Airlines to stop suspected swine flu victims from flying --Airlines offer guidance to check-in staff to help them prevent customers boarding flights if they appear to have the virus 19 Jul 2009 Passengers with swine flu will be stopped from boarding flights, two major airlines confirmed today, as the Department of Health warned tourists who contract the illness abroad not to travel home until their symptoms have gone. Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said they had provided check-in staff and cabin crew with guidance on how to act if they believe a passenger is unwell. Medical advice would be taken to assess the condition of passengers exhibiting symptoms, including having a headache, sore throat, runny nose, and aching muscles. Virgin Atlantic said those suffering from the condition would be prevented from flying until they could provide a fit-to-fly certificate from their doctor or a hospital.
US mulls special terrorist interrogation team: report 18 Jul 2009 US officials are looking into organizing a team of interrogators from several government agencies to specialize in questioning high-value terrorist suspects, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The small team will likely also be tasked with drawing up new interrogation methods, the Journal said, citing people familiar with a proposal that will be submitted to the White House.
U.S. Weighs Special Team of Terrorism Interrogators 18 Jul 2009 The Obama administration is considering overhauling the way terror suspects are interrogated by creating a small team of professionals drawn from across the government, according to people familiar with a proposal that will be submitted to the White House. The new unit, comprising members of spy services and law-enforcement agencies, would be used for so-called high-value detainees, they said. In a switch from Bush-era efforts, it wouldn't be run by the Central Intelligence Agency, though who might be in charge isn't specified. One of the team's tasks would likely be to devise a new set of interrogation methods.
Obama awarded $543 million in no-bid federal contracts, despite pledge --President Barack Obama promised last month to save money through competition. 17 Jul 2009 The Defense Department frequently awards no-bid work to small contractors for repairs at military bases under the new economic stimulus law, costing taxpayers millions of dollars more than when businesses compete for the work, according to an Associated Press analysis of 570 such contracts. The Pentagon saves more than three times as much money when companies compete, the AP analysis showed. Yet more than $242 million in federal contracts has been awarded under the recovery program through no-bid contracts for repairs and maintenance. Across the government, more than $543 million in federal contracts have been awarded so far without competition under Obama's $787 billion stimulus program.
Helicopter crash in Afghanistan kills 16 civilian contractors 19 Jul 2009 Sixteen mercenaries working under contract to Western forces were killed today when their helicopter plunged to the ground just after takeoff from NATO's main base in southern Afghanistan, military officials said. It was the second deadly crash in less than a week involving a Russian-made helicopter operated by a mercenary firm. It also came a day after an American F-15E jet fighter crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing the two-member crew.
US Air Force jet crashes in Afghanistan 18 Jul 2009 An American Air Force F-15 fighter jet conducting coalition operations in troubled eastern Afghanistan has crashed, killing two crewmembers, a US military statement says. The military statement said the F-15E crashed on Saturday morning at approximately 3:15 am with two members on board. The Air Force has not disclosed the cause or exact location of the crash.
U.S. Threatens Afghans Over Kidnapped GI 16 Jul 2009 At least two Afghan villages have been blanketed with leaflets warning that if an American soldier kidnapped by the Taliban two weeks ago isn't freed, "you will be targeted." Villagers near the border of two volatile provinces, Ghazni and Paktika, tell CBS News that aircraft dropped the leaflets during the past several days. Military spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias confirmed that the leaflets were produced at Bagram Air Base, the primary U.S. installation in Afghanistan, and distributed in the region.
U.S. Military Identifies Soldier Captured in Afghanistan 19 Jul 2009 The Defense Department identified the U.S. soldier missing since June 30 in Afghanistan as an Army private from Ketchum, Idaho, and said he has been captured. The soldier is Bowe Bergdahl, 23, a private first class with the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team stationed in Fort Richardson, Alaska, the military said in a statement.
