Nuns in aging study leaving their brains behind-After major Alzheimer's findings, research will end with final sacrifice

WILTON, Conn. - When Sister Kathleen Treanor's soul ascends to heaven, her brain will go to a less ethereal realm: a medical lab in Kentucky.

Two decades ago, Sister Treanor and 677 other members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame granted a young researcher's request to test them each year in order to track the progression of Alzheimer's disease and other age-related brain disorders.

The 61 surviving nuns recently completed their last round of intellectual and physical tests for the Nun Study, one of the world's most comprehensive neurological research projects.
One final sacrifice remains: When they die, their brains will be taken for further study, joining a collection of hundreds of other brains donated by the the nuns who died before them.

Sister Treanor, a 93-year-old former school principal who is one of the last of the volunteers at a Wilton convent, looks at her participation as service, not sacrifice.

"I've tried to do good while I'm alive, and I liked the idea that I could do something good after death," she said.

With the modesty of their calling, the nuns attribute the study's success to researcher Dr. David Snowdon, downplaying their own countless hours of interviews and testing over the decades.

"I never minded having my brain checked out. It kept me out of trouble," said 96-year-old Sister Antoine Daniel.

Romney backpedals on statements - again-Explains Martin Luther King, Jr. comment, NRA endorsement statement

BOSTON - Mitt Romney, who earlier this year had to backpedal on his hunting exploits, is explaining himself again after claiming an endorsement he did not receive and saying he witnessed his father in civil rights marches he could not have seen.

"It's a figure of speech," Romney said Thursday after media inquiries into the Republican presidential contender's statement during his recent religion speech that he watched his father, the late Gov. George Romney of Michigan, march with Martin Luther King Jr.

Romney, who was in high school at the time, later said he only heard of his father marching, and some historians have questioned whether his father, in fact, did march with King. The Romney campaign provided books and news articles it said supported his statement.Romney said it was akin to him stating, "I saw my dad become president of American Motors." He told reporters in Iowa, "I wasn't there when he became president."

Romney similarly backtracked after telling a national television audience Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that "I received the endorsement of the NRA" in 2002 while running for governor of Massachusetts.

The gun rights group did not endorse either candidate, and gave a higher issues rating to his Democratic opponent.

Romney said Monday, "It was, if you will, a support phone bank, which is not an official endorsement."

Battle for Iowa
The questions are especially sensitive for Romney, who is trying to rebound against rival Mike Huckabee in Iowa and maintain a lead in New Hampshire, the leadoff contests in the voting for presidential nominees.

Throughout his campaign, he has been dogged by allegations of flip-flopping on key issues, from abortion rights to gun control and gay rights.

"It's the fine-tuning that's created the problem. It's always that one extra step that causes him the trouble," said Tobe Berkovitz, a longtime Romney observer and the interim dean of Boston University's College of Communication. "You can't just say that African-Americans were accepted into the church and I was happy, you have to say you pulled over and you cried."

Nine nations join EU’s passport-free travel zone-German minister warns removal of border checks is happening too fast

ZITTAU, Germany - European leaders celebrated Friday as the borders of nine countries along a Cold War frontier melted away, allowing a huge expansion to the EU's passport-free travel zone.

In Zittau, on Germany's eastern fringe — where the country meets Poland and the Czech Republic — Chancellor Angela Merkel, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso raised a border gate as children set loose dozens of blue balloons covered by stars — symbolizing the EU flag.

"We are all quite happy to be able to celebrate this truly historic moment together," Merkel said as a crowd of onlookers cheered loudly.
Barroso held an old border crossing sign, calling it an archaeological relic.

Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta joined the EU in 2004, but could not be part of the Schengen frontier-free zone until now because their police and border guards were not considered in line with EU norms.

With funding from their richer neighbors, they have introduced tighter controls but a German minister warned that the loss of border checks from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic was happening too fast.

"It would have been better to wait a year or two longer to abolish the border controls," said Joachim Herrmann, the interior minister of the German state of Bavaria, which borders the Czech Republic. "It's all a matter of how well-protected the border is from Belarus to Poland, from Ukraine to Slovakia."

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said Friday his country will be ready to join the Schengen zone by 2011.

"The realistic date for entering the Schengen area is 2010 or 2011," Kalfin said. "It depends, of course, on how prepared Romania will be, since it would be strange for Bulgaria to join, but to have a Schengen border with Romania."

Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in January but Romania has set a later date for its entry.

Flight delays as holiday travel begins-More than 65 million travelers expected between Christmas, New Year's

Dense fog and a low cloud ceiling forced airlines to cancel more than 200 flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Friday at the start of the busy holiday travel season. Travelers also encountered weather-related delays at airports in the New York City area.

Flights in and out of O'Hare, the nation's second-busiest airport, were delayed by up to two hours, airport spokesman Gregg Cunningham said. Chicago's Midway International Airport reported delays of up to 45 minutes, but did not report any cancelations.

AAA says more than 65 million people will travel for Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations, slightly more than last year, even though airfares and gasoline are significantly more expensive. Fifty-three million will drive, while 9 million will fly.

An average plane ticket costs 16 percent more than last Christmas, according to AAA. Its latest fuel gauge report shows gas is back below $3 a gallon, with regular averaging $2.98 nationwide. But that’s 65 cents higher than last year.

