May 9, 2007

Texas governor backs down on HPV vaccine effort
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0848771820070509

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said on Tuesday he is backing down in his effort to require that pre-teen girls be vaccinated against a virus known to cause cervical cancer after the state's legislature overturned his order. The February order would have made Texas the first U.S. state to require that girls receive the Merck & Co. Inc.'s vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) so they can enroll in sixth grade, when most students are 11 or 12 years old. But social conservatives opposed it, saying it would lead to sexual promiscuity. The Republican-majority Texas Legislature passed a bill last month contravening the order by preventing the vaccination program for at least four years. Several other states are also considering requiring the vaccine.

Russia to deploy fixed-site Topol-M ICBMs by 2010 -SMF cmdr.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070508/65086382.html

Russia's Strategic Missile Forces will complete the deployment of silo-based Topol-M ICBMs by 2010, the SMF commander in chief said Tuesday. Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said Monday the Topol-M system will be equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV) in the next two or three years, adding the new system will help penetrate missile defenses more effectively. His statement comes against the background of growing tensions between Moscow and the West regarding plans by the United States to deploy elements of its global antiballistic missile defense system in Central Europe. Gen. Solovtsov said the Strategic Missile Forces would factor in the new threats.

Lavrov: the EU and NATO connive with efforts to rewrite history http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=44889
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday accused the European Union and NATO of conniving with nations that disrespect the memory of Soviet soldiers and seek to rewrite history, the latest angry words in a dispute deepened by Estonia's relocation of a World War II monument. "Attempts to make a mockery of history are becoming an element and an instrument of the foreign policy of certain countries," Lavrov said in televised comments at a ceremony honoring Russian diplomats who died during the war. "Unfortunately certain organizations such as NATO and the EU connive with these attempts." The dispute has tested relations between Russia and the West, already strained by disagreement on an array of issues ranging from human rights and democracy to arms control. The West is wary of President Vladimir Putin's increasingly assertive Kremlin, while Putin has accused Western forces of seeking to weaken Russia. The newspaper Kommersant reported yesterday that Putin is expected to sign a decree this month to create a system of seven representative offices abroad - mostly in central Europe, including in Poland, Hungary and the Baltics - that would be responsible for the inventory and preservation of war graves. The Kremlin said it could not immediately comment on the report, which cited Russian military officials.

China, Russia deny weapons breach
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6632959.stm

China and Russia have denied claims by Amnesty International that they are supplying arms to Sudan for use in Darfur, in breach of a UN arms embargo. A report by the rights group says the weapons end up in the hands of the government-backed Janjaweed militia. It also includes apparent photographic evidence of Sudan using military aircraft camouflaged white in Darfur. China said its exports to Sudan were legal, limited and on a small scale. Russia also denied any embargo breach. A Russian foreign ministry official said Moscow "unswervingly" observes the UN restrictions. Under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution passed in March 2005, an embargo is in place on the supply of arms to all parties in the conflict in Darfur. The Sudanese ambassador to the UN, Abdel Mahmood Abdel Haleem, said the Amnesty allegations were "baseless and unfounded".


Serbia at 'crossroads' after hardliner wins top post http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Serbia_at_crossroads_after_hardline_05082007.html
Serbia elected an extreme nationalist to one of the most powerful positions in the country on Tuesday, prompting fears of a return to the isolation of the Slobodan Milosevic era. Leader of the Serbian Radical Party, Tomislav Nikolic, was voted in as parliamentary speaker with backing from caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica after a marathon 15-hour debate in parliament. The move deepens the political paralysis in Serbia where Nikolic's Radicals emerged as the biggest party in January's legislative elections and squabbling moderate parties have failed to form a coalition after weeks of wrangling. Nikolic's Radical party was an on-off ally of Milosevic's Socialist party of Serbia throughout the Balkan wars up until his arrest in 2001 and removal to the UN international warcrimes tribunal in the Hague where he died just over a year ago. The previous leader of the party, Vojislav Seselj, who was in the vanguard of Serbia's bloody role in the break-up of the former Yugoslavia is currently awaiting trial at The Hague on war crime charges. Under Serbia's constitution, parties have until May 14 to form a new government or else new elections must be called opening the way for the Radical party to increase its share of the vote.