Cheney's gift: Waterboarding the captured GI? By Jane Stillwater 19 Jul 2009 Let us hope with all our hearts that the Taliban aren't doing the same thing to the US soldier who was recently captured in Afghanistan that Dick Cheney and George Bush ordered to be done to Taliban soldiers held in Bagram and Guantanamo. Hey, Taliban! Let's have a prisoner exchange! Please give us back our soldier -- and you can have Dick Cheney instead. And we'll even throw in George Bush! Then you could give them to poppy-growing warlords like Bush's friend Dostum, who would leave them in airless boxcars until they die of suffocation and then bury them in an unmarked mass grave... You could waterboard them 183 times.
Five U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan, Iraq 18 Jul 2009 A U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle plane crashed in eastern Afghanistan early Saturday. The U.S. military said the two-man fighter jet crashed while undertaking military operations. Both airmen on board were killed.
Australian soldier killed in Afghan blast 18 Jul 2009 A senior defence official says an Australian soldier has been killed in a blast in the Baluchi Valley, southern Afghanistan. Defence forces head Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston says another Australian and three Afghan civilians, including an 8-year-old boy, were seriously wounded in the explosion.
Party row heats up as another serviceman dies in Afghanistan 17 Jul 2009 Another British soldier has been killed in Helmand, the Ministry of Defence said today , as the row between Labour and the Conservatives over policy in Afghanistan became increasingly acrimonious. Rifleman Aminiasi Toge, of 2nd Battalion The Rifles, was killed in an explosion while on a foot patrol on Thursday. He was the 16th British soldier to die this month and would have turned 27 on Sunday.
The US doesn't want to follow the rules. Tensions rise over US Iraq role 19 Jul 2009 There appear to be growing tensions between the US military and Iraqi security forces. They have arisen over cooperation and the restrictions imposed on the movement of American forces in urban areas inside Iraq... According to an agreement signed between the two sides, US forces are not allowed to enter Iraq's towns and cities unless specifically requested to do so by the Iraqi authorities, except in cases of self defence. The spokesman said the ministry adhered to a strict interpretation of these new rules, but some in the American military appear to take a different view. The report suggests that US military figures did not expect the new rules to be implemented so literally, and for a limited number of joint patrols to continue following the withdrawal.
State Dept. Xe security chopper crashes in Iraq 18 Jul 2009 The State Department says a helicopter used to protect U.S. diplomats in Baghdad has crashed outside the Iraqi capital and a U.S. official says that two crew members were killed. Department spokesman Robert Wood said the MD-530 chopper went down during a training mission about 30 miles outside Baghdad on Friday. The State Department contracts with Presidential Airways, a subsidiary of XE, formerly known as Blackwater, for air support to protect diplomatic convoys in Baghdad.
Officials: U.S. Defense Secretary to visit Israel 19 Jul 2009 U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to visit Israel on July 27 for talks likely to focus on Iran's nuclear ambitions and U.S.-Israeli strategic ties, officials involved in planning the trip said on Sunday. As the second cabinet-level representative of the Obama administration to be hosted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gates could also lobby for a resolution to the bilateral dispute over the future of West Bank settlements.
Israeli PM defiant on Jerusalem 19 Jul 2009 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a reported US request that a building project in Jerusalem be halted. The project involves building 20 apartments in the mainly Arab East Jerusalem area, which was captured by Israel in 1967. Last week US officials told the Israeli ambassador that the project should be suspended, Israeli media said. But Mr Netanyahu rejected this in comments at his weekly Cabinet meeting.
After Obama's Veto Threat, Pentagon Warns Against Spending For F-22s 17 Jul 2009 Defense Sec. Robert Gates on Thursday warned against spending for additional F-22 fighter jets, following threats from President Barack Obama that he'd veto his own bill if Democratic lawmakers include such a provision in the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill. Gates early this year recommended a budget that caps the number of F-22 Raptors so savings can be used to buy F-35s, which are newer model jets.
Another war criminal employed by overrated sociopath Ronnie Raygun: Ex-warlord says CIA assisted his jailbreak --Taylor informed judges on Friday that he did not escape on his own and was assisted, and rather released by agents from the CIA. 19 Jul 2009 Charles Taylor, Liberia's former president and Africa's first head of state to stand trial in an international court, claims the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) helped his escape from a US jail. Taylor denied all of the 11 charges of war crimes against him in his first testimony Tuesday at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague. One of the most intriguing mysteries of Taylor's rise to power from a rebel leader to president centers on his 1985 escape from a US penitentiary in Plymouth, Massachusetts, while waiting extradition on charges of embezzling $900,000 in Liberia.
