On Saturday morning a man fired three air gun shots in Erfurt, Germany, around one mile (1,6 kilometers) from the city’s main cathedral (Saint Mary), where Pope Benedict XVI was to celebrate Mass.
The shooting incident has occurred on the edge of the security zone about an hour before the Pope started his celebration of the Mass for around 30,000 people. The gun fires aimed at a security guard.
Eckhard Deutschmann, a local police spokesman told AFP that no one was injured in the incident and a suspect was arrested in his apartment, from where the shots were fired.
Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a Mass Saturday morning at Saint Mary's Cathedral in Erfurt, Germany, about an hour after the shooting incident.(AP)
When the man was arrested, the Pope was already at the airport on his way to the staunchly Catholic city of Freiburg, the final stop on this visit, where he holds a prayer vigil for young people later on Saturday.
“According to the German police, it seems to be the action of an unbalanced person,” said Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokeman. It was “an incident that had nothing to do with the Pope” and “the Pope has not been informed,” he said.
There was “no worry” in the papal entourage over the incident, and the pontiff was not informed about it before the Mass. “It didn’t seem particularly urgent,” he told reporters on the pope’s plane after the Mass.
There has been very tight security for the Pope’s first state visit to his native Germany. Large parts of Berlin, Erfurt and Freiburg have been locked down for the trip and large police forces were deployed.
On the Mass celebrated early Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to those Catholics who had kept the faith burning during Nazi and Communist regimes in Erfurt, former East Germany. The most resilient Catholic community under the Communist regime was in Erfurt.
Pope Benedict XVI prays during the Mass held in Erfurt after the shooting incident.(AP)
“You have had to endure first a brown and then a red dictatorship, which acted on the Christian faith like acid rain,” Pope Benedict XVI said. “Are not the deep roots of faith and Christian life to be sought in something very different from social freedom? It was actually amid the hardships of pressure from without that many committed Catholics remained faithful to Christ and to the church,” Pope said.
Germany’s Church has been losing thousands of followers because of revelations that hundreds of children and young people were abused by clergy and church employees, the scandal has cost them badly needed trust among the roughly 24 million German Catholics.
The victims groups and their lawyers has been accused Pope Benedict XVI of being part of a systematic cover-up by the church hierarchy for pedophile priests in his earlier roles as an archbishop in Germany and later at the pontiff.
On Friday night, Pope Benedict XVI met for half an hour with two women and three men from parishes across Germany who were among the abused. He expressed “deep compassion and regret” at the suffering of those who were abused and assured them the Church is seeking “effective measures to protect children,” Vatican said.
Survivors groups denounced the pope’s meeting with German victims as an empty gesture. They maintain the church has not done enough to prosecute offending priests and prevent future cases of abuse.
Catholic leaders had warned ahead of Pope Benedict XVI visit that there was no quick solution, but they hoped the pontiff could help heal wounds left by the scandal.
Germany’s Bishops Conference has set up a telephone hotline to counsel victims and help them to take legal steps against offending priests when possible.
About 9,000 people turned out in Berlin to denounce the Vatican views on homosexuality, contraception and other issues.
On the first two days of his visit, the Pope met members of Germany’s Jewish and Muslim communities and then held prayers with Protestant leaders in a show of greater Christian unity.
Elizabeth Taylor Collection of gems, gowns and art is unveiled at Christie’s in London today.
Elizabeth Taylor was renowned for her impeccable taste in jewellery, and over her lifetime amassed a dazzling collection worth a staggering $30 million (£20million). Many of the pieces were designed by Elizabeth Taylor herself in partnership with her favoured jewellery house, Cartier, and many bestowed upon her by her generous husbands.
Elizabeth Taylor Collection of gems, gowns and art is unveiled at Christie's in London today
After Elizabeth Taylor death in March 2011, at aged 79, the entire collection of 300 glorious pieces is to go on display at London auction house Christie’s, ahead of a sale of the hoard in New York this December.
Marc Porter, the chairman and president of Christie’s America said the sale promised to “captivate the auction world”. Marc Porter added: “This is without a doubt the greatest private collection of jewellery assembled in one place.”
The emerald suite was one of Elizabeth Taylor's favourite set of gems, and she wore them often
Many of the Elizabeth Taylor’ stunning gems have great historic value.
One, La Pérégrina pearl, is widely considered to be one of the most important pearls in the world. The pear-shaped piece dates from the 16th century, and once belonged to King Phillip II of Spain, and later to his daughters Elizabeth and Margaret.
Elizabeth Taylor’s fifth husband Richard Burton won it in an auction and gave it to her as a gift, he worked with Cartier to have it hung on a diamond and ruby necklace.
La Peregrina pearl, won by Richard Burton at auction and made into necklace by Elizabeth Taylor with Cartier is set to fetch up to $3 million (£2 million)
The necklace will be unveiled today at Christie’s with dozens more of Elizabeth Taylor’s gems. Along with the impressive hoard of treasures amassed by the Hollywood legend will be lavish gowns and art by greats such as Van Gogh and Degas.
The Bulgari Emerald necklace is part of a suite that is expected to raise up to $1.5 million (£1 million)
The total Elizabeth Collection, which is given an estimated total value of close to £100 million ($150 million) is going on display in the UK for the first time tomorrow in a three-day exhibition opening at Christie’s London.
The Cartier ruby and diamond suite was given to Elizabeth Taylor by her third husband Mike Todd
The event, which is part of a three-month global tour, attracted 6,000 visitors when Elizabeth Taylor Collection was previewed in Moscow earlier this month. The collection is being unveiled in the run-up to a much-anticipated December auction held in New York, where all the pieces will be sold.
Fans of Elizabeth Taylor will have the opportunity to view the vast array of items taken from her Bel Air estate.
Top pieces of her collection include the Elizabeth Taylor diamond, La Peregrina pearl once owned by England’s Queen Mary I, dresses from leading designers including Versace and Chanel and rare works of art by the likes of Van Gogh and Renoir.
A total of 269 pieces from her jewellery collection will be auctioned while 400 fashion items spanning over 50 years of Elizabeth Taylor’s life will also be sold off.
Highlights from Elizabeth Taylor’s art collection, include the 1889 Vincent Van Gogh painting Vue De L’Asile Et De La Chapelle De Saint-Remy, which is expected to fetch up to $11 million (£7 million) and a rare self-portrait by Edgar Degas, with a pre-sale estimate of $700,000 ( £450,000).
Fashion collectors will have the opportunity to purchase unique designs such as a Versace beaded evening jacket adorned with portraits of Elizabeth Taylor in some of her famous movie roles, estimated to sell for up to £13,000 ($20,000) and the sunflower yellow dress by Hollywood designer Irene Sharaff that Taylor wore to her 1964 wedding to Burton, boasting a pre-sale estimate of £26,000 to £39,000 ($40,000-60,000).
For lower priced items there will be an online auction featuring moderately valued pieces with registration and bidding starting on December 3.
After London the Elizabeth Taylor Collection tour will move to Los Angeles, Dubai, Geneva, Paris, Hong Kong before finally closing at the Rockefeller Plaza in New York.
The UK exhibition, which runs until Monday at the auctioneers on King Street, opens today and in keeping with elizabeth Taylor’s humanitarian work, a portion of the £10 admission price will go to the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation, founded in 1991.
Marc Porter, chairman of Christie’s Americas, said: “This is without a doubt the greatest private collection of jewellery ever assembled in one place, and Christie’s is honoured to have been entrusted with the global tour of the collection this fall, and the sale of the collection in its entirety this December.”
Elizabeth Taylor’s famous jewellery and fashion items will go under the hammer over a four-day sale in New York this December, while her art will be auctioned in London next February.
Physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the international nuclear research facility near Geneva, Switzerland, are saying that an experiment in which a beam of neutrinos were sent 500 miles from CERN to a laboratory in Italy has thrown up a quite staggering result.
Specifically, the specialists found that the particles got there 60 billionths of a second quicker than the light speed limit allowed.
This was not a one-off; 15,000 neutrinos were detected and the results collated over three years.
The scientists at CERN found that neutrinos are travelling 60 billionths of a second quicker than the light speed limit allowed
The physicists say the result is so extraordinary that it may well be a mistake but they also say they cannot see where they might have gone wrong and have thrown open the doors to the international scientific community to check, double-check and triple-check what is going on.
If these neutrinos really are travelling faster than light, this will overturn everything we think we know about the basic physics that underpins the way we think the Universe works.
In 1905, Albert Einstein, in his Special Theory of Relativity, demonstrated that the speed of light which is equal to 186,000 miles/second or around six hundred million mph, is a universal constant. Albert Einstein’s genius was to weave together space, time, velocity, energy and mass into a fundamental interconnected whole.
CERN research findings could break a fundamental pillar of science and Einstein's theory of relativity
Breaking the light speed limit is not just some piece of awkward physics bureaucracy. The limit is actually a fundamental reflection of the way space and time are put together.
One outcome of travelling faster than light is that the mass and energy of the object travelling this fast become infinite. This is clearly absurd.
Another consequence is that anything travelling faster than light also goes backwards in time. This would violate another basic tenet, not only of physics but of our basic philosophical comprehension of how the world works. If we go back in time, we violate the principle of causality which says cause must precede effect.
It is possible, as the scientists freely admit, that they’ve made a mistake. After all, these neutrinos only broke the light speed barrier by about 12,000 mph, a tiny fraction of light speed. But intriguingly, the result of the “opera” (oscillation project with emulsion tracking apparatus) seems to have been mirrored in a couple of other experiments in the US.
If the result is correct, we have to assume that specialists have discovered something truly extraordinary, perhaps as significant as Albert Einstein’s original findings.
If things can travel faster than light, the Universe cannot be as physics assumed it to be for 106 years. Rule books will be torn up, hair will be torn out and new careers will be forged, explaining what on earth is going on.
A new post on NASA’s official Twitter account said of the falling satellite: “Re-entry prediction now later than expected – tonight or late Saturday morning,” at just before noon Eastern Time.
It seemed that NASA’s earlier prediction of a landing late this afternoon was wrong. A second update from NASA said, “predicted re-entry moving later.”
Meanwhile, NASA official website reveals that the satellite‘s orientation has changed during its plunge – and that its rate of descent was “changing”, making it difficult for NASA computers to predict the time or place of landing.
