PHARMACY CONSULTANT: 03/01/2008

Friday, March 28, 2008

PKK threatens to retaliate against Turkey

MOUNT QANDIL ( 2008-03-28 14:08:41 ) :

Turkey's rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has threatened to retaliate against Ankara after the violence during the New Year celebration of Newroz in southeastern Turkey.
"The Turkish state must listen to the message of freedom from the Kurdish people and immediately halt its violence against civilians," the number two of the PKK group, Bozam Tekim, told AFP in an interview on Thursday.
"There will be uncontrolled reaction. The Turkish state and the ruling party will bear the responsibility of these new developments."
Tekim warned that unless Ankara ended its actions of "abuse against civilians, the PKK will retaliate".
The interview was conducted in the Qandil mountains, an area of tall, rugged mountains which serves as a PKK hideout in Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region along the border with Turkey and Iran.
Two people were killed and dozens injured over the past week in southeast Turkey during the celebration of the Kurdish new year, which fell on March 21.
Dozens of people have been detained in Turkey's mainly Kurdish-populated southeast where celebrations of Newroz Day turned into protests of support for the PKK.
Newroz is a traditional platform for Turkey's Kurds to demonstrate support for the rebels and demand broader rights. "The Kurdish people continue to fight for freedom. They have once again demonstrated their support for the PKK and its leader Abdullah Ocalan (PKK founder who is imprisoned in Turkey)," said Tekim, whose group is regarded as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and European Union.
"The new violence against civilians demonstrates that the Turkish state continues its policy of force and denial of our rights," he charged.
The recent incursions by the Turkish army in northern Iraq, "despite the support of the United States, has resulted in its failure", the rebel leader said.
The Turkish army "got a severe lesson" during the incursion in the last week of February in the Zap region of Iraq.
The PKK claims it killed 127 Turkish soldiers and lost nine of its fighters.
Ankara says it dealt a severe blow to the rebel movement during the incursion that killed 240 rebels.

Dalai Lama appeals for talks with Beijing

NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama appealed to China Friday to enter into "meaningful dialogue" over the crisis in Tibet, asserting he did not want to undermine the Beijing Olympics and was not seeking independence.
In an open letter to his "Chinese brothers and sisters," the exiled spiritual leader said he was a "simple monk" trying to preserve "the Tibetan people's distinctive culture, language and identity."
He warned, however, that Chinese "state media's portrayal of the recent events in Tibet, using deceit and distorted images, could sow the seeds of racial tension with unpredictable long-term consequences."
"Even at this juncture I have expressed my willingness to the Chinese authorities to work together to bring about peace and stability," he said in the statement, carried by his exiled administration's website Tibet.net.
"I have appealed to the leadership of the PRC (People's Republic of China) to clearly understand my position and work to resolve these problems. I urge the Chinese leadership to exercise wisdom and to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan people," the message said.

Sectarian clashes intensify in northwest Pakistan

KOHAT, Pakistan, March 28 (Reuters): Sectarian violence intensified in a tribal region of northwest Pakistan Friday, with at least 22 people reportedly killed in gunbattles, said Qalb-i-Hassan, a newly elected provincial legislator from Kohat town. Fighting overnight was concentrated in three villages of Kohat district of North West Frontier Province and the tribesmen were armed with semi-automatic weapons, machine guns, mortars and rockets. “I have reports that at least 22 people were killed in fighting overnight,” said Kamran Zeb, a senior administrator in Kohat. The latest clashes, between the Mishti and Kachai tribes, brought the toll to more than 50 in an outbreak of sectarian violence that began last week.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

U.S. suspends Afghanistan ammunition deal

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army has suspended a munitions contractor from government contract work for reportedly providing Chinese-made ammunition to the Afghanistan army in violation of its contract and U.S. law.

AEY Inc., a company based in Florida with just eight employees, is under criminal investigation for reportedly claiming that the munitions were made in Hungary, according to documents obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said there have been no reports that the ammunition was unsafe or failed to work properly. He said some of it may not have been used because of its substandard packaging.

