* H1N1 virus spreading beyond schools alongside seasonal flu
* Vaccines to be ready near September, total supply unknown
(Adds WHO statement on vaccines, at-risk populations)
By Laura MacInnis and Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA, July 24 (Reuters) - The H1N1 flu virus is starting to infect older people, and pregnant women and the obese are at highest risk, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.
In a statement, the United Nations agency said school-age children remain most affected by the newly discovered virus that has been spreading fast in schools and is gaining momentum in broad communities alongside seasonal flu.
"It remains a top priority to determine which groups of people are at highest risk of serious disease so steps to best protect them can be taken," it said, estimating that vaccine manufacturers should have H1N1 shots ready soon.
"Manufacturers are expected to have vaccines for use around September. A number of companies are working on the pandemic vaccine production and have different timelines," the statement on the WHO website read.
About 800 people have died from the new virus whose fast international transmission caused the WHO to declare in June that a flu pandemic is under way. But for most patients, H1N1 is causing mild and manageable symptoms.
"For the moment we haven't seen any changes in the behaviour of the virus," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said earlier on Friday, while warning the virus could change as it circulates, especially in flu-conducive wintry conditions.
"We do have to be aware that there could be changes and we have to be prepared for those," he told a Geneva news briefing.
VACCINE SUPPLIES
At least 50 governments have placed orders or are currently negotiating with pharmaceutical companies to secure supplies of H1N1 vaccines, which are still being developed. [ID:nN16442908]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is helping companies design ways to quickly test experimental versions of pandemic shots, and the European Medicines Agency is aiming to approve H1N1 vaccines before the onset of northern hemisphere winter, the traditional "flu season" in Europe. [ID:nLO128743]
The WHO is trying to ensure that health workers in poor countries can be vaccinated so hospitals can stay open if the flu becomes more debilitating as it spreads. Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) have promised to donate 150 million doses to this aim to date.
Other leading flu vaccine makers include Novartis (NOVN.VX), Baxter (BAX.N), and Solvay (SOLB.BR).
Clinical trials of H1N1 shots "will give a better idea of the number of doses required for a person to be immunised, as well as the quantity of active principle (antigen) needed in each vaccine dose," the WHO said.
Estimates of the global supply of vaccines will be based on how many jabs are needed to protect each person.
The H1N1 virus, first discovered in Mexico and the United States, is a never-before-seen combination of swine, bird and human flu strains, and initially infected mainly young people.
Concerns about the way it was spreading, and about deaths reported among healthy people in North America, caused the WHO to declare that a flu pandemic is under way. [ID:nLC321991] Some 160 countries have now reported infections.
Last week, the WHO described H1N1 as the fastest-moving pandemic ever seen. [ID:nLG309223] On Friday, it said infections were "still increasing substantially in many countries, even in countries that have already been affected for some time." (Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers in Berlin and Michael Kahn in London; editing by Robin Pomeroy) (For a factbox on weather and flu, click on: [ID:nLS126199)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Friday
'Arab prince' charged with fraud in Qld
17:50 AEST Fri Jul 24 2009
By David Barbeler
A Frenchman notorious in his native country for posing as an Arab prince has been charged with fraud in north Queensland.
Abdelkarim Serhani, 26, has French celebrity status for his imposter antics, reportedly inspired by Eddie Murphy in the 1988 movie Coming to America.
While pretending to be a member of the Saudi royal family, he reportedly wined and dined beautiful women, cruised around in a Ferrari and stayed at top class hotels in France, according to European media reports.
Serhani has been charged with two counts of fraud and one count of drink-driving and will face the Proserpine Magistrates Court on Monday.
He was charged with a $42,000 fraud after allegedly living the high life on Hamilton Island for 16 days and has since holed up in north Queensland hostels, The Cairns Post reports on Friday.
The drink-driving offence allegedly occurred on May 11 in Airlie Beach, while one fraud also allegedly occurred in May.
Serhani has been making himself known in north Queensland.
Cairns Crown Hotel manager Brett Jeffery said the "charming" and well-dressed Serhani paid his bottle shop a visit three weeks ago and allegedly walked out with $600 worth of champagne which he says has yet to be paid for.
"He was charming, put on a bit of an act as if he was very wealthy and a well-known person living the high life," Mr Jeffery said.
"He wanted to order a large amount of champagne and gave us the impression that he was travelling on a yacht around the world, was quite wealthy and was staying at the Hilton.
"He brought up two bottles of Dom Pérignon from the fridges and put them on the counter, waited until the shop manager was distracted, then walked out the door," Mr Jeffery alleges.
He later found out Serhani was actually staying at the Cairns Woodduck Backpackers from which he was shortly kicked out, Mr Jeffrey said.
Serhani is also understood to have claimed he studied in Sydney.
European media have detailed his exploits.
In January this year, Belgian daily newspaper La Dernière Heure described some of the benefits gained from Serhani's "Saudi prince" routine.
It said one prestigious hotel served him six days worth of champagne, pretty girls, a limousine service, a driver, a bodyguard and a Ferrari.
Serhani was abandoned by his parents at the foot of a church when he was six years old, the newspaper said.
France's northern regional daily newspaper La Voix du Nord said his adopted father Michel Delbherge, a prison chaplain, acknowledged his adopted son had a talent as an imposter.
"I am proud that (he) is acknowledged for (his) talent but I am afraid that he goes much too far," Mr Delbherge told the newspaper.
Serhani is on bail in Queensland.
Baby in car 'theft': lover blamed
A man accused of stealing a car with a five-month-old baby in the back, sparking a frantic police search, claims his lover is to blame.
Mark Quinton, 54, pleaded not guilty in Sutherland Local Court to several theft charges on Friday.
Police allege he stole a Holden Commodore sedan with a baby boy in the back seat from Gannons Road at Caringbah, in Sydney's south, just after 5pm (AEST) yesterday.
The boy's mother was in a chemist at the time.
The theft sparked a police search of the area involving local officers, PolAir and the dog squad.
The car was found abandoned less than an hour later and the baby was reunited with his parents unharmed.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Rob Casey said Quinton was on parole at the time of the alleged offence and was aggressive towards police.
He was arrested at a caravan park on Gannons Road.
"He's a risk to the community," Sgt Casey said.
"He has a history of drugs ... and was drug affected when he was arrested."
The court heard the stolen car's keys were found in Quinton's possession.
Defence lawyer Audie Willert said his client did not steal the car but was in a sexual relationship with a 23-year-old woman known only as Rebecca, who turned up at the caravan park with the stolen vehicle.
The court heard Rebecca was planning to drive the baby to the police station but the car would not start.
Mr Willert told the court Quinton wanted bail so he could start drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
However, Magistrate Bev Schurr refused bail and adjourned the matter to September 3.
AAP
By David Barbeler
A Frenchman notorious in his native country for posing as an Arab prince has been charged with fraud in north Queensland.
Abdelkarim Serhani, 26, has French celebrity status for his imposter antics, reportedly inspired by Eddie Murphy in the 1988 movie Coming to America.
While pretending to be a member of the Saudi royal family, he reportedly wined and dined beautiful women, cruised around in a Ferrari and stayed at top class hotels in France, according to European media reports.
Serhani has been charged with two counts of fraud and one count of drink-driving and will face the Proserpine Magistrates Court on Monday.
He was charged with a $42,000 fraud after allegedly living the high life on Hamilton Island for 16 days and has since holed up in north Queensland hostels, The Cairns Post reports on Friday.
The drink-driving offence allegedly occurred on May 11 in Airlie Beach, while one fraud also allegedly occurred in May.
Serhani has been making himself known in north Queensland.
Cairns Crown Hotel manager Brett Jeffery said the "charming" and well-dressed Serhani paid his bottle shop a visit three weeks ago and allegedly walked out with $600 worth of champagne which he says has yet to be paid for.
"He was charming, put on a bit of an act as if he was very wealthy and a well-known person living the high life," Mr Jeffery said.
"He wanted to order a large amount of champagne and gave us the impression that he was travelling on a yacht around the world, was quite wealthy and was staying at the Hilton.
"He brought up two bottles of Dom Pérignon from the fridges and put them on the counter, waited until the shop manager was distracted, then walked out the door," Mr Jeffery alleges.
He later found out Serhani was actually staying at the Cairns Woodduck Backpackers from which he was shortly kicked out, Mr Jeffrey said.
Serhani is also understood to have claimed he studied in Sydney.
European media have detailed his exploits.
In January this year, Belgian daily newspaper La Dernière Heure described some of the benefits gained from Serhani's "Saudi prince" routine.
It said one prestigious hotel served him six days worth of champagne, pretty girls, a limousine service, a driver, a bodyguard and a Ferrari.
Serhani was abandoned by his parents at the foot of a church when he was six years old, the newspaper said.
France's northern regional daily newspaper La Voix du Nord said his adopted father Michel Delbherge, a prison chaplain, acknowledged his adopted son had a talent as an imposter.
"I am proud that (he) is acknowledged for (his) talent but I am afraid that he goes much too far," Mr Delbherge told the newspaper.
Serhani is on bail in Queensland.
Baby in car 'theft': lover blamed
A man accused of stealing a car with a five-month-old baby in the back, sparking a frantic police search, claims his lover is to blame.
Mark Quinton, 54, pleaded not guilty in Sutherland Local Court to several theft charges on Friday.
Police allege he stole a Holden Commodore sedan with a baby boy in the back seat from Gannons Road at Caringbah, in Sydney's south, just after 5pm (AEST) yesterday.
The boy's mother was in a chemist at the time.
The theft sparked a police search of the area involving local officers, PolAir and the dog squad.
The car was found abandoned less than an hour later and the baby was reunited with his parents unharmed.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Rob Casey said Quinton was on parole at the time of the alleged offence and was aggressive towards police.
He was arrested at a caravan park on Gannons Road.
"He's a risk to the community," Sgt Casey said.
"He has a history of drugs ... and was drug affected when he was arrested."
The court heard the stolen car's keys were found in Quinton's possession.
Defence lawyer Audie Willert said his client did not steal the car but was in a sexual relationship with a 23-year-old woman known only as Rebecca, who turned up at the caravan park with the stolen vehicle.
The court heard Rebecca was planning to drive the baby to the police station but the car would not start.
Mr Willert told the court Quinton wanted bail so he could start drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
However, Magistrate Bev Schurr refused bail and adjourned the matter to September 3.
AAP
Wednesday
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Once infected, the virus will usually attempt to spread itself to your friends, family and associates by accessing your email contacts and networked PCs. The infection may also allow hackers to access files on your PC, use it to launch attacks against other computers and websites or to send mass SPAM email.
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escription:A powerful free personal firewall for Windows that protects your computer by preventing unauthorized users from gaining access to your computer through the Internet or a network. By monitoring applications that connect to the network Firewall Plus can stop Trojans, backdoors, keyloggers and other malware from damaging your computer and stealing your private information.
PC Tools Firewall Plus is advanced technology designed especially for people, not just experts. Powerful prevention against attacks and known exploits is activated by default while experienced users can optionally create their own advanced packet filtering rules, including IPv6 support, to customize the network defenses. All you need to do is install it for immediate and automatic ongoing protection.
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Thursday
Microsoft Office users attacked by cybercriminals
By Jim Finkle
BOSTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp warned that cybercriminals have attacked users of its Office software for Windows PCs, exploiting a programing flaw that the software giant has yet to repair.
The world's largest software maker issued the warning on Tuesday as it released patches to address nine other security holes in its software.
"Despite today's fixes, Windows users continue to be under attack. Microsoft is taking two steps forward, while attackers are putting it one step back," said Dave Marcus, McAfee Inc's Avert Labs director of security research.
Cybercriminals target Microsoft programs because they are so widely used, allowing them to go after the largest number of potential victims with one set of code. (Windows runs more than 90 percent of the world's PCs. Office has some 500 million users).
Hackers take advantage of the Office vulnerability by booby-trapping websites with malicious code that loads onto computers running Office software. Infected PCs are commandeered into a botnet, a network of hijacked computers. They are used for identity theft, spamming and other cybercrimes.
Microsoft did not say how many machines were attacked.
Users can prevent attacks by disabling functions within the Office software that allow it to work over the Web. Microsoft has posted a tool for doing that on its website -- here
Office XP, 2003 and 2007 are vulnerable to the attacks.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Carol Bishopric and Richard Chang)
Poor IT job market may fuel online crime: Cisco
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The ever-weakening job market could well lead to an increase in online crime as laid-off workers, especially those with computer skills, turn to scams to support themselves, Cisco Systems Inc said in a mid-year security report to be released on Tuesday.
Disgruntled employees may target their former employers, and Cisco warned that insiders "can be especially damaging for an organization because insiders know security weaknesses."
A former information technology analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was arrested in April along with his brother on suspicions of taking out loans using false identities. FBI investigators found a flash drive attached to the bank employee's computer with applications for $73,000 in loans in the names of stolen identities, the report said.
Cisco warned companies which use short-term IT consultants or who contract out the tasks to "be particularly vigilant about the level and term of their access to sensitive data."
The report included snippets of a conversation with a botmaster, or someone who remotely takes over computers without users' knowledge and often sells the resulting access to spammers.
The hacker declined to say how much he earned but said "'a guy I know'" can earn $5-10K weekly, by phising (sic) bank accounts." Phishing is the practice of convincing a victim to give up valuable information -- like a password to a bank account. The account can then be emptied.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Richard Chang)
Microsoft CEO laughs off Google OS challenge
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) chief executive attempted to laugh off the challenge of Google Inc's (GOOG.O) planned computer operating system on Tuesday, conceding only that it was "interesting".
"I will be respectful," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said to laughs from the audience at a conference for the company's technology partners in New Orleans, which was broadcast over the Internet.
"Who knows what this thing is? To me, the Chrome OS thing is highly interesting," said Ballmer, choosing his words carefully and drawing more amusement from the largely pro-Microsoft crowd.
"It won't happen for a year and a half and they already announced an operating system," he added, referring to Google's Android system for smartphones.
Last week Google said it was planning a computer operating system based on its Chrome browser, aiming directly at the core business of Microsoft, the world's largest software company, whose Windows operating systems are used on more than 90 percent of personal computers.
Google's plan, based on the theory that access to the Internet is now the most important feature of any computing device, would be separate from its Android system already available for smartphones and soon for small PCs.
"I don't know if they can't make up their mind or what the problem is over there, but the last time I checked, you don't need two client operating systems," said Ballmer. "It's good to have one."
Despite the jovial tone of Ballmer's public remarks, Microsoft is taking Google's challenge seriously. Its new Bing search engine is a concerted attempt to take market share from dominant leader Google, and its announcement on Monday that it would offer some versions of its Office application on the Internet is a swipe back at Google's move into free, online software.
Ballmer's previous attempts to make light of new competition have not always been successful. He also derided Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone as too expensive, but it went on to take a significant share of the smartphone market.
Microsoft shares fell 15 cents to $23.08 on Tuesday afternoon on the Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Bill Rigby, editing by Matthew Lewis and Gerald E. McCormick)
Defence hacker was 'looking for aliens'
From correspondents in London
Reuters
July 31, 2008 08:21am
A BRITISH computer expert has lost his appeal against extradition to the US where he is accused of "the biggest military hack of all time" and could face up to 70 years in prison.
Gary McKinnon was arrested in 2002 after US prosecutors charged him with illegally accessing computers, including the Pentagon, US army, navy and NASA systems, and causing $US700,000 ($741,240) worth of damage.
In 2006, Mr McKinnon said he was just a computer nerd who wanted to find out whether aliens really existed and became obsessed with trawling large military networks for proof.
However, Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, ruled that the gravity of the charges should not be understated and they would carry a maximum life sentence under English law. It turned down his appeal against extradition.
Mr McKinnon's lawyers had argued that sending him to the US would breach his human rights, be an abuse of the English court process and should be barred as his extradition was sought "for the purpose of prosecuting him on account of his nationality or political opinions".