“There is now a low probability debris that survives re-entry will land in the United States.”
The falling satellite is one of the thousands of objects in Earth orbit being tracked by NASA
The space agency says there is a one in 3,200 chance the falling satellite will hit someone.
The satellite, which has six tons, is being tracked by all available equipment including a giant radar at RAF Fylingdales on the North York Moors on its path towards Earth.
NASA admits that it cannot predict the time or place of re-entry with any certainty – “but predictions will become more refined in the next 12 to 18 hours.”
A period of “12 to 18 hours” seems unnervingly close to when the huge Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) will break up on entering the Earth’s atmosphere, throwing chunks of metal weighing up to 350 lb across hundreds of miles.
The space agency said it will only know 2 hours before impact where it will land and even that prediction will only be accurate to the nearest 6,000 miles.
The satellite landing could be anywhere between the 57th parallel north, which crosses Britain at around Inverness, and the 57th parallel south, which passes just below South America.
Worldwide interest in the satellite is growing: a website set up to “track” the falling satellite is constantly crashing under incredible demand, and an app for Android smartphones, Satellite AR, allows people to “see” where it is at any moment.
An amazing video captured the satellite earlier this week as NASA experts slowly narrowed down the area where it could strike.
Astrophotographer Thierry Legault’s clip, shot in northern France, shows the 20-year-old UARS satellite, appearing as a beaming mass of light as it careers to Earth.
The station at RAF Fylingdalers was originally built at the height of the Cold War to track any incoming ballistic missile attack – a role it still performs.
A RAF spokeswoman said:
“The Space Operations Room at Royal Air Force Fylingdales is manned 24 hours a day by specialist Royal Air Force and civilian personnel, and its operators will be working to track the UARS object as it returns to the atmosphere.
“The Solid State Phased Array Radar is being tasked by the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force to concentrate its radar energy towards the object in order to track its final orbit.”
“This information will then be used by various different agencies to predict the path of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.”
Initially, the satellite was expected to come crashing down through the atmosphere on Friday evening, GMT. On Thursday, the Aerospace Corporation in California predicted that re-entry will occur over the Pacific Ocean.
The satellite, which is 20-year-old, is the biggest NASA spacecraft to fall uncontrolled from the sky in 32 years.
The satellite is expected to break into more than 100 pieces as it enters the atmosphere, most of it burning up.
The heaviest metal parts are expected to reach Earth, the biggest chunk weighing about 300 lb (135 kg). The debris could be scattered over an area about 500 miles long.
The largest single day electronic dance music event, LovEvolution: A Dance Music Parade and Festival is hosted at the historical stadium O.co Coliseum and Oracle Arena in Oakland, California on Saturday, September 24, 2011.
LovEvolution 2011 has a main stage, a grassy area at the Supperclub, 17 community produced, unique floats, with great names in dance music (Moby and Markus Schulz), top musicians, performers and DJs from around the world.
The Glitch Mob, Pendulum, Plump DJ’s, Isaiah Martin featuring Mark D’Antonio and Dustin Hengle perform at the Main Stage.
Pendulum performs at LovEvolution 2011
In the Chill Area: Rob Garza (Theivery Corporation), King Britt, Marquez Wyatt, Jason Bentley, Rafael de la Cruz (Deep LA), Jimmy Bell (supperclub SF), Michael Anthony (supperclub SF / LA), Late Night Sneaky ft B-Smiley plus Dj Rob Rayle (Outersect)
Other floats and artists are: Electro Pop Rockin Skills (Gareth Emery, Dyloot (deepVoices), K Theory), Opel & Opulent Temple ( ELiKi, Mike Butler, DJ Wolfie), Tantric Temple, Love and Rockets, Go Ventures – The Love Festival, Temple SF, rEvolution, Temple of Boom, Sacramento Dance Music, The Strip Ship, pixel porn, one, the sixth element, basssheadz, B.A.E. Krew’s chocolate factory, Nebula m 78.
The Glitch Mob takes the Main Stage at LovEvolution 2011
LovEvolution (formerly San Francisco LovEvolution and San Francisco LoveFest) is a technoparade and festival which takes its roots from German annual Love Parade.
Plump DJs come to LovEvolution 2011
From 2004 to 2009, the parade included 25 floats and started at San Francisco’s 2nd and Market Streets to San Francisco Civic Center Plaza. The event moved to Oakland in 2011.
Technoparade is a parade of vehicles equipped with strong loudspeakers and amplifiers playing techno music. It resembles a carnival parade, but the vehicles (lovemobiles) are less elaborately decorated. Important techoparades are: Street Parade (Zürich), Techno Parade (Paris, Love Parade and Fuckparade (Berlin), Lake Parade (Geneva).
Loveparade started in Berlin in 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, but in 2003, the city denied the parade a permit and the event moved to San Francisco. In 2004, when German organizers were able to secure permits back in Berlin.
The Love Week began on Wednesday and LovEvolution is followed by an official after-party known as LovEvolution After Party.
The mission of LovEvolution is to promote peace, understanding, tolerance, diversity, love, unity, peace, respect through the vehicle of dance music and the culture that surrounds it.
Over 120,000 people attended LovEvolution in 2008 in San Francisco.
The San Francisco LovEvolution is a volunteer non-profit organization. All profits made from the event are either applied towards next year’s event or given to participating non-profit organizations. In 2008 over 120,000 people attended this event.
There were studies suggesting that diabetes increases a person’s lifetime risk of developing thyroid cancer, and a new report published shows this linkage for retirement-age Americans.
The medical scientists found that if a person between 50 and 71 years old has diabetes the 10-year risk of thyroid cancer is increased by one-quarter.
The researchers founded their conclusions on data collected from the around 500,000 men and women who participated in the NIH-American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Diet and Health Study, that was performed in 1995 and 1996.
In the first survey, the statisticians gathered health information using questionnaires. Volunteers were asked about their pancreatic health, body mass index, diabetic status and other physical health related issues.
Ten years later, scientists conducted follow-up diagnostic tests on lots of participants.The new study used the values found during these visits.
On the first questionnaire, about one in 10 subjects reported having diabetes. Years later, these persons developed thyroid cancer with higher average frequency than those without the diabetes.
Thyroid cancer's risk is higher in women with diabetes
Overall, the participants with diabetes were 25 percent more likely than their peers to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer and the risk was found higher in women.
The men with diabetes had only 4 percent increment in the likelihood of developing thyroid tumors, but in diabetic women their risk climb by 46 percent.
The study appeared in the journal Thyroid, and was conducted by epidemiologists associated with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
These data confirm the results that were published over 10 years ago in the journal Clinical Diabetes. In an article appeared in 2000, Patricia Wu, an endocrinologist from the University of California, San Diego, gave an estimated 6.6 percent of the U.S. population with various type of thyroid disease and she said 10.8 percent of diabetics suffer from thyroid illnesses.
There are no doubtless information regarding the association between diabetes and the development of thyroid cancer.
However, researchers advanced the theory that the linkage is given by the conditions’ similarities as endocrine disorders. Thyroid Today emphasizes thyroid cancer and diabetes are in connection to autoimmune disturbances, body mass index variation and age-related risk.
Lots of adults have small nodules in their thyroids, but under 5% of these nodules are malignant. Yet the most frequent first sign of thyroid cancer is a nodule, or sometimes an enlarged lymph node. An ultrasound confirms the presence of the nodules. Thyroid nodules found under age of 20 are alarming because the potential for malignancy is far greater. Later symptoms are pain in the anterior region of the neck and changes in voice.
Thyroid ultrasound confirms the presence of the nodules. Less than 5 percent of thyroid nodules are malignant.
National Cancer Institute estimates 48,020 new cases and 1,740 deaths from thyroid cancer in the U. S. in 2011.
Anaplastic thyroid cancer is a very aggressive primary thyroid malignancy, represents less than 2% of all thyroid cancers, but causes up to 40% of deaths. Median life expectancy is about three months for newly diagnosed patients. The overall 5-year survival rate of anaplastic thyroid cancer has been given as 7% or 14%.
Hoping to slow or stop the thyroid cancer progression Fosbretabulin (Zybrestat), bortezomib (Velcade) and TNF-Related Apoptosis Induced Ligand (TRAIL), are being trialed.
Lawrence Brewer’s over-the-top meal, who was executed on Wednesday night for the dragging death of James Byrd, meant the end of the death row intimates last meal requests.
Houston State Senator John Whitmire wrote to the executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Division saying that he had long opposed the practice, and that “enough is enough.”
Senator Whitmire said the last meal request is an “extremely inappropriate privilege”, one which “the perpetrator did not provide to their victim.”
Before he was executed, the white supremacist Lawrence Brewer ordered an enormous meal containing 3,500 calories.
His last meal consisted of two chicken fried steaks, a triple bacon cheeseburger, a bowl of fried okra, a cheese omelette, barbeque, fajitas, pizza and peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts.
Lawrence Russell Brewer arriving at court in a bulletproof vest in 1999
According to Houstonpress.com, executive director Brad Livingston agreed with Senator Whitmire.
“I believe Senator Whitmire’s concerns regarding the practice of allowing death row offenders to choose their last meal are valid.
“Effective immediately, no such accommodations will be made. They will receive the same meal served to other offenders on the unit.”
The 44 year-old Lawrence Brewer, was put to death by lethal injection for his part in the 1998 killing of James Byrd in Jasper, East Texas.
Lawrence Brewer was one of three men convicted of killing James Byrd after they offered him a lift along a remote country road.
James Byrd, 49, was beaten unconscious and urinated upon before being bound to the vehicle by his ankles with a heavy logging chain and driven for three miles.
James Byrd Jr died after being chained to the bumper of a pick-up truck by Lawrence Brewer and two other white supremacists
According to forensic evidence, James Byrd was alive for much of the ordeal but was killed when the vehicle hit a concrete drainage channel causing his head and arm to be ripped from his body.
John William King, 36, was also convicted of capital murder and sent to death row. His case remains under appeal. The third man, Shawn Berry, 36, received a life prison term.
After dumping his remains in an African-American cemetery his killers drove off to a barbeque.
