Politics

Smallpox Vaccine listed as Communicable Disease

Smallpox Vaccine Agent Added
To Communicable Disease List
Albany, NY -- The New York State Health Department has added vaccinia, a virus caused by the immunizing agent in smallpox vaccines. People vaccinated against smallpox, which is also on the list, can in turn become infected by the virus and pass it along to others.

Polio Vaccine May Spawn Disease
A new report fuels fears that mutated vaccine might seed new bouts of polio, even after the disease is stamped out. The common oral polio vaccine (OPV) contains a live virus that can mutate into a disease-causing form and spread. Public-health officials woke up to the danger posed by the live polio vaccine in 2000. An outbreak in the Dominican Republic and Haiti was traced back to the vaccine, followed by similar incidents in the Philippines, Egypt and Madagascar.

Vaccination Liberation
Vaccination Liberation is a national association dedicated to providing information on vaccinations not often made available to the public so that one can make an informed choice.

Iraq Pipeline Bombed Despite New U.S. Protection
BAGHDAD -- Saboteurs have set an oil pipeline in northern Iraq on fire as a new U.S.-led force was deployed to protect the area's infrastructure, witnesses said Monday. Residents of Burjwari, a village near the Baiji refinery, said a bomb was placed overnight along a northern pipeline section carrying oil. Reuters television footage showed the pipeline on fire.

Rumsfeld Assures S.Korea on U.S. Troop Overhaul
SEOUL -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld assured South Korean leaders Monday that plans to reposition U.S. forces in this country would not diminish the American ability or commitment to deter communist North Korea. Rumsfeld and South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young-kil endorsed plans to reposition the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in the South, and urged North Korea to scrap its nuclear arms program and to stop making and selling weapons of mass destruction.

1 Killed, 71 Hurt in Blasts at Bars
BOGOTA - One woman was killed and 71 other people -- including three Americans -- were injured Saturday night after grenades were tossed at two trendy Bogotá bars popular among U.S. military personnel, police said. The first attack occurred at about 10:30 p.m. at the popular Bogotá Beer Company, a brewery in the city's hip Zona Rosa entertainment district. Moments later, another grenade was hurled at the nearby Palos de Moguer, a bar-restaurant also known as a regular haunt for U.S. Embassy personnel and contractors working on a $2 billion anti-drug program here known as Plan Colombia.

U.S. Is Citing WW II Case
The government says there is a legal precedent for holding Jose Padilla in military detention - the case of eight Nazi saboteurs who landed on an Amagansett beach during World War II. In the landmark case, named for one of the Nazi spies, Richard Quirin, the saboteurs were eventually captured, tried and convicted in a military court. All were sentenced to death, though only six were executed.

Risk of Attack Will Remain
LONDON -- The state visit by President Bush has triggered the biggest anti-terrorist operation to defend a single human being ever seen in the capital. Preparations range from the shifting of concrete blocks to bombers, helicopter gunships and limousines with the armour of small battle tanks. While the US secret services and intelligence agencies are focused on the possibility of an attack on the President, the biggest worry for their British colleagues is that the terrorist will use him as a diversion, and attack elsewhere.

French Helicopter Maker Taps U.S City for Plant
American Eurocopter LLC is expanding its presence in the U.S. with the construction of a new helicopter manufacturing facility in Columbus, Miss., at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport. The company is the American subsidiary of France-based Eurocopter. Its customers include the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs, the FBI, emergency medical services and other government agencies. The company also has several customers in Memphis, including Memphis Hospital Wing.

Posted by Editor at November 17, 2003 11:19 AM