ATLANTA ? A panel of federal judges appeared skeptical Wednesday of the Atlanta police department’s decision to reject a job application from an HIV-infected man.
The 40-year-old man sued the city in 2010, claiming he was denied a police officer job solely because he has the virus. Atlanta attorneys argued there are other officers on the force with HIV, and said the police department does not have a blanket policy disqualifying candidates with the virus. Gay rights groups and police agencies are closely following the case.
One of the three judges signaled the lawsuit would likely be sent back to a lower judge to reconsider.
“I don’t see how we can avoid a remand in this case,” Circuit Judge R. Lanier Anderson said.
The judges will issue a ruling later.
The man sued under the pseudonym Richard Roe and has requested anonymity because he believes his medical condition could prevent him from other job opportunities. He said in an interview he was a former criminal investigator with the city of Los Angeles who discovered he had HIV in 1997, but that it didn’t hinder his ability to perform his duties.
Roe moved to Atlanta to find a better job and joined the city’s taxicab enforcement unit. In January 2006, he decided he wanted to join the police force. He passed a series of tests, but hit a snag when a blood test revealed he had the virus that causes AIDS.
The doctor didn’t do any more tests, according to records, and recommended to the city that he have “no physical contact or involvement with individuals.”
Atlanta attorneys said the city follows the recommendation of the physicians who examine candidates, and in this case, the doctor advised the department to limit Roe’s interaction with the public.
“We’re told that he can’t do the job,” said Robert Godfrey, a city attorney. “We have to assume when a doctor tells us this, he can’t perform the essential duties.”
Roe’s attorney, Scott Schoettes of gay rights group Lambda Legal, said there was no evidence that Roe posed a threat to the health and safety of others. The city violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by not fully vetting his client, Schoettes said.
Roe’s advocates said the city’s position perpetuates myths about HIV that have persisted for three decades. Modern medical advances have made the disease a manageable condition that in many cases won’t affect job performance even in the most demanding fields, they said.
“I really see an opportunity for the city of Atlanta to make some drastic changes and move forward,” Roe said. “I think that’s what this whole case is about.”
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NEW YORK ? The interest among television viewers in President Barack Obama’s annual State of the Union addresses is dwindling.
The Nielsen measurement company said Wednesday an estimated 37.8 million people watched Obama’s speech the night before on one of the 14 networks airing it. Obama’s audience for the speech has dropped each year, from a high of 52.4 million in 2009.
Obama narrowly missed President George W. Bush’s least-watched State of the Union. Bush’s last one was seen by 37.5 million people in 2008.
The largest individual audience for Obama’s speech was NBC’s, more than 8 million. On cable, MSNBC beat CNN for the first time for second place behind Fox News Channel.
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NBC and MSNBC are controlled by Comcast Corp.; CNN is owned by Time Warner Inc.; Fox is a unit of News Corp.
DUBLIN ? A former Irish senator who became a lightening rod for voter anger against politicians’ outrageous expense claims was arrested Wednesday over his submission of allegedly forged receipts from a long-dead company.
Detectives said Ivor Callely, 53, would be questioned on suspicion of using fake invoices to rip off taxpayers, a crime with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Despite being repeatedly pressed by journalists, Callely has never offered a credible explanation for why he claimed euro2,907 ($3,750) in expenses for bills supposedly issued by a small mobile-phone provider for the supply of four phones and hands-free car equipment from 2002 to 2005. The supposed supplier ceased business in 1994.
Parliamentary accountants cleared the payment in 2007. An Irish newspaper’s freedom of information request exposed the suspicious claim in 2010. Callely said he then refunded the money and didn’t know how the mistake happened.
Around the same time, another newspaper’s FOI request discovered that Callely had claimed more than euro81,000 ($105,000) in expenses by saying he was commuting almost daily from his family’s holiday home in rural County Cork, 370 kilometers (230 miles) from Dublin. He even claimed euro140 per day in overnight-travel benefits each time he stayed in his Dublin home.
The prime minister demanded an explanation, commentators branded his claim to be a Cork resident implausible, given he represented a Dublin district, and his fellow senators suspended him from office for 20 days without pay.
