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Friday, 28 October 2011
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Convicted killer who escaped Florida prison nabbed (Reuters)
ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) ? A convicted killer who escaped from a Florida jail with his cellmate by crawling through air conditioning vents and then scaling razor-topped fences has been captured, police said on Tuesday.
Leviticus Uriah Taylor, 25, was caught on Monday evening after a sheriff's deputy spotted him walking down a road.
"When the agent asked if he was Taylor, he said, 'It's me.' And there was no struggle at all. He had presumably been out all night and was wanting to come in," Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar said.
Loar added that two women who he said had confessed to aiding in the escape effort were also in custody. Taylor's cellmate, Rondell H. Reed, 52, remained at large.
The women -- 19-year-old Sadie Welker, who said she was Taylor's girlfriend, and Angela Pike, 35 -- were arrested on charges of aiding an escaped inmate and were being held on $100,000 bonds.
The two men were discovered missing from their beds shortly before 5 a.m. on Monday during a routine head count at the Indian River County Jail, Loar said. The women told investigators that Taylor called them at 2:30 a.m. to pick him up at an apartment complex.
Loar described the escape plan as elaborate and said the inmates made use of the jail's air conditioning system to get out of the building and used clothing or blankets to help scale multiple razor-wire-topped fences.
Welker told investigators she had discussed the escape plan with Taylor numerous times and had waited at a planned rendezvous point for three nights before the inmates finally made their break, her arrest affidavit said.
Taylor was scheduled to be sentenced on November 10 for his first-degree murder conviction in the 2009 killing of a man in the course of a home burglary. Reed was awaiting trial over the killing of his sister's boyfriend.
(Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
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Flat tax renews fight on 'trickle-down economics' (AP)
WASHINGTON ? The flat tax is making a comeback among Republican presidential candidates. But it faces tough opposition in Congress because it tends to favor the rich at the expense of other taxpayers, renewing an old debate about "trickle-down economics."
Most of the top GOP contenders ? Mitt Romney's an exception ? offer a variation of the tax plan in which everyone pays the same rate. Businessman Herman Cain has his 9-9-9 proposal, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry unveiled a 20 percent flat tax on income this week. Even Romney foresees a flatter tax system in the future, though he favors something closer to the current setup in the short term.
The idea of a flat tax has long been championed by conservative politicians as being simple and fair. Publisher Steve Forbes made it a centerpiece of his Republican presidential campaigns in 1996 and 2000. Forbes has endorsed Perry, calling his economic plan "the most exciting plan since (Ronald) Reagan's."
"American families deserve a system that is low, flat and fair," Perry wrote in his tax plan. "They should be able to file their taxes on a postcard instead of a massive novel-length document."
Conservative economists argue a flat tax would promote long-term economic growth by lowering taxes on the people who save and invest the greatest share of their income: the wealthy.
Lowering taxes on the wealthy, however, could prove politically difficult, especially now, with protesters around the country occupying public spaces and calling for the rich to pay more. President Barack Obama and many Democrats in Congress also want higher taxes for the highest-income Americans.
"It's all about political rhetoric," said William McBride, an economist the Tax Foundation, a conservative think tank. "The inevitable result of shifting the tax burden away from saving and investment is that you reduce the tax burden on the rich."
Liberals and many moderates complain that a flat tax is a giveaway to the rich, renewing an old debate over whether the benefits of tax cuts for those at the top trickle down to the rest of the population.
"This idea of lowering taxes on high-income people and somehow middle class people will benefit has been there for a long time," said Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "Obviously it hasn't worked very well."
Flat tax plans by both Cain and Perry have provisions to protect low-income families from tax increases. But that raises questions about who will be left to pay the tab, said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
"If you exempt the low-income people from higher taxes, if you cut the taxes for the wealthy, getting the same amount of revenue means the middle class are going to pay more, a lot more," Williams said.
The federal income tax currently has six marginal tax rates, also known as tax brackets. The lowest rate is 10 percent, and it applies to taxable income up to $17,000, for a married couple filing jointly. The top tax rate is 35 percent, on taxable income above $379,150.
"Taxable income" is income after deductions and exemptions, which can greatly reduce the amount that is taxed. There are also many tax credits that can further reduce tax bills.
In all, nearly half of U.S. households pay no federal income tax because their incomes are so low or because they qualify for so many tax breaks, according to the Tax Policy Center. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 pay, on average, 7.2 percent of their income in federal income taxes.
By contrast, the top 10 percent of households, in terms of income, pay more than half of all federal taxes and more than 70 percent of federal income taxes, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Cain's plan would scrap most of the current tax system. He would eliminate the payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, and replace the progressive federal income tax with a flat 9 percent tax on income. He would lower the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 9 percent, and impose a new 9 percent national sales tax. The tax on capital gains would be eliminated.
The only income tax deductions allowed under Cain's original plan were for charitable contributions. He has since said people living below the poverty line ? $22,314 for a family of four ? would also be exempt from income tax.
Perry's plan would impose an optional 20 percent flat tax. Families could choose between the current tax structure and a new 20 percent tax on income, presumably picking the one that taxes them the least.
Perry's flat tax would preserve deductions for mortgage interest, charitable donations and state and local taxes. It also includes a $12,500 exemption for individuals and their dependents, meaning a family of four could make $50,000 and pay no federal income tax.
Perry's plan would reduce the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 20 percent and would eliminate the tax on dividends and long-term capital gains.
Romney's tax plan would initially maintain the current tax rates, extending sweeping tax cuts that were enacted under former President George W. Bush and extended through 2012 by Obama. Romney would eliminate taxes on capital gains, dividends and interest for taxpayers with adjusted gross income below $200,000. He would push to lower the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 25 percent.
In the long term, Romney would "pursue a conservative overhaul of the tax system that includes lower and flatter rates on a broader tax base."