Lawrence Brewer told KFDM in an interview that he participated in the assault on James Byrd but had “nothing to do with the killing as far as dragging him or driving the truck or anything”.
Brewer told also his execution would be a “good out” and he’s “glad it’s about to come to an end”.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice said Lawrence Brewer‘s family was allowed to see him one last time yesterday morning.
Lawrence Brewer was then taken from the Polunsky Unit in Livingston to an isolation cell in Huntsville where the sentence was carried out.
James Byrd’s death led to the “Federal October 22, 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act”, commonly known as the “Matthew Shepard Act”.
US President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on October 28, 2009.
The brutal death put Jasper, a typical East Texas town with a Dairy Queen, Walmart and a handful of fast-food places some 60 miles from the nearest interstate highway, under a national spotlight.
“Everywhere you went, anywhere in the country, once people found out you were from Jasper, Texas, they wanted to ask you about it,” said Mike Lout, mayor and the Jasper radio station owner.
“Everybody first was shocked and appalled and not proud of it. They talked about it so much in the days past it, I think most people wanted to put it out of their minds.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Billy Rowles, who was sheriff at the time of James Byrd’s murder.
“A lot of effort and hard work and soul-searching went into trying to live down the stereotype. It’s so easy to get back into that mode.”
Lawrence Brewer’s huge last meal had echoes of that enjoyed by Robert Harris in 1992, who killed two teenage boys. Harris had a chicken bucket, two large pizzas, a Pepsi six-pack, jelly beans and Camel cigarettes.
The subject of last meals before execution has thrown up some interesting results over the last few decades, with James Smith being refused a request of dirt in 1990 and instead eating yoghurt.
Texas governor Rick Perry engaged in persuasive dispute with his rivals at Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate in Orlando. Social Security, immigration, border security and Perry’s 2007 executive order mandating that middle-school girls be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted HPV virus that can cause cervical cancer were the main topics. Texas governor Rick Perry struggled to reply to his critics in the latest debate between Republican contenders.
Gop Presidential debate
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said Perry supported the vaccine as a political favor to a pharmaceutical company, Merck, which donated to his campaigns.
For Rick Perry, the uninspired performance raises fears among Republicans that he would fail to dent Barack Obama in the high-profile presidential debates during the 2012 general election.
Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and Rick Perry’s main rival, was polite and more fluent, especially as the debate wore on, although he avoided making detailed responses.
The Texas governor also saw his once immaculate conservative credentials come under fire when Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum pointed out a 2001 law signed by Perry that gave higher education tuition breaks to the children of illegal immigrants.
Perry hit back hard and questioned whether Santorum had even been to the border before. He hotly defended the policy, accusing critics of seeking to punish children for the sins of their parents.
“If you say that we should not educate children that have come into our state for no other reason than they’ve been brought here by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart”
During the GOP presidential debate, he specifically mentioned his support for Arizona’s controversial immigration law:
“The fact of the matter is this: There is nobody on this stage who has spent more time working on border security than I have. For a decade, I’ve been the governor of a state with a 1,200-mile border with Mexico. We put $400 million of our taxpayer money into securing that border. We’ve got our Texas Ranger recon teams there now. I supported Arizona’s immigration law by joining in that lawsuit to defend it.”
Romney questioned Perry’s commitment to protecting Social Security in a state with nearly 4 million citizens who depend on the entitlement program.
Rick Perry rebuffed Romney’s accusation that he wants to eliminate Social Security at the federal level and let the entitlement program be managed by the states.
“It’s not the first time that Mitt has been wrong on some issues so far,” Perry said. “The bottom line is, we never said we would move that back to the states.”
Perry swore a “solemn oath” to protect the program and said states, as a cost-saving measure, should allow Social Security recipients to opt out of the program if they choose.
The GOP presidential debate also revealed an ugly side of the Republican party when a member of the US armed forces appeared on video to tell the candidates that he was gay and that he had been forced to lie about his identity when he was deployed to Iraq in 2010 because he didn’t want to lose his job. Then he asked if the candidates would “do anything to circumvent the progress that’s been made for gay and lesbian soldiers” now that the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy has been officially repealed.
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When the video ended a handful of very loud boos erupted in the debate hall. Otherwise there was silence – not one cheer for an active duty soldier asking the candidates if they’d let him continue serving his country without lying. No other voter-submitted question all night elicited such a harsh response.
The question was addressed to Rick Santorum, who made things worse by not offering any words of appreciation for Hill’s service. Instead, he declared that “any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military,” that gays and lesbians have been given “a special privilege” by the repeal of DADT, and that the basic function of the military has been undermined because of it. This response produced loud applause and cheers.
Medusa, the world’s largest snake weighs more than 300 lbs (135 kg), is 25ft (7.5 meters) long and it takes 15 people to hold her.
Medusa, a massive python is set to slither into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest snake living in captivity.
The giant snake, which will be on display at the Edge of Hell haunted house attraction in Kansas City, eats a 40lb animal about once a week but could easily eat something weighing more than 100lbs.
Medusa, the world’s largest snake weighs more than 300 lbs (135 kg), is 25ft (7.5 meters) long and it takes 15 people to hold her
Medusa will soon be visited by representatives from the Guinness Book of World Records, who are coming to verify her new title.
Larry Elgar, Medusa‘s trainer told NBC Action News he isn’t intimidated by the massive python.
“They’ve actually cut people out of them, they are man eaters.
“Fear is just a lack of understanding. I have no fear. I understand that she can kill me. I’ve been wrapped up and put unconscious by a reticulated python that was only 18 feet long.
“I understand the repercussions, but that’s no reason to fear. That car you drove in has killed more people than anything else in the world. But you’re not scared when you put your keys in it, are you?”
Medusa, the giant python is set to slither into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest snake living in captivity
Larry Edgar said he bought Medusa, who is now seven-year-old, as a baby and she is still growing.
“Seven years ago, this snake was 24 inches long, as big as my finger,” Larry Edgar said.
Medusa is set to bump Fluffy, a reticulated python, off the top spot.
At 24 feet long, Fluffy held the record for longest snake living in captivity until she died at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, Ohio, last October.
Sleepbox is the first temporary bedroom which can be rented out for half-hour periods and was just introduced into Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow.
Sleepbox will allow travellers to get a light kip if their planes are delayed.
The specially equipped boxes, which work as mobile bedrooms have been created by Russian architecture company the Arch Group.
Sleepbox is the first temporary bedroom which can be rented out for half-hour periods and was just introduced into Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow
The first Sleepbox, which can be rented out for half-hour periods, have been installed at the Aeroexpress terminal of Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow.
Sleepbox represents the basic version made of MDF with a natural ash-wood veneer.
The mobile bedroom measures 2.5m by 1.6m with a height of between 2.5m and 3m.
In addition to general lighting, Sleepbox has built-in LED reading lamps while windows are equipped with electric-drive blinds for privacy
Sleepbox standard features include ventilation and sockets for notebook and mobile phone chargers.
The special container has also space for luggage under the beds which each come with a nightstand.
In addition to general lighting, Sleepbox has built-in LED reading lamps while windows are equipped with electric-drive blinds for privacy.
Sleepbox options include matted film on windows; mood lighting LED lamps with changing light colours; built-in TV and touch-screen monitor; wi-fi router; alarm; intercom and safe deposit box.
One of Sleepbox main advantages is its ability to be installed in the airport passenger areas where travellers have to spend hours waiting for their delayed flights or a transfer.
Sleepbox standard features include ventilation and sockets for notebook and mobile phone chargers
A spokesman for the architecture company Arch Group said:
“Imagine the situation where you are in a modern city, you are not a local resident, and you have not booked a hotel.
“It is not a comfortable situation because modern aggressive cities give you no opportunity to rest and relax. If you want to sleep while waiting for your plane or train, you face many security and hygiene problems.
“We believe that urban infrastructure should be more comfortable. For this purpose we have developed Sleepbox.
“It provides moments of quiet sleep and rest without wasting time in search for a hotel.”
Referring to the first Sleepbox installed in Moscow, the spokesman added:
“This Sleepbox has attracted such a great deal of interest from passengers and big companies that the chances are first commercially-operated boxes will be installed at airports and in the city by the end of this year.”
Other possible locations for Sleepbox would include railway stations, exhibition centres and shopping centres.
In countries with a warm climate, Sleepbox can be used outdoors.
Arch Group spokesman continued:
“It allows everybody in unforeseen circumstances to spend a night safely and inexpensively or simply to kill a few hours without leaving the luggage.
“Currently we offer one, two, or three-bed Sleepboxes, which can be made of MDF, metal, and glass-reinforced plastic.
“The price varies depending on the number of hours in use: the more the user pays for, the less it costs per hour.”
A satellite, weighing six tons and currently out-of-control, will strike Earth at 18,000 mph and could land almost anywhere this evening – NASA warned last night.
The satellite has the size of a bus and will break up on entering Earth’s atmosphere, flinging huge chunks of metal weighing up to 350 lb (150 kg) across hundreds of miles.
The six-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite will crash to Earth this evening
NASA said its specialists will only know two hours before impact where it will land – and even that prediction will only be accurate to the nearest 6,000 miles. The satellite could land anywhere between the 57th parallel north, which crosses Britain at around Inverness, and the 57th parallel south, which passes just below South America.
The satellite could land anywhere between the 57th parallel north, which crosses Britain at around Inverness, and the 57th parallel south, which passes just below South America
The plummeting six-ton satellite has been caught on film.
Astrophotographer Thierry Legault’s clip, shot in northern France, shows the 20-year-old Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), appearing as a beaming mass of light as it careers to Earth.
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NASA orbital debris scientist Mark Matney admitted:
“We know it is going to hit somewhere between 57 north and 57 south, which covers most of the inhabited world, unfortunately.”
However, scientists have ruled out the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite striking North America.
The satellite orbit has been altered by NASA deliberately to make it crash – but it is now coming down sooner than expected due to changed atmospheric conditions.
The satellite is falling to Earth at 5 miles per second, faster than previously thought and experts say there is a one in 3,200 chance of someone being hit by debris – more likely than getting a hole in one during a round of golf.
The NASA satellite, which measures 35ft (12 meters) and weighs 6.5tonnes, was put into space in 1991 to monitor climate change, and ceased its operations in 2005.
