'This was infected with a bird flu virus.' Viral Pandemic H5N1 flu threat: Illinois-based Baxter contaminates European labs by error 25 Feb 2009 According to the scientific network PROMED, Baxter International Inc. in Austria "unintentionally contaminated samples with the bird flu virus that were used in laboratories in 3 neighboring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease". As PROMED reports, the contamination has been discovered when ferrets at a laboratory in the Czech Republic died after being inoculated with vaccine made from the samples early this month. "The material came from Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter, which reported the incident to the Austrian Ministry of Health, Sigrid Rosenberger, a ministry spokeswoman, said today in a telephone interview", the network-alert-system is quoting. "This was infected with a bird flu virus," Rosenberger said. "There were some people from the company who handled it."
'That mixing process, called reassortment, is one of two ways pandemic viruses are created.' Baxter admits sending live avian flu viruses to subcontrator --People familiar with biosecurity rules are dismayed by evidence that human H3N2 and avian H5N1 viruses somehow co-mingled [!] in the Orth-Donau facility. 27 Feb 2009 The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses. And an official of the World Health Organization's European operation said the body is closely monitoring the investigation into the events that took place at Baxter International's research facility in Orth-Donau,
Panetta: No one to be punished for interrogations 05 Mar 2009 [Bush-Obama troll] CIA Director Leon Panetta says agency employees who took part in harsh interrogations torture of terrorism suspects are not in danger of being punished. Panetta delivered that message to CIA employees in an e-mail Thursday, reiterating what he told Congress last month. He said then that he would oppose prosecutions of any CIA employee who adhered to their legal guidance on interrogations.
CIA Prisons to Be Evaluated in One-Year Review by Senate Panel 05 Mar 2009 The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee will study [LOL] how the CIA operated a secret network of prisons outside the U.S. to detain and interrogate suspected terrorists seized after the Sept. 11 attacks. There is "a strong bipartisan basis" for the yearlong review that will evaluate intelligence the spy agency obtained from harsh interrogation tactics torture, said a statement from the panel’s Democratic chairwoman, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, and its top Republican, Missouri Senator Christopher Bond.
Terror watchdog calls for inquiry into MI5 'torture role' 01 Mar 2009 The government’s terrorism watchdog has asked for a full judicial inquiry into the role of British intelligence and security personnel in the torture and rendition of Al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] suspects. Lord Carlile of Berriew QC has accused ministers of providing only a "limited" account of the UK’s role. In comments that will add to the growing political clamour over the issue he called for Gordon Brown to appoint a senior judge to investigate UK complicity "in the rendition of captured men and women to foreign governments".
Top U.N. Official Accuses US of Atrocities in Iraq, Afghanistan --Says U.S. actions directly led to more than a million Iraqi civilian deaths since 2003 04 Mar 2009 A top U.N. official accused the United States of committing inhuman "atrocities" in Iraq and Afghanistan during a speech Wednesday to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. "The aggressions against Iraq and Afghanistan and their occupations constitute atrocities that must be condemned and repudiated by all who believe in the rule of law in international relations," said U.N. General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann.
US officer charged with stealing Iraq relief funds 06 Mar 2009 A US military officer has been charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash intended for relief and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US Department of Justice says. While stationed in Iraq between April 2007 and February 2009, Michael Dung Nguyen is alleged to have stolen more than $US690,000 ($1.1 million), sending it back to his home in north-western Oregon, the department said in a statement.
Baker, Hamilton endorse Iraq plan 05 Mar 2009 Foreign policy gurus [9/11 whitewash co-architect] Lee Hamilton and [2000 coup d'etat co-architect] James A. Baker III said Thursday they support President Barack Obama's 19-month timetable in Iraq and, if asked, would advise Obama to limit the nation's 'goals' in Afghanistan. Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana, and Baker, a retired Republican secretary of State, led the independent Iraq Study Group in 2006.
Car bomb at market kills 14 south of Baghdad 05 Mar 2009 A bomb in a parked car exploded Thursday in a livestock market in a Shiite area of Babil Province south of Baghdad, killing at least 14 people and injuring 38, six of them seriously, according to police and health officials.
