declaration in Australia (once it is ratified by the UN, and thus no longer "draft")will be zero.
But it is still important to Indigenous Australians.
It sets out a road map for how the rights of Idigenous people should be respected by all the world's nations.
Australia, at least in the short term, will definitely ignore the Declaration and continue to erode the rights of Indigenous peoples.
But it will do so at its own international peril - pressure will inevitably mount from other nations on Australia to reform its ways.
Of course, how long that takes is anyone's guess.


Taken from the " National Indigenous Times Nov. 16 2006)

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NEW YORK - Scientists have discovered why tea extracts help repair skin damage, a finding that may benefit cancer patients who suffer skin problems from radiotherapy. Dr Frank Pajonk from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California's Los Angeles campus said tea extracts were a traditional remedy for sunburn, and had been used successfully to treat the effect of radiation damage. But until now there had been no data to explain how it worked. The researchers found that tea extracts affect the body signals that trigger inflammation. In a study reported in the journal BMC Medicine, the researchers analysed the effects of green or black tea extracts given to 60 patients with skin damage related to radiotherapy for head and neck cancers and cancer in the pelvic region. Dr Pajonk said more studies were needed to compare tea extract therapy with standard treatments for radiation-induced skin damage.

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^^ Great post Aboriginal God... Peace