A district court ruled in May 2006 that he should be extradited, a decision upheld at London's High Court in April 2007. But in October three of Britain's top judges gave McKinnon permission to take his case to the House of Lords.
If found guilty in the US, Mr McKinnon could face up to 70 years in prison and fines of up to $US1.75 million.
Using his own computer at home in London, Mr McKinnon hacked into 97 computers belonging to and used by the US Government between February 2001 and March 2002.
Mr McKinnon is accused of causing the entire US Army's Military District of Washington network of more than 2000 computers to be shut down for 24 hours.
Using a limited 56K dial-up modem and the hacking name "Solo" he found many US security systems used an insecure Microsoft Windows program with no password protection.
He then bought off-the-shelf software and scanned military networks, saying he found expert testimonies from senior figures reporting that technology obtained from extra-terrestrials did exist.
At the time of his indictment, Paul McNulty, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said: "Mr McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time".
NASA hacker launches last-ditch plea
AAP
July 14, 2009 07:57pm
A MAN who hacked into NASA computers will launch a last-ditch effort in Britain's High Court to avoid extradition to face charges in the US.
Gary McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, has admitted to hacking into 97 US computers from his London home in 2001 and 2002 following the September 11 terror attacks.
The 43-year-old claims he was looking for evidence of UFOs and aliens on the high-security computer systems belonging to the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Department of Defence.
Former home secretary Jacqui Smith granted requests for Mr McKinnon's extradition in October 2008, with the Crown Prosecution Service backing up her decision in February.
Two High Court judges will now begin a judicial review of the decisions after requests by Mr McKinnon's lawyers who hope he can instead face trial in Britain.
If the unemployed computer administrator is extradited, he faces up to 60 years in jail if found guilty.
However if he stands trial in Britain Mr McKinnon is likely to face a much less severe sentence.
His mother Janis Sharp said she feared for her son's mental health if he was extradited.
"It's very frightening because you can feel that the end is very close," she told the Daily Mail.
"I am very scared because when I walk into the court it's like waiting to hear the death sentence."
Mr McKinnon's lawyers claim prosecutors failed to take into account medical advice warning that their client could commit suicide if extradited.
They also argue it's inconsistent with previous cases involving Britons who hacked into US computers but were prosecuted on home soil.
The Crown Prosecution Service has stood by its decision to recommend extradition.
Newly appointed Home Secretary Alan Johnson said it was up to prosecutors to decide whether to Mr McKinnon should stand trial in Britain or the US.
Mr McKinnon's attacks on the US Government computers allegedly caused mass chaos and caused an estimated $US900,000 ($A1.15 million) worth of damage.
US prosecutor Paul McNulty described it as "the biggest hack of military computers ever - at least ever detected".
BOSTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp warned that cybercriminals have attacked users of its Office software for Windows PCs, exploiting a programing flaw that the software giant has yet to repair.
The world's largest software maker issued the warning on Tuesday as it released patches to address nine other security holes in its software.
"Despite today's fixes, Windows users continue to be under attack. Microsoft is taking two steps forward, while attackers are putting it one step back," said Dave Marcus, McAfee Inc's Avert Labs director of security research.
Cybercriminals target Microsoft programs because they are so widely used, allowing them to go after the largest number of potential victims with one set of code. (Windows runs more than 90 percent of the world's PCs. Office has some 500 million users).
Hackers take advantage of the Office vulnerability by booby-trapping websites with malicious code that loads onto computers running Office software. Infected PCs are commandeered into a botnet, a network of hijacked computers. They are used for identity theft, spamming and other cybercrimes.
Microsoft did not say how many machines were attacked.
Users can prevent attacks by disabling functions within the Office software that allow it to work over the Web. Microsoft has posted a tool for doing that on its website -- here
Office XP, 2003 and 2007 are vulnerable to the attacks.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Carol Bishopric and Richard Chang)
Poor IT job market may fuel online crime: Cisco
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The ever-weakening job market could well lead to an increase in online crime as laid-off workers, especially those with computer skills, turn to scams to support themselves, Cisco Systems Inc said in a mid-year security report to be released on Tuesday.
Disgruntled employees may target their former employers, and Cisco warned that insiders "can be especially damaging for an organization because insiders know security weaknesses."
A former information technology analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was arrested in April along with his brother on suspicions of taking out loans using false identities. FBI investigators found a flash drive attached to the bank employee's computer with applications for $73,000 in loans in the names of stolen identities, the report said.
Cisco warned companies which use short-term IT consultants or who contract out the tasks to "be particularly vigilant about the level and term of their access to sensitive data."
The report included snippets of a conversation with a botmaster, or someone who remotely takes over computers without users' knowledge and often sells the resulting access to spammers.
The hacker declined to say how much he earned but said "'a guy I know'" can earn $5-10K weekly, by phising (sic) bank accounts." Phishing is the practice of convincing a victim to give up valuable information -- like a password to a bank account. The account can then be emptied.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Richard Chang)
Microsoft CEO laughs off Google OS challenge
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) chief executive attempted to laugh off the challenge of Google Inc's (GOOG.O) planned computer operating system on Tuesday, conceding only that it was "interesting".
"I will be respectful," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said to laughs from the audience at a conference for the company's technology partners in New Orleans, which was broadcast over the Internet.
"Who knows what this thing is? To me, the Chrome OS thing is highly interesting," said Ballmer, choosing his words carefully and drawing more amusement from the largely pro-Microsoft crowd.
"It won't happen for a year and a half and they already announced an operating system," he added, referring to Google's Android system for smartphones.
Last week Google said it was planning a computer operating system based on its Chrome browser, aiming directly at the core business of Microsoft, the world's largest software company, whose Windows operating systems are used on more than 90 percent of personal computers.
Google's plan, based on the theory that access to the Internet is now the most important feature of any computing device, would be separate from its Android system already available for smartphones and soon for small PCs.
"I don't know if they can't make up their mind or what the problem is over there, but the last time I checked, you don't need two client operating systems," said Ballmer. "It's good to have one."
Despite the jovial tone of Ballmer's public remarks, Microsoft is taking Google's challenge seriously. Its new Bing search engine is a concerted attempt to take market share from dominant leader Google, and its announcement on Monday that it would offer some versions of its Office application on the Internet is a swipe back at Google's move into free, online software.
Ballmer's previous attempts to make light of new competition have not always been successful. He also derided Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone as too expensive, but it went on to take a significant share of the smartphone market.
Microsoft shares fell 15 cents to $23.08 on Tuesday afternoon on the Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Bill Rigby, editing by Matthew Lewis and Gerald E. McCormick)
Defence hacker was 'looking for aliens'
From correspondents in London
Reuters
July 31, 2008 08:21am
A BRITISH computer expert has lost his appeal against extradition to the US where he is accused of "the biggest military hack of all time" and could face up to 70 years in prison.
Gary McKinnon was arrested in 2002 after US prosecutors charged him with illegally accessing computers, including the Pentagon, US army, navy and NASA systems, and causing $US700,000 ($741,240) worth of damage.
In 2006, Mr McKinnon said he was just a computer nerd who wanted to find out whether aliens really existed and became obsessed with trawling large military networks for proof.
However, Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, ruled that the gravity of the charges should not be understated and they would carry a maximum life sentence under English law. It turned down his appeal against extradition.
Mr McKinnon's lawyers had argued that sending him to the US would breach his human rights, be an abuse of the English court process and should be barred as his extradition was sought "for the purpose of prosecuting him on account of his nationality or political opinions".
A district court ruled in May 2006 that he should be extradited, a decision upheld at London's High Court in April 2007. But in October three of Britain's top judges gave McKinnon permission to take his case to the House of Lords.
If found guilty in the US, Mr McKinnon could face up to 70 years in prison and fines of up to $US1.75 million.
Using his own computer at home in London, Mr McKinnon hacked into 97 computers belonging to and used by the US Government between February 2001 and March 2002.
Mr McKinnon is accused of causing the entire US Army's Military District of Washington network of more than 2000 computers to be shut down for 24 hours.
Using a limited 56K dial-up modem and the hacking name "Solo" he found many US security systems used an insecure Microsoft Windows program with no password protection.
He then bought off-the-shelf software and scanned military networks, saying he found expert testimonies from senior figures reporting that technology obtained from extra-terrestrials did exist.
At the time of his indictment, Paul McNulty, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said: "Mr McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time".
NASA hacker launches last-ditch plea
AAP
July 14, 2009 07:57pm
A MAN who hacked into NASA computers will launch a last-ditch effort in Britain's High Court to avoid extradition to face charges in the US.
Gary McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, has admitted to hacking into 97 US computers from his London home in 2001 and 2002 following the September 11 terror attacks.
The 43-year-old claims he was looking for evidence of UFOs and aliens on the high-security computer systems belonging to the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Department of Defence.
Former home secretary Jacqui Smith granted requests for Mr McKinnon's extradition in October 2008, with the Crown Prosecution Service backing up her decision in February.
Two High Court judges will now begin a judicial review of the decisions after requests by Mr McKinnon's lawyers who hope he can instead face trial in Britain.
If the unemployed computer administrator is extradited, he faces up to 60 years in jail if found guilty.
However if he stands trial in Britain Mr McKinnon is likely to face a much less severe sentence.
His mother Janis Sharp said she feared for her son's mental health if he was extradited.
"It's very frightening because you can feel that the end is very close," she told the Daily Mail.
"I am very scared because when I walk into the court it's like waiting to hear the death sentence."
Mr McKinnon's lawyers claim prosecutors failed to take into account medical advice warning that their client could commit suicide if extradited.
They also argue it's inconsistent with previous cases involving Britons who hacked into US computers but were prosecuted on home soil.
The Crown Prosecution Service has stood by its decision to recommend extradition.
Newly appointed Home Secretary Alan Johnson said it was up to prosecutors to decide whether to Mr McKinnon should stand trial in Britain or the US.
Mr McKinnon's attacks on the US Government computers allegedly caused mass chaos and caused an estimated $US900,000 ($A1.15 million) worth of damage.
US prosecutor Paul McNulty described it as "the biggest hack of military computers ever - at least ever detected".
Wednesday
Neo-Nazi link to campus anti-foreigner campaign
By Matthew Thompson, Higher Education Reporter
August 31, 2004
A nationalist group targeting university campuses with anti-foreigner propaganda is linked to the local branch of an American neo-Nazi organisation।
The Patriotic Youth League's "Australian unis for Australian students" campaign at the University of Newcastle has coincided with racist incidents against African students and the posting of US neo-Nazi leaflets on campus।
The group's founder, Stuart McBeth, 23, who has been running the Patriotic Youth League while working at a Salvation Army crisis centre in Newcastle, has denied responsibility for the white supremacist posters। He issued a statement saying only people with a "lack of mental capacity" could accuse the league of involvement with American racist organisations.
However, the Herald has uncovered that the league shares a Newcastle postal address with the Australian branch of the US neo-Nazi organisation Volksfront - a group that denies the Holocaust, is buying land for an "Aryan" homeland in the US and warns of a coming "One World Zionist Police State"।
Mr McBeth yesterday said he did not know why the postal addresses were identical and denied any link to Volksfront - assertions contradicted by the league's Sydney representative, Andrew Wilson।
Mr Wilson, from Epping, said Mr McBeth was behind Volksfront Australia, which is "in the early stages of development"।
"It's a cultural kind of movement, whereas the Patriotic Youth League is more political and youth-orientated," he said।
Mr McBeth said there were about 50 members in the league, which began a campaign this year against foreign students।
He said he believed overseas students should be restricted to "exchange programs" so they did not displace local students।
Universities and the Federal Government say that because international students pay full fees they displace no one, and instead inject much-needed cash into the higher education system।
League members appear to have recently posted messages on the Australian section of the Stormfront website (a "white nationalist community discussion forum") about plans to "visit Sydney University with our stickers and posters in the coming weeks".
Nationalists boast of their role on the beach
By Ewin Hannan and Richard Baker
December 13, 2005
WHITE nationalist groups involved in the Cronulla riots have predicted further racial violence, naming the Melbourne suburbs of Heidelberg, Preston, Reservoir and Springvale as potential "hot spots".
The Patriotic Youth League, whose members handed out "Aussies Fighting Back" pamphlets at Cronulla, said it had been inundated with callers wanting to riot in Melbourne.
"If it wasn't for the massive police presence there already, and the fact that it's mainly confined to a peninsula, we really could have had a Paris situation on our hands (in Cronulla)," league spokesman Luke Connors said.
"I have had people calling me all through yesterday, and today, and all through the night, just asking me when Melbourne is going to erupt in riots because they want to go and join in." Founded in 2002 by former One Nation activist Stuart McBeth, the league requires members to be "radical nationalists" and strongly opposed to "non-discriminatory immigration".
While modelled on the youth wing of the extremist British National Party, Australian members are "expected to take regular exercise and to play some form of sport frequently".
The group is aligned with the Sydney-based academic Jim Saleam, who was jailed for three years in 1991 for organising the shotgun attack on the home of African National Congress representative in Australia Eddie Funde.
Dr Saleam, the NSW secretary of the ultra-nationalist Australia First Party, said yesterday the party was responsible for mobilising dozens of people to the Cronulla rally, with members distributing anti-immigration literature. "I'd say we'd be responsible for one in 45 or one in 50 of those who actually turned up," Dr Saleam said.
"But what happened was independent of any real political organisation. This is a people's rebellion, a civil uprising of a very significant number of the local population."
In the week leading up to Sunday's rally, Australia First — formed by former federal Labor MP Graeme Campbell in 1996 — had been encouraging members to go to Cronulla. A statement on its website called for patriots to attend the protest to demonstrate solidarity with the victims of "anti-Australian race and hate and violence".
Mr Connors said about 15 league members handed out literature to the Cronulla crowd, as well as buying drinks for some participants.
He said the league had 100 members nationally, with chapters in Ascot Vale and Eltham.
Mr McBeth lost his job with the Salvation Army after it was revealed he was an organiser of an anti-immigration rally in Newcastle earlier this year.
Dr Saleam denied neo-Nazi groups had been involved in the violence. But NSW Police Minister Carl Scully said a small number of white supremacists were involved in the riots.
Dr Saleam said the trigger for Sunday's riot was the frustration that "local Australians" felt about the lack of response from police and politicians to a "two-year campaign" of abuse and hate directed at Cronulla locals by Middle Eastern men from Sydney's western suburbs.
He described the Middle Eastern gangs as the "most extreme racists you can imagine".
"The other deep-seated factor that we struck among the crowd was a realisation that something has gone askew with Australia's immigration policies," he said.
"We haven't got an immigration policy. It's a population policy designed to change the internal make-up of Australia to resemble the nations of our so-called region."
Mr Connors said that "we have been warning people about this for ages and they just called us cranks".
"We said it's time to start to thinking about multiculturalism and they called us nazis," he said. "Well, hey, we were right and we wish we weren't because it will happen again. It will happen again and it will happen sooner."
Mr Connors predicted further outbreaks.
"'When you have areas which are majority Muslim, because they don't tend to adapt that well, or majority African or Middle Eastern extraction, and right next door you have an area which is 90 per cent Anglo-Saxon, or Anglo-Celtic, there is going to be friction," he said.
"West Heidelberg is a big one because you have a very large black working-class community next to a white middle-working-class community. That would be my best guess actually if it was going to start up in Melbourne.
"Also, out past Springvale, along the train line, there is that same sort of segregation going on, in working-class areas where they are competing for the same jobs and there is a high unemployment rate."
Dr Saleam predicted an increasing number of young Australians would become involved in "independent nationalistic activity".