Poor KBR wiring endangers troops in Afghanistan, contractors say --Electricians who worked for KBR say supervisors ignored their warnings 04 Mar 2009 Faulty KBR electrical wiring is already suspected in the deaths of several U.S. troops in Iraq. Contractors who worked in Afghanistan are reporting similar problems at American bases there. "In general, the electrical power systems in the camp can be described as a disaster waiting to happen," electrician Noris Rogers wrote to his bosses at military contractor KBR about conditions at one base in 2005. The letter warned of "extreme dangers" of electrical shock and fire hazards at the facility. Rogers, who left Afghanistan shortly after writing that letter, told CNN that the work done by KBR at one U.S. base in Kabul was "by far" the worst he has seen in 20-plus years in the trade.
US charges two Britons with bribes in KBR venture 05 Mar 2009 Two British citizens face charges of bribing Nigerian officials as part of a joint venture that included KBR Inc to build liquefied natural gas facilities, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday. Jeffrey Tesler was arrested in London on Thursday, the same day as the indictment handed down in February was made public, the department said. It said former KBR employee Wojciech Chodan, of England, was being sought on a U.S. arrest warrant.
WH backs Bush Pakistan, Afghanistan aid proposal 04 Mar 2009 The Obama administration is backing a proposal initiated under President [sic] George W. Bush that would allow poor tribal regions in Pakistan and Afghanistan to sell clothing and goods they make to U.S. buyers tax-free. A group of House lawmakers, led by Rep. Chris Van Hollen, reintroduced legislation on Wednesday that would enable the president to designate "Reconstruction Opportunity Zones" inside the two countries from which goods could be imported into the U.S. duty-free.
Iran Plans War Crimes Trials for Israelis 04 Mar 2009 Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, opened an international conference in Tehran that will press Interpol to help Iranian prosecutors arrest 15 Israeli leaders on war crimes charges related to the recent war in Gaza. Meanwhile, discussions are reportedly continuing in The Hague on the question of the international court’s authority to open an investigation of its own into actions carried out in Gaza, since the territory is not part of any internationally recognized state.
Israelis react with fury to British boycott call [] 04 Mar 2009 Israeli scientists and officials reacted angrily yesterday to calls by more than 400 British academics for the Science Museum to cancel educational workshops planned to promote Israeli science tomorrow. The cancellation call and claims that Israeli universities are "complicit" in the occupation of Palestinian territories and this year's "disastrous" offensive in Gaza, reported in The Independent yesterday, were condemned as "absurd" by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Justice Department to Reveal More Bush Administration Legal Memos 04 Mar 2009 Justice Department officials intend to release more secret legal memos that underpinned the Bush regime's approach to national security issues, responding to pressure from Democratic lawmakers and interest groups that have sued for access to the sensitive materials, sources said yesterday.
Judge tosses ex-sailor's terror-support conviction 04 Mar 2009 A federal judge on Wednesday threw out one conviction against a former Navy sailor accused of passing along information about ship movements, dealing a post-mortem blow to a Bush regime that had praised the case as a success. U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz overturned last year's conviction of Hassan Abu-Jihaad, of Phoenix, on a charge of providing material support to terrorists, citing the language of the law. He upheld his conviction for disclosing classified national defense information.
WE SAID LONG AGO TO PUT ROVE IN IRONS WHERE HE BELONGS
Rove: Democrats Want To See Me "Barbecued" [No. Waterboarded.] 05 Mar 2009 KKKarl Rove, the former top adviser to President [sic] George W. Bush, today told Fox News that while he is worried that his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee concerning the firing of U.S. attorneys could become a “show trial,” he looks forward to the opportunity to explain his role.
Fed Refuses to Release Bank Data, Insists on Secrecy 05 Mar 2009 The Federal Reserve Board of Governors receives daily reports on bailout loans to financial institutions and won't make the information public, the central bank said in a reply to a Bloomberg News lawsuit. The Fed refused yesterday to disclose the names of the borrowers and the loans, alleging that it would cast "a stigma" on recipients of more than $1.9 trillion of emergency credit from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.