The falling satellite will look like a fiery meteor shower as it begins to burn up in the atmosphere.
It is expected that satellite will break into more than 100 pieces with most of it being destroyed before it hits the ground. But around 26 pieces are expected to make it through and the heaviest metal parts are expected to reach Earth, including titanium fuel tanks.
NASA spokesman Steve Cole said:
“Anybody who finds a piece of the satellite should stay away from it and call the police and let them deal with it.
“It could be very hot or it could be dangerous. It depends on what speed the debris is going, but it could go be going fast enough to go through a house.
“We will have to wait and see if the debris creates a crater. If it is spherical that is possible but if it has a less regular shape it may not be going so fast.”
The satellite has the size of a bus and will break up on entering Earth’s atmosphere, flinging huge chunks of metal weighing up to 350 lb (150 kg) across hundreds of miles
Steve Cole added that more accurate predictions are expected throughout today and will be posted on NASA’s website.
Debris routinely falls to Earth from space but the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite will be the biggest NASA craft to fall uncontrolled from space in 32 years.
In 1979, Skylab, which was 15 times bigger, rained charred chunks on the Indian Ocean and Western Australia after NASA said it would land in South Africa.
In 2003, when the space shuttle Columbia exploded upon re-entry killing its entire crew, large chunks of its shell landed across Texas.
Carla Bruni says she is desperate to give birth, but the French First Lady has confessed that her urgency is not driven simply by the desire to see her baby, she is also desperate to start drinking and smoking again.
The 43 year-old former model, admitted that, after nearly eight months of carrying her first child with President Nicolas Sarkozy, she is “totally fed up”.
“Quite frankly, I can’t stand it anymore. I spend most of my time either sitting down or lying down. I can’t drink or smoke any more. I’m in a hurry to get it over with.”
Carla Bruni is due to give birth in 6 weeks, but she is desperate to smoke
The baby, who is due in six weeks, will be Carla Bruni’s second child. Shealready has a son, Aurelien, born in 2001, with ex-boyfriend Raphael Enthoven.
“The baby will be viable at any time from October 1,”Carla Bruni told French newspaper Le Parisien.
“Aurelien arrived on time, which means this could be a long wait, but I really do want this child so much.”
Friends of Carla Bruni told the newspaper that because she was having a baby after the age of 40, her doctors had urged lots of “rest and clean-living”.
Carla Bruni has also insisted she will not release photos of the new baby, saying it’s “a totally private event”.
However, another news magazine, Marianne, suggested the birth was ideally timed for President Nicolas Sarkozy’s re-election campaign next year, describing the baby as the “perfect marketing tool” for him.
“Politically speaking, the timing of this pregnancy is perfect. It is a <<marketing-baby>> that will be born just before the last months of presidential campaigning really get going.”
Carla Bruni smoking during her activity as model
Carla Bruni and the 55 year-old France president, Nicolas Sarkozy, met on a blind date at a Paris dinner party in November 2007.
Bruni and Sarkozy married just three months later at a private ceremony in the Elysee Palace on February 2, 2008.
Nicolas Sarkozy already has three children of his own – two sons, Pierre, 25, and Jean, 23, from his first marriage to Marie-Dominique Culioli, and a 13-year-old son Louis from his second marriage to Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz, who he divorced in 2007 before he met Carla Bruni.
Kweku Adoboli, the suspected UBS rogue trader said today that he was “sorry beyond words” for the record $2.3 billion losses suffered by Swiss banking giant.
Kweku Adoboli sat in the dock at City of London magistrates’ court as his barrister Patrick Gibbs QC told the court:
“He is sorry beyond words for what has happened here.
“He went to UBS and told them what he had done and he stands now appalled at the scale of the consequences of his disastrous miscalculations.”
Kweku Adoboli will face a second count of fraud in addition to two charges of false accounting over three years at UBS
Kweku Adoboli, 31, will face a second count of fraud in addition to two charges of false accounting over three years at UBS.
Magistrates remanded Kweku Adoboli in custody until October 20 at the first of two committal hearings.
Prosecutors allege Adoboli lost the cash while working at UBS’s global synthetic equities division, buying and selling exchange traded funds, which track different types of stocks, bonds or commodities such as metals.
Kweku Adoboli’s lawyer, Louise Hodges, of solicitors Kingsley Napley, has made no application so far for bail for her client.
The alleged fraud offence took place between January 1 and September 14 this year.
Kweku Adoboli, son of a former Ghanaian official to the United Nations, joined the Swiss firm in a junior capacity in 2002.
The fraud charge against the rogue trader reads:
“While occupying a position, namely being a senior trader with Global Synthetic Equities, in which you were expected to safeguard, or not to act against, the financial interests of UBS Bank, you dishonestly abused that position intending thereby to make a gain for yourself, causing losses to UBS or to expose UBS to risk of loss.”
The two accusations of false accounting claim that Kweku Adoboli “falsified a record, namely an exchange traded fund transaction”
The two accusations of false accounting – which date back to 2008 – claim that Kweku Adoboli “falsified a record, namely an exchange traded fund transaction”.
After Kweku Adoboli’s first appearance in court, UBS revised upwards the cost of the rogue trading to 2.3 billion US dollars (£1.5 billion) after previously saying the incident had cost it in the range of two billion US dollars (£1.3 billion).
British Financial Services Authority and its Swiss counterpart have launched an investigation into why UBS failed to spot allegedly fraudulent trading.
Rhonda Cook from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, JoAnn Merrigan of WSAV News in Savannah and Greg Bluestein of the Associated Press, who all have covered more than 20 executions between them in the past, were three of five reporters allowed to watch the controversial death of Troy Davis at Georgia State Prison last night.
Troy Davis, who murdered an off-duty police officer, was executed by lethal injection after a tense four-hour delay. Here is what the reporters witnessed:
Rhonda Cook, Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Just after 10:30 Wednesday night two words stopped the conversation among reporters instantly.
“Y’all ready?” a correctional officer asked.
We were moments away from witnessing an execution. Media witnesses are as much a part of the execution process as the officers who escort the inmate to the death chamber or the officers who strap the condemned to a gurney.
Troy Davis was put to death in Jackson, Georgia, last night
Wednesday, we were there as unbiased witnesses, sitting on the back row. Our seats were behind those there on behalf of the condemned and those who prosecuted or arrested Troy Davis for the 1989 murder of Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. The dead officer’s son and namesake, Mark MacPhail Jr., and his brother, William MacPhail, were there for the family.
We spoke little from that moment on, the five reporters selected to witness the execution.
As the officer called our names, we lined up and left the room where we had waited for so long, oblivious to the last-ditch effort to spare Davis and the police presence and protests beyond the prison’s walls.
In the death chamber, we took our seats on the last of three pews.
Warden Carl Humphrey began the process by reading the execution order signed by Chatham County Judge Penny Haas Freesmann. “The court having sentenced defendant Troy Anthony Davis on the third day of September, 1991, to be executed….”
Then he asked Davis if he has any final words.
Yes, the condemned man said and he raised his head so he could look at Mark MacPhail Jr., who was an infant when his father was murdered, and William MacPhail, the dead officer’s brother.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Davis said.
Mark MacPhail, who was leaning forward, and his uncle did not move. They stared at the man who killed their loved one.
“I did not personally kill your son, father and brother,” Davis said. “I am innocent.”
He asked his family and friends to continue to search for the truth.
And to the prison officials he said: “May God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls.”
He then lowered his head. He turned down an offer for a prayer.
Within minutes, Troy Anthony Davis slipped out of consciousness and in 14 minutes he was dead.
A three-drug cocktail ended his life. First pentobarbital put Davis in a drug-induced coma. The paralytic pancuronium bromide was second. Potassium chloride stopped Davis’ heart.
“The court ordered execution of Troy Anthony Davis was carried out in accordance with the laws of the state of Georgia,” the warden announced.
Curtains in the death chamber were closed and we were quickly ushered out.
Waiting for us at the media staging area was a line of correctional officers, deputy sheriffs and state troopers blocking protesters from crossing Georgia Highway 36 onto prison property and hoards of local, national and international reporters waiting for the reporters who witnessed the execution to describe what happened.
He went peacefully, one of the reporters said
Greg Bluestein, Associated Press:
It didn’t take long to notice Troy Davis’ execution was different from the others I’ve covered. As I drove up to the prison, I could see the crowds of protesters and a group of at least 50 reporters.
I’ve covered about 10 executions in Georgia. None of them are easy. This was by far the most unusual.
There were four reporters besides me there to witness the execution.
We ended up waiting for more than four hours in a sombre prison break room. We made small talk and speculated about whether the U.S. Supreme Court could intervene. At times, it was silent.
Around 10:30 p.m., a guard walked in and said: “You ready?”
Execution chamber at Georgia State Prison in Jackson, where Troy Davis was sedated, strapped to a gurney and given a lethal injection
We were led into a white van and, after passing through several security checkpoints, we were delivered to the squat white building on the edge of the prison that serves as the death chamber. We watched the slain officer’s son, Mark MacPhail Jr., enter the building. Behind him, Jason Ewart, the condemned man’s attorney, walked in. A county coroner’s van rolled up.
By the time we were inside, officials had already strapped Davis to the gurney. There was a glass window with a curtain separating Davis from the witnesses, who sat in three rows of seats. There were about 20 of us.
Davis searched for Ewart, who nodded slightly when they locked eyes. MacPhail Jr., sitting in the front row, focused on Davis.
When it was time to deliver his last words, Davis’ seized the moment, speaking quickly and confidently.
He told the MacPhail family he was not responsible for the death. “I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault,” he said.
Davis urged his supporters to “continue to fight the fight.” And just before the lethal drugs coursed through his veins, he offered a message to his executioners: “God have mercy on your souls.”
Davis blinked his eyes rapidly. He squeezed them tight. The curtain closed.
JoAnn Merrigan, WSAV News:
Prison officials arrived to take me to the prison at 5:45pm. I arrived at the State Prison in Jackson, Georgia at 5:50pm.
At 6:02, I was taken into a waiting room where I stayed for around four hours with no knowledge of what was going on. Every so often, someone would come in and say the execution had been delayed.
Around 9:00pm, I went to the bathroom and heard some people talking.
