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WORLD
NEWS
Gays outraged by
pope's 'homophobic attack'
December 28, 2008
VATICAN CITY - A suggestion by Pope
Benedict XVI that homosexuality is as much of a threat to the survival of the
human race as climate change sparked outrage among gay rights campaigners on
Tuesday.
"It's the latest homophobic attack
by this pope," said Gustav Hofer, co-director of a documentary on the life of a
gay couple in Italy called "Suddenly Last Winter".
"The Vatican talks about
homosexuality or transsexuality as if it were a whim, never as suffering," Hofer
told AFP, adding that the Roman Catholic Church "reduces sexual orientation to
the sexual act as if it had nothing to do with a person's identity."
In his end-of-year speech at the
Vatican on Monday, the pope said gender theory blurred the distinction between
male and female, and he called for "an ecology of the human being" to protect
mankind "from self-destruction."
Gender theory, which Benedict
referred to in English, explores how society designates fixed roles to people
based on their gender and many gay groups see it as helpful to improving
tolerance and understanding.
Pakistan redeploying troops to
Indian border
December 28, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan Pakistan
began moving thousands of troops from the Afghan border toward India, officials
and witnesses said Friday, raising tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors
and possibly undermining the U.S.-backed campaign against al-Qaida and the
Taliban.
The country also announced that it
was canceling all military leave in the aftermath of last month's terror attack
on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.
India has blamed Pakistani
militants for the terrifying three-day siege; Pakistan has demanded that India
back this up with better evidence.
Pakistan's latest moves were seen
as a warning that it would retaliate if India launches air or missile strikes
against militant targets on Pakistani soil rather than as an indication that a
fourth war was imminent between the two countries.
China targets pirates in
groundbreaking mission
December 28, 2008
GUANGZHOU, China Chinese warships
headed toward Somali waters Friday to combat piracy, the first time the
communist country has sent ships on a mission that could involve fighting so far
beyond its territorial waters.
The deployment to the Gulf of Aden,
which has been plagued by increasingly bold pirate attacks in recent months,
marks a major step in the navy's evolution from mostly guarding China's coasts
to patrolling waters far from home.
The move was welcomed by the U.S.
military, which has been escorting cargo ships in the region along with India,
Russia and the European Union.
But analysts predicted the Chinese
intervention could be troubling to some Asian nations who might see it as a sign
of the Chinese military becoming more aggressive.
Calif. teen's family sues Cigna
over transplant
December 28, 2008
LOS ANGELES The family of a
17-year-old leukemia patient has sued health insurance giant Cigna Corp. for her
death in 2007 after the company initially refused to pay for a liver transplant.
The lawsuit filed last week in Los
Angeles County Superior Court by the family's attorney, Mark Geragos, alleges
breach of contract, unfair business practices and intentional infliction of
emotional distress.
The suit accuses Cigna of delaying
and rejecting valid claims, which resulted in the wrongful death of Nataline
Sarkisyan.
The Philadelphia-based insurer
eventually approved the transplant after Sarkisyan's family held a rally outside
Cigna's suburban Los Angeles office.
Nataline, however, died hours after
the approval was secured.
Amateurs are trying genetic
engineering at home
December 28, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO The Apple computer
was invented in a garage. Same with the Google search engine.
Now, tinkerers are working at home
with the basic building blocks of life itself. Using homemade lab equipment and
the wealth of scientific knowledge available online, these hobbyists are trying
to create new life forms through genetic engineering a field long dominated by
Ph.D.s toiling in university and corporate laboratories.
In her San Francisco dining room
lab, for example, 31-year-old computer programmer Meredith L. Patterson is
trying to develop genetically altered yogurt bacteria that will glow green to
signal the presence of melamine, the chemical that turned Chinese-made baby
formula and pet food deadly.
"People can really work on projects
for the good of humanity while learning about something they want to learn about
in the process," she said.
Millions of older Americans use
risky drug combos
December 28, 2008
CHICAGO At least 2 million older
Americans are taking a combination of drugs or supplements that can be a risky
mix from blood thinners and cholesterol pills to aspirin and ginkgo capsules
a new study warns.
Among older men, the numbers are
particularly alarming one in 10 are taking potentially harmful combinations,
according to the study.
The results aren't always
disastrous, but older people are more vulnerable to side effects and
drug-to-drug interactions.
And patients need to know that just
because lots of medicines and supplements don't require prescriptions doesn't
mean they're harmless.
Nor are some of these safe to take
when you're prescribed other medications.
Single male rhino, 20, seeks
mate to save species
December 28, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia He
probably hasn't dated in two decades, but the survival of a species may depend
on whether Tam can get lucky soon.
A male rhinoceros recently rescued
on the edge of Borneo's rain forest is expected to become the first participant
of a Malaysian breeding program for his critically endangered ilk, a wildlife
expert said Wednesday.
The roughly 20-year-old Borneo
Sumatran rhino, nicknamed "Tam," was found wandering in an oil palm plantation
in August with an infected leg likely caused by a poacher trap.
Tam, whose species is known for its
solitary nature, has been resettled in a wildlife reserve in Malaysia's Sabah
state, the last preserve of the Borneo Sumatran rhino a subspecies of the
bristly, snub-nosed Sumatran rhino.