White supremacist website Stormfront yesterday featured messages from people in the US, Britain and Canada supporting the Cronulla attacks।
Foreign students exploited as slaves
Nick O'Malley, Heath Gilmore and Erik JensenJuly 15, 2009
THOUSANDS of overseas students are being made to work free - or even to pay to work - by businesses exploiting loopholes in immigration and education laws in what experts describe as a system of economic slavery।
The vast pool of unpaid labour was created in 2005 when vocational students were required to do 900 hours' work experience. There was no requirement that they be paid.
Overseas students remained bound to the system as completion of such courses became a near-guaranteed pathway to permanent residency।
Since then the number of foreign students enrolled in the vocational training sector has leapt from 65,120 to 173,432 last year - about half of all our overseas students.
The changes have created a $15 billion industry - comparable countries do not offer residency - but experts, teachers and students say many of the private college courses are little more than visa mills। Since 2001 the number of private colleges has leapt from 664 to 4892।
One university-educated overseas student told the Herald she spent $22,000 and two years doing a hairdressing course she will never use, to secure her residency. She did her 900 hours' work experience in a salon linked to the college, where students were required to pay a $1000 non-refundable bond to use the equipment.
Other colleges charge students thousands of dollars in "placement fees" only to advertise their supply of free labour to local business। A black market has sprung up in fraudulent letters of completion।
"If you wanted to make a corrupt system, this is absolutely how you would do it," said an immigration agent, Karl Konrad।
He said the system began to go bad when the requirement for 900 hours' work was introduced। "You've got the agents and the proprietors realising there is a flood of free labour, but of course the demand for placements outstrips the supply - so even if they wanted to take all that free labour, they can't use it all," said Mr Konrad, a former Victorian police officer known for his exposure of corruption among fellow officers in that state.
He said a trade in fraudulent documents had evolved with employers and agents selling students verification that they had completed their 900 hours।
One agent told the Herald he charged $15,000-$20,000 for such paperwork। "They are slaves," he said. "They work for free from 11 o'clock to 11 o'clock - no breaks, no nothing. They have to pay the owner for the paperwork. They want to stay here. They will do anything."
He said the entire industry was a racket। "They work with no workers' compensation, no insurance. If they are injured at work, bad luck."
Mr Konrad said the colleges and employers had a dangerous amount of power over their students, who faced deportation if their enrolment was cancelled।
Even the pretence of education has been abandoned at many colleges, say students and teachers। One cooking trainer said if he did not keep passing students, migration agents would stop sending them to the college where he worked and his job would disappear.
"As for this 900 hours' work experience, at least 60 per cent of my students were paying for it। It made a lot of Indian restaurant owners very rich," he said.
"Two years ago a student would shudder if you asked them if they were here for PR [permanent residency]। Now it's blatant. You ask a student why they don't have an employer for work experience and they say they're just here for PR. It is only about the dollars."
Mr Konrad said many students had taken out loans or mortgages at home to pay the fees। "There is nothing more important to these students. If they stuff it up, they stuff up their whole lives.
"If you have taken a loan in Indian dollars of $20,000 to study here, that is going to take you nearly 20 years to pay off in India. Parents can be kicked out of their homes."
August 31, 2004
A nationalist group targeting university campuses with anti-foreigner propaganda is linked to the local branch of an American neo-Nazi organisation।
The Patriotic Youth League's "Australian unis for Australian students" campaign at the University of Newcastle has coincided with racist incidents against African students and the posting of US neo-Nazi leaflets on campus।
The group's founder, Stuart McBeth, 23, who has been running the Patriotic Youth League while working at a Salvation Army crisis centre in Newcastle, has denied responsibility for the white supremacist posters। He issued a statement saying only people with a "lack of mental capacity" could accuse the league of involvement with American racist organisations.
However, the Herald has uncovered that the league shares a Newcastle postal address with the Australian branch of the US neo-Nazi organisation Volksfront - a group that denies the Holocaust, is buying land for an "Aryan" homeland in the US and warns of a coming "One World Zionist Police State"।
Mr McBeth yesterday said he did not know why the postal addresses were identical and denied any link to Volksfront - assertions contradicted by the league's Sydney representative, Andrew Wilson।
Mr Wilson, from Epping, said Mr McBeth was behind Volksfront Australia, which is "in the early stages of development"।
"It's a cultural kind of movement, whereas the Patriotic Youth League is more political and youth-orientated," he said।
Mr McBeth said there were about 50 members in the league, which began a campaign this year against foreign students।
He said he believed overseas students should be restricted to "exchange programs" so they did not displace local students।
Universities and the Federal Government say that because international students pay full fees they displace no one, and instead inject much-needed cash into the higher education system।
League members appear to have recently posted messages on the Australian section of the Stormfront website (a "white nationalist community discussion forum") about plans to "visit Sydney University with our stickers and posters in the coming weeks".
Nationalists boast of their role on the beach
By Ewin Hannan and Richard Baker
December 13, 2005
WHITE nationalist groups involved in the Cronulla riots have predicted further racial violence, naming the Melbourne suburbs of Heidelberg, Preston, Reservoir and Springvale as potential "hot spots".
The Patriotic Youth League, whose members handed out "Aussies Fighting Back" pamphlets at Cronulla, said it had been inundated with callers wanting to riot in Melbourne.
"If it wasn't for the massive police presence there already, and the fact that it's mainly confined to a peninsula, we really could have had a Paris situation on our hands (in Cronulla)," league spokesman Luke Connors said.
"I have had people calling me all through yesterday, and today, and all through the night, just asking me when Melbourne is going to erupt in riots because they want to go and join in." Founded in 2002 by former One Nation activist Stuart McBeth, the league requires members to be "radical nationalists" and strongly opposed to "non-discriminatory immigration".
While modelled on the youth wing of the extremist British National Party, Australian members are "expected to take regular exercise and to play some form of sport frequently".
The group is aligned with the Sydney-based academic Jim Saleam, who was jailed for three years in 1991 for organising the shotgun attack on the home of African National Congress representative in Australia Eddie Funde.
Dr Saleam, the NSW secretary of the ultra-nationalist Australia First Party, said yesterday the party was responsible for mobilising dozens of people to the Cronulla rally, with members distributing anti-immigration literature. "I'd say we'd be responsible for one in 45 or one in 50 of those who actually turned up," Dr Saleam said.
"But what happened was independent of any real political organisation. This is a people's rebellion, a civil uprising of a very significant number of the local population."
In the week leading up to Sunday's rally, Australia First — formed by former federal Labor MP Graeme Campbell in 1996 — had been encouraging members to go to Cronulla. A statement on its website called for patriots to attend the protest to demonstrate solidarity with the victims of "anti-Australian race and hate and violence".
Mr Connors said about 15 league members handed out literature to the Cronulla crowd, as well as buying drinks for some participants.
He said the league had 100 members nationally, with chapters in Ascot Vale and Eltham.
Mr McBeth lost his job with the Salvation Army after it was revealed he was an organiser of an anti-immigration rally in Newcastle earlier this year.
Dr Saleam denied neo-Nazi groups had been involved in the violence. But NSW Police Minister Carl Scully said a small number of white supremacists were involved in the riots.
Dr Saleam said the trigger for Sunday's riot was the frustration that "local Australians" felt about the lack of response from police and politicians to a "two-year campaign" of abuse and hate directed at Cronulla locals by Middle Eastern men from Sydney's western suburbs.
He described the Middle Eastern gangs as the "most extreme racists you can imagine".
"The other deep-seated factor that we struck among the crowd was a realisation that something has gone askew with Australia's immigration policies," he said.
"We haven't got an immigration policy. It's a population policy designed to change the internal make-up of Australia to resemble the nations of our so-called region."
Mr Connors said that "we have been warning people about this for ages and they just called us cranks".
"We said it's time to start to thinking about multiculturalism and they called us nazis," he said. "Well, hey, we were right and we wish we weren't because it will happen again. It will happen again and it will happen sooner."
Mr Connors predicted further outbreaks.
"'When you have areas which are majority Muslim, because they don't tend to adapt that well, or majority African or Middle Eastern extraction, and right next door you have an area which is 90 per cent Anglo-Saxon, or Anglo-Celtic, there is going to be friction," he said.
"West Heidelberg is a big one because you have a very large black working-class community next to a white middle-working-class community. That would be my best guess actually if it was going to start up in Melbourne.
"Also, out past Springvale, along the train line, there is that same sort of segregation going on, in working-class areas where they are competing for the same jobs and there is a high unemployment rate."
Dr Saleam predicted an increasing number of young Australians would become involved in "independent nationalistic activity".
White supremacist website Stormfront yesterday featured messages from people in the US, Britain and Canada supporting the Cronulla attacks।
Foreign students exploited as slaves
Nick O'Malley, Heath Gilmore and Erik JensenJuly 15, 2009
THOUSANDS of overseas students are being made to work free - or even to pay to work - by businesses exploiting loopholes in immigration and education laws in what experts describe as a system of economic slavery।
The vast pool of unpaid labour was created in 2005 when vocational students were required to do 900 hours' work experience. There was no requirement that they be paid.
Overseas students remained bound to the system as completion of such courses became a near-guaranteed pathway to permanent residency।
Since then the number of foreign students enrolled in the vocational training sector has leapt from 65,120 to 173,432 last year - about half of all our overseas students.
The changes have created a $15 billion industry - comparable countries do not offer residency - but experts, teachers and students say many of the private college courses are little more than visa mills। Since 2001 the number of private colleges has leapt from 664 to 4892।
One university-educated overseas student told the Herald she spent $22,000 and two years doing a hairdressing course she will never use, to secure her residency. She did her 900 hours' work experience in a salon linked to the college, where students were required to pay a $1000 non-refundable bond to use the equipment.
Other colleges charge students thousands of dollars in "placement fees" only to advertise their supply of free labour to local business। A black market has sprung up in fraudulent letters of completion।
"If you wanted to make a corrupt system, this is absolutely how you would do it," said an immigration agent, Karl Konrad।
He said the system began to go bad when the requirement for 900 hours' work was introduced। "You've got the agents and the proprietors realising there is a flood of free labour, but of course the demand for placements outstrips the supply - so even if they wanted to take all that free labour, they can't use it all," said Mr Konrad, a former Victorian police officer known for his exposure of corruption among fellow officers in that state.
He said a trade in fraudulent documents had evolved with employers and agents selling students verification that they had completed their 900 hours।
One agent told the Herald he charged $15,000-$20,000 for such paperwork। "They are slaves," he said. "They work for free from 11 o'clock to 11 o'clock - no breaks, no nothing. They have to pay the owner for the paperwork. They want to stay here. They will do anything."
He said the entire industry was a racket। "They work with no workers' compensation, no insurance. If they are injured at work, bad luck."
Mr Konrad said the colleges and employers had a dangerous amount of power over their students, who faced deportation if their enrolment was cancelled।
Even the pretence of education has been abandoned at many colleges, say students and teachers। One cooking trainer said if he did not keep passing students, migration agents would stop sending them to the college where he worked and his job would disappear.
"As for this 900 hours' work experience, at least 60 per cent of my students were paying for it। It made a lot of Indian restaurant owners very rich," he said.
"Two years ago a student would shudder if you asked them if they were here for PR [permanent residency]। Now it's blatant. You ask a student why they don't have an employer for work experience and they say they're just here for PR. It is only about the dollars."
Mr Konrad said many students had taken out loans or mortgages at home to pay the fees। "There is nothing more important to these students. If they stuff it up, they stuff up their whole lives.
"If you have taken a loan in Indian dollars of $20,000 to study here, that is going to take you nearly 20 years to pay off in India. Parents can be kicked out of their homes."
Tuesday
New flu resembles feared 1918 virus: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new H1N1 influenza virus bears a disturbing resemblance to the virus strain that caused the 1918 flu pandemic, with a greater ability to infect the lungs than common seasonal flu viruses, researchers reported on Monday.
Tests in several animals confirmed other studies that have shown the new swine flu strain can spread beyond the upper respiratory tract to go deep into the lungs -- making it more likely to cause pneumonia, the international team said।
In addition, they found that people who survived the 1918 pandemic seem to have extra immune protection against the virus, again confirming the work of other researchers.
"When we conducted the experiments in ferrets and monkeys, the seasonal virus did not replicate in the lungs," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, who led the study।
The H1N1 virus replicates significantly better in the lungs."
The new swine flu virus has caused the first pandemic of the 21st century, infecting more than a million people, according to estimates, and killing at least 500। The World Health Organization says it is causing mostly moderate disease but Kawaoka said that does not mean it is like seasonal flu।
"There is a misunderstanding about this virus," he said in a statement. "There is clear evidence the virus is different than seasonal influenza."
Writing in the journal Nature, Kawaoka and colleagues noted that the ability to infect the lungs is a characteristic of other pandemic viruses, especially the 1918 virus, which is estimated to have killed between 40 million and 100 million people।
OLD PROTECTION
They tested the virus in blood samples taken from nursing home residents and workers in 1999 in California, Wisconsin, the Netherlands and Japan.
People born before 1920 had a strong antibody response to the new H1N1 virus, meaning their body "remembered" it from infection early in life। This finding supports a study published in Nature in August that also found people who survived the 1918 pandemic still had immune protection against that virus।
Flu viruses change constantly, which is why people can be re-infected and why the vaccine must be changed regularly। Current seasonal strains of H1N1 are distant cousins of both the 1918 pandemic strain and the new H1N1 strain।
"Our findings are a reminder that swine-origin influenza viruses have not yet garnered a place in history, but may still do so, as the pandemic caused by these viruses has the potential to produce a significant impact on human health and the global economy," the researchers wrote.
Other tests showed the virus could be controlled by the antiviral drugs Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline, and Tamiflu, made by Roche AG, the researchers said।
The World Health Organization said on Monday that vaccine makers should start making immunizations against H1N1 and that healthcare workers should be first in line to get them।
Companies working on an H1N1 vaccine include Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis AG, Baxter International Inc, GlaxoSmithKline, Solvay and nasal spray maker MedImmune, now part of AstraZeneca.
(Editing by Doina Chiacu)
Experts unearth history of pandemic flu viruses
By Tan Ee Lyn
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Flu viruses that sparked the three worst pandemics in the last century circulated in their near-complete forms for years before the catastrophes occurred, researchers in Hong Kong and the United States have found.
The H1N1 virus that sparked the Spanish flu of 1918-1919 circulated in swine and humans well before the pandemic started, and it did not come directly from birds as previously thought, they added. Instead, it was probably generated by genetic exchanges between flu viruses from swine and humans.
This contrasts sharply with previous studies which suggested that the H1N1 virus of 1918 was a mutant that jumped direct from birds to human and ended up killing as many as 50 million people.
The findings are considered important because of the lack of studies of the virus in animals before the current outbreak of H1N1. Through understanding the natural history of viruses, monitoring of current viruses can be fine-tuned, the team from the University of Hong Kong and St Jude Children's Hospital in the United States wrote.
Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study also involved two other pandemic viruses
--
the H2N2 responsible for the Asian flu of 1957, and the H3N2 which sparked the Hong Kong flu of 1968।
Guan Yi, microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong and member of the research team, said the viruses of 1918 and 1957 went through at least two rounds of reassortments before the pandemics occurred. Reassortments happen when flu viruses swap genetic material, which happens when an animal or person is infected with two strains at the same time.
"Before, people did not know how pandemic viruses came about ... this study gives us a deeper understanding into the evolution and emerging process of pandemic viruses," Guan said।
Another finding was that the H1N1 pandemic virus of 1918, the seasonal H1N1 virus of today and the classical H1N1 swine virus may have been co-circulating in the 1918-1919 period.
"All three are different viruses but related ... which would explain why some waves of the (1918-1919) pandemic were more deadly than others," Guan said।
The team analyzed and compared the genes of the 1918, 1957, and 1968 viruses and their close relatives to determine their ancestry and the gene exchanges that created them.