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Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Survey: Economists more bleak about US economy (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Fewer U.S. companies expect to hire new workers in coming months, as business economists grow increasingly pessimistic about the overall economy's growth in the coming year.
Nearly 85 percent of economic experts surveyed expect the economy to grow at a meager 2 percent or less over the next 12 months, according to the National Association for Business Economists. In July only 23 percent of the survey's respondents predicted such slow growth.
Additionally, the number of companies that plan to hire more workers fell from 42 percent to 30 percent, while the number of companies laying workers off rose. The group reports that 13 percent of respondents have reduced their staff, up from 8 percent in July.
One-fifth of the economists say the European debt crisis has hurt sales, with the average estimate around 10 percent, and 30 percent expect the squeeze to continue into the first quarter of 2012.
The quarterly survey includes the views of 70 economists for private companies and trade groups who are NABE members. The data are reported by broad industry group.
About one-quarter of respondents reported increased profitability since the last quarter, compared with 16 percent who reported declines. Companies that reported improved profit margins include those in the food, transportation, utilities, information and communications sectors.
On Sunday, European leaders yet again put off tough decisions which economists say are needed to save the continent from its debt crisis. Earlier in the weekend officials said the leaders were nearing agreement on slashing Greece's debts and strengthening the continent's banks, many of which are awash in Greek bonds.
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Tuesday, 25 October 2011
New floods force displaced Thais to move again
Houses are soaked in floodwaters at Nonthaburi province north of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra issued a dramatic warning to residents of the Thai capital to prepare for floodwaters to roll deeper into the city from suburban areas already choking under the deluge. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Houses are soaked in floodwaters at Nonthaburi province north of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra issued a dramatic warning to residents of the Thai capital to prepare for floodwaters to roll deeper into the city from suburban areas already choking under the deluge. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Residents wade through floodwaters at their residential area in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra issued a dramatic warning to residents of the Thai capital to prepare for floodwaters to roll deeper into the city from suburban areas already choking under the deluge. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
Flood victims make their way on a platform from a relief center to a waiting bus during a relocation operation at Thammasart University on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. The governor of Bangkok issued a dramatic warning late Sunday to residents of the Thai capital to prepare for floodwaters to roll deeper into the city from suburban areas already choking under the deluge. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
Houses are submerged in floodwaters in Nonthaburi Province, north of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra issued a dramatic warning to residents of the Thai capital to prepare for floodwaters to roll deeper into the city from suburban areas already choking under the deluge. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Factories were submerge in floodwaters at the Rojana industrial district in Ayutthaya, central Thailand, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Ayutthaya, a city north of Bangkok has been submerged for more than two weeks as Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra issued a dramatic warning to residents of Thai capital to prepare for floodwaters to roll deeper into the city from suburban areas already choking under the deluge. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
RANGSIT, Thailand (AP) ? Supanee Pansuwan has already picked up and moved four times since fast-rising floodwaters began swallowing her home in central Thailand a month ago. Now, as the murky waters threaten the shelter on the outskirts of Bangkok where she's lived for the past two weeks, she's being asked to flee again.
"I believe the water is chasing me," she said Monday, sitting on the floor of a dark university gymnasium that has served as one of Thailand's main evacuation centers since the worst floods in half a century swamped many people's lives. "Anywhere I go, the water will follow me. So if I make another move, I think the water will follow me again."
Supanee's fears and confusion over where to go and how bad the flooding is going to get are shared by many Thais. Since the floodwaters began inundating areas north of the capital of 9 million two weeks ago, Bangkok residents have been on edge while watching the waters creep closer to the city center each day.
Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra warned residents in a televised address late Sunday that a large volume of water is surging forward faster than expected and is threatening six districts as it moves closer to the city's more developed areas, including neighborhoods near Chatuchuk weekend market, a popular shopping stop for tourists.
Sukhumbhand said the waters also are expected to swamp the Don Muang area just north of the city proper. The area is home to Bangkok's old airport, which is now being used as the headquarters for the anti-flood effort and as a shelter for evacuees.
Facing public pressure and scrutiny from the media, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra tried to downplay any notion that her government was not being upfront with information, following a number of upbeat statements that have conflicted with Sukhumbhand's more menacing assessments. The conflict has a political tinge since Sukhumbhand is a prominent member of the opposition Democrat Party, which was ousted from power by Yingluck just a few months ago.
"This is the third month that water came into Thailand, since July, in the form of four consecutive storms," Yingluck told reporters Monday. "Normally, if one storm hits, the runoff will be drained off from the dams and there will be a break. We've never hidden anything from the people. We've informed them about every solution we've taken."
Yingluck said over the weekend that the waters may take up to six weeks to recede to manageable proportions around Bangkok, while the flood response agency said the threat that floodwaters will inundate the capital could ease by early November as record-high levels in the rivers carrying torrents of water from the country's north begin to decline.
On Monday, cars were double-parked on parts of an elevated highway near Don Muang to escape the water. The smell of raw sewage mixed with the swift currents sweeping across parts of the main highway a bit farther north in Pathum Thani province near Thammasat University, where the military was helping to evacuate hundreds of flood victims who carried their few belongings slung across their backs in garbage bags.
Of the 4,000 people who had sought refuge at the university ? now surrounded by water 5 feet (1.6 meters) deep ? 700 headed for Bangkok's National Stadium on Monday. More than 100,000 others have been left homeless nationwide since heavy monsoon rains began overpowering the country's network of rivers and canals, submerging an area roughly the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut.
More than 100 patients from hospitals in Bangkok, including Thammasat University's hospital, were moved over the weekend to regional facilities, the government said Monday.
The flooding began in August in northern Thailand and has killed 356 people and delivered an economic blow to industry and agriculture. Damage is already estimated at $6 billion, but that could double if Bangkok is badly hit.