US, Russian
space station crew conduct spacewalk
December 28, 2008
MOSCOW American and Russian
crewmen installed a probe Tuesday aimed at tracking down problems with a Russian
module attached to the international space station and conducted an array of
other maintenance and scientific work during a six-hour spacewalk.
But in a setback toward the end of
the Russian-controlled mission, American Michael Fincke, the station's
commander, and Russian Yury Lonchakov had to remove a device they had just
installed because of data transmission problems.
A NASA video feed showed Fincke and
Lonchakov in their Russian-built space suits leaving the station from a hatch on
its docking compartment 200 miles above the Earth.
"OK, going out into space again,"
Fincke said in Russian. "It's good to be here again."
4,300-year-old pharaonic tombs
unveiled near Cairo
December 28, 2008
SAQQARA, Egypt A pair of
4,300-year-old pharaonic tombs discovered at Saqqara indicate that the sprawling
necropolis south of Cairo is even larger than previously thought, Egypt's top
archaeologist said Monday.
The rock-cut tombs were built for
high officials one responsible for the quarries used to build the nearby
pyramids and another for a woman in charge of procuring entertainers for the
pharaohs.
"We announce today a major,
important discovery at Saqqara, the discovery of two new tombs dating back to
4,300 years ago," said Zahi Hawass, as he showed reporters around the site
Monday.
"The discovery of the two tombs are
the beginning of a big, large cemetery."
Retailers' holiday sales
plummet
December 28, 2008
NEW YORK Retailers' sales fell as
much as 4 percent during the holiday season, as the weak economy and bad weather
created one of the worst holiday shopping climates in modern times, according to
data released on Thursday by SpendingPulse.
The figures, from the retail data
service of MasterCard Advisors, show the 2008 holiday shopping season was the
weakest in decades, as U.S. consumers cut spending as they confront a yearlong
recession, mounting job losses and tighter credit.
"It's probably one of the most
challenging holiday seasons we've ever had in modern times," said Michael
McNamara, vice president of Research and Analysis at MasterCard Advisors.
"We had a very difficult economic
environment. Weather patterns were not favorable toward the end of season, and
that resulted in one of the most challenging economic seasons we've seen in
decades."
The figures exclude auto and gas
sales but include grocery, restaurant and specialty food sales. Although
SpendingPulse did not exempt the food prices, McNamara said the decline would
have been steeper without them.
Wall Street edges up on GMAC
December 28, 2008
NEW YORK - Stocks inched higher in
thin volume on Friday as energy shares rose alongside oil and General Motors
climbed after its financing arm qualified for government funds, helping it stave
off potential bankruptcy.
The Federal Reserve paved the way
for GMAC LLC to become a bank holding company on Wednesday, giving it access to
government lending programs.
But stocks were unable to make much
headway in the holiday shortened week as one of the worst years for Wall Street
draws to a close.
"Everyone is hoping for a Santa
Claus rally but you look at the underlying data and it's still weak," said Chip
Hanlon, president of Delta Global Advisors, Inc. in Huntington Beach,
California.
Retail stocks suffer but some
defy dismal sales data
December 28, 2008
NEW YORK - Retail shares traded
lower on Friday following data showing the first decline in holiday sales in at
least 40 years, though a handful of stores defied the trend.
The Standard & Poor's Retail Index
(.RLX) fell 0.3 percent, with department store chains like Dillard's (DDS.N),
Macy's Inc (M.N) and the more upscale Saks Inc (SKS.N) posting share declines of
9.4 percent, 2.7 percent, and 5.7 percent respectively.
Among specialty retailers, American
Eagle Outfitters (AEO.N) fell 0.7 percent, while Gap Inc (GPS.N), which owns the
Banana Republic and Old Navy chains, was down 0.4 percent.
The latest data on the holiday
shopping season came from SpendingPulse, the retail data service of MasterCard
Advisors, which showed that sales fell 2 percent in November and 4 percent from
December 1 to December 24.
Amazon says 2008
holiday season was 'best ever'
December 28, 2008
SEATTLE - Online retailer
Amazon.com Inc. called this holiday season its "best ever," saying Friday that
it saw a 17 percent increase in orders on its busiest day a rare piece of good
news in a season that has been far from merry for most retailers, including
online businesses.
Amazon customers ordered more than
6.3 million items on Dec. 15, compared with roughly 5.4 million on its peak day
last year, the company said.
It shipped more than 5.6 million
products on its best day, a 44 percent rise over 2007, when it shipped about 3.9
million on its busiest day.
The company did not provide dollar
figures and wouldn't say whether the average value of orders had changed, and
the jumps it reported Friday are in line with increases Amazon has seen since it
started releasing the figures in 2002.
Uproar in Australia over plan
to block Web sites
December 28, 2008
SYDNEY, Australia - A proposed
Internet filter dubbed the "Great Aussie Firewall" is promising to make
Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among democratic countries.
Consumers, civil-rights activists,
engineers, Internet providers and politicians from opposition parties are among
the critics of a mandatory Internet filter that would block at least 1,300 Web
sites prohibited by the government mostly child pornography, excessive
violence, instructions in crime or drug use and advocacy of terrorism.
Hundreds protested in state
capitals earlier this month. "This is obviously censorship," said Justin Pearson
Smith, 29, organizer of protests in Melbourne and an officer of one of a dozen
Facebook groups against the filter.
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