The genes of the 1918 virus likely circulated in swine and humans from as early as 1911, and the virus was unlikely to have been transmitted directly from birds to humans, Guan said।
"It is very difficult for viruses to jump directly from bird to human (and cause a pandemic), which may explain why the H5N1 virus hasn't caused a pandemic so far (by making that direct jump from bird to human)," Guan said।
The H2N2 (1957) and H3N2 (1968) reassortant viruses formed similarly, through exchanges with unknown mammalian hosts and input from bird viruses।
"Because of a lack of sequence data for swine influenza from these periods, the involvement of swine in the generation of these pandemic strains cannot be precluded," the paper said.
(Editing by Nick Macfie)
U.S. to spend another $1 billion on flu Vaccine
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will spend another $1 billion on ingredients for an H1N1 vaccine, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Sunday.
"There'll be another $1 billion worth of orders placed to get the bulk ingredients for an H1N1 vaccination। Congress has agreed with the president that this is the number one priority, keeping Americans safe and secure," Sebelius said on CNN.
Sebelius has said plans were on track for a mid-October vaccination program, although it was not certain Americans would be offered the vaccine for the so-called swine flu।
"We are aggressively working on, first of all, testing the virus strains to get a vaccination ready। It needs to be safe so testing and clinical trials will start this month। We'll know a lot more by the end of the summer and it needs to be effective," she said।
The World Health Organization may issue guidance as soon as Monday on whether an H1N1 swine flu vaccine will be offered alongside the seasonal flu vaccine.
Vaccine makers Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline, Solvay and AstraZeneca's MedImmune subsidiary have finished making seasonal flu vaccines for this year।
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a July 23 advisory panel meeting to discuss clinical trials of the vaccines against the H1N1 influenza virus and the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice wills meet July 29.
"FDA is working with the scientists at NIH (National Institutes of Health) to make sure that we have a safe and effective strain and then we're getting ready to make sure that we have a vaccination program," Sebelius said।
Health experts estimate at least 1 million people have been infected with H1N1 in the United States, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 211 deaths. It often takes weeks or months to collect data on flu deaths.
About 36,000 people die each year from the seasonal flu in the United States alone, and 250,000 to 500,000 die globally।
(Editing by Maggie Fox)
Tests in several animals confirmed other studies that have shown the new swine flu strain can spread beyond the upper respiratory tract to go deep into the lungs -- making it more likely to cause pneumonia, the international team said।
In addition, they found that people who survived the 1918 pandemic seem to have extra immune protection against the virus, again confirming the work of other researchers.
"When we conducted the experiments in ferrets and monkeys, the seasonal virus did not replicate in the lungs," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, who led the study।
The H1N1 virus replicates significantly better in the lungs."
The new swine flu virus has caused the first pandemic of the 21st century, infecting more than a million people, according to estimates, and killing at least 500। The World Health Organization says it is causing mostly moderate disease but Kawaoka said that does not mean it is like seasonal flu।
"There is a misunderstanding about this virus," he said in a statement. "There is clear evidence the virus is different than seasonal influenza."
Writing in the journal Nature, Kawaoka and colleagues noted that the ability to infect the lungs is a characteristic of other pandemic viruses, especially the 1918 virus, which is estimated to have killed between 40 million and 100 million people।
OLD PROTECTION
They tested the virus in blood samples taken from nursing home residents and workers in 1999 in California, Wisconsin, the Netherlands and Japan.
People born before 1920 had a strong antibody response to the new H1N1 virus, meaning their body "remembered" it from infection early in life। This finding supports a study published in Nature in August that also found people who survived the 1918 pandemic still had immune protection against that virus।
Flu viruses change constantly, which is why people can be re-infected and why the vaccine must be changed regularly। Current seasonal strains of H1N1 are distant cousins of both the 1918 pandemic strain and the new H1N1 strain।
"Our findings are a reminder that swine-origin influenza viruses have not yet garnered a place in history, but may still do so, as the pandemic caused by these viruses has the potential to produce a significant impact on human health and the global economy," the researchers wrote.
Other tests showed the virus could be controlled by the antiviral drugs Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline, and Tamiflu, made by Roche AG, the researchers said।
The World Health Organization said on Monday that vaccine makers should start making immunizations against H1N1 and that healthcare workers should be first in line to get them।
Companies working on an H1N1 vaccine include Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis AG, Baxter International Inc, GlaxoSmithKline, Solvay and nasal spray maker MedImmune, now part of AstraZeneca.
(Editing by Doina Chiacu)
Experts unearth history of pandemic flu viruses
By Tan Ee Lyn
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Flu viruses that sparked the three worst pandemics in the last century circulated in their near-complete forms for years before the catastrophes occurred, researchers in Hong Kong and the United States have found.
The H1N1 virus that sparked the Spanish flu of 1918-1919 circulated in swine and humans well before the pandemic started, and it did not come directly from birds as previously thought, they added. Instead, it was probably generated by genetic exchanges between flu viruses from swine and humans.
This contrasts sharply with previous studies which suggested that the H1N1 virus of 1918 was a mutant that jumped direct from birds to human and ended up killing as many as 50 million people.
The findings are considered important because of the lack of studies of the virus in animals before the current outbreak of H1N1. Through understanding the natural history of viruses, monitoring of current viruses can be fine-tuned, the team from the University of Hong Kong and St Jude Children's Hospital in the United States wrote.
Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study also involved two other pandemic viruses
--
the H2N2 responsible for the Asian flu of 1957, and the H3N2 which sparked the Hong Kong flu of 1968।
Guan Yi, microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong and member of the research team, said the viruses of 1918 and 1957 went through at least two rounds of reassortments before the pandemics occurred. Reassortments happen when flu viruses swap genetic material, which happens when an animal or person is infected with two strains at the same time.
"Before, people did not know how pandemic viruses came about ... this study gives us a deeper understanding into the evolution and emerging process of pandemic viruses," Guan said।
Another finding was that the H1N1 pandemic virus of 1918, the seasonal H1N1 virus of today and the classical H1N1 swine virus may have been co-circulating in the 1918-1919 period.
"All three are different viruses but related ... which would explain why some waves of the (1918-1919) pandemic were more deadly than others," Guan said।
The team analyzed and compared the genes of the 1918, 1957, and 1968 viruses and their close relatives to determine their ancestry and the gene exchanges that created them.
The genes of the 1918 virus likely circulated in swine and humans from as early as 1911, and the virus was unlikely to have been transmitted directly from birds to humans, Guan said।
"It is very difficult for viruses to jump directly from bird to human (and cause a pandemic), which may explain why the H5N1 virus hasn't caused a pandemic so far (by making that direct jump from bird to human)," Guan said।
The H2N2 (1957) and H3N2 (1968) reassortant viruses formed similarly, through exchanges with unknown mammalian hosts and input from bird viruses।
"Because of a lack of sequence data for swine influenza from these periods, the involvement of swine in the generation of these pandemic strains cannot be precluded," the paper said.
(Editing by Nick Macfie)
U.S. to spend another $1 billion on flu Vaccine
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will spend another $1 billion on ingredients for an H1N1 vaccine, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Sunday.
"There'll be another $1 billion worth of orders placed to get the bulk ingredients for an H1N1 vaccination। Congress has agreed with the president that this is the number one priority, keeping Americans safe and secure," Sebelius said on CNN.
Sebelius has said plans were on track for a mid-October vaccination program, although it was not certain Americans would be offered the vaccine for the so-called swine flu।
"We are aggressively working on, first of all, testing the virus strains to get a vaccination ready। It needs to be safe so testing and clinical trials will start this month। We'll know a lot more by the end of the summer and it needs to be effective," she said।
The World Health Organization may issue guidance as soon as Monday on whether an H1N1 swine flu vaccine will be offered alongside the seasonal flu vaccine.
Vaccine makers Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline, Solvay and AstraZeneca's MedImmune subsidiary have finished making seasonal flu vaccines for this year।
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a July 23 advisory panel meeting to discuss clinical trials of the vaccines against the H1N1 influenza virus and the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice wills meet July 29.
"FDA is working with the scientists at NIH (National Institutes of Health) to make sure that we have a safe and effective strain and then we're getting ready to make sure that we have a vaccination program," Sebelius said।
Health experts estimate at least 1 million people have been infected with H1N1 in the United States, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 211 deaths. It often takes weeks or months to collect data on flu deaths.
About 36,000 people die each year from the seasonal flu in the United States alone, and 250,000 to 500,000 die globally।
(Editing by Maggie Fox)
Saturday
Chinese police break up Xinjiang protest
By Chris Buckley
URUMQI, China (Reuters) - Chinese riot police broke up a small demonstration by Uighurs leaving Friday prayers in a Muslim Uighur neighborhood of Urumqi, arresting several who were taken away with hands above their heads.
The action came as the United States urged Chinese leaders to act with restraint in tackling the unrest in the Xinjiang region.
A crowd of several hundred gathered near the White Mosque in the regional capital Urumqi along with riot police with submachine guns as armored police vehicles blocked roads around the building and a helicopter hovered overhead, the first sign of unrest days after deadly rioting in the ethnically divided city.
"You see, this is how they treat Uighurs -- like animals," said one woman of what appeared to be only a localized flare-up.
Hundreds of Uighurs crowded into the mosque after authorities relented on a decision to close mosques for the main day of prayer to minimize ethnic tension.
Security forces have imposed control over Urumqi, but the afternoon prayers were testing the government's ability to contain Uighur anger after Han Chinese, China's predominant ethnic group, attacked Uighur neighborhoods on Tuesday.
Those attacks were in revenge for the deaths of 156 people in Uighur rioting on Sunday, the region's worst ethnic violence in decades.
The initial decision to try to silence collective prayers could rankle, but thousands of troops and anti-riot police appeared ready to quell any fresh Uighur protests. Nearly all Uighurs are Muslim, but few adhere to the strictest interpretations of Islam.
Beijing cannot afford to lose its grip on the vast territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.
Local authorities in Kashgar, a Uighur city in the south of Xinjiang, told foreign reporters to leave on Friday, citing "safety" reasons. In some cases the journalists were escorted to the airport.
U.S. National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones urged Chinese leaders on Friday to act with "appropriate restraint," a senior U.S. official said in L'Aquila in Italy where G8 leaders were gathered.
SUSPENSION NOTICES
Other mosques in Urumqi frequented by Hui, a Muslim group culturally akin to Han Chinese, opened their doors on Friday after crowds of a few hundred worshippers began shouting.
Mosques in the overwhelmingly Uighur bazaar district of Urumqi earlier displayed notices that prayers had been suspended.
A cluster of Uighurs outside the big Dong Kuruk Bridge Mosque said they were angry and disappointed it hadn't opened.
"We feel we are being insulted. This is our mosque. But we are not allowed in, while they let in non-believers," said a young man, pointing out that Chinese security forces had been stationed inside and even in the minarets jutting out above an adjacent expressway.
China's ruling Communist Party may fear that big Uighur religious gatherings could become another catalyst for unrest after a week of ethnic strife.
Uighurs, a Turkic people who are largely Muslim and share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia, make up almost half of Xinjiang's 20 million people.
President Hu Jintao, forced to abandon the G8 summit in Italy by the ethnic violence in Xinjiang, has said maintaining social stability in the energy-rich region is the "most urgent task."
Hu described the Sunday riots as a "serious violent crime elaborately planned and organized by 'three forces' at home and abroad."
"Three forces" is a term China uses to refer to religious extremists, separatists and terrorists it says menace Xinjiang.
There appears little likelihood China will slow its drive to punish those found guilty of killing Urumqi residents in the Sunday mayhem, when cars and buses were burned.
On Tuesday, thousands of Han Chinese, shouting for vengeance, attacked Uighur neighborhoods, and many Uighur residents said people died. The government has not released any numbers.
Authorities have posted notices in Urumqi urging rioters to turn themselves in or face stern punishment.
Xinjiang has long been a tightly controlled hotbed of ethnic tensions, fostered by an economic gap between many Uighurs and Han Chinese, government controls on religion and culture and an influx of Han migrants who now are the majority in most key cities, including Urumqi.
(Additional reporting by Tyra Dempster in Urumqi, Ben Blanchard in Shanghai and Benjamin Kang Lim and Lucy Hornby in Beijing; Editing by Nick Macfie and Sanjeev Miglani)
Australian was spying, says China
Mathew Murphy and Chalpat Sonti
July 9, 2009 .
An Australian executive of mining giant Rio Tinto, detained in China since Sunday, is being held on suspicion of being a spy and stealing state secrets.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith last night confirmed that the Australian citizen, Stern Hu, was one of four Rio Tinto workers being held by Chinese officials.
Mr Smith said the claims of espionage against Mr Hu, Rio's iron ore marketing chief in China, were conveyed by China yesterday and came as a shock to the Government and Rio.
"Australian officials were advised that the reason for Mr Hu's detention was that he was being detained on the suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets," he said.
"The Australian Government was very surprised by both the detention and the reason for the detention given by Chinese authorities. We continue to seek explanations for the reasons for the detention."
Mr Hu was detained by Chinese Ministry of State Security officials on Sunday but has not been charged. Australian consular officials have so far been denied access to Mr Hu, but have struck a deal with China to see him by Saturday.
A staff member at Rio's Shanghai office said yesterday: "We don't even know where he is being detained."
Mr Hu has lived in Shanghai for many years with his wife, who is also an Australian citizen.
The arrests come at a time of strained relations between Rio and China. Last month, Rio was labelled a "dishonourable woman" in the Chinese media after it abandoned a $US19.5 billion deal with state-owned Chinalco in favour of an iron ore tie-up with BHP Billiton.
Rio has also been locked in bitter negotiations over iron ore contracts, with China refusing to accept the benchmark price taken up by steel makers in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Rio's iron ore sales team is believed to have been avoiding meeting in China recently — holding talks in Hong Kong and Singapore instead — due to fears their phones and emails were bugged. Chinese officials are also believed to have raided Rio's Shanghai offices this week and removed computers used by the four executives.
Mr Smith said last night there was no evidence of a link between the detention of Mr Hu and any commercial matters concerning Rio. Asked if Mr Hu's detention had anything to do with the iron ore negotiations, he said: "I've seen no basis … for any such speculation."
A Rio spokesman said the company was surprised by the allegation and dismissed calls for an investigation. "We are not aware of any evidence that would support such an investigation," he said.
But Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce, a critic of the Chinalco plan, linked the deal's failure to the arrests. "Chinalco's failure to buy 18 per cent ownership of Rio would appear to have inspired Mr Hu's arrest and that of three other Rio workers."
Senator Joyce said the arrests should be a "wake-up call for all Australians", showing claims by Beijing that it was at arm's-length from its state-owned entities were a fallacy.
Brendan Taylor, a north Asia expert at Australian National University, also did not rule out a link to Rio's commercial dealings. "I think the Chinese see that line between economics and national security as much more blurred than we do."
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull raised the issue with the Chinese embassy in Canberra yesterday. "This is a matter of very real concern and it is completely unacceptable for Australian executives to be detained anywhere in the world without cause," he said.
He expected an explanation from the Chinese and the executives to be released, "or if the Chinese Government wishes to make some charge against them, then to do so".
- With MICHELLE GRATTAN, DANIEL FLITTON
Source: The Age
By Chris Buckley
URUMQI, China (Reuters) - Chinese riot police broke up a small demonstration by Uighurs leaving Friday prayers in a Muslim Uighur neighborhood of Urumqi, arresting several who were taken away with hands above their heads.
The action came as the United States urged Chinese leaders to act with restraint in tackling the unrest in the Xinjiang region.
A crowd of several hundred gathered near the White Mosque in the regional capital Urumqi along with riot police with submachine guns as armored police vehicles blocked roads around the building and a helicopter hovered overhead, the first sign of unrest days after deadly rioting in the ethnically divided city.
"You see, this is how they treat Uighurs -- like animals," said one woman of what appeared to be only a localized flare-up.
Hundreds of Uighurs crowded into the mosque after authorities relented on a decision to close mosques for the main day of prayer to minimize ethnic tension.