On Trial for War Crimes, Ex-Leader of Liberia Cites C.I.A. in Jailbreak --Mr. Taylor said he was "100 percent positive" that the C.I.A. was providing weapons for the plot. 18 Jul 2009 Charles Taylor, former Liberian president and despotic warlord, is on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Part of the lore surrounding Mr. Taylor is that he broke out of jail in Plymouth, Mass., while awaiting extradition on charges of embezzling $900,000 in Liberia. He told his judges at The Hague that he did not escape on his own; rather, he said, he was helped by the Central Intelligence Agency. The plan, he said, was for him to join a Liberian military leader, Thomas Quiwonkpa, who was plotting a coup against President Samuel Doe.
David Kelly's former Iraq aide joins call for inquiry into his 'suicide' --Kelly would have had to be a 'contortionist' to have killed himself in the way the Hutton inquiry claimed 19 Jul 2009 A close confidante of Government scientist Dr David Kelly has demanded a new investigation into his death. Mai Pederson, a US Air Force linguist who served in Iraq with Dr Kelly’s weapons inspection team, has called on Attorney General Baroness Scotland to carry out a 'formal, independent and complete review' into the 'suspicious circumstances' of his death. Ms Pederson’s intervention comes a week after The Mail on Sunday disclosed that a team of doctors are mounting a legal challenge to the Hutton Inquiry’s conclusion that he committed suicide.
Calls for probe into Dr. Kelly's 'suicide' 19 Jul 2009 A US Air Force linguist joins a host of doctors in demanding a new probe into the mysterious death of a British scientist and weapons expert who opposed the Iraq war. The controversy surrounding Dr. David Kelly's death was first rekindled following a Daily Express report in June that revealed the expert was in the middle of writing a book containing damaging government secrets on the Iraq war as well as biological warfare in apartheid South Africa. The linguist, Mai Pederson, who was part of Kelly's weapons inspection team in Iraq, has called on the Attorney General for England, Wales and Northern Ireland to carry out an 'independent' review of the case, reported the Mail on Sunday.
Pregnant women told to stay at home as airlines vow to ban swine flu suspects 19 Jul 2009 Pregnant women are being urged to avoid crowds and unnecessary travel on public transport in an attempt to limit the spread of swine flu among the most vulnerable. Parents are also being advised to keep babies away from crowds and limit the movement of their young children to stop them bringing the virus home. The warning to expectant mothers comes after the National Childbirth Trust was accused of 'scaremongering' by the Royal College of General Practitioners for advising women to consider postponing becoming pregnant.
Swine flu vaccine mandatory for Haj pilgrims 19 Jul 2009 All Haj pilgrims will have to get a shot of vaccine for H1N1, which has become a pandemic. The swine flu vaccination is compulsory for the pilgrims going on Haj in the year 2009 through MP State Haj Committee. The State Haj Committee urged the union government to provide the necessary quantity of vaccine for government hospitals of the state. Executive official of State Haj Committee told our correspondent that swine flu vaccination for the pilgrims going on Haj through Haj Committee of India has been made mandatory.
Australia's guinea pigs: Flu vaccine free for Aborigines, pregnant women 19 Jul 2009 Aborigines and pregnant women will receive free access to the flu vaccine, federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said today. The Federal Government announced an expansion of the free vaccine program for vulnerable Australians as swine flu continues to spread. The seasonal vaccine will be available to more than two million extra Australians.
Swine flu shots to boost Baxter --Baxter could reap $30 million to $40 million in revenue from H1N1 contracts. 17 Jul 2009 International demand for a swine flu vaccine is developing into a boon for Baxter International Inc. On a day the Deerfield-based medical-product giant reported a 13 percent boost in second-quarter profit, Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Parkinson said the company's plant in the Czech Republic was running at capacity as it fills orders for 80 million dosages from five countries. Baxter said it would begin shipping dosages of a swine flu vaccine worldwide by the end of July.