Around 10:20pm, an official came and brought me out into a hallway where I was told to stop. Three men, including the warden, were walking around. Attorney General Sam Olens was also there. He walked quickly one way, then the other. Then the prison official said it was time to go around 10:25pm.
I got into a car with three attorneys from the Attorney General’s office, and rode along with a caravan of cars to a building. The drive took around two minutes, and we arrived at 10:27pm.
I walked into the room and sat in the front row, about a dozen people were also in the room. The room had a window showing the execution chamber.
Two men came in, the warden and another man.
Then five guards escorted in Troy Davis and laid him down on the gurney. He appeared calm at this time.
The five guards began methodically strapping in Davis. They started with each foot first, then each knee, then each arm.
A fifth strap was laid across Davis’s shoulders.
At this point, Davis picked up his head to look around the room. I was about four to five feet from the window.
Two women then came in with heart monitoring equipment and strapped it to his chest. No one in the room spoke.
The two women then put a syringe into each arm, the left first then the right. Long tubes connected the needles through two holes in the cement wall. I understand that tubes were connected to two intravenous drips containing the chemicals.
At this point, Davis raised his head for a second time to look at the room beyond the window.
Two guards then placed surgical tape around Davis’s fingertips, strapping them to the gurney.
The bed was then raised to an upright angle, facing the crowd. I could see him clearly, being only four to five feet from the window.
I then moved to the back of the room. At this point, the family of Officer Mark MacPhail, including Billy MacPhail the brother, and Mark MacPhail Jr, the son, entered the room and sat in the front row.
There were also other witnesses, totalling eight people, who also sat in the front row.
Defence attorneys Jason Ewart and Thomas Ruffin came in and sat in the second row with others.
At this point, other media witnesses were brought in and they sat in the back row with me. A total of around 30 people were in the room.
About 15 minutes had passed since I first entered the room.
A microphone was turned on and the warden said, ‘We are here for the execution of Troy Anthony Davis with all witnesses present.’ He also asked that the witnesses remain silent. He then asked Davis if he had anything he wanted to say. Davis replied: “Yes.”
Davis said: “I want to address the members of the MacPhail family. Despite the situation we are all in, you think I’ve killed your father, your brother, your husband, I’m not the person, I’m innocent, what happened was not my fault, I did not have a gun that night, I did not shoot your family member. I’m so sorry for your loss, I really am. I hope you will finally see the truth and others will, too. To my family and supporters, thank you for your prayers and continue to pray. For those about to take my life, I forgive you. God bless you all.”
The warden then read the death warrant. Davis looked out at the crowd, and though he seemed calm, it did appear he was somewhat scared.
The room was very quiet when the injections began.
First, Davis received an injection of pentobarbital, a sedative. Second, he received an injection of pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxer. Lastly, he was injected with potassium chloride to induce cardiac arrest.
After a short amount of time, Davis yawned then closed his eyes.
The room was quiet and all I heard was my pencil moving over paper.
A woman then came in and checked his eyes, then there was a ‘beep.’ Mark MacPhail Jr was leaning towards the window.
The microphone was turned on again, and two doctors entered the room wearing long white coats.
One doctor checked his pulse and placed a stethoscope on his chest. Then the second doctor performed the same procedure. At the end, the second doctor looked at the first and nodded his head.
The warden then said: “At 11:08 September 21st, the court ordered execution of Troy Davis was carried out in accordance with the laws of Georgia.”
I was escorted out of the room and saw a black Butts County coroner’s van of outside the building.
About 30 to 35 minutes had passed by the time I entered the room, until the time Davis was pronounced.
Cardiff After Dark portfolio presents the images of the British night life with young women and men vomiting and sleeping on the streets after weekend parties.
The images look like those you might find in some depressing police dossier.
Here, in vivid detail, is a squalid portrait of binge-drinking Britain. Some of the more incapacitated specimens are in mid-vomit. A few have simply passed out.
Cardiff After Dark portfolio presents the images of the British night life with young women and men vomiting and sleeping on the streets after weekend parties
Tequila-fuelled young women strike crude poses that will (or should) mortify them in the sober light of day. More worryingly, one or two are unconscious on the pavement, dangerously vulnerable in their pathetic state.
Cardiff After Dark portfolio, a squalid portrait of binge-drinking Britain.
One image even shows one triumphal inebriate male advancing on a group of sozzled young woman exposing himself.
The scenes were all captured in Cardiff, in the area around St Mary Street and neighbouring “chip alley”. But similar scenes are being played out in town centres all over Britain every weekend.
This collage of shame was unveiled before an audience of 1,000 people. They leapt to their feet, applauding, roaring with laughter and crying “Bravo!”
The scenes were all captured in Cardiff, in the area around St Mary Street and neighbouring “chip alley”, but similar scenes are being played out in town centres all over Britain every weekend
Cardiff After Dark portfolio, which was presented at the International Festival of Photojournalism in the French city of Perpignan, was considered a beautifully crafted and realistic portrait of life in modern Britain in the eyes of the experts and professionals.
Polish photographer Maciej Dakowicz, 34, has been capturing nocturnal scenes in Cardiff, where he was previously a student, for the past five years.
Maciej Dakowicz admits that he would be unable to produce images like this in his home town of Bialystok in Poland.
People there just don’t demean themselves like that. But, in Cardiff, he was spoiled for choice. For all that, he remains fond of the Welsh capital.
Cardiff After Dark portfolio was presented at the International Festival of Photojournalism in the French city of Perpignan
“Welsh people are very friendly and open,” Maciej Dakowicz said.
“The atmosphere is very cheerful and everyone is having a good time.”
And so they are — if your idea of having a good time is passing out in a pool of vomit.
“The pictures tell stories of drinking, of love, of violence, of lots of things,” Dakowicz insisted.
Around 50 of these photographs were presented at the prestigious festival on a giant screen. The critics lapped them up.
“The reaction was very positive,” said Maciej Dakowicz.
“The audience was laughing. They were making fun of British people.”
No doubt they were.
Britain, the nation which was once regarded as a buttoned-up bunch of repressives in bowler hats is now a land of incontinent alcoholics.
A report of Alzheimer’s disease International (ADI) published in 2009, said there were 35.6 million people were with dementia and Alzheimer’s and it was expected that the number would increase to 65.7 million by 2030.
Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that is a collective name for progressive degenerative brain syndromes. They affect memory, thinking, behavior, intellect, personality and emotion. Symptoms may include loss of memory, difficulty in finding the right words or understanding what people are saying, difficulty in performing previously routine tasks, personality and mood change. In the last stage of Alzheimer’s a person is totally dependent of care-givers and might have swallowing difficulties, is very thin and dies of infections or other diseases.
Although age, family history, and genes play a major role in determining Alzheimer’s risk, there are several ways to prevent Alzheimer’s or slower its progression.
Sleep. Getting enough sleep helps to consolidate memory, and an afternoon nap might lock-in long-term memoires faster. Sleep deprivation could stimulate the production of amyloid plaques and cause the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Lack of sleep also affects hormones’ balance and metabolism, leading to diabetes, weight gain, and making a person to look older. Sleeping less than eight hours a night also increases risk of heart attack, stroke, and depression and weakens immune system, so one gets cold much easier.
Getting enough sleep is a way to lower Alzheimer’s risk.
Music. The capacity for music tends to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease differently than other brain functions. “It appears that words to a song get encoded in a different place in the brain than the words we use in speech, and it appears that people with Alzheimer’s actually preserve the music, and the words that go to music, long after much of the rest of the brain is not functioning well,” said Elaine Bearer, professor of neuroscience at the University of New Mexico. Also listening to relaxing melodies, singing or playing an instrument keep the brain in a good shape.
Intellectual activities. People who keep their brains active may be at less risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Reading, engaging in a hobby such as playing bridge or chess, or doing crosswords and word puzzles may help to reduce risk.
Wine. A glass of wine a day appears to reduce the risk of cognitive decline that occurs with normal aging as well as Alzheimer’s. A study found that those who had a drink a day through the years had about a 25% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s in old age compared with those who didn’t drink at all. Heavier drinking increased the risk of cognitive decline more than non-drinking. A glass of wine could also prevent heart and vascular illness and help you to relax and sleep better. However, if you have Alzheimer’s, a liver condition, or other diseases that get worsen by alcohol, you should avoid it.
Stop smoking. Smokers have a 72% greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s found the researchers from the University of California, San Francisco after excluding studies sponsored by the tobacco industry. Industry-funded studies found that smokers had a lower risk. Besides lowering lung cancer’s risk, quitting smoking also can help you to sleep better, thinking more clear, being relaxed. Stopping smoking improves your complexion, reduces your wrinkles, and lowers heart attack and stroke’s risks.
Control blood sugar. A Japanese study showed that diabetes could raise Alzheimer’s risk up to three times. Those with higher than normal blood sugar levels, or prediabetes, also have a higher risk. High blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) could be reverse through eight hours a night sleep, weight loss, daily walks, and a reduction in sweets and other processed foods.
Control cholesterol levels. High cholesterol levels are associated with changes in the brain that are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. A study that examined the brains on autopsy found that participants who had high total cholesterol levels (over 224 mg/dL) in mid- to late life were seven times more likely than those with low cholesterol (under 173 mg/dL) to have the beta-amyloid plaques in their brain when they died a decade or two later. Eating low-fat or fat-free dairy products and limiting your intake of red meat can help lower cholesterol levels. The onion and garlic consumed daily are great helpers in prevention of atherosclerosis, by reducing cholesterol level. Also the goal can be reached through weight loss and daily exercise.
Weight loss. Losing weight can also prevent the Alzheimer’s since a study showed that obesity duration increased type 2 diabetes risk, and other study said the diabetes could raise the risk of Alzheimer’s.
Exercise. A daily walk is good for the brain, and getting yourself sweaty several times a week is even better. Studies have shown that aerobic exercise (brisk walking, biking, swimming, or dancing) can reduce the risk of dementia and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia in old age. After the age of 65, at every five years, the number of people with Alzheimer’s doubles.
Alzheimer’s is common in people over 65, but can affects younger people too.
US Against Alzheimer’s said one in eight 65-year-old already has the disease, which has no effective treatment, and is ultimately fatal.