Anxiety is high, as nervous Bangkok residents scramble to build sandbag barricades around their homes and businesses, not sure if or when the water will come. Drinking water, rice, canned food and toilet paper is hard to find in many supermarkets as shoppers race to hoard supplies.
Those like Supanee, who is from the old capital of Ayutthaya, which has been submerged for more than two weeks, are no longer worried about will come, but now fear what they will find when they finally go home. The water came fast, but Supanee's family managed to drag most of their furniture and electronics upstairs ? it still wasn't high enough. The floodwater surged chest-high on the second floor.
From there, the extended family of seven fled to a Buddhist temple until it was overrun with water, and then were forced to leave a tent at city hall. They later bounced from one gym to another at Thammasat University, and are now determined to ride it out there, despite risking food and water shortages to stay put. Electricity has already been cut.
"It's quite hard to move to another place," Supanee said, smiling, while trying to stay positive about the fact that her family will now have more room. "I'm tired of moving."
___
Associated Press writer Vee Intarakratug contributed to this report.
(This version removes incorrect reference to Supanee's car in paragraph 14)
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Google launches Person Finder app following earthquake in Turkey
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Gaddafi unburied, Libyans maneuver for new era (Reuters)
MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) ? Muammar Gaddafi's body lay still unburied as Libya's new men of power wrangled over its fate and a formal announcement the war was over, a move the outgoing premier said on Saturday should mean free elections in the middle of next year.
Mahmoud Jibril, an expatriate academic who has been prime minister in the Western-backed rebel government, confirmed he was stepping down and that the coming days would be a critical test of how the new leadership and Libya's six million people could handle their freedom after 42 years at Gaddafi's whim.
In Misrata, the once besieged city whose rebel fighters are pushing claims for a big stake in a "reborn," oil-rich Libya, they guarded the market cold store where, for a second day, the curious and the relieved filed in to view the fallen strongman, whose surprise capture and killing in his home town of Sirte on Thursday sparked joy -- and renewed jockeying for influence.
Gaddafi's surviving family, in exile, have asked that his body, and that of his son Mo'tassim, be handed over to tribal kinsmen from Sirte. Officials with the National Transitional Council (NTC) said they were trying to arrange a secret resting place that would avoid loyalist supporters making it a shrine.
In Benghazi, Libya's second city and seat of the revolt in February, leaders were preparing a formal declaration on Sunday that the whole country was "liberated," a move that starts the clock ticking on a plan to install a transitional government, draft a constitution and institute full democracy by 2013.
The announcement has been expected, and delayed, since Thursday, amid arguments over whether Benghazi or the capital Tripoli, captured in August, should have the honor.
ANARCHY
Anarchy has been a defining characteristic of the disparate movement that fought Gaddafi for eight months across vast tracts of desert and Jibril, criticized by some in the anti-Gaddafi forces, made clear at an international business conference in Jordan that progress would require great resolution:
"First, what kind of resolve the NTC will show in the next few days," he said. "And the other thing depends mainly on the Libyan people - whether they differentiate between the past and the future ... I am counting on them to look ahead and remember the kind of agony they went through in the last 42 years."
For some, there are encouraging signs, notably that the two-month gap between the fall of Tripoli and the death of Gaddafi has not seen fighting between different factions. Comparisons with Iraq after Saddam Hussein are tempered by the absence of the sectarian divide which has ravaged that country.
However, as in Iraq, there are vast energy resources at stake and a host of international powers keen to exploit them.
In a thinly populated country that was only united in the 1930s under Italian colonial rule, regional enmities may thrive, as well as differences between Islamists and secularists and ethnic tensions between Arabs and Berbers.
"THE CAKE IS NOW"
In Misrata, where Gaddafi's body lay, bearing bullet wounds that many assume were inflicted by fighters from the city who found him hiding in a storm drain, one field commander voiced his concern that trouble was brewing:
"The fear now is what is going to happen next," he said, speaking to Reuters privately.
"There is going to be regional in-fighting. You have Zintan and Misrata on one side and then Benghazi and the east ... There is in-fighting even inside the army.
"The cake is now and everybody wants to take a piece."
For Misratans, who endured months of bloody siege but fought off Gaddafi's army and played an important role in taking Tripoli, the body of the fallen strongman is only the latest trophy of war to be brought back to the city. Fighters had previously brought back statues and other emblems of Gaddafi's rule, seized from Tripoli.
Jibril, who said he planned to step down as previously announced now that fighting was over, described Gaddafi's death as leaving him feeling personally "relieved and reborn."
Libya now needed a vision to unite people behind and to diversify the economy away from oil and gas exports: "We need to seize this very limited opportunity," he said. "We should use this time properly to build an alternate economy as fast as possible."
Gaddafi's family and international human rights groups have urged a inquiry into how Gaddafi, 69, was killed, when gory cellphone video footage showed him alive but being beaten and taunted by his captors on Thursday. Jibril said on the day that Gaddafi was killed in "crossfire" when his supporters opened fire on the ambulance that was taking him to hospital.
But an ambulance driver in Sirte told Reuters that the former leader was already dead by the time he picked him up.
His death marked the end of what might have been another Arab dynasty, although his son and heir-apparent Saif al-Islam was still at large. NTC officials believe he escaped from Sirte.
Despite the qualms of some abroad, few Libyans are prepared to spare much of a thought for how Gaddafi met his end.
But some have expressed unease at the way his body has been treated - Muslim custom dictates it should have been buried by sundown on Thursday - and at other aspects that touch on matters of religion and respect for the dead.
DAUGHTER'S CALL
One senior figure among the fighters in Misrata told Reuters that he was ashamed of the way one man broke the news of his death to Gaddafi's own daughter, Aisha, who happened to call on a satellite phone that was found when he died.