Security forces have imposed control over Urumqi, but the afternoon prayers were testing the government's ability to contain Uighur anger after Han Chinese, China's predominant ethnic group, attacked Uighur neighborhoods on Tuesday.
Those attacks were in revenge for the deaths of 156 people in Uighur rioting on Sunday, the region's worst ethnic violence in decades.
The initial decision to try to silence collective prayers could rankle, but thousands of troops and anti-riot police appeared ready to quell any fresh Uighur protests. Nearly all Uighurs are Muslim, but few adhere to the strictest interpretations of Islam.
Beijing cannot afford to lose its grip on the vast territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.
Local authorities in Kashgar, a Uighur city in the south of Xinjiang, told foreign reporters to leave on Friday, citing "safety" reasons. In some cases the journalists were escorted to the airport.
U.S. National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones urged Chinese leaders on Friday to act with "appropriate restraint," a senior U.S. official said in L'Aquila in Italy where G8 leaders were gathered.
SUSPENSION NOTICES
Other mosques in Urumqi frequented by Hui, a Muslim group culturally akin to Han Chinese, opened their doors on Friday after crowds of a few hundred worshippers began shouting.
Mosques in the overwhelmingly Uighur bazaar district of Urumqi earlier displayed notices that prayers had been suspended.
A cluster of Uighurs outside the big Dong Kuruk Bridge Mosque said they were angry and disappointed it hadn't opened.
"We feel we are being insulted. This is our mosque. But we are not allowed in, while they let in non-believers," said a young man, pointing out that Chinese security forces had been stationed inside and even in the minarets jutting out above an adjacent expressway.
China's ruling Communist Party may fear that big Uighur religious gatherings could become another catalyst for unrest after a week of ethnic strife.
Uighurs, a Turkic people who are largely Muslim and share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia, make up almost half of Xinjiang's 20 million people.
President Hu Jintao, forced to abandon the G8 summit in Italy by the ethnic violence in Xinjiang, has said maintaining social stability in the energy-rich region is the "most urgent task."
Hu described the Sunday riots as a "serious violent crime elaborately planned and organized by 'three forces' at home and abroad."
"Three forces" is a term China uses to refer to religious extremists, separatists and terrorists it says menace Xinjiang.
There appears little likelihood China will slow its drive to punish those found guilty of killing Urumqi residents in the Sunday mayhem, when cars and buses were burned.
On Tuesday, thousands of Han Chinese, shouting for vengeance, attacked Uighur neighborhoods, and many Uighur residents said people died. The government has not released any numbers.
Authorities have posted notices in Urumqi urging rioters to turn themselves in or face stern punishment.
Xinjiang has long been a tightly controlled hotbed of ethnic tensions, fostered by an economic gap between many Uighurs and Han Chinese, government controls on religion and culture and an influx of Han migrants who now are the majority in most key cities, including Urumqi.
(Additional reporting by Tyra Dempster in Urumqi, Ben Blanchard in Shanghai and Benjamin Kang Lim and Lucy Hornby in Beijing; Editing by Nick Macfie and Sanjeev Miglani)
Australian was spying, says China
Mathew Murphy and Chalpat Sonti
July 9, 2009 .
An Australian executive of mining giant Rio Tinto, detained in China since Sunday, is being held on suspicion of being a spy and stealing state secrets.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith last night confirmed that the Australian citizen, Stern Hu, was one of four Rio Tinto workers being held by Chinese officials.
Mr Smith said the claims of espionage against Mr Hu, Rio's iron ore marketing chief in China, were conveyed by China yesterday and came as a shock to the Government and Rio.
"Australian officials were advised that the reason for Mr Hu's detention was that he was being detained on the suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets," he said.
"The Australian Government was very surprised by both the detention and the reason for the detention given by Chinese authorities. We continue to seek explanations for the reasons for the detention."
Mr Hu was detained by Chinese Ministry of State Security officials on Sunday but has not been charged. Australian consular officials have so far been denied access to Mr Hu, but have struck a deal with China to see him by Saturday.
A staff member at Rio's Shanghai office said yesterday: "We don't even know where he is being detained."
Mr Hu has lived in Shanghai for many years with his wife, who is also an Australian citizen.
The arrests come at a time of strained relations between Rio and China. Last month, Rio was labelled a "dishonourable woman" in the Chinese media after it abandoned a $US19.5 billion deal with state-owned Chinalco in favour of an iron ore tie-up with BHP Billiton.
Rio has also been locked in bitter negotiations over iron ore contracts, with China refusing to accept the benchmark price taken up by steel makers in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Rio's iron ore sales team is believed to have been avoiding meeting in China recently — holding talks in Hong Kong and Singapore instead — due to fears their phones and emails were bugged. Chinese officials are also believed to have raided Rio's Shanghai offices this week and removed computers used by the four executives.
Mr Smith said last night there was no evidence of a link between the detention of Mr Hu and any commercial matters concerning Rio. Asked if Mr Hu's detention had anything to do with the iron ore negotiations, he said: "I've seen no basis … for any such speculation."
A Rio spokesman said the company was surprised by the allegation and dismissed calls for an investigation. "We are not aware of any evidence that would support such an investigation," he said.
But Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce, a critic of the Chinalco plan, linked the deal's failure to the arrests. "Chinalco's failure to buy 18 per cent ownership of Rio would appear to have inspired Mr Hu's arrest and that of three other Rio workers."
Senator Joyce said the arrests should be a "wake-up call for all Australians", showing claims by Beijing that it was at arm's-length from its state-owned entities were a fallacy.
Brendan Taylor, a north Asia expert at Australian National University, also did not rule out a link to Rio's commercial dealings. "I think the Chinese see that line between economics and national security as much more blurred than we do."
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull raised the issue with the Chinese embassy in Canberra yesterday. "This is a matter of very real concern and it is completely unacceptable for Australian executives to be detained anywhere in the world without cause," he said.
He expected an explanation from the Chinese and the executives to be released, "or if the Chinese Government wishes to make some charge against them, then to do so".
- With MICHELLE GRATTAN, DANIEL FLITTON
Source: The Age
Tuesday
Australian University Horror Stories
Tragic murder parents fly in
DANIELLE McKAY
July 05, 2009 07:51am
THE grieving parents of student Zhang "Tina" Yu have arrived in Hobart, more than a week after their daughter's murder.
University of Tasmania officials met Mr and Mrs Yu at the airport yesterday morning after their 12-hour flight from Wenzhou, China.
The couple immediately sought details on their 26-year-old daughter's death from Inspector Peter Powell of Hobart CIB.
"Naturally they were seeking answers to what has happened to their daughter," Insp Powell said. "They were very distressed and obviously mourning deeply."
Insp Powell said it was not known how long they would remain in Tasmania.
Ms Yu was very close to her parents, usually calling them twice a week or every day if something exciting was happening, friends said yesterday.
"She was a very good daughter, and they were very good parents," a friend said.
"She was a warm-hearted girl, a best friend. I don't know what I'm going to say to them [Mr and Mrs Yu]. I don't know what I can say, nothing will make them [feel] better."
A family friend told the Sunday Tasmanian Mrs Yu had been so overcome with grief she had lost the strength even to stand late yesterday.
An outpouring of emotion overwhelmed a group of international students who held a memorial for Ms Yu at Salamanca Market yesterday.
More than 1000 people are believed to have signed a memorial banner for the accounting student, and many laid floral tributes in front of a large photograph of her.
Fellow accounting student Wen Zhen, 28, from China, said the banner would be given to Mr and Mrs Yu.
Mr Zhen said it was very heart-warming to see the large number of people taking the time to offer their condolences.
More than 40 international students took part in the memorial, which they hoped would also highlight their concerns about racism in Tasmania.
Although police say the murder was not racially motivated, her death has reinforced countless accounts of racism against international students.
Mr Zhen said international students chose to study in Tasmania because it had a reputation as a safe place.
"We are very scared," he said. "We don't feel safe any more.
"But we hope we can show the Tasmanian and Australian people we want to be treated the same as local people, and we want the Government to help us stop the violence and give us more security."
New Norfolk resident Greg Barker was one of many locals who signed the banner.
Mr Barker said he felt ashamed by the revelations of racism in Tasmania.
"I didn't realise how bad racism actually is in Tasmania," he said. "To think that a lot of their calls for help have gone unanswered by the community is just so sad."
Lord Mayor Rob Valentine said: "We want them [students] to know that they as a community are really welcome here. They are a part of our community and the community will get behind them."
UTAS acting vice-chancellor David Rich said he was deeply moved by the very strong support shown by so many Tasmanians when he visited the memorial.
Professor Rich said UTAS was working with authorities to provide a safe environment for all Tasmanian students.
Indian Students Grow Wary of Australia Following Attacks
Andrew Harrison, Wall Street Journal, June 3, 2009
Random violence against Indian students is damaging the reputation of Australia’s growing tertiary-education industry.
More than 1,000 mostly Indian students protested the violence in a demonstration in the city Sunday and Monday. One recent attack in Melbourne left an Indian stabbing victim in a coma.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Monday {snip} noted there are 90,000 Indians studying in Australia and more than 200,000 Australians of Indian descent.
Education of foreign students has become big business in Australia, generating 15.5 billion Australian dollars (US$12.54 billion) in 2008, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said last week. Foreigners now make up 25% of students, up from just under 10% in 1997.
The tertiary-education sector is now the nation’s third-largest export earner behind coal and iron ore. In Victoria state, education is the biggest export earner.
The number of Indian students has doubled in the past three years, with two-thirds studying at private colleges.
Violence against the foreign students has been escalating over the past four years, according to Gautam Gupta, spokesman for the Federation of Indian Students of Australia. In Victoria state, police said 1,447 people of Indian origin were victims of crimes such as robberies and assaults in the year ending June 30, 2008, an increase from 1,082 in the previous year.
Students face ‘terrible violence’
Phil Mercer, Foreign Correspondent
Last Updated: June 20. 2009 10:43PM UAE / June 20. 2009 6:43PM GMT
SYDNEY // As Australia grapples with embarrassing attacks on young Indians, students from the Middle East have also been subjected to unprovoked violence and bigotry.
There have been dozens of assaults in Melbourne and Sydney, mostly on Indian expatriates, and the muggings and beatings have spread to smaller regional centres, where other nationalities have been targeted in a suspected wave of racially motivated crimes.
At Newcastle University in New South Wales, undergraduates from Saudi Arabia have been “exposed to terrible violence”, according to Veronica Meneses, a welfare and education officer at the student association, who accused the authorities of not doing enough to help.
“Saudi students have been having a hard time especially in Newcastle, which everybody knows is one of the most Anglo-Saxon cities in Australia. Having an influx of Saudis is a bit of a cultural shock for the locals,” Ms Meneses said.
Hani, who preferred not to divulge his surname, arrived from Saudi Arabia to study medicine last year. He was set upon by a gang of teenagers in Newcastle, but was saved from serious injury by a group of friends who came to his rescue.
“There is some attacking on the campus and the suburbs around the university and that has put too much pressure on the students,” said Hani, who conceded that he might leave Australia if the situation didn’t improve. “I am doing martial arts so I can defend myself but lots of students can’t do anything when people attack them.”
Knives and baseball bats have been used in street robberies, while one international student has also been shot at.
Across Australia, the police and various university authorities have stressed that the security and well-being of visiting students is a priority. While the official view is that the majority of attacks were opportunistic acts carried out on the vulnerable, there is an admission that some were hate crimes perpetrated by racists.
Ibrahim Abu Nadi, president of the Saudi Club in the Gold Coast in Queensland, said the police and universities had “acted positively” when dealing with assaults on young foreigners.
Mr Nadi, from Jeddah, who is working on a PhD in electronic government, insisted that while the attacks on Middle Eastern students on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane were“rare, they were nevertheless unsettling.
“A married woman, she was riding on the bus from the university to home at 12 o’clock and there were two people who were drunk and they wanted to remove her hijab and they were saying bad things about her,” he said.
“There was also a guy who had just arrived from Saudi. I don’t know why he was attacked, maybe because of his looks. It was 11am and he was mugged by two big guys, who came to him and stole his money. Amazingly enough, they came back to him and gave back the money. I guess they felt sad for him or something.”
A steady flow of Saudis, who have found entry into Australia easier than the United States after the September 11 attacks, has helped fuel a boom in the country’s multibillion-dollar higher education industry. In 2004, Australia was the world’s fifth most popular destination for overseas students and today about 450,000 are enrolled at universities and colleges across the continent.
Foreigners are a vital source of revenue and allow institutions to provide a diverse range of courses, but Nigel Palmer, national president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, believes they have been taken advantage of by a system that simply wants their money and is not willing to offer them safety and support in return.
“Universities around the world have embraced the growth of the international education market as, pretty much, free money,” Mr Palmer said. “They have been keen to welcome international enrolments and international fees but haven’t felt compelled to really make an investment in support of services for those students.”
As a result, many visitors have been left to fend for themselves in a strange, lonely place, far from home.
“International students are not connected to the community – not even to the domestic student community. Isolation, discrimination and racism are issues,” Ms Meneses said.
Some Tips For Staying Safe While You're Walking
If you’re walking alone at night to keep fit, or perhaps you're a student on campus or just need to get where you're going, it’s understandable that you might feel uneasy from time to time. Here are some simple tips that can help minimise your chances of being targeted by thieves, attackers or even stalkers;
1.Keep alert. If you feel as though something is wrong, head for a well-lit or populated area.
2.Try to walk against the flow of traffic as this will make it easy to see any cars that are approaching.
3.Walk with friends whenever you can, there‘s safety in numbers.
4.If people are following you or approach you, don't stop to have a conversation with them. Try to keep moving and find a well populated area.
5.Avoid walking where the lighting is poor, such as parks and laneways.
6.Handbags should be carried either in front of you or under your arm with the strap secured. Never let the bag or strap hang loosely.
7.Avoid wearing headphones as it’s difficult to hear what is happening around you.
8.If you have to walk alone, vary your route and consider a personal duress alarm.
9. Carry a phone for emergencies
DANIELLE McKAY
July 05, 2009 07:51am
THE grieving parents of student Zhang "Tina" Yu have arrived in Hobart, more than a week after their daughter's murder.
University of Tasmania officials met Mr and Mrs Yu at the airport yesterday morning after their 12-hour flight from Wenzhou, China.
The couple immediately sought details on their 26-year-old daughter's death from Inspector Peter Powell of Hobart CIB.
"Naturally they were seeking answers to what has happened to their daughter," Insp Powell said. "They were very distressed and obviously mourning deeply."
Insp Powell said it was not known how long they would remain in Tasmania.
Ms Yu was very close to her parents, usually calling them twice a week or every day if something exciting was happening, friends said yesterday.
"She was a very good daughter, and they were very good parents," a friend said.
"She was a warm-hearted girl, a best friend. I don't know what I'm going to say to them [Mr and Mrs Yu]. I don't know what I can say, nothing will make them [feel] better."
A family friend told the Sunday Tasmanian Mrs Yu had been so overcome with grief she had lost the strength even to stand late yesterday.
An outpouring of emotion overwhelmed a group of international students who held a memorial for Ms Yu at Salamanca Market yesterday.
More than 1000 people are believed to have signed a memorial banner for the accounting student, and many laid floral tributes in front of a large photograph of her.
Fellow accounting student Wen Zhen, 28, from China, said the banner would be given to Mr and Mrs Yu.
Mr Zhen said it was very heart-warming to see the large number of people taking the time to offer their condolences.
More than 40 international students took part in the memorial, which they hoped would also highlight their concerns about racism in Tasmania.
Although police say the murder was not racially motivated, her death has reinforced countless accounts of racism against international students.
Mr Zhen said international students chose to study in Tasmania because it had a reputation as a safe place.
"We are very scared," he said. "We don't feel safe any more.
"But we hope we can show the Tasmanian and Australian people we want to be treated the same as local people, and we want the Government to help us stop the violence and give us more security."