But Callely successfully sued the senate in Dublin’s High Court and won euro17,000 ($22,000) in damages for lost wages. The January 2011 judgment deemed the senate’s suspension procedures unfair and its weak expense rules open to the two-home loophole that Callely exploited.
Callely served 18 years as a lawmaker in Ireland’s key lower house of parliament, Dail Eireann. When he failed to win re-election in 2007, the government appointed him to the broadly irrelevant upper house, called the Seanad.
In 2005 Callely was forced to resign as the government’s minister for traffic, road haulage and aviation after Irish state broadcasters RTE reported that a construction company competing for government contracts had painted his home ? in Dublin, not Cork ? for free.
Callely is hardly the biggest offender in Ireland’s pantheon of benefit-taking politicians.
A series of state-ordered investigations since 1996 has discovered that one former prime minister, Charles Haughey, collected more than euro11 million in secret cash payments from business friends while in office; a former justice minister, Ray Burke, received a free house from a developer and many other corrupt payments that he hid in offshore accounts; and former premier Bertie Ahern deposited his own array of ill-documented cash payments from business friends in personal safes rather than banks.
Only Burke was jailed, briefly, for tax evasion.
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Online:
Ivor Callely’s political site, http://www.ivorcallely.ie/
WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama has resorted to “extremism” with stifling, anti-growth policies and has tried dividing Americans, not uniting them, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday in the formal Republican response to the president’s State of the Union address.
Eight months after deciding not pursue a bid for his party’s presidential nomination, Daniels used his nationally televised speech to lash out at Obama and cast the GOP as compassionate and eager to unchain the country’s economic potential.
He took particular aim at Obama’s efforts in recent months to raise taxes on the rich and castigate them for not contributing their fair share to the nation’s burdens. He and other Republicans were hoping to both blunt and shift the focus away from Obama’s theme of fairness, which includes protecting the middle class and making sure the rich pay an equitable share of taxes.
“No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant effort to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others,” Daniels said, according to excerpts of his remarks released before he and Obama spoke. “As in previous moments of national danger, we Americans are all in the same boat.”
Daniels is a rarity in the GOP these days ? a uniting and widely respected figure, contrasting with the divisiveness emanating from the contest for the presidential nomination being waged among former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and others.
Daniels, President George W. Bush’s first budget chief and a two-term Indiana governor, portrays himself as an ardent foe of budget deficits, though critics note he served during the abrupt shift from fleeting federal surpluses to massive deficits early in Bush’s term.
Obama’s address, and Daniels’ speech, come at the dawn of a presidential and congressional election year in which the defining issues are the faltering economy and weak job market and the parties’ clashing prescriptions for restoring both. Obama and congressional Democrats have focused on the more populist pathway of financing federal initiatives by taxing millionaires, while Republicans preach the virtues of less regulation and smaller government.
Obama was ready to describe his vision of attaining “an economy built to last.” Led by Daniels, Republicans were firing back that it was their party that understood the best way to trigger economic growth was to get the government out of the way.
“The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy, or cancels a perfectly sane pipeline that would employ tens of thousands, or jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature, is a pro-poverty policy,” Daniels said.
Obama has halted, for now, work on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from western Canada to Texas’ Gulf Coast. Republicans say the project would create thousands of jobs, a claim opponents say is overstated. The administration has also pursued policies aimed at reducing pollution and global warming.
Daniels said Republicans prefer “a passionate pro-growth approach that breaks all ties and calls all close ones in favor of private sector jobs that restore opportunity for all and generate the public revenues to pay our bills.”
In a riff on Obama’s own theme, Daniels said, “As Republicans our first concern is for those waiting tonight to begin or resume climb up life’s ladder. We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have nots. We must always be a nation of haves and soon-to-haves.”
Even before Obama spoke, Republicans in the Capitol and on the campaign trail accused him of three years of higher spending, bigger government and tax increases that have left the economy stuck in a ditch.
“This election is going to be a referendum on the president’s economic policies,” which have worsened the economy, said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. “The politics of envy, the politics of dividing our country is not what America is all about.”
To underscore Obama’s decision on Keystone, Boehner invited three officials from companies he said would be hurt by the pipeline’s rejection to watch the speech in the House chamber, along with a pro-pipeline legislator from Nebraska, through which the project would pass.