Although Alzheimer’s appears in people over 65, like legendary crooner Glenn Campbell (75), early-onset dementia can be found in younger persons, like basketball coach Pat Summitt (59).
Jesse Coombs became the first person to kayak successfully down Abiqua Falls in Oregon, USA.
Lucas Gilman, Jesse Coombs’ friend and extreme sports photographer captured the jaw-dropping three-second plunge on camera.
Jesse Coombs and Lucas Gilman hiked to the remote 96 feet (30 meters) waterfall armed with five cameras to film the stunt.
Before Jesse Coombs, only athlete Tim Goss had attempted to kayak down this waterfall.
Jesse Coombs became the first person to kayak successfully down the 96 ft (30 m) Abiqua Falls in Oregon
But Tim Goss landed badly and dislocated both knees.
Despite the risks, 40-year-old Jesse Coombs was not put off.
Jesse Coombs positioned himself in his kayak at the summit of the near vertical waterfall and dropped into the pool below while Lucas Gilman looked on nervously.
Lucas Gilman said: “Jesse is a good friend of mine and you never want a friend to get hurt so there was a lot of pressure to make sure nothing went wrong.
“It took us two days to prepare for the shoot. We had to set up a zip line to capture the fall at the right angle and there were certain safety procedures we needed to put in place, which included positioning two kayakers in the pool below which was tricky.
“Abiqua Falls isn’t the highest waterfall but it is considered the hardest.
“The lip of Abiqua Falls is very tricky, it goes from flat to vertical very quickly. So getting the right angle to hit the water is really hard.
“If you hit the fall at the wrong angle you risk serious injury.
“There were definitely some nerves there but you just have to remember you’re there to document it and hope for the best.”
Although the jump was a success, Jesse Coombs suffered a fractured shoulder socket and a collapsed lung. And just a week later kayak world record holder Tyler Bradt broke his back in the same stunt.
Although the jump was a success, Jesse Coombs suffered a fractured shoulder socket and a collapsed lung
Jesse Coombs said: “This waterfall comes with heavy consequences so not many people have attempted it.
“Three world class kayakers have attempted Abiqua Falls and all three of us have been injured to some degree.
“It’s not the tallest waterfall but it’s definitely considered one of the most dangerous.
“To fall 96ft takes around three seconds, so there is not much room for error.
“But knowing I’d nailed it gave me a huge feeling of elation.”
Pope Benedict XVI has begun his first official visit to Germany, his native country.
After arriving in Berlin, Pope Benedict XVI said he had come to the country to talk about Christianity, not politics.
The Pope visit to Germany may be one of his most difficult to date, with strong protests expected against his teachings.
Pope Benedict XVI, 84, is to address the German parliament and say Mass in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium during the four-day visit.
The pontiff will travel widely across Germany, where there are officially 25 million Catholics – one third of the population.
The Pope has visited Germany unofficially several times since assuming the Church’s highest office, travelling to Catholic strongholds in the Rhineland and his native Bavaria.
However, the tour will take Benedict XVI into historically Protestant regions and parts of the atheistic old East Germany.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, daughter of a Lutheran pastor who grew up in East Germany, said Christian unity would be a focus of the Pope’s visit.
Tomorrow, Benedict XVI will meet members of Germany’s Lutheran Church in the monastery where Luther studied as a monk in Erfurt in the early 16th Century, before breaking with Rome and launching the Protestant Reformation.
Pope Benedict has been greeted at Berlin’s Tegel airport by an artillery salute and a guard of honour and he was welcomed by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Christian Wulff.
Pope Benedict XVI, German president, Christian Wulff, and his wife Bettina at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin
Visiting President Christian Wulff’s residence in Berlin, Benedict XVI said:
“I am not here first and foremost… to follow particular political, or economic, aims but to meet the people and to speak to them about God.”
The Pope visit has attracted opposition from various groups. Protesters have taken issue with the Catholic stance on homosexuality and contraception, and some members of German Parliament – possibly as many as 100, or almost one in seven – plan to boycott his speech to the Bundestag, on Thursday.
It is believed that at least 20,000 demonstrators, including gay people, feminists, atheists, abuse survivors and other opponents of the Pope, will gather in Berlin.
German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, who is a Protestant, criticized the planned boycott, accusing members of Bundestag of “arrogance, narrow-mindedness and provincialism”.
Berlin’s openly gay mayor, Klaus Wowereit, said he welcomed the Pope’s visit and would meet him personally, but he also expressed understanding for the protesters.
Both Mayor Klaus Wowereit and President Christian Wulff, who is divorced and remarried, are Catholics who in the eyes of the Church lead sinful lifestyles.
Speaking to reporters on his plane from Rome, Pope Benedict XVI said he could understand those leaving the Church due to the sexual abuse scandals of recent years.
One of the highlights of Pope visit to Germany is a Mass to be held on Thursday evening at the Olympic Stadium.
The Olympic Stadium, where Hitler hosted the 1936 games, is now a popular sporting and entertainment venue, and some 70,000 people are expected to attend the Mass.
The tour includes also a meeting with former Chancellor Helmut Kohl and a visit to the strongly Catholic city of Freiburg in the south-west.
According to AFP news agency, a record of 181,000 German Catholics officially quit the Church last year, a total for the first time higher than that for Protestants leaving their churches.
The Pope also told reporters in the plane he had nothing against the planned demonstrations against his visit, as long as they were civil.
“I can understand that in the face of such reports [about sexual abuse], people, especially those close to victims, would say <<this isn’t my Church anymore>>.”
“The Church is a net of the Lord that pulls in good fish and bad fish. We have to learn to live with the scandals and work against the scandals from inside the great net of the Church.”
Groups of Catholics who are demanding reform of the Church will also use the visit to express their views.
Sigrid Grabmeier, a spokeswoman of Catholic reform group Wir Sind Kirche (We are Church), said she had mixed feelings about the Pope’s visit.
“I do not really know what he wants to tell us about really important things like justice and the world, or rich and poor people or something.”
Sigrid Grabmeiercalled for a return to Christian basics, saying: “Jesus, he did not found a religion and he did not tell us how we should believe, but how we live.”
The revolutionary anti-wrinkle pill, which goes on sale today in UK, claims to shrink crow’s feet by up to 30 per cent
A revolutionary anti-wrinkle pill, which goes on sale today in UK, claims to shrink crow’s feet by up to 30%.
The three-times-a-day tablet is thought to be the first treatment to work on the deepest layers of the skin.
The revolutionary pill, which was developed by British scientists,showed in tests on 480 women it reduced heavy lines around their eyes by up to 30% within 14 weeks.
The anti-wrinkle pills cost £35 (about $54) for a month’s supply, contain a blend of nutrients which the researchers say attack the genetic causes of ageing.
As women get older, their oestrogen levels fall and their skin produces less collagen. The collagen is a substance that makes the skin smooth and elastic.
Majority of anti-wrinkle creams work on the top layer of the skin, the epidermis, and many have been criticized for being ineffective.
Dr. John Casey, who led the Unilever team of specialists which developed the pill, said it worked by activating the genes which produce oestrogen and collagen, reducing wrinkles and sun damage in the deep level of the skin, called the dermis.
“We used ingredients which have been shown in the scientific literature and our own tests to combat the causes of skin ageing and kickstart old skin cells into behaving like young skin cells.
“We spent five years testing the ingredients on hundreds of women and found this combination could reduce deep wrinkles within 14 weeks. There is nothing currently on the market which can do that.”
The main ingredients of the revolutionary anti-wrinkle pill are vitamins C and E, isoflavones from soya, lycopene from tomatoes and omega-3 from fish oils, which are all currently sold as food supplements.
During tests run in the UK, France and Germany, researchers took 4 mm deep biopsies from the skin of 110 of the women. The specialists found those taking the tablet produced significantly more collagen than those who were given a placebo.
On average, crow’s feet were reduced by 10%, but in some cases they shrank by 30% within 14 weeks.
The study findings were published in New Scientist magazine and were also unveiled at the Society for Investigative Dermatology conference in Atlanta and have been sent to scientific journals for review.
As the nutrients found in the new pill are all in use already, the new tablet do not need regulatory approval and will be sold in branches of Dove Spa from UK, starting with the next month and on the spa’s website from tomorrow.
The Colorado-grown cantaloupes death toll has risen to eight in an outbreak of Listeria, officials said Wednesday.
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) said that a person in Maryland died from eating the tainted produce. Four other deaths have been reported in New Mexico and two in Colorado, and one person has died in Oklahoma.
According to the CDC, 55 people in 14 states have now been confirmed as sickened from eating the cantaloupes.
At the beginning of this week, the CDC reported 4 deaths and 35 illnesses in 10 states due to Listeria infection.
The death count due to Listeria infection is the highest in a known food outbreak since tainted peanuts were linked to nine deaths almost three years ago and could go even higher.
The Colorado-grown cantaloupes death toll has risen to eight in an outbreak of Listeria
CDC said illnesses in several other states potentially connected to Listeria outbreak were under investigation, the Associated Press reports.
Listeria infections have been reported in California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Colorado has the most illnesses with 14 sickened, followed by New Mexico with 10, Texas with nine and Oklahoma with eight.
Listeria outbreak has been traced to cantaloupes from Jensen Farms in Holly, Colorado, which recalled the tainted produce last week.
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) said Monday that it had found Listeria in samples of Jensen Farms’ cantaloupes taken from a Denver-area store and on samples taken from equipment and cantaloupes at the farm’s packing facility.
The FDA tests confirmed that the samples matched strains of the disease found in those sickened.
According to Jensen Farms, the recalled Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes were shipped from July 29 through September 10 to Illinois, Wyoming, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Kansas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
But the FDA said it is possible the company distributed to other states as well.
The recalled cantaloupe may be labelled “Colorado Grown,” “Distributed by Frontera Produce,” “Jensenfarms.com” or “Sweet Rocky Fords.”
But not all of the recalled cantaloupes are labelled with a sticker, the FDA said.
In a statement, Jensen Farms said:
“We are deeply saddened to learn that cantaloupes grown on our farm have been linked to the current listeria outbreak. Our hearts go out to those individuals and their families who have been affected by this terrible situation.”
One of the labels from the recalled cantaloupe of Jensen Farms
Jensen Farms said it has hired an independent food safety expert to help determine the cause of the problem and how to address it.