But The New York Times reported in Thursday editions that some of the ammunition was more than 40 years old and Afghan officers complained that it was junk.

In a letter Tuesday, the Army told company owner Efraim Diveroli that the investigation could lead to AEY being barred from any U.S. government work.

Diveroli's attorney, Hy Shapiro, said Thursday he had not seen the Army's letter and declined further comment until he had. No one answered the door at the Miami Beach apartment listed in Florida state records as Diveroli's.

According to an Army Legal Services memo, AEY began contracting for the Defense and State departments in 2004, and to date has been awarded more than 150 contracts, worth in excess of $200 million.

The main contract, awarded in 2007, was for various types of ammunition for the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. It included ammunition for machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns and pistols.

After questions arose about the origin of the munitions, U.S. Army investigators in January reviewed shipments at an Afghan Army weapons depot. Stamps on munitions in 14 containers showed that the ammunition was manufactured in factories in China, the memo said.

According to the contract, based on federal law, companies doing business with the U.S. government cannot buy any munitions directly or indirectly from a Chinese military company, or any entity that is part of China's defense industrial base.

At least 105 killed in Iraq clashes

BAGHDAD ( 2008-03-27 15:54:45 ) :

At least 105 people have been killed in Iraq since fierce clashes between Shia militants and security forces broke out three days ago, according to an AFP tally based on reports by security officials.
Hundreds of people have been wounded in the battles.
Fighting has raged in four cities since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday ordered the security forces to raid strongholds of Shia militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the southern port city of Basra.
At least 23 people have been killed in Basra, which was on Thursday rocked for a third straight day by fighting, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross and Iraqi security officials.
Fighting spread on Thursday to the central city of Kut, where 44 people -- 40 gunmen and four policemen -- died, according to local police chief Abdul Hanin al-Amara.
Another 30 people were killed in clashes between Shia gunmen and Iraqi and US forces in Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia, Iraqi security officials said.
Eight people have been killed in the province of Babel, south of the capital, Iraqi and US officials said.

Ukrainian helicopter crashes, 12 missing

KIEV ( 2008-03-27 19:32:05 ) :

A helicopter belonging to Ukraine's border guards crashed off an island in the Black Sea on Thursday and the fate of 12 of its 13 passengers was unknown,the Emergencies Ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Ihor Krol said one passenger aboard the Mi-8 helicopter, a military workhorse in post-Soviet states, had been rescued off Poludenniy island near the port city of Odessa.
"The helicopter was flying from Odessa to Serpent Island," Krol said by telephone. "It was spotted overturned. There were 13 people on board. One person was rescued. The fate of 12 others remains unknown."
All but one of those on board were military officers. The ministry gave no reason for the crash, but a storm warning was in effect for the region.
Serpent Island, a windswept outcrop in the Black Sea, has long been in dispute between post-Soviet Ukraine and Romania. The row has been referred to international courts.
A border guard contingent on the island regularly receives its supplies by air.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

FUTURE FLIGHT

DG Rangers Pakistan, BSF quarterly meeting on Wednesday

LAHORE: The quarterly meeting between Director General Rangers Pakistan and Indian Inspector General Border Security Force (BSF) will begin from Wednesday.
The four-day meeting will kick off in the Indian city of Chandigarh.
A 15-member Pakistani delegation led by DG Rangers Pakistan will set out for Chandigarh through Wagah Border. The delegation will return through the same route on March 29.