US judge drops charges against anti-Castro militant http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_judge_drops_charges_against_anti_05082007.html
A US federal judge in El Paso, Texas freed anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles after dropping immigration charges against the ex-CIA contractor whom Cuba and Venezuela call a terrorist. Posada Carriles escaped prison in Venezuela after being convicted of masterminding the 1976 downing of a Cuban airliner, killing 73, and has since been accused of other activities against Fidel Castro and his government. The Cuban-born Venezuelan national was detained by US immigration officials in May 2005 for entering the United States illegally and lying about his immigration status.

US Blames Venezuela For European Drug Problem
http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=42125

The United States' anti-drug czar blamed Venezuela on Tuesday for an increase in shipments of cocaine into Europe and urged EU governments to apply diplomatic pressure on the Latin American country to combat the problem. John Walters, White House director for drug control policy, said Venezuela had become the main transit route for illegal drugs between neighbouring Colombia -- the world's top cocaine producer -- and the increasingly attractive European market. Walters' comments came against the background of persistently tetchy relations between Washington and Venezuela's populist President Hugo Chavez. Walters accused the Venezuelan administration of failing to sufficiently tackle the drugs issue and urged European Union politicians to "use their influence" to persuade Chavez to stop the illegal traffickers.


English rule of Northern Ireland ends
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/05/08/english_rule_of_northern_ireland_ends/

Direct rule of Northern Ireland by London ended Tuesday as Protestant and Catholic parties signed a power-sharing agreement in Belfast. British Prime Minister Tony Blair attended the ceremony where Protestant Democratic Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley, 80, was sworn in as first minister and Martin McGuinness, 56, of Sinn Fein became deputy first minister, the BBC reported. The British government suspended self-rule in October 2002 when allegations of intelligence gathering within the Stormont parliament came to light. In March, DUP leader Ian Paisley met with Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and the two agreed to share power to end London rule.

Utility argues it protects Great Lakes
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Science/2007/05/08/utility_argues_it_protects_great_lakes/

The owner of four older Chicago-area power plants argues that dumping hot water into local rivers keeps invasive species out of the Great Lakes. Midwest Generation says ending the hot-water discharge would also be prohibitively expensive, The Chicago Tribune reports. The Chicago and Des Plaines rivers were connected more than a century ago to allow barges to travel from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi. For decades, the rivers were open sewers devoid of most life. Now, the rivers are becoming cleaner. But that raises the possibility that the Asian carp, which escaped from southern fish farms, could make its way into Lake Michigan. Environmentalists say the argument makes no sense, especially since carp prefer warm water. On the other hand, they say the discharges threaten other species of fish that have returned to the rivers.


Student loan chief leaving Education Dept.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/05/09/student_loan_chief_leaving_education_dept/
The department announced this week that Theresa Shaw has resigned as chief operating officer of the office of student aid, The New York Times reported. The announcement came two days before Education Secretary Margaret Spellings was scheduled to testify before a congressional committee. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been investigating ties between universities and companies that make student loans. In his testimony before the House Education Committee, he accused the Education Department of being "asleep at the switch."


Data Says 2.5 Million Less Watching TV
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8P0F6RG0&show_article=1

In TV's worst spring in recent memory, a startling number of Americans drifted away from television the past two months: More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox than at the same time last year, statistics show. Everyone has a theory to explain the plummeting ratings: early Daylight Savings Time, more reruns, bad shows, more shows being recorded or downloaded or streamed. Scariest of all for the networks, however, is the idea that many people are now making their own television schedules. The industry isn't fully equipped to keep track of them, and as a result the networks are scrambling to hold on to the nearly $8.8 billion they collected during last spring's ad-buying season. The viewer plunge couldn't have come at a worse time for the networks—next week they will showcase their fall schedules to advertisers in the annual "up front" presentations.