“If the president wants someone to blame for this economy, he should start with himself,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “The fact is, any CEO in America with a record like this after three years on the job would be graciously shown the door.”
Obama was delivering his address during a rowdy battle for the GOP presidential nomination that has ended up providing ammunition for Obama’s theme of fairness.
That fight has called attention to the wealth of one of the top contenders, Romney, and the low ? but legal ? effective federal income tax rate of around 15 percent that the multimillionaire has paid in the past two years. Romney, in Florida campaigning for that state’s Jan. 31 primary, released his tax documents for the two-year period on Tuesday.
“The president’s agenda sounds less like `built to last’ and more like doomed to fail,” Romney said in Tampa, Fla. “What he’s proposing is more of the same: more taxes, more spending, and more regulation.”
Romney’s chief rival so far, Gingrich, said in a written statement that the top question about Obama’s speech was whether he “will show a willingness to put aside the extremist ideology of the far left and call for a new set of policies that could lead to dramatic private sector job creation and economic growth.”
The Republican National Committee was airing a television commercial in three states and Washington, D.C., that shows Obama discussing the faltering economy in 2009, saying, “If I don’t have this done in three years, then this is going to be a one-term proposition,” a reference to his presidency.
Amidst the madness that was CES, Acer quietly snuck its Iconia Tab A510 onto the showroom floor, tucking the tablet into the folds of NVIDIA’s booth. While the company was more than willing to fess up to the slate’s specs — quad-core Tegra 3 processor, skinned Ice Cream Sandwich UX, 1280 x 800 display — little in the way of pricing and availability were revealed. If a report out of Germany is to be believed, however, Europeans (sorry, statesiders) might very well see the 10.1-incher hit retail as early as this April, with a €500 price tag in tow. That’s all the rumor mill’s wrought for now, folks, but we’ll keep you posted should the news go official at CeBIT 2012.
LONDON (Reuters) ? Loss-making European publisher Mecom is to slash costs, review assets and charge customers to access content online as it fights to revive a business hit by falling advertising sales and changing readership trends.
The group, which sold its Norwegian arm in December to cut debt, set out a new strategy Tuesday in response to what it called significant challenges to the industry.
It plans to make 70 million euros of cost savings, including an unspecified number of job cuts.
By introducing so-called pay walls on the internet Mecom will follow in the footsteps of such publications as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal in the United States and the Times and Financial Times newspapers in London.
Britain’s Guardian newspaper, one of the most vocal proponents of providing free news on the internet, has also started introducing paid-for applications of late.
Mecom said it had decided to charge for online access to newspapers such as De Gelderlander as it increases its reliance on its solid subscriber base, which has maintained circulation revenues despite the economic challenges, at a time when advertising revenues continue to fall.
“We are going to face continual declines in advertising over the next three years,” chief executive Tom Toumazis told reporters. “But having said that the other key revenue stream of circulation, we believe, is going to prove to be steady.
“So that plays to our strategic message which is our push in to the paid model and subscription model.”
The group will introduce charges for its online content, bringing in a fee for Mecom applications on the Apple iPad and smartphones, to expand its existing 1.2 million subscriber base that already pay for print editions.
It will test different pay models on its general websites.
The group, which publishes newspapers and websites in Denmark, Poland and has its core business in the Netherlands, said its cost-cutting drive would include outsourcing support work and greater integration across the group.
Mecom, which issued a profit warning in October due to plunging consumer confidence, said it would further review its business by considering options for its Polish operations and free sheet titles, either through further investment, collaboration or divestment.
“There is a clear need for Mecom to adapt quickly to meet the challenges our industry faces,” Toumazis said.
“The strategy we are announcing today will ensure greater commercial focus through a commitment to paid platforms and closer integration to capture better the strengths of the group.”
Shares in the group initially opened up over 2 percent before sliding to be down 8 percent Tuesday, following a rise ahead of the statement.
Analysts generally welcomed the review and said Mecom was well placed to grow its online revenues as it already has strong relationships with readers.
“We have long identified Mecom’s high level of subscription revenue as a considerable asset and are supportive of the management focusing on this as a key driver of future growth,” Numis analyst Lorna Tilbian said.
“We believe the direct relationship that Mecom has with its customers means the group is in a better position than UK peers to both monetize online and generate ancillary enterprise revenues.”