According to health officials, the number of illnesses and deaths could continue to grow because the incubation period for Listeria can be up to a month.
Unlike many pathogens, Listeria bacteria can grow at room and refrigerator temperatures.
The FDA and CDC recommend anyone who may have one of the contaminated cantaloupes throw it out immediately.
About 800 cases of Listeria are found in the United States each year, according to CDC, and there usually are three or four outbreaks.
Most of outbreaks are traced to deli meat and soft cheeses, where Listeria is most common.
Produce has rarely been the culprit, but federal investigators say they have seen more produce-related listeria illnesses in the past two years.
It was found in sprouts in 2009 and celery in 2010.
While most healthy adults can consume Listeria with no ill effects, it can kill the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
Listeria is also dangerous to pregnant women because it easily passes through to the fetus.
In the current Listeria outbreak, the median age of those sickened is 78, according to the CDC.
Symptoms of Listeria infection include fever and muscle aches, often with other gastrointestinal symptoms.
Two little boys as young as eight compete in cage fighting contests in front of a baying mob of adults enjoying a night’s entertainment in UK.
The shocking images show the 8 and 9 year-old boys fighting with no padding, headguards or protection of any kind in what critics have described as “like a circus performance”.
Two little boys as young as eight compete in cage fighting contests in front of a baying mob of adults enjoying a night’s entertainment in UK
The primary school boys have been trained to wrestle their opponents into submission as their fathers, pint glasses in hand, look on.
Unlike adult contestants, the little boys are not, in theory, allowed to punch, kick, knee or elbow each other during the competitions, but the rules are inevitably broken.
The primary school boys have been trained to wrestle their opponents into submission as their fathers, pint glasses in hand, look on
The footages show Kian MacKinson, the 9 year-old boy who has been cage fighting for nine months, while brawling with an 8 year-old, whose father has asked for him to remain anonymous.
The 8 year-old boy was left in tears in the middle of one of the terrifying 10 minute bouts before he was attended to by medics to check he could continue.
Unlike adult contestants, the little boys are not, in theory, allowed to punch, kick, knee or elbow each other during the competitions, but the rules are inevitably broken
Yesterday, appalled doctors and child safety campaigners said the lack of headguards could cause brain injury or death and called for the “sick and disturbing” practice to be banned.
A Safechild children’s charity representative, Rosie Carter said:
“This is sick, absolutely disgraceful and I would call on social services to step in.
“I can’t believe the parents are allowing their young children to participate in this barbarity.”
A spokesman for the British Medical Association (BMA) said:
“Boxing and cage fighting are sometimes defended on the grounds that children learn to work through their aggression with discipline.
“The BMA believes there are many other sports which require discipline but do not pose the same threat of brain injury.”
The fight took place at the Greenlands Labour Club in Preston and was organized by joiner and professional cage fighter Steven Nightingale.
Steven Nightingale, 28, said the sport is safe and growing in popularity among children.
The fighter added: “Competitions start from the age of five it is definitely a big up-and-coming sport.”
When Nightingale was asked about the young boy who was crying during one bout, he said:
“The kid has never been beaten before, he is the one who wins the gold medals. When they get beaten, they are going to get emotional.”
Kian MacKinson’s father, Nick Hartley, 33, defended the event: “None of the children were ever in danger.”
“There is no harm in cage fighting at all.
“If he wasn’t cage fighting, he would probably be chucking stones at buses and giving people grief. But now he has learned some respect and he would rather go training than play out.”
There is no suggestion any of the bouts at the event, which took place earlier this month, breached any rules or licence laws.
Michelle Anderson, owner of Greenlands Labour Club, who attended the event, said: “There was nothing wrong with it.
“The parents were there. Would people rather these kids were out on the streets with guns and knives?”
Cage fighting, which are also known as mixed martial arts, encompasses a wide range of martial arts which are performed in circular cages. The sport has become popular partly due to reality star Alex Reid, its most high-profile figure in the UK.
Just before his execution Troy Davis told the family of murdered policeman Mark MacPhail, “I’m innocent. I didn’t kill your son.”
Strapped to a gurney, awaiting lethal injection, Troy Davis lifted his head and looked at Mark MacPhail’s family, to repeat his claim that he was not responsible for the police officer’s 1989 murder.
Troy Davis last words were: “I’d like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I’m not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent.
“The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask … is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth.”
Troy Davis, the convicted murderer of police officer Mark MacPhail was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday
Troy Davis then asked his family and friends “to continue to fight this fight.”
At the end he said: “For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls.”
The execution went ahead despite a dramatic intervention minutes before Troy Davis was due to be put to death.
Defense lawyers had made a last ditch appeal to the US Supreme Court,but after four hours deliberation, the nine justices unanimously decided to uphold the execution.
Few minutes later Troy Davis was strapped to the chair and he was declared dead at 11:08 p.m.
The chamber at Jackson prison, Georgia, where Troy Davis was executed
Troy Davis’ lawyer Thomas Ruffin denounced the execution as “a legalized lynching”.
Troy Davis’ case was riddled with doubt, the lawyer maintained.
Thomas Ruffin described the process of execution as “sickening”.
“I saw the tube inserted into his arm, and then fluid, then jerking.
“It’s sickening. It’s worse than any film adaptation. It’s more macabre and horrible than anything on film and television.”
The last minute appeal by defense lawyers challenged ballistics linking the death row inmate to the 1989 murder of off-duty policeman Mark MacPhail and eyewitness testimony identifying Troy Davis as the killer.
After more than four hours the appeal was denied by all nine Supreme Court judges, five of them being needed to stay the execution.
The statement issued by the Supreme Court read:
“The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice (Clarence) Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied”
Hundreds of protesters and Troy Davis supporters on the scene at Jackson prison had initially celebrated at word that the death by lethal injection had been temporarily halted.
Until the moment when it seemed almost certain that Troy Davis would be executed.
Georgia’ Supreme Court had earlier on Wednesday rejected a last-chance appeal by defense lawyers.
A Butts County superior court judge had also declined to stop the execution.
Troy Davis’ lawyers went to the US Supreme Court at around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday. From 7:00 p.m. state of Georgia was within its rights to execute Troy Davis but instead chose to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision.
Police officer Mark MacPhail was shot dead in Savannah, Georgia, in August 1989
Anneliese MacPhail, the mother of murdered police officer Mark MacPhail, told CNN she was hoped to find peace now.
“I just feel relieved that it’s over.”
“It took a long time to get here.”
Earlier speaking after the Supreme Court decision Anneliese MacPhail said:
“I’d like to have some peace now that it is over… I’d like it to come to an end now.
“We have been through hell. He [Davis] did this. Nobody made him do it. It was his choice.
“I have lost my son and the father of my grandchildren. He has made his own bed and he’s got to sleep in it.”
Mark MacPhail's family spoke of their relief Wednesday after Supreme Court upholds the execution
The new four hours delay had caused the MacPhail family extra anguish she said.
“I’m absolutely devastated because I want it over with. … They’ve been through the courts four times there in Georgia. They’ve been to the Supreme Court three times.
“This delay, again, is very upsetting and I think very unfair to us.”
“I’d like to close this book. We feel [Troy Davis is] guilty. The evidence and everything that we have seen – that I have seen, because I’ve been to all the trials – he is guilty, and I believe in that. And so does the rest of my family.”
Outside the prison in Jackson, a vigil was held on Wednesday night. Amnesty International also targeted U.S. embassies across the world.
Last night event was heavily policed, with more than 100 Georgia state troopers in riot gear gathering at the scene, as prison officials, family members and protestors reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision.
They had resorted to increasingly desperate measures such as urging prison workers to strike and posting a judge’s phone number online.
Before his death Troy Davis was sad to be “upbeat and prayerful” and turned down the opportunity to have a last meal of his choice – as protesters gathered as far afield as Paris and London.
Defense lawyer Stephen Marsh had hoped the lie detector test would convince the state pardons board to reconsider a decision against clemency, but the request was rejected yesterday.
Wednesday night was the fourth time and final time that Troy Davis’ execution has been scheduled by Georgia officials.
Troy Davis always claimed he was innocent of killing Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer working as a security guard in Savannah, Georgia in 1989. But state and federal courts repeatedly upheld his conviction.
Prosecutors and Mark MacPhail’s relatives said they have no doubt the right man is being punished.
Just one day before execution, Georgia’s pardons board rejected a last-ditch clemency plea despite high-profile support from figures including Pope Benedict XVI and a former FBI director for the claim that Troy Davis was wrongly convicted.
Troy Davis’ last days:
September 17: Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles receives 600,000-signature petition asking for clemency.
September 19: The board holds a clemency hearing.
September 20: Board denies clemency for Davis, reportedly by a majority of three to two.
Yesterday a.m.: Defense attorneys’ last ditch request for a polyghraph test is denied by the board.
Yesterday 5:00 p.m.: Georgia Supreme Court judge denies a final appeal
6:00 p.m.: Troy Davis’ lawyers “hit send” on an application to US Supreme Court
6:50 p.m.: Dramatic last minute intervention halts proceedings.
7:00 p.m.: Georgia is within its rights to execute Troy Davis but awaits Supreme Court decision
10:18 p.m.: Lawyers say the Supreme Court have denied Troy Davis’ appeal
The data that show association between Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes increased over the years. Japanese scientists make the evidence stronger with a study (Glucose tolerance status and risk of dementia in the community) which has been published this week in the journal Neurology.
The prospective cohort study of dementia was performed in Hisayama by scientists from Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. All subjects underwent a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Volunteers, ages 60 and older were followed for 15 years, 1,017 people (437 men and 580 women) were enrolled. The doctors checked their medical history, and gave them mental exams.
Compared with those with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) the incidence of dementia (Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia) was significantly higher in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or with diabetes. This association remained unchanged in subjects with diabetes and not related with age, sex, hypertension, EKG abnormalities, body mass index, waist to hip ratio, total cholesterol, history of stroke, education, smoking habits, alcohol intake, and physical activity.
The medical researchers demonstrated that diabetes that was assessed 15 years earlier was a significant risk factor for the development of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia. Those with the most severe diabetes at the beginning had a more than threefold increase in the rate of dementia.