"Aisha called and one of the revolutionaries answered her," the commander said. "He said: 'It's over. Abu Shafshufa died'."
Using a nickname derived from Gaddafi's distinctive long ringlets - approximately 'Old Fuzzhead' - had been an affront to decency, he added: "It's shameful. It is his daughter."
Aisha, her mother and two of her brothers fled to Algeria after the fall of Tripoli. Aisha gave birth on the day she arrived. The government in Algiers angered the NTC by refusing to send them back. But an Algerian newspaper on Saturday quoted official sources saying that, following the death of the head of the family, they might now reconsider.
In a statement on a Syria-based pro-Gaddafi television station, the ousted dictator's family asked for the bodies of Gaddafi, his son Mo'tassim, and others: "We call on the UN, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and Amnesty International to force the Transitional Council to hand over the martyrs' bodies to our tribe in Sirte and to allow them to perform their burial ceremony in accordance with Islamic customs and rules," the statement said.
At an understated and thinly attended news conference late on Friday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Western alliance had taken a preliminary decision to call a halt to Operation Unified Protector on October 31.
Like other Western officials, Rasmussen expressed no regrets in public about the gruesome death of the deposed Libyan dictator, who was captured alive by the forces of the National Transitional Council but was brought dead to a hospital.
"We mounted a complex operation with unprecedented speed and conducted it with the greatest of care," Rasmussen said. "I'm very proud of what we have achieved."
The NATO operation, officially intended to protect civilians, effectively ended on Thursday with French warplanes blasting Gaddafi's convoy as he and others tried to escape.
(Additional reporting by Taha Zargoun and Tim Gaynor in Sirte, Barry Malone, Yasmine Saleh and Jessica Donati in Tripoli, Brian Rohan in Benghazi, Jon Hemming and Andrew Hammond in Tunis, Samia Nakhoul in Amman, Christian Lowe in Algiers, Tom Pfeiffer at Dead Sea, Jordan, David Brunnstrom in Brussels; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Tim Pearce)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111022/wl_nm/us_libya
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Monday, 24 October 2011
Moderates stall rise of Swiss nationalists (AP)
BERN, Switzerland ? Swiss voters backed moderate forces in a general election Sunday in which nationalists failed in their effort to break through the 30 percent barrier with a campaign heavy on anti-immigrant sentiment.
The nationalist Swiss People's Party, or SVP, was projected to take 25.9 percent of the vote for the lower house, a drop of 3 percent on four years ago, according to public television station SF.
"We didn't achieve our election goal," People's Party president Toni Brunner conceded as results trickled in.
The party's rise was stalled by the Conservative Democratic Party whose members split from the SVP in 2007, and the centrist Green Liberal Party, which successfully rode a wave of anti-nuclear sentiment following the disaster at Japan's Fukushima plant in March.
Both are expected to receive about 5.3 percent of the vote for the 200-seat National Council. Voters are also deciding on 45 of 46 seats for the upper house, or Council of States.
The panoply of political parties in Switzerland makes for intense haggling after every election, as each group demands fair representation in the country's cross-party government.
The result is a unique "magic formula," designed to condense complex electoral results into a seven-member Cabinet capable of governing by consensus in spite of sometimes widely differing views.
Despite its worse-than-expected result, the People's Party retains the biggest share of the vote and immediately laid claim to two Cabinet seats.
The party has built up a strong base of voters with campaigns warning of immigrants spoiling an Alpine nation that's been an oasis of relative stability within stormy Europe.
In its campaign, the People's Party accused foreigners of driving up Switzerland's crime rate, and called for those convicted of crimes to be deported. It also wants to reintroduce quotas on immigration from the 27 countries of the European Union, of which Switzerland isn't a member, illustrating the point with striking posters of black boots stomping on the Swiss flag with the message "Stop Mass Immigration."
The number of foreigners living in Switzerland rose almost 3 percent to 1.7 million over the past year ? mostly Italians, Germans, Portuguese and Serbs. Switzerland, along with Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, has one of the highest proportions of foreign inhabitants in Europe.
They account for one of every five of the country's nearly 7.9 million permanent residents, and mostly live in the large cities of Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Lausanne and Bern.
Many foreigners who work in Switzerland come for jobs for which they're considered highly qualified, but that hasn't stopped the Swiss from worrying that the influx of outsiders in their midst is spurring a rise in crime, house prices and joblessness.
For some voters, however, the People's Party's relentless focus on foreigners went too far.
Pushing a stroller in the capital Bern with his twin 1-year-old sons ? half Swiss, half Sri Lankan ? architect Timo Odoni pointed to one of the nationalists' posters.
"I just can't stand how they do their posters because it reminds me of 60 years before, in Germany, a little bit. And we have to do something about it," Odoni said.
"I certainly will vote the green and left parties," he said. "We have no problem with immigration, really. We have other problems, but not this problem."
___
Frank Jordans contributed to this report from Geneva.
___
Follow John Heilprin at http://www.twitter.com/JohnHeilprin
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Sunday, 23 October 2011
OU, Wisconsin fall, LSU-Bama set for 1 vs. 2 game (AP)
NEW YORK ? No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama have locked in their spots for the biggest regular-season game in Southeastern Conference history.
The Tigers and Crimson Tide held the first two spots in The Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday after huge victories a day earlier. With both heading into an off week, LSU and Alabama are virtually assured of meeting on Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa as the top two teams in the country.
It'll be the second 1 vs. 2 matchup involving SEC teams, but the first time came in the conference championship game.
Oklahoma, the preseason No. 1, dropped eight spots to No. 11 after its first loss of the season. The Sooners fell 41-38 to Texas Tech on Saturday night, snapping a 39-game home winning streak. The Red Raiders moved into the ranking for the first time this season at No. 19.