'Harry and Louise' creators welcomed at Obama's healthcare 'reform' summit: Obama holds summit on healthcare reform 04 Mar 2009 President Barack Obama today launched the first major effort in 15 years to revamp the US healthcare system, inviting more than 120 policy experts and stakeholders to the White House for a summit aimed at developing reform. In remarks at the White House, Obama described healthcare reform as a moral and economic imperative that has for decades been precluded by "failures of will, or Washington politics, or industry lobbying". [Obama invited the architects of the system which he allegedly wants to change. As a possible Democratic candidate for president, John Edwards stated that the healthcare industry had already *had* their turn 'at the table' - for eight years under Bush. Of course, the GOP-owned media ensured -- as they did with Gov. Howard Dean -- that Edwards would not be the nominee. The corpora-terrorists who destroyed the Clintons' efforts for healthcare reform in 1993 were welcomed at Obama's summit. But, single-payer advocates had to threaten to protest in order for Obama to grant them access. --LRP]
Obama, Democrats bow to banks on housing "rescue" By Tom Eley 05 Mar 2009 On Wednesday, the Obama administration released guidelines on its plan to stem the collapse of the housing market with its "Making Home Affordable" initiative, or Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP)... The newly-announced guidelines pertaining to private lenders make clear that the program's primary aim is not to assist homeowners, but to further prop up the banks... Not surprisingly, the plan immediately won the vocal support of the major banks, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.
Stanford Judge Releases Accounts of Under $250,000 05 Mar 2009 Most Stanford Group Co. investor accounts valued at less than $250,000 should be immediately released from a court-ordered freeze imposed as part of an $8 billion fraud investigation, a federal judge ordered.
It may be a decade before Dow's back to 12,000, oracle says 05 Mar 2009 Mark Zandi... the chief economist of Moody's Economy.com, sat down Thursday with a small group of reporters and offered a sobering view of what he sees ahead for the U.S. and global economies. The short version: It could be a decade before the Dow reaches 12,000 points again, the economy will grow much more slowly than the Obama administration envisions and larger, more controversial bailouts are likely to be coming soon.
US private sector cuts 697,000 jobs 04 Mar 2009 The US private sector shed 697,000 jobs in February, a survey of business employment showed yesterday. "The nightmare continues," said Ian Sheperdson, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics. "Every indicator tells us that employment is tanking across the economy."
Food stamp enrollment jumps to record 31.8 million 05 Mar 2009 A record 31.8 million Americans received food stamps at the latest count, an increase of 700,000 people in one month with the United States in recession the Bush Depression, government figures showed on Thursday. Food stamps, which help poor people buy groceries, are the major U.S. anti-hunger program, forecast to cost at least $51 billion in this fiscal year ending September 30, up $10 billion from fiscal 2008.
Gay marriage backers grilled by California judges 05 Mar 2009 California's Supreme Court justices on Thursday grilled lawyers seeking to overturn a ban on gay marriage, signaling to some that the court would uphold the state constitutional amendment on same-sex weddings passed by voters in November.
Obama's blockbuster gift for Brown to reaffirm the 'special relationship': 25 DVDs 05 Mar 2009 He had put clearly great thought into giving the U.S. President lavish gifts to signify Britain's 'special relationship' with the U.S. During his historic trip to Washington, Gordon Brown gave Barack Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet - once called HMS President... Mr Brown also took to Washington a framed commission for HMS Resolute, a vessel that came to mark Anglo-US peace when it was saved from ice packs by Americans and given to Queen Victoria. He also gave a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert... Despite being leader of the world's most bountiful nation, President Obama handed over nothing more thought-provoking than 25 classic American films on DVD. It was the equivalent of receiving a pair of socks from an unfamiliar aunt at Christmas - and a less-than-glowing affirmation of the UK-US bond.
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Previous lead stories: US Justice Department memos: the specter of military dictatorship --An October 23, 2001, memo insisted that nothing in the Constitution or the law could stop him. (WSWS) 04 Mar 2009 A set of nine secret memos released by the US Justice Department Monday reveal that in the weeks and months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks the US government began erecting the legal scaffolding for a full-blown military dictatorship... In response to an inquiry from the White House concerning its authority to deploy US troops within the United States itself, [Deputy Assistant Attorney General John] Yoo and then-Special Counsel Robert Delahunty issued an October 23, 2001, memo insisting that nothing in the Constitution or the law could stop him.
'Israel seriously considering military action against Iran' 05 Mar 2009 Israel is seriously considering taking unilateral military action to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, according to a report by top US political figures and experts released Wednesday. The report also says Israel's time frame for action is growing shorter, not only because of Iranian advances, but because Teheran might soon acquire upgraded air defenses and disperse its nuclear program to additional locations.
Robert Gates sees no end to Afghanistan conflict 04 Mar 2009 The US Secretary of Defence has said he is not able to foresee a time when the US might pull out of Afghanistan. Speaking at a joint news conference at the Pentagon, Robert Gates said: "I think it's impossible to put a date on when you might firmly say all the troops are coming out."