“Our findings emphasize the need to consider diabetes as a potential risk factor for dementia. Diabetes is a common disorder, and the number of people with it has been growing in recent years all over the world. Controlling diabetes is now more important than ever”, lead researcher Yutaka Kiyohara said.
Uncontrolled type 2 diabetes could lead to amyloid plaques in the brain and Alzheimer's disease.
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 5.4 million people in U.S. have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and the number could reach 16 million within 40 years. The number of persons with diabetes is around 24 million.
“The fact that Type 2 diabetes is increasing, and it’s a risk factor for Alzheimer’s would only make those numbers bigger. It’s already a disaster that’s going to come to us, if we don’t do something better about treating Alzheimer’s disease.” said Dr. William H. Thies, medical and scientific officer for the association.
Alzheimer’s disease “is one of the most feared conditions for people who are entering their later years,” said Thies. “[The new study] gives us an extra piece of information that may move people from considering changes in their life to actually making those changes.”
A Lancet review shows the mechanisms for hyperglycemia-induced dementia: atherosclerosis, microvascular disease, glucose toxicity leading to the accumulation of advanced protein glycation and increased oxidative stress, and changes in insulin metabolism resulting in an insulin-resistant state and distorted amyloid metabolism in the brain.
Last year researchers found a gene that increases both the risk for Type 2 diabetes and for Alzheimer’s.
Medical researchers presented results of a study showing that insulin could slow Alzheimer’s progression. Insulin is the hormone that controls glycemia and it is used to treat diabetes. Delivered through a special inhaler (nasal spray) insulin seemed to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s.
These findings emphasize the importance of controlling glycemia (blood sugar level) for diabetics, as a measure to prevent Alzheimer’s.
Another study has shown that obesity duration increases diabetes risk, thus these related conditions could be prevented through physical fitness and weight loss.
The pancreas produces insulin that controls glycemia. Diabetes type 2 results from insulin resistance and sometimes absolute insulin deficiency. Uncontrolled glycemia could lead to Alzheimer's.
September 21 was declared World Alzheimer’s Day, and this year theme is “Faces of dementia”.
Lots of events take place all over the world, memory walk, forums, conferences, films, workshops, symposia, seminars, fund raising, “2 Bike 4 Alzheimer’s” in Netherlands, Alzheimer’s picnic at Alzheimer’s Centrum in Poland, the launch of the National Alzheimer’s Alliance and memory testing in pharmacies in Romania, a traditional World Alzheimer’s Day concert and the opening of the Dementia Service Centre in Sri Lanka, a range of events across the country for World Alzheimer’s Month and Alzheimer’s Action Day “Go Purple” in USA.
Troy Davis’s request for a polygraph test to try to prove his innocence ahead of tonight’s planned execution has been denied by Georgia Department of Corrections.
Defense lawyer Stephen Marsh said he had hoped the lie detector test would convince the state pardons board to reconsider a decision against clemency, which was rejected yesterday.
Troy Davis’ execution is scheduled for 7pm tonight. It is the fourth time in four years that Troy Davis‘ execution has been scheduled by Georgia officials.
Troy Davis's request for a polygraph test to try to prove his innocence ahead of tonight's planned execution has been denied by Georgia Department of Corrections
Troy Davis, 42, has long claimed he is innocent of killing Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer working as a security guard in Savannah, Georgia in 1989. But state and federal courts have repeatedly upheld his conviction.
Prosecutors and Mark MacPhail’s relatives say they have no doubt the right man is being punished.
Yesterday, Georgia’s pardons board rejected the clemency plea despite high-profile support from figures including Pope Benedict XVI and a former FBI director for the claim that he was wrongly convicted.
The board did not elaborate on the decision in its written official response to the clemency application.
The decision appeared to leave Troy Davis with little chance of avoiding the execution date.
Troy Davis will be executed by injection at 7pm tonight for the August 1989 murder of Mark MacPhail, a 27-year-old off-duty police officer who was working as a security guard in Savannah when he was shot dead rushing to help a homeless man who had been attacked.
Troy Davis didn’t want a special last meal, but he planned to spend his final hours meeting with friends, family and supporters. According to an advocate who met with him late Tuesday, Davis was upbeat, prayerful and expected last-minute wrangling by attorneys.
“He doesn’t want to spend three hours away from his family on what could be the last day of his life if it won’t make any difference,” advocate said.
Troy Davis’ lawyers have long argued he was a victim of mistaken identity. But prosecutors say they have no doubt that they charged the right person with the crime.
Spencer Lawton, the district attorney who secured Troy Davis’ conviction in 1991, said he was embarrassed for the judicial system that the execution has taken so long.
“What we have had is a manufactured appearance of doubt which has taken on the quality of legitimate doubt itself. And all of it is exquisitely unfair,” said Spencer Lawton, who retired as Chatham County’s head prosecutor in 2008.
“The good news is we live in a civilized society where questions like this are decided based on fact in open and transparent courts of law, and not on street corners.”
Troy Davis case has captured worldwide attention because of the doubt his supporters have raised over whether he killed Mark MacPhail, who was shot to death after coming to the aid of Larry Young, a homeless man who was pistol-whipped in a Burger King parking lot.
Prosecutors say Troy Davis was with another man who was demanding that Larry Young give him a beer when Davis pulled out a handgun and bashed Young with it. When Mark MacPhail arrived to help, they say Troy Davis had a smirk on his face as he shot the officer to death.
Witnesses placed Troy Davis at the crime scene and identified him as the shooter. Shell casings were linked to an earlier shooting that Troy Davis was convicted of. There was no other physical evidence. No blood or DNA tied Troy Davis to the crime and the weapon was never found.
Troy Davis’ attorneys say seven of nine key witnesses who testified at his trial have disputed all or parts of their testimony.
The state initially planned to execute him in July 2007 but the pardons board granted him a stay less than 24 hours before he was to die. The U.S. Supreme Court stepped in a year later and halted the lethal injection two hours before he was to be executed. And a federal appeals court halted another planned execution a few months later.
The U.S. Supreme Court granted Troy Davis a hearing to prove his innocence, the first time it had done so for a death row inmate in at least 50 years.
At the June 2010 hearing, two witnesses testified that they falsely incriminated Troy Davis at his trial when they said Davis confessed to the killing. Two others told the judge the man with Troy Davis that night later said he shot Mark MacPhail.
Prosecutors, though, argued that Troy Davis’ lawyers were simply rehashing old testimony that had already been rejected by a jury. And they said no trial court could ever consider the hearsay from the other witnesses who blamed the other man for the crime.
U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. sided with them. He said the evidence presented at the hearing wasn’t nearly enough to prove Troy Davis is innocent and validate his request for a new trial. He said while Davis’ “new evidence casts some additional, minimal doubt on his conviction, it is largely smoke and mirrors.”
Sarah Palin is about to lose both her marriage and her political career after the recent release of her explosive biography.
According to The National Enquirer, friends close to Sarah Palin and her husband Todd say he is ”fed up” with the constant scandals that have plagued their marriage ever since she ran for vice president and is ready to file for a divorce.
It has also been alleged that Sarah Palin advisers have told her to kiss goodbye to the White House fearing a bid would be “political suicide”.
Sarah Palin is about to lose both her marriage and her political career after the recent release of her explosive biography
In the newly released biography, The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, the 47-year-old politician is accused of having a night of passion with basketball star Glen Rice, snorting cocaine and having an affair with her husband’s business partner.
A source close to her said: “Sarah Palin has been destroyed by Joe McGinniss’ no-holds-barred biography.
“It exposed all her lies, cover-ups and secrets.
“As a result she has been told by her advisers that it would be political suicide to announce a White House candidacy. The press and her opponents would have a field day digging into the dirty details of her background.”
The explosive book is said to have put the final nail in the coffin of her marriage, after Sarah Palin’s brother Chuckie was quoted saying his sister and Todd’s marriage was over.
One of her friends told the National Enquirer: “The final straw was McGinniss quoting Sarah’s brother Chuckie telling a friend they don’t have a marriage.
“Todd felt as if he was stabbed in the back by his own brother-in-law after 23 years of being married to the guy’s sister, and having five kids together.”
Last week was revealed that former basketball player Glen Rice had a one-time fling with Sarah Palin when she was a news anchor for her local station and he was a junior at the University of Michigan.
The same source told The National Enquirer that Todd Palin feels like he’s been made a laughing stock as the hook up had become a joke on late night TV and was all over the internet.
Todd was also said to be “fuming” over the biography’s confirmation that his wife had an affair with his business partner Brad Hanson and that he dissolved their snowmobile dealership after learning of it.
Though both parties denied it when it came to light in October 2008, Sarah Palin’s ex brother-in-law Mike Wooten allegedly confirmed it saying: “Todd and Sarah were headed for divorce, but Sarah got pregnant soon after, so they decided to stay together.”
Joe McGinniss book also claims that Sarah Palin snorted cocaine off a 55-gallon oil drum and separately smoked marijuana in secret liaisons with one of her college professors.
Joe McGinniss even moved in next door to the Palins in Alaska to dig dirt for his salacious biography.
In response, Todd Palin slammed the author as a “stalker” who has a “creepy obsession” with his wife after details of what was in the book were first leaked.
Todd Palin said: “This is a man who has been relentlessly stalking my family to the point of moving in right next door to us to harass us and spy on us to satisfy his creepy obsession with my wife.
His book is full of disgusting lies, innuendo, and smears. Even The New York Times called this book <<dated, petty>> and that it <<chases caustic, unsubstantiated gossip>>”.
Meanwhile, Todd Palin has been careful to avoid commenting.
A former mayor of Wasilla before she became governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin stepped down after the Republican defeat in the presidential election.
Sarah Palin has remained tight-lipped on whether she would stand next year, but said she would likely make an announcement at the end of this month.
Former Alaska governor has been overshadowed in recent months by Tea Party candidates including Michelle Bachmann.
There have also been frequent rumors that Sarah Palin is set to divorce her husband Todd, which have always been denied.
And the mother of five has also faced accusations by the father of her daughter’s child, Levi Johnston, that she wanted to keep Bristol’s pregnancy a secret and adopt the child herself.
Sarah Palin has yet to declare whether she intends to run for election in next year’s presidential race.