Wisconsin also dropped eight spots after its first loss of the season, falling to No. 12 following a 37-31 loss to Michigan State on the final play of the game. The Spartans moved up six spots to No. 9.
LSU received 49 first-place votes from the media panel. Alabama got nine and No. 5 Boise State had one.
Oklahoma State is No. 3, followed by fellow unbeatens Stanford, Boise State and Clemson. The Cowboys have their best ranking since Nov. 19, 1984, when they were also No. 3.
In the USA Today coaches' poll, LSU replaced Oklahoma as No. 1, followed by Alabama at No. 2, Stanford at No. 3, Oklahoma State at No. 4 and Boise State at No. 5.
The Harris poll top five was LSU, Alabama, Stanford, Oklahoma State and Boise State.
Those two polls are used in the BCS standings, which were due out Sunday night.
In the AP rankings, No. 6 Clemson has its highest ranking since 2000, when the Tigers spent four weeks at No. 5.
No. 6 Clemson has its highest ranking since 2000, when the Tigers spent four weeks at No. 5.
No. 7 Oregon, Michigan State, Arkansas and undefeated Kansas State round out the top 10.
Moving into the rankings this week along with Texas Tech were No. 20 Southern California, No. 21 Penn State and No. 24 Cincinnati, which is ranked for the first time this season.
Falling out after losses were Washington, Georgia Tech, Illinois and defending national champion Auburn.
Nos. 13-18 were Nebraska, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Michigan and Houston, which has its best ranking since 2009.
Joining the four teams moving into the rankings at the bottom were No. 22 Georgia, No. 23 Arizona State and No. 25 West Virginia.
For Alabama and LSU, the No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup likely will decide which of the SEC West rivals plays in the conference championship and could ultimately determine which teams plays for the national title in New Orleans on Jan. 9.
LSU's only appearance in a 1-2 game was in the BCS title game in 2008. This will be Alabama's sixth No. 1 vs. No. 2 game, but first in the regular season.
The last time there was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in college football not played in a bowl or conference title game was 2006, when No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 2 Michigan on the final weekend of the Big Ten's regular season and went on to lose the BCS championship game to Florida. Earlier that season, top-ranked Ohio State also played No. 2 Texas.
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Cameron Douglas Pleads Guilty to Drug Possession in Jail
Cameron Douglas, the troubled son of Michael Douglas, has pleaded guilty to possessing drugs. While already in prison, serving time for dealing drugs.
The 32-year-old Douglas is serving a five-year federal prison sentence for drug dealing. He pleaded guilty on Thursday to possessing drugs in his cell.
He faces up to another 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Cameron Douglas is charged with possessing items that tested positive for cocaine and heroin, which were found in his prison cell by an investigator.
He also tested positive for methadone, often something that people take when they're coming off a heroin addiction in order to facilitate withdrawal.
In court Thursday, he admitted struggling with addictions to heroin, cocaine and alcohol. "God knows I am sorry," records show he told the judge.
Michael Douglas said in a statement:
"Cameron accepts full responsibility for his conduct, which involved a small user-quantity of drugs. While he has made much progress, he is still not cured."
"Most people and their families are able to address this illness privately and outside of the spotlight. Unfortunately this has not been possible in his case, for reasons completely outside of his control."
"He thanks those that have rooted for his recovery and looks forward to the day when he will not disappoint."
Douglas is scheduled to be sentenced December 21.
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/10/cameron-douglas-pleads-guilty-to-drug-possession-in-jail/
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Friday, 21 October 2011
Jesse Jackson Jr. being investigated for Obama Senate seat scandal
Jesse Jackson Jr,, a Democratic member of the House from Illinois, has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with any wrongdoing. The case was deferred in September 2009.
The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it would move ahead with an investigation of whether Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. tried to buy Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat.
Skip to next paragraphChairman Jo Bonner, R-Ala., and ranking Democrat Linda Sanchez of California said the panel voted Oct. 13 to end its temporary deferral of the case that had been requested by the Justice Department. The department has withdrawn its request.
Jackson, D-Ill., has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with any wrongdoing. The case was deferred in September 2009.
While the future course of the investigation is not clear, the committee has looked at whether Jackson, or someone acting on his behalf, offered to raise funds for then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in return for an appointment to the Senate seat.
The committee previously revealed that the investigation included allegations that Jackson improperly used his staff in Washington and Chicago to mount a public campaign to secure the seat.
Jackson, the son of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, is in his ninth term. He was elected in 2010 with 81 percent of the vote.
Blagojevich, who won two terms as Illinois governor, was convicted last June of a wide range of corruption charges, including trying to sell the Senate seat.
Jackson has acknowledged he was "Senate Candidate A" in the Blagojevich criminal complaint, one of several candidates whom authorities say the former governor considered for the seat.
The congressman's chief of staff, Rick Bryant, said the office had no comment on the announcement.Jackson's attorney, Reid Weingarten, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Kim Nerheim, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, declined to comment on whether the Justice Department has closed its probe of Jackson.
The committee statement said the extension "does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the committee."
The statement said the committee would announce its course of action by Dec. 2.
According to the criminal complaint, Jackson's supporters were willing to raise $1.5 million for Blagojevich if he picked the congressman.
Jackson said in September 2009: "As I've said from the beginning, I have done nothing wrong, nor have I been accused of doing anything wrong. Everyone knew that I was interested in the Senate appointment. I was deeply honored and humbled to receive the support of public officials, organizations and citizens from across the state. My efforts and actions were all public, ethical and legal."
Jackson's alleged use of staff was in a report by the Office of Congressional Ethics, which reviews potential ethical violations by House members and staff and refers cases to the ethics committee of five Democrats and five Republicans.