Public release date: 24-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Clare Weaver press@plos.org 44-122-344-2834 Public Library of Science
Tobacco smoking and high blood pressure are biggest killers of Japanese adults
The life expectancy of a person born in Japan is among the highest in the world (82.9 years) yet tobacco smoking and high blood pressure are still the major risk factors for death among adults in Japan, emphasizing the need to reduce tobacco smoking and to improve ongoing programs designed to help people manage multiple cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, according to a study published in this week’s PLoS Medicine.
In an analysis of available data led by Nayu Ikeda from the University of Tokyo in Japan, the authors found that in Japan in 2007, tobacco smoking and high blood pressure accounted for 129,000 and 104,000 deaths, respectively, among adults aged 30 years and over. Physical inactivity accounted for 52,000 deaths, high blood glucose and high dietary salt intake accounted for 34,000 deaths each, and alcohol use for 31,000 deaths. Furthermore, the authors found that life expectancy at age 40 would have been extended by 1.4 years for both sexes, if exposure to multiple cardiovascular risk factors had been reduced to an optimal level.
According to the authors, in order to sustain the trend of longevity in Japan for the 21st century, additional efforts in a variety of fields are required for decreasing adult mortality from chronic diseases and injuries. They say: “A first step will be to powerfully promote effective programs for smoking cessation.”
Tobacco smoking is deeply rooted in Japanese society, but the authors argue that health professionals can play a big role: “Health care professionals, including physicians, who are highly conscious of the harms of tobacco will play the primary role in treatment of smoking and creating an environment for implementation of stringent tobacco control policies.
As for high blood pressure, the authors say: “it is urgent to establish a monitoring system for management of high blood pressure at the national level. Further investigation through national health surveys will help understand factors that contribute to the inadequate control of blood pressure in the Japanese population.”
The authors conclude: “Measuring the quality of the care that is actually delivered by interventions will be of paramount importance in the assessment of current policies and programs for the treatment of multiple cardiovascular risks including hypertension. These concerted actions in research, public health, clinical practice, and policymaking will be the key for maintaining good population health in the aging society.”
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Funding: This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (H22-seisaku-shitei-033) and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 2239013). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Ikeda N, Inoue M, Iso H, Ikeda S, Satoh T, et al. (2012) Adult Mortality Attributable to Preventable Risk Factors for Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries in Japan: A Comparative Risk Assessment. PLoS Med 9(1): e1001160. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001160
CONTACT:
Nayu Ikeda Department of Global Health Policy Graduate School of Medicine The University of Tokyo
7-3-1 Hongo
Bunkyo, Tokyo 1130033
Japan
ikedan@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 24-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Clare Weaver press@plos.org 44-122-344-2834 Public Library of Science
Tobacco smoking and high blood pressure are biggest killers of Japanese adults
The life expectancy of a person born in Japan is among the highest in the world (82.9 years) yet tobacco smoking and high blood pressure are still the major risk factors for death among adults in Japan, emphasizing the need to reduce tobacco smoking and to improve ongoing programs designed to help people manage multiple cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, according to a study published in this week’s PLoS Medicine.
In an analysis of available data led by Nayu Ikeda from the University of Tokyo in Japan, the authors found that in Japan in 2007, tobacco smoking and high blood pressure accounted for 129,000 and 104,000 deaths, respectively, among adults aged 30 years and over. Physical inactivity accounted for 52,000 deaths, high blood glucose and high dietary salt intake accounted for 34,000 deaths each, and alcohol use for 31,000 deaths. Furthermore, the authors found that life expectancy at age 40 would have been extended by 1.4 years for both sexes, if exposure to multiple cardiovascular risk factors had been reduced to an optimal level.
According to the authors, in order to sustain the trend of longevity in Japan for the 21st century, additional efforts in a variety of fields are required for decreasing adult mortality from chronic diseases and injuries. They say: “A first step will be to powerfully promote effective programs for smoking cessation.”
Tobacco smoking is deeply rooted in Japanese society, but the authors argue that health professionals can play a big role: “Health care professionals, including physicians, who are highly conscious of the harms of tobacco will play the primary role in treatment of smoking and creating an environment for implementation of stringent tobacco control policies.
