News on the Net

Taliban shave men for listening to music

TALIBAN militants in northwest Buner district shaved the heads and moustaches of four Pakistani men as punishment for listening to music, one of the men said.

US declares public health emergency

WASHINGTON: The United States declared a public health emergency yesterday amid an outbreak of 20 confirmed cases of swine flu and will screen visitors arriving from infected countries, officials said.

Americans told to wear masks as swine flu spreads round globe

Churches stood empty in Mexico City yesterday and football matches were played to vacant stadiums, as soldiers and health workers patrolled the subway in an effort to prevent the spread of a deadly strain of swine flu.

Pork industry assures customers pork is safe

BOSTON (AP) — U.S. pork producers, responding to a swine flu outbreak that has escalated into a public health emergency, said Sunday their product is safe and that consumers cannot catch the virus by eating properly cooked food.

Texas officials ‘aggressively’ look for swine flu

SAN ANTONIO — Texas health officials on Sunday were asking hospitals and doctors to take samples from flu patients so they could aggressively survey for a new strain of swine flu that has killed dozens of people in Mexico and sparked fears of a global pandemic.

The West Coast Plot: An “Inconvenient Truth”

Critics of the CIA program are desperate to convince Americans that no valuable information came from the interrogations of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and other senior terrorists. They know that if our citizens learn the details of how enhanced interrogations stopped terrorist plots, most would support the CIA program. A recent Pew poll showed that 71% of Americans believe that there are circumstances under which torture (not just enhanced interrogations, but actual torture) is justifiable to get information from captured terrorists.

Six ‘mild’ cases of swine flu confirmed in Nova Scotia, B.C.

Health officials in Nova Scotia and British Columbia are reporting “mild” cases of swine flu, the first confirmed Canadian cases since an outbreak of the illness began in Mexico several days ago.

International Gunmaker, Military Officer, Medal of Honor Recipients Recognized for Service

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – International gunmaker FN Manufacturing (FNM) was recognized Friday, Apr. 24, for its “service to country,” along with Lt. Col. W. Thomas Smith Jr. (Joint Services Detachment, S.C. Military Dept.) and Medal of Honor recipients Col. Charles P. Murray Jr. (U.S. Army, ret.) and MSgt. John F. Baker Jr. (U.S. Army, ret.).

Homebuyers hope to time the bottom

With white tin ceilings, original woodwork, bay windows, and a $699,000 price tag, the two-bedroom apartment at 719 Carroll St. in Brooklyn would have been snatched up in a New York minute a couple of years ago.

Mexico declares national emergency amid outbreak

MEXICO CITY — President Felipe Calderon declared a national emergency Saturday, authorizing federal officials to quarantine the sick, shut down public events and businesses, and take other measures to contain the virus’ spread.

US pork groups urge hog farmers to reduce flu risk

WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. pork groups have issued specific precautions about swine flu after an unusual new strain of influenza killed at least 81 people in Mexico and popped up in the United States and, possibly, Britain and New Zealand.

Drug and vaccine makers on standby over swine flu

LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) - Drugmakers said on Sunday they could supply millions of doses of medicine and were ready to work on a vaccine against a new type of swine flu that has killed up to 81 people in Mexico and infected around a dozen in the United States.

Inside the Home of a Swine Flu Victim

When Patrick Henshaw's son became sick last Friday, little did he know that the 18-year-old had acquired a potentially deadly disease that made its way across the U.S.-Mexico border -- the swine flu.

New swine flu likely widespread, experts say

-Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor WASHINGTON, - A new and unusual strain of swine flu is likely widespread and impossible to contain at this point, experts agree.

Security Before Politics

-Porter Goss Since leaving my post as CIA director almost three years ago, I have remained largely silent on the public stage. I am speaking out now because I feel our government has crossed the red line between properly protecting our national security and trying to gain partisan political advantage. We can't have a secret intelligence service if we keep giving away all the secrets. Americans have to decide now.

McCanns - someone is shielding Maddy abductor

An intensive publicity campaign aimed at renewing the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann is to be launched in the Praia da Luz area of Portugal where she vanished.

Travel advisory warns of severe respiratory illness in Mexico

Canadians who have recently returned from Mexico should be on alert for flu-like symptoms that could be connected to a severe respiratory illness, federal health officials said Thursday in issuing a travel advisory.

Concern Grows Over Possible Swine Flu Pandemic

MEXICO CITY — A strain of flu never seen before has killed as many as 61 people in Mexico and has spread into the United States, where eight people have been infected but recovered, health officials said Friday.

Death of 3 Women at Pennsylvania Glass Factory Deemed Homicide

SALTSBURG, Pa. — Police say they're investigating the deaths of three women at a western Pennsylvania windshield business as a homicide.

FBI Investigates Finances of N.Y. Man Who Allegedly Swindled $20M, Killed His Family

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — William Parente was a successful Manhattan lawyer who apparently had a side business lending money at high interest rates — deals that may have cost his investors as much as $20 million.