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An Amazing Robot Sailboat that Kills Oil Spills [Watch This]
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Thursday, 20 October 2011
CNN rolling out one-hour feature on female fighting this Sunday night
CNN will devote an hour to mixed martial arts this weekend with its "Fighting Girls" piece on "CNN Presents."
[...] Today, it's one of the fastest growing sports among men? and now women.? But why would any woman climb into a cage for all-out combat for what amounts to almost nothing?? CNN's Amber Lyon steps into the Octagon to find out.
One hour ? four riveting stories.? Don't miss CNN Presents hosted by CNN's Soledad O'Brien and Dr. Sanjay Gupta this Sunday, October 23 at 8:00 pm ET, re-airing at 11:00 pm ET and 2:00 am ET.
Las Vegas' Michelle Gutierrez is one of the featured fighters. A former boxer, she trains at Throwdown in Sin City.
"The most rewarding part of fighting is the feeling you get when the cage door shuts. It's you alone, fending for yourself, kind of like taking care of yourself in the worst conditions," she states. "It's unlike anything else."
She's a Twitter maniac, but says trash talk isn't needed in fighting.
"My goal in MMA is to break the mold. To be girly, but tough; a striker and a submission artist; a class act that gets along with everyone and avoids the catty call outs," Gutierrez said.
She lifted that rule for a few celebs during a conversation with Bleacher Report last year.
"I would go after Lindsay Lohan because she's so skanky, you know? Snooki is skanky too but there's somewhat of a normal girl underneath all of that hairspray and tan but Lindsay is so pale and sick looking. She needs to get off drugs, go eat some food and go for a run or something," Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez is also the mother of a five-year old.
"I want to be successful at this sport to make my daughter proud. I want her to see that a girl can do anything they want; even fight for a living. And I want to make a name for myself so that I know my mother would have been proud as well."
The CNN piece should be interesting. In the past, the network has been a bit skittish about the sport. How it'll cover the female side of the sport is anyone's guess.
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Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Zombieland Writers Lead Paramount's Micronauts
Click Here for Deadline Email News Alerts - Subscribe Today!
Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1923770/news/1923770/
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Taylor Armstrong: Reality TV Saved My Life!
Taylor Armstrong wants to make it as clear as possible: her late husband beat her often and may have murdered her.
Since the August suicide of Russell Armstrong, this horrific Real Housewife has gone out of her way to paint a negative picture of her daughter's father, giving multiple interviews that detailed Russell's abuse.
Taylor Armstrong: Open mouth. Insert foot. Repeat.
The latest despicable example? A chat with KTLA-TV in which Taylor hypothesizes that Russell may have killed if her not for the higher power above. No, not God. Bravo television.
"I was in an abusive relationship for six years," Taylor said. "If the cameras were not in my life, I might not be sitting here today. A lot of domestic violence situations end in murder-suicide, versus just suicide. I have my daughter with me today, and by the grace of God and, perhaps, reality TV, I'm sitting here and so is she."
Why does Taylor continue to speak out about her personal problems, throwing Russell farther and farther underneath the bus with each interview?
"We're all put on this earth with a plan, a mission, and we're handed a very specific mission through a tragedy," she says. "And If I don't do something with it I'm not doing right by other women, and men, who might be in a dangerous situation."
To anyone who watched the most recent episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, it's clear: Taylor really is all about helping others.
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/10/taylor-armstrong-reality-tv-saved-my-life/
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Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Tell Petland USA to Stop Selling Pets! #BTC4A | DogTipper.com
You are here: Home / News / Tell Petland USA to Stop Selling Pets! #BTC4A
As all our regular readers know, we are strong rescue advocates. Our dogs and cats are all from shelters (except Coco, who was a stray). We love mixed breed dogs but we know that some people want a particular dog breed. Sadly, instead of turning to shelters, breed-specific rescues, or breeders who care about their dogs, many people turn to stores where purebred puppies are sold. In almost every instance, pet store puppies are the sad product of puppy mills, places where dogs are bred until they die or are put to death, doomed to live an unhealthy life under horribly inhumane conditions, producing often unhealthy and maladjusted offspring.
Recently Petland Canada stores stopped selling pets?but Petland stores in the US continue to sell pets and perpetuate puppy mills.
Today, bloggers across the blogosphere are writing to draw attention to this problem as part of the Be the Change for Animals campaign. If you have a blog, you can join in the movement by checking out the Be the Change for Animals post.
But everyone, bloggers or not, can help create this change. First and foremost, speak with your dollars. Don?t spend money at Petland USA stores until they stop selling dogs and cats. That doesn?t just mean not purchasing a puppy?that also means not running in the store for a bag of treats, poop bags, or cat litter. No matter how insignificant the purchase might be, take your dollars elsewhere until this practice stops. Reward other pet retailers with your business; many are doing incredible work to help further adoption.
Hopefully, hopefully the leaders of the Petland USA franchise will realize that they can use their stores to be an important part of the solution, not part of the problem. We?re all about positive reinforcement here?let?s hope the lure of potential sales can help retrain Petland USA to stop selling dogs and perpetuating a business that dooms dogs to an unthinkable life and, instead, start helping to find homes for the orphaned pets in this country. Those pet families that adopt pets need pet food and supplies, creating a very large potential market for this retailer...if they stop their current practice of selling pets.
- Paste the following across your social media outlets:
Tell @Petland USA to Stop Selling Pets! Sign the Petition:?http://chn.ge/qT2HNs #BTC4A? #Change
You might also like these posts:
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Source: http://www.dogtipper.com/blog/2011/10/be-the-change-petland-usa-stop-selling-pets.html
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Monday, 17 October 2011
Lawyer for Jackson doctor says key tactic dropped (AP)
LOS ANGELES ? Dr. Conrad Murray's attorney says he knew months before the physician's trial that a theory that Michael Jackson drank a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol would have to be abandoned.
Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan made the statement Friday without the jury present.