As for high blood pressure, the authors say: “it is urgent to establish a monitoring system for management of high blood pressure at the national level. Further investigation through national health surveys will help understand factors that contribute to the inadequate control of blood pressure in the Japanese population.”
The authors conclude: “Measuring the quality of the care that is actually delivered by interventions will be of paramount importance in the assessment of current policies and programs for the treatment of multiple cardiovascular risks including hypertension. These concerted actions in research, public health, clinical practice, and policymaking will be the key for maintaining good population health in the aging society.”
###
Funding: This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (H22-seisaku-shitei-033) and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 2239013). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Ikeda N, Inoue M, Iso H, Ikeda S, Satoh T, et al. (2012) Adult Mortality Attributable to Preventable Risk Factors for Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries in Japan: A Comparative Risk Assessment. PLoS Med 9(1): e1001160. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001160
CONTACT:
Nayu Ikeda Department of Global Health Policy Graduate School of Medicine The University of Tokyo
7-3-1 Hongo
Bunkyo, Tokyo 1130033
Japan
ikedan@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Make it work, Tim Gunn often tells contestants on Project Runway.
But the fashion guru made a startling confession yesterday during a segment on ABC’s The Revolution: he has not “made it work” with a sexual partner in nearly three decades!
Admitting that he has not had intercourse in “29 years,” the openly gay designer was especially emotional and honest during the show.
“I’m a perfectly fulfilled person,” he said of his decision to remain celibate. “But it’s very physiological.”
Gunn held back tears at multiple points and spoke of his ex-partner, someone who he described as “impatient with my sexual performance,” which prompted the 58-year old to go the abstinence route.
But Gunn also went out of his way to emphasize that sex is not everything. Far from it, in fact, stating simply:
LONDON (Reuters) ? The brains of people tripping on magic mushrooms have given the best picture yet of how psychedelic drugs work and British scientists say the findings suggest such drugs could be used to treat depression.
Two separate studies into the effects of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, showed that contrary to scientists’ expectations, it does not increase but rather suppresses activity in areas of the brain that are also dampened with other anti-depressant treatments.
“Psychedelics are thought of as ‘mind-expanding’ drugs so it has commonly been assumed that they work by increasing brain activity,” said David Nutt of Imperial College London, who gave a briefing about the studies on Monday. “But, surprisingly, we found that psilocybin actually caused activity to decrease in areas that have the densest connections with other areas.”
These so-called “hub” regions of the brain are known to play a role in constraining our experience of the world and keeping it orderly, he said.
“We now know that deactivating these regions leads to a state in which the world is experienced as strange.”
In the first study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal, 30 volunteers had psilocybin infused into their blood while they were inside magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, which measure changes in brain activity.
It found activity decreased in “hub” regions and many volunteers described a feeling of the cogs being loosened and their sense of self being altered.
The second study, due to be published in the British Journal of Psychiatry on Thursday, involved 10 volunteers and found that psilocybin enhanced their recollections of personal memories.
Robin Carhart Harris from Imperial’s department of medicine, who worked on both studies, said the results suggest psilocybin could be useful as an adjunct to psychotherapy.
Nutt cautioned that the new research was very preliminary and involved only small numbers of people.
“We’re not saying go out there and eat magic mushrooms,” he said. “But…this drug has such a fundamental impact on the brain that it’s got to be meaningful — it’s got to be telling us something about how the brain works. So we should be studying it and optimizing it if there’s a therapeutic benefit.”
“FUNDAMENTAL IMPACT”
The key areas of the brain identified — one called the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and another called the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) — are the subject of debate among neuroscientists, but the PCC is thought by many to have a role in consciousness and self-identity.
The mPFC is known to be hyperactive in depression, and the researchers pointed out that other key treatments for depression including medicines like Prozac, as well as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and deep brain stimulation, also appear to suppress mPFC activity.
Psilocybin’s dampening action on this area may make it a useful and potentially long-acting antidepressant, Carhart-Harris said.
The studies also showed that psilocybin reduced blood flow in the hypothalamus – a part of the brain where people who suffer from a condition known as cluster headaches often have increased blood flow. This could explain why some cluster headache sufferers have said their symptoms improved after taking the psychedelic drug, the researcher said.