New Norfolk resident Greg Barker was one of many locals who signed the banner.
Mr Barker said he felt ashamed by the revelations of racism in Tasmania.
"I didn't realise how bad racism actually is in Tasmania," he said. "To think that a lot of their calls for help have gone unanswered by the community is just so sad."
Lord Mayor Rob Valentine said: "We want them [students] to know that they as a community are really welcome here. They are a part of our community and the community will get behind them."
UTAS acting vice-chancellor David Rich said he was deeply moved by the very strong support shown by so many Tasmanians when he visited the memorial.
Professor Rich said UTAS was working with authorities to provide a safe environment for all Tasmanian students.
Indian Students Grow Wary of Australia Following Attacks
Andrew Harrison, Wall Street Journal, June 3, 2009
Random violence against Indian students is damaging the reputation of Australia’s growing tertiary-education industry.
More than 1,000 mostly Indian students protested the violence in a demonstration in the city Sunday and Monday. One recent attack in Melbourne left an Indian stabbing victim in a coma.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Monday {snip} noted there are 90,000 Indians studying in Australia and more than 200,000 Australians of Indian descent.
Education of foreign students has become big business in Australia, generating 15.5 billion Australian dollars (US$12.54 billion) in 2008, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said last week. Foreigners now make up 25% of students, up from just under 10% in 1997.
The tertiary-education sector is now the nation’s third-largest export earner behind coal and iron ore. In Victoria state, education is the biggest export earner.
The number of Indian students has doubled in the past three years, with two-thirds studying at private colleges.
Violence against the foreign students has been escalating over the past four years, according to Gautam Gupta, spokesman for the Federation of Indian Students of Australia. In Victoria state, police said 1,447 people of Indian origin were victims of crimes such as robberies and assaults in the year ending June 30, 2008, an increase from 1,082 in the previous year.
Students face ‘terrible violence’
Phil Mercer, Foreign Correspondent
Last Updated: June 20. 2009 10:43PM UAE / June 20. 2009 6:43PM GMT
SYDNEY // As Australia grapples with embarrassing attacks on young Indians, students from the Middle East have also been subjected to unprovoked violence and bigotry.
There have been dozens of assaults in Melbourne and Sydney, mostly on Indian expatriates, and the muggings and beatings have spread to smaller regional centres, where other nationalities have been targeted in a suspected wave of racially motivated crimes.
At Newcastle University in New South Wales, undergraduates from Saudi Arabia have been “exposed to terrible violence”, according to Veronica Meneses, a welfare and education officer at the student association, who accused the authorities of not doing enough to help.
“Saudi students have been having a hard time especially in Newcastle, which everybody knows is one of the most Anglo-Saxon cities in Australia. Having an influx of Saudis is a bit of a cultural shock for the locals,” Ms Meneses said.
Hani, who preferred not to divulge his surname, arrived from Saudi Arabia to study medicine last year. He was set upon by a gang of teenagers in Newcastle, but was saved from serious injury by a group of friends who came to his rescue.
“There is some attacking on the campus and the suburbs around the university and that has put too much pressure on the students,” said Hani, who conceded that he might leave Australia if the situation didn’t improve. “I am doing martial arts so I can defend myself but lots of students can’t do anything when people attack them.”
Knives and baseball bats have been used in street robberies, while one international student has also been shot at.
Across Australia, the police and various university authorities have stressed that the security and well-being of visiting students is a priority. While the official view is that the majority of attacks were opportunistic acts carried out on the vulnerable, there is an admission that some were hate crimes perpetrated by racists.
Ibrahim Abu Nadi, president of the Saudi Club in the Gold Coast in Queensland, said the police and universities had “acted positively” when dealing with assaults on young foreigners.
Mr Nadi, from Jeddah, who is working on a PhD in electronic government, insisted that while the attacks on Middle Eastern students on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane were“rare, they were nevertheless unsettling.
“A married woman, she was riding on the bus from the university to home at 12 o’clock and there were two people who were drunk and they wanted to remove her hijab and they were saying bad things about her,” he said.
“There was also a guy who had just arrived from Saudi. I don’t know why he was attacked, maybe because of his looks. It was 11am and he was mugged by two big guys, who came to him and stole his money. Amazingly enough, they came back to him and gave back the money. I guess they felt sad for him or something.”
A steady flow of Saudis, who have found entry into Australia easier than the United States after the September 11 attacks, has helped fuel a boom in the country’s multibillion-dollar higher education industry. In 2004, Australia was the world’s fifth most popular destination for overseas students and today about 450,000 are enrolled at universities and colleges across the continent.
Foreigners are a vital source of revenue and allow institutions to provide a diverse range of courses, but Nigel Palmer, national president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, believes they have been taken advantage of by a system that simply wants their money and is not willing to offer them safety and support in return.
“Universities around the world have embraced the growth of the international education market as, pretty much, free money,” Mr Palmer said. “They have been keen to welcome international enrolments and international fees but haven’t felt compelled to really make an investment in support of services for those students.”
As a result, many visitors have been left to fend for themselves in a strange, lonely place, far from home.
“International students are not connected to the community – not even to the domestic student community. Isolation, discrimination and racism are issues,” Ms Meneses said.
Some Tips For Staying Safe While You're Walking
If you’re walking alone at night to keep fit, or perhaps you're a student on campus or just need to get where you're going, it’s understandable that you might feel uneasy from time to time. Here are some simple tips that can help minimise your chances of being targeted by thieves, attackers or even stalkers;
1.Keep alert. If you feel as though something is wrong, head for a well-lit or populated area.
2.Try to walk against the flow of traffic as this will make it easy to see any cars that are approaching.
3.Walk with friends whenever you can, there‘s safety in numbers.
4.If people are following you or approach you, don't stop to have a conversation with them. Try to keep moving and find a well populated area.
5.Avoid walking where the lighting is poor, such as parks and laneways.
6.Handbags should be carried either in front of you or under your arm with the strap secured. Never let the bag or strap hang loosely.
7.Avoid wearing headphones as it’s difficult to hear what is happening around you.
8.If you have to walk alone, vary your route and consider a personal duress alarm.
9. Carry a phone for emergencies
Monday
British spy chief outed on wife's Facebook page
Photographs and personal details about the next head of Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service, John Sawers, have been removed from social networking website Facebook after a British newspaper published them.
The Mail on Sunday newspaper printed pictures and family information it had obtained from Facebook pages attributed to his wife, Lady Shelley Sawers.
"The information has been taken out," a Foreign Office spokesman said when questioned about the matter.
The newspaper added that the Facebook pages revealed details about where they live and work, who their friends are and where they go on holiday, and included a picture of Sawers in his swimming trunks.
Sawers, currently Britain's ambassador to the United Nations, was named last month as the new head of its MI6 foreign intelligence service, who is traditionally known by his James Bond-style moniker, C.
British foreign secretary David Miliband, speaking on BBC television, described Sawers as an "outstanding professional" and brushed off the story.
"He was appointed 10 days ago to be the head of MI6; he's an outstanding professional who will do a really good job in an outstanding organisation that does a huge amount for this country," Miliband said.
He added: "The fact that there's a picture (showing) that the head of the MI6 goes swimming. Wow, that really is exciting.
"It is not a state secret that he wears Speedo swimming trunks. For goodness' sake, let's grow up."
Sawers, who is 53, will take over at MI6, or the Secret Intelligence Service, in November, replacing John Scarlett, who has spent more than five years in the job.
The Mail on Sunday said the Facebook page had "virtually no privacy protection" and could therefore be viewed by any of the many millions of Facebook users around the world.
"There were fears that the hugely embarrassing blunder could have compromised the safety of Sir John's family and friends," the newspaper said.
Publishing the story on its front page and the pictures on a double-page spread, the Mail on Sunday said the information "could potentially be useful to hostile foreign powers or terrorists".
It was the latest in a string of security blunders, lapses and leaks by British officials that have embarrassed the government of embattled Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
AFP and Reuters
The Mail on Sunday newspaper printed pictures and family information it had obtained from Facebook pages attributed to his wife, Lady Shelley Sawers.
"The information has been taken out," a Foreign Office spokesman said when questioned about the matter.
The newspaper added that the Facebook pages revealed details about where they live and work, who their friends are and where they go on holiday, and included a picture of Sawers in his swimming trunks.
Sawers, currently Britain's ambassador to the United Nations, was named last month as the new head of its MI6 foreign intelligence service, who is traditionally known by his James Bond-style moniker, C.
British foreign secretary David Miliband, speaking on BBC television, described Sawers as an "outstanding professional" and brushed off the story.
"He was appointed 10 days ago to be the head of MI6; he's an outstanding professional who will do a really good job in an outstanding organisation that does a huge amount for this country," Miliband said.
He added: "The fact that there's a picture (showing) that the head of the MI6 goes swimming. Wow, that really is exciting.
"It is not a state secret that he wears Speedo swimming trunks. For goodness' sake, let's grow up."
Sawers, who is 53, will take over at MI6, or the Secret Intelligence Service, in November, replacing John Scarlett, who has spent more than five years in the job.
The Mail on Sunday said the Facebook page had "virtually no privacy protection" and could therefore be viewed by any of the many millions of Facebook users around the world.
"There were fears that the hugely embarrassing blunder could have compromised the safety of Sir John's family and friends," the newspaper said.
Publishing the story on its front page and the pictures on a double-page spread, the Mail on Sunday said the information "could potentially be useful to hostile foreign powers or terrorists".
It was the latest in a string of security blunders, lapses and leaks by British officials that have embarrassed the government of embattled Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
AFP and Reuters
World News
North Korea may have shot mid-range missile
By Jon Herskovitz and Seo Eun-kyung
SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.S. pointman for sanctions on North Korea begins talks in Malaysia on Sunday, possibly on links banks have to the North's finances, while a report said Pyongyang may have shot mid-range missiles in a series fired on Saturday.
North Korea launched seven ballistic missiles, South Korea's defense ministry said, in an act of defiance toward the United States on its Independence Day, further stoking regional tensions already high due to Pyongyang's nuclear test in May.
"We are on high alert," a South Korean Defense Ministry source said, adding there were no initial signs more launches were coming on Sunday.
The launch, which marks an escalation of tensions by the North, will likely weigh on sentiment when markets open in Asia on Monday, but investors do not expect a major impact.
The North appears to have fired two mid-range Rodong missiles, which can hit all of South Korea and most of Japan, and five Scud missiles, which can strike most of South Korea, Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean official as saying.
The official said two of the missiles travelled at a greater velocity than the others, indicating they were the Rodong type.
"We found five of the seven missiles fell near the same spot in the East Sea (Sea of Japan), which indicates that their accuracy has improved," another official told Yonhap.
The missiles flew about 420 kms (260 miles) and it will take a few days to confirm what was fired, the official said. Initial reports on Saturday said all the missiles appeared to be Scuds.
The Scud and Rodong are ballistic missiles. Their launch would mark an escalation by the North, which has fired several non-ballistic, short-range missile since the May 25 nuclear test.
North Korea is barred by U.N. resolutions from firing ballistic missiles. It has more than 600 Scud type missiles and 300 Rodong missiles which have been deployed and target U.S. allies South Korea and Japan, defense officials have said.
The North's last major missile launch was in 2006 near the July 4 U.S. holiday when it fired ballistic missiles including its long-range Taepodong-2, which could hit U.S. territory but has not had a successful test flight.
Japan is considering introducing a new ground-based missile defense system to complement interceptors it currently has, the Japanese daily Mainichi reported.
U.S. PRESSES SANCTIONS
The launches came as the United States has cracked down on firms suspected of helping the North in its arms and missiles trade, which was subject to U.N. sanctions imposed after the nuclear test and is a vital source of foreign currency for cash-short North Korea.
The United States may have found several bank accounts in Malaysia suspected of belonging to North Korea and may freeze them as part of the crackdown, Yonhap reported, citing an unidentified source in Washington.
U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, the U.S. coordinator for the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, will discuss the banks with officials in Malaysia, the source said.
However, Malaysian Deputy Finance Minister Chor Chee Heung cast doubt on the report when asked if such discussions were the object of Goldberg's visit.
"I don't think so," he told Reuters. "Many U.S. officials have been wanting to visit to find out about things here for themselves, and to visit and discuss with our officials and this is one of those visits ... I believe this visit is just routine."
Goldberg arrives in Malaysia on Sunday evening.
The U.N. resolution, passed June 12, bans export of all weapons by North Korea. It also bans financial transactions that could aid the North's nuclear or missile programs.
Goldberg went to Beijing last week for talks with Chinese officials on enforcing sanctions. The help of China, the North's biggest trade partner and benefactor, is essential for enforcing sanctions, experts said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on Sunday regarding the missile launches: "China has taken note of this situation and hopes all sides will show restraint and together maintain the peace and stability of the region." Russia has made a similar comment.
The U.S. Treasury brought North Korea's international finances to a virtual halt in 2005 by cracking down on a Macau bank suspected of aiding the North's illicit financial activities. Other banks, worried about being snared by U.S. financial authorities, steered clear of the North's money.
The impact was seen as especially painful for the country's leadership, which was unable to move money around easily.
(Additional reporting by Yoko Nishikawa in Tokyo, Tom Miles in Beijing and Razak Ahmad in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Jerry Norton)
Iranian hardliners poised for revenge on dissenters
By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent - Analysis
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran's hardline rulers are set to punish reformists linked to the boldest anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution, despite the damage this might inflict on the system's legitimacy and relations with the West.
Now that security forces have quelled the street turmoil that erupted after a disputed June 12 presidential election, the leadership is preparing to put on trial some of the hundreds of political activists and opinion-makers detained since the vote.
Hints abound that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shocked by the furor over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election in a vote critics say was rigged, is striking back.
The editor of hardline Kayhan daily urged Saturday that losing candidate Mirhossein Mousavi and reformist ex-President Mohammad Khatami be tried for their "terrible crimes."
Friday, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council that certified the election, said British embassy local staffers accused of inciting unrest had confessed and would face trial. They include the mission's chief political analyst.
The hardline Javan newspaper said 100 lawmakers had asked the judiciary to prosecute the leaders of "post-election riots," citing Mousavi and another defeated candidate, Mehdi Karoubi.
Further stifling of dissent risks discrediting "republican" institutions that have in the past cloaked Iran's clerical rulers with a degree of popular legitimacy, analysts said.
"Once the attempt to steal the elections didn't go as planned, Ahmadinejad opted for the politics of elimination," said Trita Parsi, president of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council. "That too will fail, I believe.
"The violence and brutality shown by the government will not be forgotten. It came at the expense of whatever legitimacy the government had left," he said. "Khamenei and Ahmadinejad can only rule by force now. Their reliance on the security apparatus is greater now than ever before."
Officials say the poll was the healthiest in 30 years and its real winners were the 40 million Iranians who voted. They cast those who cried foul as subversives seeking a "velvet revolution" on behalf of malevolent Western powers.
CONSENSUS SYSTEM AT PERIL
Alireza Nader, a RAND Corporation analyst, said Iran seemed to be moving toward a more militarized system of government, in which the elite Revolutionary Guard would play a bigger role.
"The consensus-driven system of decision-making in Iran appears to be in jeopardy," he said, adding that institutions such as the Majles (parliament) might play an even smaller role.
Nader said Khamenei, who urged all Iranians to rally behind Ahmadinejad after the election, had further sullied his image as a neutral arbiter above the political fray, even though he had already sided with the ultra-conservatives for several years.
"Khamenei may have also damaged his credibility among the traditional clergy by behaving in such a singular manner."
While some top Shi'ite clerics, such as Ayatollah Mohammad Mesbah Yazdi, are aligned with Ahmadinejad, at least two grand ayatollahs -- longtime dissident Hossein Ali Montazeri and his reformist ally Yusof Saanei -- have criticised the authorities.