Murray, who was not in court for the hearing, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the June 2009 death of the superstar from an overdose of propofol.
The idea of Jackson orally giving himself the fatal dose was long touted by defense attorneys as a centerpiece of their case. Documents had been filed and arguments heard about studies on the issue.
The attorneys have even referred to a fruit juice jar found on Jackson's bedside table, suggesting he had taken the drug with juice.
Flanagan initially dropped the bombshell Wednesday that the defense was abandoning the strategy.
"We are not going to assert at any point in this trial that Michael Jackson at any time orally ingested propofol," said Flanagan, who revealed he had commissioned a study that concluded propofol would not be absorbed into the body when ingested.
But he did not say when the study had been done.
Prosecutors and the judge appeared stunned at the announcement
At Friday's hearing, on a day when testimony was not heard, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren told the judge, "We are dealing with an ever-changing defense. It was just a couple of days ago they abandoned oral propofol."
"Oh, your honor, that is not correct," Flanagan said.
"No?' Walgren asked incredulously.
"We abandoned oral propofol months ago," said Flanagan, saying they were swayed by a report from the leading expert on the drug, who is expected to testify for the prosecution next week.
He said Dr. Steven Shafer had questioned "the bioavailability of oral propofol," meaning whether it would be absorbed into the body if swallowed.
Flanagan said the defense decided to have its own study conducted and, "We determined back in May that bioavailability of oral propofol was not feasible."
Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said he had never been advised in advance that the theory would be dropped. He said he would not be dealing with Walgren's claims of an ever-changing defense.
"I don't have to go there," he said. "It is what it is right now."
Flanagan's disclosure offered a backstage look at possible defense gamesmanship in leading prosecutors to prepare to answer a defense theory that would never be presented.
A defense attorney not involved in the case said it is not an ethical or legal obligation of the defense to keep the prosecution posted on its strategies.
"I don't personally see a violation," said attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. "You're supposed to operate in good faith, but you don't have to tell them every little strategy you intend to employ ... . Maybe this defense team was debating whether to use the issue up to the end."
In opening statements, defense attorney Edward Chernoff told the jury he would allege that Jackson self-administered drugs but did not specifically mention oral ingestion of propofol.
In other developments, the prosecution said its last witness will be Shafer and his testimony could take a day. The defense said it would call 15 witnesses including police officers, experts and some character witnesses. Attorney Nareg Gourjian estimated that would consume the rest of next week.
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McCain rips Obama, warns of ???slippery slope??? with U.S. troops in Uganda (Daily Caller)
The Obama administration surprised a lot of folks late last week when it announced it was sending around 100 American troops to Uganda to help regional forces take out Lord?s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony. But could the United States ultimately end up sending more troops?
While invoking the memory of American operations in Somalia and Lebanon, Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain warned the White House Sunday to not allow the mission in Uganda to spiral into something bigger.
?First of all, I think as you described, one of the most horrible groups ever to inhabit the earth is this Lord?s Resistance Army,? McCain said on CNN?s ?State of the Union.? ?And I think it is appropriate for us to do what we can to prevent and eradicate them. It is a big part of the world. We don?t know any of the details. I remember Somalia. I remember Lebanon. We?ve got to be very careful about how we engage. This slippery slope thing could happen there. I think it?s mainly humanitarian in this case.?
McCain went on to criticize President Obama for not consulting with Congress before announcing the operation.
?This guy [Joseph] Kony and this Lord?s Resistance Army are guilty of unspeakable behavior and the human rights organizations all over the world want this to stop,? McCain said.
?I worry about with the best of intentions we somehow get engaged in a commitment that we can?t get out of, that?s happened before in our history and we need an explanation. And I?m very disappointed, again, that the administration has not consulted with members of Congress before taking such action. I?ve been under four presidents, and this is the least communicative with Congress of any administration that I?ve ever seen. And maybe it has something to do with the polarization of politics, but it is unfortunate.?
Watch:
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McCain rips Obama, warns of 'slippery slope' with U.S. troops in Uganda
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Sunday, 16 October 2011
Video: Matthews on the ?pride? of religion
Insuring against extreme weather
Future of Tech: A high-tech crop insurance company aims to make farming profitable ? and a profit for itself ? by writing policies that offer protection against floods, frosts, droughts and other bouts of crop-damaging weather that are on the rise.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/44896434#44896434
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Saturday, 15 October 2011
UK minister dumps official papers in trash can (AP)
LONDON ? A British minister has acknowledged dumping official documents in garbage cans at a London park, his office said Friday.
Oliver Letwin, a Cabinet Office minister who works on government strategy, was spotted discarding letters, including some related to national security.
Britain's Daily Mirror tabloid reported that Letwin had been seen dropping documents into trash cans in St. James's Park on five occasions, and that some of the documents related to al-Qaida and to inquiries on extraordinary rendition.
Letwin's office insisted that none of the documents were government papers, or that any contained sensitive material.
The minister "does some of his parliamentary and constituency correspondence in the park before going to work and sometimes disposes of copies of letters there," a spokeswoman said, on condition of anonymity in line with policy.
She said the "documents contain no sensitive information on either constituent or government business," but confirmed he would no longer toss the letters into public trash cans.
Prime Minister David Cameron's office said the Cabinet Office was investigating whether or not any sensitive documents were among those that Letwin discarded.
A spokeswoman for Cameron, who also spoke on condition of anonymity in line with policy, said it was not thought Letwin handled sensitive material while working in the park, but mainly read letters from people who live in his Parliamentary district.
"Most of the business which Mr. Letwin does in the park is constituency based," she said.
Britain's Information Commissioner Office said is was making initial inquiries to check whether Letwin may have breached data protection rules, by discarding letters that included the names and addresses of members of the public.