The studies, which are among only a handful conducted into psychedelic substances since the 1960s and 1970s, revive a promising field of study into mind-altering drugs which some experts say can offer powerful and sustained mood improvement and relief from anxiety.
Other experts echoed Nott’s caution: “These findings are very interesting from the research viewpoint, but a great deal more work would be needed before most psychiatrists would think that psilocybin was a safe, effective and acceptable adjunct to psychotherapy,” said Nick Craddock, a psychiatry professor from Cardiff University.
Kevin Healy, chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ faculty of medical psychotherapy said it was interesting research “but we are clearly nowhere near seeing psilocybin used regularly and widely in psychotherapy practice.”
LONDON (AP) ? News of the World journalists used phone hacking, harassment and lies to secure scoops on missing British schoolgirl Milly Dowler, police reported Monday, detailing a litany of abusive press practices.
In one incident, someone impersonated the teen’s mother and called a potential witness to ask for information about the 13-year-old, who was found dead months later in September 2002. British police did not specify who made the bogus call.
The new details about the News of the World’s relentless pursuit of information about the Dowler case, revealed in a letter to lawmakers released Monday, illuminate one of the most sordid episodes of the British phone hacking saga.
The scandal over illegal practices at the now-defunct tabloid exploded in July after the Guardian newspaper reported that the News of the World had intercepted Dowler’s voicemail messages while she was still considered missing.
The revelation that journalists had invaded a murdered girl’s privacy to score scoops horrified Britons and led to a cascade of lawsuits, resignations, arrests and official inquiries.
Surrey Police Deputy Chief Constable Jerry Kirkby, whose force investigated the girl’s disappearance, said in the letter that the News of the World freely admitted to police that they’d broken into Dowler’s voicemail, saying they had obtained her cell phone number and password from fellow schoolchildren.
Kirkby also said a potential witness called his force to complain that a News of the World reporter was harassing him for information. He said the reporter claimed to be working in “full cooperation” with police.
Kirkby said the “reporter’s assertion that he was working with the police was untrue.” The reporter’s name was redacted from the letter.
The most troubling incident outlined in Kikby’s letter was a pair of phone calls made to a recruitment agency by someone claiming to be the teenager’s mother, Sally Dowler, on April 13, 2002.
At the time, the News of the World wrongly believed Dowler had run away to find work with the agency and was staking out the premises with what one employee described as “hordes of reporters.”
Dowler family attorney Mark Lewis said in an email that Sally Dowler never made the call.
“No doubt there will be current investigations as to who that was,” he said.
Lewis also asked why Surrey Police did not act sooner to investigate the deception, saying that “no thought seems to have been given to the effect on the Dowler family.”
An email seeking comment from News International, the News of the World’s former publisher, was not immediately returned.
SANTIAGO, Chile ? Chilean students, opposition politicians and union workers are leading a two-day nationwide strike to fight for fundamental changes in government. Some people are stoning buses and burning barricades as Santiago’s streets fill with tear gas. Protesters planned marches downtown, but the government has warned them to stay out, threatening to invoke Chile’s [...]
? LO: This interview is dedicated to Tim Harrison, because he?s my beer sensei, and he is my beer sensei because he introduced me to Lagunitas beer. Laganitas Brewery was started by Tony McGee in West Marin County in 1993. They have since moved to Petaluma. If my numbers are correct, they produced more than [...]
Looking like the runt of RIM’s newest BlackBerry litter, the Curve Touch 9380 has recently surfaced on a German site starring in its own silent movie. The video, taken by MacBerry.de, shows off the mini-BB handset — née Orlando / Malibu — running the company’s OS 7 and confirming those NFC-capable rumors. A side-by-side comparison [...]
Oil prices rose to $96 a barrel Tuesday as concerns about Iran’s nuclear activities outweighed uncertainty about how Italy will handle its mounting sovereign debt crisis. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for December delivery was up 56 cents at $96.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract [...]
All too often, colleagues who sit steps from one another can get into an argument over email and drag a whole department into their turf war. The resulting damage control can waste time, waste energy, and damage professional relationships, and in the end no one comes away looking good. Instead, just pick up the phone [...]
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Public release date: 24-Jan-2012
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