"I hope that the path of the Iranian people to continue their legal protest could be open," Saanei said Saturday in a website message that also urged the authorities not to commit the "great sin" of violating people's rights.
But with the doors to public protest and legal challenge already slammed shut, reformists who have defied the Supreme Leader's final verdict on the election face an uncertain future.
RED LINE
"There is a great possibility of charges being brought against Mousavi," said Mehrdad Khonsari, a London-based secular dissident. "He tried hard to say he believes in the fundamentals of the revolution, but he crossed a red line in disobeying Khamenei's last word. They are not just going to let it go."
The Islamic Republic's spectacular spasm of "people power" has petered out for now. The focus could shift to internal rivalries within the ruling establishment, whose leading members often have business as well as political interests at stake.
Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful figure since the 1979 revolution, backed Mousavi in the election and appears to have emerged weakened in its aftermath.
He was unable to persuade Khamenei to reprove Ahmadinejad for publicly accusing him and his sons of corruption, but has perhaps prudently opted not to defy the Supreme Leader.
"I think he is being inched out," said Zeineb al-Assam, of the London-based risk consultancy Executive Analysis.
"He sensed it, which is why he withdrew his support from Mousavi," she argued. "Rafsanjani has extensive commercial interests in Iran and I'm sure he wants to conserve those. He is competing with companies owned by the Revolutionary Guards, which have increasingly encroached on his business interests."
Assem said she expected Iran to "behave like a police state" in the coming months, leaving few options for the opposition.
"Mousavi doesn't have the heavyweights in the ruling establishment sufficiently behind him," she said. "And crucially he doesn't have the support of the Revolutionary Guards, who are very much behind the Supreme Leader and Ahmadinejad."
Iran's display of intolerance of internal opposition has alarmed the West, which had hoped for new talks on what it suspects is an Iranian nuclear arms quest. Tehran denies this.
The European Union is already weighing whether to withdraw the ambassadors of its 27 member states from Tehran or find some other response to the plight of the British embassy detainees.
U.S. President Barack Obama's offer of a new start with Iran if it "unclenches its fist" seems frozen at best.
"It's out the window," said Khonsari. "But the West does not want to close the door on the engagement offer because of the nuclear issue. While these events have been taking their course, Obama is very aware the nuclear clock is ticking."
(Editing by Charles Dick)
Blast outside church in Philippines kills 5
By Manny Mogato
MANILA (Reuters) - A bomb exploded outside a church in the southern Philippines during Sunday morning mass, killing five people and wounding 45, an army spokesman said.
Rogue Muslim rebels were suspected of placing the bomb near a food stall outside the church in Cotabato City, said Colonel Jonathan Ponce. The device was detonated when an army truck was passing, he added.
"This is the handiwork of the rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)," Ponce told reporters.
"The rebels are getting desperate and they are no longer choosing their targets. They are now attacking even places of worship."
A woman selling roast pork was killed on the spot while four others, including a soldier and a three-year-old boy, died in a nearby hospital. Five soldiers were among those wounded, Ponce said.
Witnesses said the bishop celebrating the mass had just finished reading the gospel and was about to begin his homily when an explosion was heard.
"The explosion was so loud as if the cathedral was about to collapse," Merly Sandoval, a churchgoer, told a local radio station. "It was like loud and frightening thunder."
Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, who conducted the mass, said: "This is not just a crime, this is a sacrilege. Violence does not achieve anything. Let's all pray for the conversion of the bombers."
Ponce said the crude bomb, made from a mortar shell and remotely detonated by a mobile phone, was placed across the road from the church.
NOT A RELIGIOUS CONFLICT
Mohaqher Iqbal, a senior leader of the MILF, the largest Muslim rebel group in the mainly Roman Catholic Philippines, denied his group was involved in the attack.
"Who needs a Christian-Muslim conflict?," Iqbal told Reuters in a mobile phone text message.
"There's no religious conflict in the south. We're fighting for our right of self-determination. We're only defending our people and our communities."
However, rogue members of the MILF have been fighting the army since August, when the government ended peace talks with the MILF after the Supreme Court stopped a deal to expand an existing Muslim autonomous region on the southern island of Mindanao.
Nearly 600 people have been killed since then, many civilians caught in the fighting.
Fighting around the marshlands on central Mindanao has escalated in the last eight weeks, forcing more than 350,000 people to flee their homes and farms and pushing back any chance of resuming the peace talks.
The 40-year Muslim separatist conflict on Mindanao is driving away potential investments into the impoverished region, believed to be sitting on rich deposits of minerals, oil and natural gas.
(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Valerie Lee)
By Jon Herskovitz and Seo Eun-kyung
SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.S. pointman for sanctions on North Korea begins talks in Malaysia on Sunday, possibly on links banks have to the North's finances, while a report said Pyongyang may have shot mid-range missiles in a series fired on Saturday.
North Korea launched seven ballistic missiles, South Korea's defense ministry said, in an act of defiance toward the United States on its Independence Day, further stoking regional tensions already high due to Pyongyang's nuclear test in May.
"We are on high alert," a South Korean Defense Ministry source said, adding there were no initial signs more launches were coming on Sunday.
The launch, which marks an escalation of tensions by the North, will likely weigh on sentiment when markets open in Asia on Monday, but investors do not expect a major impact.
The North appears to have fired two mid-range Rodong missiles, which can hit all of South Korea and most of Japan, and five Scud missiles, which can strike most of South Korea, Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean official as saying.
The official said two of the missiles travelled at a greater velocity than the others, indicating they were the Rodong type.
"We found five of the seven missiles fell near the same spot in the East Sea (Sea of Japan), which indicates that their accuracy has improved," another official told Yonhap.
The missiles flew about 420 kms (260 miles) and it will take a few days to confirm what was fired, the official said. Initial reports on Saturday said all the missiles appeared to be Scuds.
The Scud and Rodong are ballistic missiles. Their launch would mark an escalation by the North, which has fired several non-ballistic, short-range missile since the May 25 nuclear test.
North Korea is barred by U.N. resolutions from firing ballistic missiles. It has more than 600 Scud type missiles and 300 Rodong missiles which have been deployed and target U.S. allies South Korea and Japan, defense officials have said.
The North's last major missile launch was in 2006 near the July 4 U.S. holiday when it fired ballistic missiles including its long-range Taepodong-2, which could hit U.S. territory but has not had a successful test flight.
Japan is considering introducing a new ground-based missile defense system to complement interceptors it currently has, the Japanese daily Mainichi reported.
U.S. PRESSES SANCTIONS
The launches came as the United States has cracked down on firms suspected of helping the North in its arms and missiles trade, which was subject to U.N. sanctions imposed after the nuclear test and is a vital source of foreign currency for cash-short North Korea.
The United States may have found several bank accounts in Malaysia suspected of belonging to North Korea and may freeze them as part of the crackdown, Yonhap reported, citing an unidentified source in Washington.
U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, the U.S. coordinator for the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, will discuss the banks with officials in Malaysia, the source said.
However, Malaysian Deputy Finance Minister Chor Chee Heung cast doubt on the report when asked if such discussions were the object of Goldberg's visit.
"I don't think so," he told Reuters. "Many U.S. officials have been wanting to visit to find out about things here for themselves, and to visit and discuss with our officials and this is one of those visits ... I believe this visit is just routine."
Goldberg arrives in Malaysia on Sunday evening.
The U.N. resolution, passed June 12, bans export of all weapons by North Korea. It also bans financial transactions that could aid the North's nuclear or missile programs.
Goldberg went to Beijing last week for talks with Chinese officials on enforcing sanctions. The help of China, the North's biggest trade partner and benefactor, is essential for enforcing sanctions, experts said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on Sunday regarding the missile launches: "China has taken note of this situation and hopes all sides will show restraint and together maintain the peace and stability of the region." Russia has made a similar comment.
The U.S. Treasury brought North Korea's international finances to a virtual halt in 2005 by cracking down on a Macau bank suspected of aiding the North's illicit financial activities. Other banks, worried about being snared by U.S. financial authorities, steered clear of the North's money.
The impact was seen as especially painful for the country's leadership, which was unable to move money around easily.
(Additional reporting by Yoko Nishikawa in Tokyo, Tom Miles in Beijing and Razak Ahmad in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Jerry Norton)
Iranian hardliners poised for revenge on dissenters
By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent - Analysis
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran's hardline rulers are set to punish reformists linked to the boldest anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution, despite the damage this might inflict on the system's legitimacy and relations with the West.
Now that security forces have quelled the street turmoil that erupted after a disputed June 12 presidential election, the leadership is preparing to put on trial some of the hundreds of political activists and opinion-makers detained since the vote.
Hints abound that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shocked by the furor over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election in a vote critics say was rigged, is striking back.
The editor of hardline Kayhan daily urged Saturday that losing candidate Mirhossein Mousavi and reformist ex-President Mohammad Khatami be tried for their "terrible crimes."
Friday, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council that certified the election, said British embassy local staffers accused of inciting unrest had confessed and would face trial. They include the mission's chief political analyst.
The hardline Javan newspaper said 100 lawmakers had asked the judiciary to prosecute the leaders of "post-election riots," citing Mousavi and another defeated candidate, Mehdi Karoubi.
Further stifling of dissent risks discrediting "republican" institutions that have in the past cloaked Iran's clerical rulers with a degree of popular legitimacy, analysts said.
"Once the attempt to steal the elections didn't go as planned, Ahmadinejad opted for the politics of elimination," said Trita Parsi, president of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council. "That too will fail, I believe.
"The violence and brutality shown by the government will not be forgotten. It came at the expense of whatever legitimacy the government had left," he said. "Khamenei and Ahmadinejad can only rule by force now. Their reliance on the security apparatus is greater now than ever before."
Officials say the poll was the healthiest in 30 years and its real winners were the 40 million Iranians who voted. They cast those who cried foul as subversives seeking a "velvet revolution" on behalf of malevolent Western powers.
CONSENSUS SYSTEM AT PERIL
Alireza Nader, a RAND Corporation analyst, said Iran seemed to be moving toward a more militarized system of government, in which the elite Revolutionary Guard would play a bigger role.
"The consensus-driven system of decision-making in Iran appears to be in jeopardy," he said, adding that institutions such as the Majles (parliament) might play an even smaller role.
Nader said Khamenei, who urged all Iranians to rally behind Ahmadinejad after the election, had further sullied his image as a neutral arbiter above the political fray, even though he had already sided with the ultra-conservatives for several years.
"Khamenei may have also damaged his credibility among the traditional clergy by behaving in such a singular manner."
While some top Shi'ite clerics, such as Ayatollah Mohammad Mesbah Yazdi, are aligned with Ahmadinejad, at least two grand ayatollahs -- longtime dissident Hossein Ali Montazeri and his reformist ally Yusof Saanei -- have criticised the authorities.
"I hope that the path of the Iranian people to continue their legal protest could be open," Saanei said Saturday in a website message that also urged the authorities not to commit the "great sin" of violating people's rights.
But with the doors to public protest and legal challenge already slammed shut, reformists who have defied the Supreme Leader's final verdict on the election face an uncertain future.
RED LINE
"There is a great possibility of charges being brought against Mousavi," said Mehrdad Khonsari, a London-based secular dissident. "He tried hard to say he believes in the fundamentals of the revolution, but he crossed a red line in disobeying Khamenei's last word. They are not just going to let it go."
The Islamic Republic's spectacular spasm of "people power" has petered out for now. The focus could shift to internal rivalries within the ruling establishment, whose leading members often have business as well as political interests at stake.
Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful figure since the 1979 revolution, backed Mousavi in the election and appears to have emerged weakened in its aftermath.
He was unable to persuade Khamenei to reprove Ahmadinejad for publicly accusing him and his sons of corruption, but has perhaps prudently opted not to defy the Supreme Leader.
"I think he is being inched out," said Zeineb al-Assam, of the London-based risk consultancy Executive Analysis.
"He sensed it, which is why he withdrew his support from Mousavi," she argued. "Rafsanjani has extensive commercial interests in Iran and I'm sure he wants to conserve those. He is competing with companies owned by the Revolutionary Guards, which have increasingly encroached on his business interests."
Assem said she expected Iran to "behave like a police state" in the coming months, leaving few options for the opposition.
"Mousavi doesn't have the heavyweights in the ruling establishment sufficiently behind him," she said. "And crucially he doesn't have the support of the Revolutionary Guards, who are very much behind the Supreme Leader and Ahmadinejad."
Iran's display of intolerance of internal opposition has alarmed the West, which had hoped for new talks on what it suspects is an Iranian nuclear arms quest. Tehran denies this.
The European Union is already weighing whether to withdraw the ambassadors of its 27 member states from Tehran or find some other response to the plight of the British embassy detainees.
U.S. President Barack Obama's offer of a new start with Iran if it "unclenches its fist" seems frozen at best.
"It's out the window," said Khonsari. "But the West does not want to close the door on the engagement offer because of the nuclear issue. While these events have been taking their course, Obama is very aware the nuclear clock is ticking."
(Editing by Charles Dick)
Blast outside church in Philippines kills 5
By Manny Mogato
MANILA (Reuters) - A bomb exploded outside a church in the southern Philippines during Sunday morning mass, killing five people and wounding 45, an army spokesman said.
Rogue Muslim rebels were suspected of placing the bomb near a food stall outside the church in Cotabato City, said Colonel Jonathan Ponce. The device was detonated when an army truck was passing, he added.
"This is the handiwork of the rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)," Ponce told reporters.
"The rebels are getting desperate and they are no longer choosing their targets. They are now attacking even places of worship."
A woman selling roast pork was killed on the spot while four others, including a soldier and a three-year-old boy, died in a nearby hospital. Five soldiers were among those wounded, Ponce said.
Witnesses said the bishop celebrating the mass had just finished reading the gospel and was about to begin his homily when an explosion was heard.
"The explosion was so loud as if the cathedral was about to collapse," Merly Sandoval, a churchgoer, told a local radio station. "It was like loud and frightening thunder."
Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, who conducted the mass, said: "This is not just a crime, this is a sacrilege. Violence does not achieve anything. Let's all pray for the conversion of the bombers."
Ponce said the crude bomb, made from a mortar shell and remotely detonated by a mobile phone, was placed across the road from the church.
NOT A RELIGIOUS CONFLICT
Mohaqher Iqbal, a senior leader of the MILF, the largest Muslim rebel group in the mainly Roman Catholic Philippines, denied his group was involved in the attack.
"Who needs a Christian-Muslim conflict?," Iqbal told Reuters in a mobile phone text message.
"There's no religious conflict in the south. We're fighting for our right of self-determination. We're only defending our people and our communities."
However, rogue members of the MILF have been fighting the army since August, when the government ended peace talks with the MILF after the Supreme Court stopped a deal to expand an existing Muslim autonomous region on the southern island of Mindanao.
Nearly 600 people have been killed since then, many civilians caught in the fighting.
Fighting around the marshlands on central Mindanao has escalated in the last eight weeks, forcing more than 350,000 people to flee their homes and farms and pushing back any chance of resuming the peace talks.
The 40-year Muslim separatist conflict on Mindanao is driving away potential investments into the impoverished region, believed to be sitting on rich deposits of minerals, oil and natural gas.
(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Valerie Lee)
Sunday
NY thieves want iPhones, victims fight back
By Edith Honan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thieves are increasingly going after iPhones and other smartphones but victims now can fight back with technology.
One device allows a user to remotely activate a loud siren designed to rattle the thief. Another application, designed for iPhones, can reveal the phone's location.
Police statistics show petty crime is down in New York but anecdotal evidence and recent headlines about street muggings targeting costly and coveted devices like Apple's iPhone and T-Mobile's Sidekick have disturbed smartphone users concerned about protecting access to e-mail, passwords and other data.
"When we have seen spikes in thefts, a significant portion has to do with ... highly desirable products," said police spokesman Paul Browne. "In the last couple of years it's been iPods, Sidekicks, iPhones."
