Scientists are embarking on a series of experiments with the bird flu virus ravaging Asian poultry to see how dangerous it would be if it adapted to humans, the chief influenza expert at the U.N. health agency said.
"Tamiflu reaches therapeutic levels in many tissues. Relenza does not. It is only in the lung," he said. "If this virus gets into the brain, the liver and other parts of the body, then Relenza would be out. We could only use Tamiflu."
"We are getting ammunition," Stohr said of the experiments. "We don't want to go into battle without having a reconnaissance mission. We don't want to go into a pandemic without knowing what the enemy is, and that's what this is all about."

Writing for the majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that prosecutors withheld evidence at Banks' trial, then covered up their misconduct for nearly two decades as Banks moved closer to execution.
Banks, now 45, had eaten his final meal, was in a holding cell next to the state's death chamber in Huntsville, and was less than 10 minutes from receiving a lethal injection when the court issued a reprieve last March.

TEHRAN, Iran - Pentagon and Pakistani officials on Saturday denied an Iranian state radio report that Osama bin Laden was captured in Pakistan's border region with Afghanistan "a long time ago."

President Vladimir Putin said Friday the U.S. war in Iraq was a mistake that had encouraged terrorist actions there, adding that Russia would help bolster the U.N. role in the country.

Elizabeth Wilmshurst, the former deputy legal adviser at the Foreign Office, revealed in a statement that she had quit her post on the eve of the conflict because she disagreed with the Attorney General's advice.

President Bush on Friday replaced two members of a panel that advises him on issues such as cloning and stem cell research, drawing criticism that he is stacking the bioethics group with ideologically friendly members.
"It does seem alarming. It concerns me profoundly," Marincola said of the move. "The president is trying to ensure the advice he receives is the advice he wants to hear."

mred - they shuold thank their lucky stars tehy werent microbiologisted

And his attorney, Samuel Abeday, told ABCNEWS today Perle is quitting the board altogether so he can sue the news organizations that "falsely accused him of conflicts of interest."

The United States is pressing the U.N. Security Council to endorse a draft resolution that would allow the use of force against "entities and individuals" suspected of trying to develop, possess or transfer weapons of mass destruction (WMD), diplomats and observers here say.
The draft resolution states that some countries "may require assistance within their territories, and invite states in a position to" prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, rockets and vehicles capable of delivering such weapons, a phrase that makes many suspicious of U.S. intentions.
mred - adios, soveriegnty

It is not an easy one to answer, as you can only wonder what has gone so horribly wrong, what sort of line has been crossed so that not even the basic dignity of the planet, not even a modicum of respect for it, is the slightest factor anymore in modern American right-wing politics. It reeks of sheer heartlessness regarding the planet. It reeks of abuse. It reeks of hate.

This is like the saturation level of BushCo. Something's gotta give, you say. Surely some sort of ugly orgiastic critical mass has been reached wherein Bush and his planet-reaming policies simply cannot go any further without some sort of meltdown, some sort of massive international cosmic recoil whereby we finally see the Bush admin for what it is, quite possibly the most self-serving, egomaniacal cluster of enviro thugs in modern history.

This is more sinister, and more disturbing. BushCo's ugly rejection of not merely the "liberal" environmental politicking but also of the factual science of the natural world is, ultimately, a form of self-loathing.