Mekaal Hasan is the hottest producer around right now

He just wrapped up production on Jal's new album, Boondh and these days, it is Ali Azmat's Klashnifolk that is consuming most of Mekaal's time.

To his credit, Mekaal has made sure that Boondh sounds crisp and it is just that.

Undoubtedly Mekaal Hasan is the most in-demand music producer in Pakistan these days. Rohail Hyatt and Shahi Hasan are the only other music producers who can really match Mekaal's production wizardry. But strangely enough, most artists opt to go to Mekaal.

Among other records that Mekaal is producing includes Zeb and Haniya's debut album. According to the girls' website, "Recording began in the first week of February 2007 at Mekaal Hasan's Digital Fidelity Studio in Lahore. The tracking completed, the album moved into the editing and mixing phase in August 2007, and the band is currently waiting for Mekaal to complete the album so they can get it to listeners as soon as possible."

The only thing is what takes priority? With so many albums to produce, it usually means that some albums will be given more priority. And Mekaal's own songs with his band, Mekaal Hasan Band, are also being produced at the same studio. So it seems that release dates of Klashnifolk as well as the highly anticipated debut of Zeb and Haniya will depend on Mekaal Hasan and how soon he can finish the records.



Abhishek and Aishwarya break the ice with Shah Rukh KhanRiteish Deshmukh's birthday bash saw most of his Bollywood friends turn up. The seniors were not invited so it was basically a gathering of the young and restless. "The oldest in the group, I think, was Shah Rukh Khan. Riteish's dad was also missing," one source said.

However, the highlight of the party was the fact that Shah Rukh and wife Gauri were seen bonding with Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. So much so, that the two couples almost spent the whole evening chatting with each other. Just why this comes as a surprise is that SRK and Ash have not really been on great terms and moreover, the entire Bachchan family seemed miffed with King Khan. However, this was a night when all the animosity seemed to have melted away. It had to happen sooner or later; after all, Aishwarya did end up with Abhishek and not Salman whose behaviour on the sets of Chalte Chalte created the violence with Ash in the first place.

Later the same night, Abhishek and Ash burned the dance floor when Jhoom Barabar Jhoom songs were played and then SRK joined wife Gauri on the dance floor when Om Shanti Om songs were being played. It seems that Indian stars dance to their own tunes. Gauri, however, did not restrict herself to one or two songs - she danced through the night along with designer Sabina Khan, Kunal Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Neelam Kothari, Bobby Deol and his wife, Tanya. DJ Suketu was spinning at the party. The only couple who stayed away from the dance floor and seemed entirely caught up with each other were Arjun Rampal and Meher Jessia.

But ultimately it is the Shah Rukh-Aishwarya-Abhishek triangle that is sorted at long last and of that we are glad!

Matt Damon and Eddie Veddar to teach 'people's history

Actor Matt Damon, whose been riding high on the success of his film, Bourne Ultimatum along with Eddie Veddar, front man of Pearl Jam, will both contribute their talents to a documentary miniseries based on historian-author Howard Zinn's 1980 book, A People's History of the United States.

Titled The People Speak, the project will feature music and readings based on America's struggles with war, class, race and the rights of women.

Eddie Veddar has always been outspoken and his association with films dates back to 1995's Dead Man Walking. And since then he has been involved with soundtracks including Sean Penn's recent film, Into The Wild.

Matt isn't far behind. Along with buddies George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Don Cheadle, Matt has been raising funds for Darfur.

Other than Matt and Eddie, Viggo Mortensen, Josh Brolin, Danny Glover and Kerry Washington will provide performances for the project, which will interweave archival footage, photographs and interviews. Eddie Vedder and R&B singer John Legend will handle the music.

And this really is the way to make documentaries have a mass appeal. When such high profile names team up together, it leads to curiosity and is bound to get noticed. So here's to Matt and Eddie, these guys just know how to use their star power to the hilt! We really wish our musicians and actors would learn to do the same!

Japan to accept 1,000 nurses, care workers from Indonesia

TOKYO: Japan will accept 1,000 nurses and health care workers from Indonesia from as early as next year under a free trade pact to help ease the country's shortage of such staff, a report said Saturday.

The move will mark the first time Japan has brought in foreign nurses and care workers on a full-time basis, a local daily publication said.

For two years from April, Japan will annually accept 200 licensed nurses and 300 certified care workers, the newspaper said.

If the programme is well received, the figures may be increased for the third year, the newspaper said.

Nurses will be limited to staying for three years and care workers for four years on their Indonesian certificates and licences. But they can extend their stay by passing Japanese nursing exams or receiving Japanese caregivers certificates.

The workers will work as assistants at hospitals and nursing care facilities after receiving language training.

The economic pact, signed in August, has already been approved in Indonesia, while Japan's government submitted the measure to the legislature earlier this month with an eye to approval in the current Diet session or early next year.

A similar effort is underway to employ workers from the Philippines, but the economic partnership agreement with that country has yet to take effect, the paper added.

The Japanese health ministry estimates the nation needs 40,000 more nurses, while the shortage is estimated to reach 450,000 to 550,000 by 2014, the daily said.