He said most of these muggings involve teenagers robbing other teenagers and take place on subways in the afternoon after schools get out.
New technology helps owners of expensive gadgets to get them back after they are lost or stolen. The Find My iPhone feature from Apple, which declined to comment for this story, enables users to determine the phone's location and erase the data on it, among other things.
A Chicago blogger who tried the feature after his iPhone disappeared tracked the phone's movements from a friend's computer. According to his post here, he got his phone back -- and a handshake from the surprised culprit.
"You're lucky you didn't get shot in the face," read one comment on the blog.
MAKE A DEAL WITH PHONE THIEF
Indian company Maverick Mobile Solutions' system allows victims of theft to activate a siren and send a text message to the phone -- perhaps to offer a deal to get the phone back.
Fear of a gadget-related crime wave is not new. In 2005, as Apple's signature white earphones were becoming ubiquitous in U.S. cities, the New York Police Department reported an increase in subway crime linked to iPod thefts. Before that, victims were targeted for their expensive sneakers.
But cell phone theft is a particular concern because of the risk of identity theft, said City Councilman Peter Vallone.
"It's bad enough losing your phone and that's all it was a few years ago," Vallone said.
"Nowadays, if you lose your phone, you can very quickly lose your identity."
Local media have reported spikes in iPhone-related street muggings. In May, a thief snatched actor Kevin Bacon's Blackberry on a New York City subway platform.
Many iPhone users agree that, given the amount of personal data stored on phones, losing one could be devastating.
"The damage would be extensive," said Joshua Deutch, 32, a freelance IT consultant. He said he would "not think twice" before wiping data -- including bank account numbers and multiple passwords -- if someone stole his iPhone.
But Deutch said pursuing a thief would be going too far.
"Obviously, there's some excitement with that but I have insurance," he said. After data has been wiped clean, the iPhone is "just a brick," he said.
Some thieves get caught due to missteps.
In March, a man stole a woman's iPhone on a Manhattan subway platform and then used it to snap pictures of himself. He e-mailed the pictures to his personal e-mail address, inadvertently using his victim's e-mail account, according to the New York Post newspaper.
The victim saw the photograph in her own e-mail outbox and alerted police, who checked the picture against mug shots and then identified and arrested the thief.
Still, many smartphone users say they do not worry about someone getting hold of their personal data.
"A lot of people are really uptight about anyone knowing anything about them," said Nick Divers, 23, who has not taken steps to protect the data on his iPhone. "Is that a big deal? Not to me."
(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Bill Trott)
More on Identity Theft
Identity thieves use your own information against you to assume your identity. An identity thief can then open bank accounts, write bad checks, acquire new credit card accounts, personal loans, cash advances, cellular phone accounts or even illegally obtain employment in your name. They may even break the law using your name.
Who Are These Identity Thieves?
It could be anyone. Although about half of identity theft cases in America are attributed to someone who knows the victim, but don‘t assume that this is the only area that the threat of fraud attacks from. Anyone wIho has access to your personal information could descend your identity and credit history in turmoil by assuming your identity.
Why do they do it?
Illegal immigrants do it to work in foreign countries. Some people do it so they can have access to medical insurance. Some people commit identity theft to hide from their past. The most sinister are terrorists or people who have previously committed a serious crime, like sex offenders who change their identity to try and gain access to employment at schools and gain access to children. Some are internet hackers who run their scams on stolen credit cards and bandwidth provided by unknowing users. This practise has become more and more prevalent with the popularity of wireless internet. Most people do not take precautions when they use wireless internet and it is like leaving your front door open while you sleep at night.
Who is at Risk of Identity Theft?
Everyone is. Those at greatest risk don’t dispose of, or are careless with, information like credit card numbers, bank and other accounts, birth certificates, numbers associated with income tax and driver’s licenses. On line, the threats are ever increasing and range from issues like phishing to hidden code within social sites like Myspace and Facebook. You should be very careful about forwarding your information across the web, especially when using wireless internet.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thieves are increasingly going after iPhones and other smartphones but victims now can fight back with technology.
One device allows a user to remotely activate a loud siren designed to rattle the thief. Another application, designed for iPhones, can reveal the phone's location.
Police statistics show petty crime is down in New York but anecdotal evidence and recent headlines about street muggings targeting costly and coveted devices like Apple's iPhone and T-Mobile's Sidekick have disturbed smartphone users concerned about protecting access to e-mail, passwords and other data.
"When we have seen spikes in thefts, a significant portion has to do with ... highly desirable products," said police spokesman Paul Browne. "In the last couple of years it's been iPods, Sidekicks, iPhones."
He said most of these muggings involve teenagers robbing other teenagers and take place on subways in the afternoon after schools get out.
New technology helps owners of expensive gadgets to get them back after they are lost or stolen. The Find My iPhone feature from Apple, which declined to comment for this story, enables users to determine the phone's location and erase the data on it, among other things.
A Chicago blogger who tried the feature after his iPhone disappeared tracked the phone's movements from a friend's computer. According to his post here, he got his phone back -- and a handshake from the surprised culprit.
"You're lucky you didn't get shot in the face," read one comment on the blog.
MAKE A DEAL WITH PHONE THIEF
Indian company Maverick Mobile Solutions' system allows victims of theft to activate a siren and send a text message to the phone -- perhaps to offer a deal to get the phone back.
Fear of a gadget-related crime wave is not new. In 2005, as Apple's signature white earphones were becoming ubiquitous in U.S. cities, the New York Police Department reported an increase in subway crime linked to iPod thefts. Before that, victims were targeted for their expensive sneakers.
But cell phone theft is a particular concern because of the risk of identity theft, said City Councilman Peter Vallone.
"It's bad enough losing your phone and that's all it was a few years ago," Vallone said.
"Nowadays, if you lose your phone, you can very quickly lose your identity."
Local media have reported spikes in iPhone-related street muggings. In May, a thief snatched actor Kevin Bacon's Blackberry on a New York City subway platform.
Many iPhone users agree that, given the amount of personal data stored on phones, losing one could be devastating.
"The damage would be extensive," said Joshua Deutch, 32, a freelance IT consultant. He said he would "not think twice" before wiping data -- including bank account numbers and multiple passwords -- if someone stole his iPhone.
But Deutch said pursuing a thief would be going too far.
"Obviously, there's some excitement with that but I have insurance," he said. After data has been wiped clean, the iPhone is "just a brick," he said.
Some thieves get caught due to missteps.
In March, a man stole a woman's iPhone on a Manhattan subway platform and then used it to snap pictures of himself. He e-mailed the pictures to his personal e-mail address, inadvertently using his victim's e-mail account, according to the New York Post newspaper.
The victim saw the photograph in her own e-mail outbox and alerted police, who checked the picture against mug shots and then identified and arrested the thief.
Still, many smartphone users say they do not worry about someone getting hold of their personal data.
"A lot of people are really uptight about anyone knowing anything about them," said Nick Divers, 23, who has not taken steps to protect the data on his iPhone. "Is that a big deal? Not to me."
(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Bill Trott)
More on Identity Theft
Identity thieves use your own information against you to assume your identity. An identity thief can then open bank accounts, write bad checks, acquire new credit card accounts, personal loans, cash advances, cellular phone accounts or even illegally obtain employment in your name. They may even break the law using your name.
Who Are These Identity Thieves?
It could be anyone. Although about half of identity theft cases in America are attributed to someone who knows the victim, but don‘t assume that this is the only area that the threat of fraud attacks from. Anyone wIho has access to your personal information could descend your identity and credit history in turmoil by assuming your identity.
Why do they do it?
Illegal immigrants do it to work in foreign countries. Some people do it so they can have access to medical insurance. Some people commit identity theft to hide from their past. The most sinister are terrorists or people who have previously committed a serious crime, like sex offenders who change their identity to try and gain access to employment at schools and gain access to children. Some are internet hackers who run their scams on stolen credit cards and bandwidth provided by unknowing users. This practise has become more and more prevalent with the popularity of wireless internet. Most people do not take precautions when they use wireless internet and it is like leaving your front door open while you sleep at night.
Who is at Risk of Identity Theft?
Everyone is. Those at greatest risk don’t dispose of, or are careless with, information like credit card numbers, bank and other accounts, birth certificates, numbers associated with income tax and driver’s licenses. On line, the threats are ever increasing and range from issues like phishing to hidden code within social sites like Myspace and Facebook. You should be very careful about forwarding your information across the web, especially when using wireless internet.
Friday
New flu may not spread like regular flu -studies
* New virus has not quite mutated to human form
* Additional changes could worsen spread
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON, July 2 (Reuters) - The new H1N1 influenza strain may be just a little less catching than seasonal flu, but seems a little better able to cause stomach upsets, researchers reported on Thursday.
Genetic analysis and lab experiments with the virus show it lacks a piece of genetic material that makes ordinary flu viruses so transmissible, a team of U.S. researchers found.
Researchers in the Netherlands, meanwhile, found it lives very well in the nose and their findings suggest it has the ability to stay around for a long time -- and get worse.
Both studies, published in the journal Science, show that H1N1 swine flu needs to be closely watched, said Dr. Terrence Tumpey of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."I think the take-home message is that we really need to keep a close eye on this virus," Tumpey said in a telephone interview.
Last month the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of the new swine flu. It has been confirmed in more than 77,000 people globally and has killed at least 332 people, but U.S. officials have said there are likely a million or more cases in the United States alone.
Although flu season usually ends in April in the Northern Hemisphere, the new virus is still causing widespread illness and it is actively in the mix of seasonal flu viruses now circulating during the Southern Hemisphere's winter.
Tumpey and colleagues tested samples of the new virus from a California child who recovered from a mild bout with the new flu, a Texas child who died and a Mexican woman who had severe disease.
They compared it to ordinary, seasonal H1N1 flu, testing it in ferrets, which develop flu in ways similar to humans.The ferrets did not catch the new swine flu from one another as easily as they catch ordinary viruses, Tumpey said. Usually, if a ferret is infected with human flu, it infects all other ferrets in nearby cages. But with the new H1N1, only six out of nine animals became infected.
HOUSEHOLD SPREADUsually 20 percent to 30 percent of household members are infected by a single flu patient but H1N1 swine flu may have a lower transmission rate, Tumpey said.
In addition, all previous pandemic flu strains -- from 1918, 1957 and 1968 -- have had a specific genetic sequence in a gene called PB2. The new H1N1 does not have this particular mutation, Tumpey said.
He said health officials should keep an eye out for it, as the change may signal the virus is gaining the ability to spread more quickly and easily than it already does. Researchers are also watching for signs the virus has developed mutations that allow it to resist antiviral drugs -- and have found two instances so far, one in Japan and one in Denmark.
In addition, Tumpey's team found mutations that let the new H1N1 virus live in the small intestine -- something seasonal influenza cannot do. This may explain why so many swine flu patients have stomach upsets such as nausea and diarrhea, the researchers said.In the other report, Ron Fouchier and colleagues at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam found the virus lived well in ferrets and spread very easily from one to another.
In fact, ferrets shed more virus with new H1N1 than with seasonal flu -- meaning more of it came out of their noses, Fouchier's team found.Ferrets inoculated with the new swine flu virus were a little sicker and took a little longer to recover than ferrets infected with seasonal H1N1."These data suggest that the 2009A(H1N1) influenza virus has the ability to persist in the human population, potentially with more severe clinical consequences," they wrote. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Tips For Overseas Travel
Travelling to a new country can be an incredible experience and whether you are travelling on business, a student, or taking a holiday. Some simple things to consider are; Do you have experience or knowledge of the country and region you're travelling to? If you've been to your destination many times in the past you probably consider yourself one of the locals. However, first timers overseas can find themselves lost very fast.
Health precautions (vaccinations) Consult your doctor long before you travel. Some vaccination processes take 6 months or more.
Contingency plans. Consider Plan Bs. Plane's get cancelled. Trains often run slow. Don't make your schedule so critical that a small problem upsets your whole holiday. Also, consider making copies of all your information (passports, tickets,etc) in case of theft of a mishap with your luggage.
Always keep in mind that you face isolation and even financial hardship as a result of being diagnosed or even suspected of suffering from something like Swine Flu in a foreign country.
* Additional changes could worsen spread
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON, July 2 (Reuters) - The new H1N1 influenza strain may be just a little less catching than seasonal flu, but seems a little better able to cause stomach upsets, researchers reported on Thursday.
Genetic analysis and lab experiments with the virus show it lacks a piece of genetic material that makes ordinary flu viruses so transmissible, a team of U.S. researchers found.
Researchers in the Netherlands, meanwhile, found it lives very well in the nose and their findings suggest it has the ability to stay around for a long time -- and get worse.
Both studies, published in the journal Science, show that H1N1 swine flu needs to be closely watched, said Dr. Terrence Tumpey of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."I think the take-home message is that we really need to keep a close eye on this virus," Tumpey said in a telephone interview.
Last month the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of the new swine flu. It has been confirmed in more than 77,000 people globally and has killed at least 332 people, but U.S. officials have said there are likely a million or more cases in the United States alone.
Although flu season usually ends in April in the Northern Hemisphere, the new virus is still causing widespread illness and it is actively in the mix of seasonal flu viruses now circulating during the Southern Hemisphere's winter.
Tumpey and colleagues tested samples of the new virus from a California child who recovered from a mild bout with the new flu, a Texas child who died and a Mexican woman who had severe disease.
They compared it to ordinary, seasonal H1N1 flu, testing it in ferrets, which develop flu in ways similar to humans.The ferrets did not catch the new swine flu from one another as easily as they catch ordinary viruses, Tumpey said. Usually, if a ferret is infected with human flu, it infects all other ferrets in nearby cages. But with the new H1N1, only six out of nine animals became infected.
HOUSEHOLD SPREADUsually 20 percent to 30 percent of household members are infected by a single flu patient but H1N1 swine flu may have a lower transmission rate, Tumpey said.
In addition, all previous pandemic flu strains -- from 1918, 1957 and 1968 -- have had a specific genetic sequence in a gene called PB2. The new H1N1 does not have this particular mutation, Tumpey said.
He said health officials should keep an eye out for it, as the change may signal the virus is gaining the ability to spread more quickly and easily than it already does. Researchers are also watching for signs the virus has developed mutations that allow it to resist antiviral drugs -- and have found two instances so far, one in Japan and one in Denmark.
In addition, Tumpey's team found mutations that let the new H1N1 virus live in the small intestine -- something seasonal influenza cannot do. This may explain why so many swine flu patients have stomach upsets such as nausea and diarrhea, the researchers said.In the other report, Ron Fouchier and colleagues at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam found the virus lived well in ferrets and spread very easily from one to another.
In fact, ferrets shed more virus with new H1N1 than with seasonal flu -- meaning more of it came out of their noses, Fouchier's team found.Ferrets inoculated with the new swine flu virus were a little sicker and took a little longer to recover than ferrets infected with seasonal H1N1."These data suggest that the 2009A(H1N1) influenza virus has the ability to persist in the human population, potentially with more severe clinical consequences," they wrote. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Tips For Overseas Travel
Travelling to a new country can be an incredible experience and whether you are travelling on business, a student, or taking a holiday. Some simple things to consider are; Do you have experience or knowledge of the country and region you're travelling to? If you've been to your destination many times in the past you probably consider yourself one of the locals. However, first timers overseas can find themselves lost very fast.
Health precautions (vaccinations) Consult your doctor long before you travel. Some vaccination processes take 6 months or more.
Contingency plans. Consider Plan Bs. Plane's get cancelled. Trains often run slow. Don't make your schedule so critical that a small problem upsets your whole holiday. Also, consider making copies of all your information (passports, tickets,etc) in case of theft of a mishap with your luggage.
Always keep in mind that you face isolation and even financial hardship as a result of being diagnosed or even suspected of suffering from something like Swine Flu in a foreign country.
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