Zimbabwe police to crush premature election celebrations

HARARE ( 2008-03-25 19:57:47 ) :

Zimbabwe's police vowed on Tuesday to crush any premature victory celebrations ahead of the official release of results from this weekend's general elections.
"Let me at the onset indicate that we will not brook any situations of chaos or conduct likely to cause a breach of peace, pandemonium, commotion, tumult or disturbance of peace," assistant police commissioner Faustino Mazango told a news conference in the capital Harare.
"We will not countenance any mischievous claims by anyone winning an election just because they have led in one part of the constituency whether it is council, parliamentary, senatorial and presidential election.
"We urge politicians not to excite members of the public when they have a lead at one time or the other in any part of the constituency."
Mazango urged people to rejoice only after announcement of official results but warned against provocative celebrations.
"We are more than prepared to deal a deadly blow to any such repugnant forces," Mazango said.
"These are not mere threats, but words of advice to our brothers and sisters and indeed everyone, lest people fail to understand and appreciate our actions to situations of anarchy."
Last month, police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri warned that his force was prepared to use firearms to stamp out violence during or after joint presidential and legislative elections this month.
The police have also banned the carrying of weapons such as knives, catapults, axes and clubs in the run-up to the polls, and for two weeks afterwards.

Malian soldiers held by Tuareg rebels in Niger: source

BAMAKO ( 2008-03-25 18:10:57 ) :

Malian soldiers taken hostage last week by local Tuareg rebels have been moved across the border to Niger where they are being kept by another Tuareg group, a western military source said Tuesday.
"The Malian soldiers, some of whom are wounded, have been sent to be guarded by the Nigerien MNJ rebels," the source said in Bamako, referring to the Movement of Niger People for Justice.
About 20 hostages have been taken to Niger where they are being held by Tuaregs loyal to rebel leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, she added.
They count among some 29 wounded Malian troops who were abducted in northern Mali on Friday, following clashes between the army and the rebels in the mountainous Tinzaouatene region.
Four other soldiers were taken prisoner the day before in the area which is considered Ag Bahanga's stronghold.
The Malian government has since reinforced troops in the restive region.
Ag Bahanga's group, "supported by other Tuareg bands from countries neighboring Mali, attacked military supply convoys and planted mines," Mali's Foreign Minister Moctar Ouane said.
A nomadic people who have roamed the southern Sahara for centuries, Tuaregs have staged uprisings over the years both in Mali and Niger claiming autonomy for their traditional homeland.
But Ag Bahanga has refused to go along with the peace deal agreed by the majority of former rebels from the Tuareg tribes, and the Malian government believes his group is cooperating with Niger-based militants to launch attacks.
In Niger, Tuareg rebels want a share in the country's revenue from uranium.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Attractive photo

BALBOA0138
Originally uploaded by emmanSD

BALBOA0138

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections - CROI 2008

The 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections was a scientifically focused meeting of the world's leading researchers working to understand, prevent, and treat HIV/AIDS and its complications.
At the Conference which took place from February 3-6, 2008 at Boston - The subjects that were highlighted were: immunology, vaccines (preclinical and clinical trials), virology (including other retroviruses), pathogenesis, neuropathogenesis and neurologic complications, antiretroviral therapy (preclinical, clinical randomized trials, clinical observational studies, and complications), therapeutic vaccines and immune-based therapies, primary/acute infection, clinical pharmacology, HIV drug resistance (including molecular mechanisms, clinical implications and epidemiology of HIV drug resistance), opportunistic infections (including tuberculosis), AIDS-related malignancies (e.g., lymphoma and kaposi's sarcoma), pediatrics/adolescents, maternal/fetal, HIV in women/women's health, novel diagnostic technologies and new monitoring tools, epidemiology of HIV infection, molecular epidemiology (including distribution and diversity of retroviruses), epidemiology of sexually transmitted diseases other than HIV, prevention studies (including microbicides and behavioral interventions), and research on clinical care and scale-up in developing countries (including operational research and implementation).
The Conference featured the thirteenth Annual Bernard Fields Memorial Lecture, the second N'Galy Mann Lecture, plenary lectures that were highly scientific in nature, roundtable symposia that presented and debated controversial scientific issues, several hundred original oral abstract and poster presentations of new data, and late breakers that consisted of important preliminary research findings.
Text and graphic courtesy conference website. Additional resources courtesy The Body, a partner and Cooperating Organization with dgCommunity HIV/AIDS.