Baxter: The 'Lucky Larry' of swine flu Baxter Vaccine 'Oddities' By Lori Price 17 Jul 2009 Baxter files swine flu vaccine patent year ahead of outbreak --Baxter can take no more H1N1 flu vaccine orders --Baxter 2Q Profit Up 7.9%; Full-Year Guidance Raised --Baxter working on vaccine to stop swine flu, though admitted sending live pandemic flu viruses to subcontractor
Unemployment Tops 10% in 15 States, D.C. --Mich. Surpasses 15% - The Highest Jobless Rate in Any State Since 1984 17 Jul 2009 Unemployment topped 10 percent in 15 states and the District of Columbia last month, according to federal data released Friday. The rate in Michigan surpassed 15 percent, the first time any state hit that mark since 1984. The Federal Reserve this week projected that the national unemployment rate, currently at a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, will pass 10 percent by the end of the year.
Out of work, out of benefits, out of luck --By August, 65% of all filers for unemployment insurance will have run out of their standard 26 weeks. 17 Jul 2009 More than 650,000 Americans will have used up all of their unemployment benefits by September, in what experts say could be the start of a looming crisis. In the early days of the downturn, the government extended unemployment benefits beyond the standard 26 weeks to as many as 79 weeks in hopes of giving the jobless a longer lifeline. With the recession now 18 months deep and the national unemployment rate standing at 9.5%, it appears that the effort wasn't robust enough for those in the crisis' first wave of layoffs.
Severe state cuts could leave food banks' cupboards bare 18 Jul 2009 Representatives of food banks across Louisiana expected the state to cut their financing this year, but they never dreamed their budgets would be slashed by 90 percent -- especially when the need for provisions is increasing. The blow has left them scrambling.
Global warming means continental crops could take root in Britain by 2030 19 Jul 2009 Olives, dates and figs could become common in Britain within 20 years as global warming improves growing conditions for subtropical crops. A report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), suggests there could be unexpected benefits to climate change with exotic fruits and vegetables thriving. But native species, such as potatoes, could suffer as average temperatures rise by around 2C by 2030.
Previous lead stories: Barack Opharma issues ultimate bad news during Administration's 'Friday Night Bad News Dump': Legal immunity set for swine flu vaccine makers 17 Jul 2009 The last time the government embarked on a major vaccine campaign against a new swine flu, thousands filed claims contending they suffered side effects [paralysis, death] from the shots. This time, the government has already taken steps to head that off. Vaccine makers and federal officials will be immune from lawsuits that result from any new swine flu vaccine, under a document signed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, government health officials said Friday. The document signed by Sebelius last month grants immunity to those making a swine flu vaccine, under the provisions of a 2006 law for public health emergencies.
Minister defends MI5 as torture investigation looms --The police investigation into MI5 torture allegations could jeopardise Britain's national security, the Home Secretary has warned. 18 Jul 2009 In an interview with the Telegraph he vows to "defend" the agents of the Security Service and said he had "nothing but admiration for them". The Home Secretary's public endorsement of MI5 and its staff follows the decision by the Metropolitan Police to accept a request from the Attorney General for the first ever criminal inquiry into the domestic security service. Binyam Mohamed, the former Guantanamo detainee, claims MI5 knew he was tortured into 'confessing' his terrorist activities while in American custody.
Due to the UK torture investigation, false flags may serve as a weapon of mass distraction: Shopping centres on alert for terrorism attack --The security services are preparing shopping centres across the country for a successful terrorist attack that would probably result in the deaths of dozens of innocent people. 18 Jul 2009 The National Counter Terrorism Security Office now holds training days for shopping centres and other vulnerable targets up and down the country, warning: "Terrorist attacks in the UK are a real and serious danger. Crowded places, including shopping centres, are likely to feature in the attack plans of terrorist organisations..." MI5 have also launched Operation Lightening to record, research and investigate suspicious activity and it is particularly focused on the "hostile reconnaissance" of targets.