"Keeping personal data secure is a key principle of the Data Protection Act and the Information Commissioner Office takes any breach of that principle very seriously," the commissioner's office said in a statement.
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Eliminate Strain and Improve Your Health and Health and fitness ...
Proper diet ?You are usually what you eat?. A proper diet is needed for a healthy body-mind. It is important to adhere to a proper nutrition program for your ideal body mass and to keep physical and mental wellness. Do not get caught in brand new fads and also diets. Follow a well balanced meal.
Poor health habits, along with a nerve-racking lifestyle could contribute to too much wear on your own body, ultimately causing various health problems and poor quality of lifestyle. The purpose of this information is to educate in regards to the paradigm of a healthful lifestyle, making it possible to achieve and maintain physical and mental well-being. The stress is about stress and also lifestyle management to help you obtain your life function.
The most common symptoms of increased stress level:
Extented exposure to anxiety increases the risk of everything from cardiovascular disease, obesity, as well as infection in order to anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and memory.
The most common the signs of bad health behavior: Ranging from a variety of diseases, early aging, elevated incidence of injuries, emotional and mental disorders, along with poor total quality of life.
Components of a healthy lifestyle paradigm:
Physical exercise: The need to perform some exercise every day. Promotes blood circulation and rewards for the heart, lungs, orthopedic and central nervous system. Choose a pursuit you enjoy and therefore are able to perform without any substantial limitations. Good examples: walking, bicycling, weightlifting, yoga exercises, tai chi, swimming, hiking, and so forth..
Proper diet: ?You are what you eat?. An effective diet is needed for a healthy persona. It is important to follow a proper nourishment program for that ideal body weight and to preserve physical and mental wellbeing. Do not get captured in brand new fads as well as diets. Have a well balanced dinner.
Mind Or Body Awareness: It is very important to be aware of yourself along with your environment with regard to injury avoidance and a healthier lifestyle.
Avoid dangerous activities And habits: Avoid smoking (increased risk of spine disc issues, among other things), alcohol, drugs, etc.. The importance of steering clear of dangerous activities can not be over emphasized. Ultimately, poor routines catch up with anyone.
Author: L. Beverly
Medical Disclaimer:
The health information provided here is general in nature and not to substitute for the advice of a medical professional (i.e. a qualified doctor/physical, nurse, pharmacist/chemist, and so on).
Source: http://eazypleazy.com/eliminate-strain-and-improve-your-health-and-health-and-fitness
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Thursday, 13 October 2011
Scientists reveal surprising picture of how powerful antibody neutralizes HIV
ScienceDaily (Oct. 13, 2011) ? Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered the surprising details of how a powerful anti-HIV antibody grabs hold of the virus. The findings, published in Science Express on October 13, 2011, highlight a major vulnerability of HIV and suggest a new target for vaccine development.
"What's unexpected and unique about this antibody is that it not only attaches to the sugar coating of the virus but also reaches through to grab part of the virus's envelope protein," said the report's co-senior author Dennis Burton, a professor at The Scripps Research Institute and scientific director of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative's (IAVI) Neutralizing Antibody Center, based on the Scripps Research La Jolla campus.
"We can now start to think about constructing mimics of these viral structures to use in candidate vaccines," said co-senior author Ian Wilson, who is Hansen Professor of Structural Biology and member of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at Scripps Research.
Other institutions in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and the Netherlands contributed to the research as part of an ongoing global HIV vaccine development effort.
Getting a Better Grip on HIV
Researchers from the current team recently isolated the new antibody and 16 others from the blood of HIV-infected volunteers, in work they reported online in the journal Nature on August 17, 2011. Since the 1990s, Burton, Wilson, and other researchers have been searching for such "broadly neutralizing" antibodies against HIV -- antibodies that work against many of the various strains of the fast-mutating virus -- and by now have found more than a dozen. PGT 128, the antibody described in the new report, can neutralize about 70 percent of globally circulating HIV strains by blocking their ability to infect cells. It also can do so much more potently -- in other words, in smaller concentrations of antibody molecules -- than any previously reported broadly neutralizing anti-HIV antibody.
The new report illuminates why PGT 128 is so effective at neutralizing HIV. Using the Wilson lab's expertise in X-ray crystallography, Robert Pejchal, a research associate in the Wilson lab, determined the structure of PGT 128 joined to its binding site on molecular mockups of the virus, designed in part by Robyn Stanfield and Pejchal in the Wilson group and Bill Schief, now an IAVI principal scientist and associate professor at Scripps Research, and his group. With these structural data, and by experimentally mutating and altering the viral target site, they could see that PGT 128 works in part by binding to glycans on the viral surface.
Thickets of these sugars normally surround HIV's envelope protein, gp120, largely shielding it from attack by the immune system. Nevertheless, PGT 128 manages to bind to two closely spaced glycans, and at the same time reaches through the rest of the "glycan shield" to take hold of a small part of structure on gp120 known as the V3 loop. This penetration of the glycan shield by PGT 128 was also visualized by electron microscopy with a trimeric form of the gp120/gp41 envelope protein of HIV-1 by Reza Kayat and Andrew Ward of Scripps Research; this revealed that the PGT 128 epitope appears to be readily accessible on the virus.
"Both of these glycans appear in most HIV strains, which helps explain why PGT 128 is so broadly neutralizing," said Katie J. Doores, a research associate in the Burton lab who was one of the report's lead authors. PGT 128 also engages V3 by its backbone structure, which doesn't vary as much as other parts of the virus because it is required for infection.
PGT 128's extreme potency is harder to explain. The antibody binds to gp120 in a way that presumably disrupts its ability to lock onto human cells and infect them. Yet it doesn't bind to gp120 many times more tightly than other anti-HIV antibodies. The team's analysis hints that PGT 128 may be extraordinarily potent because it also binds two separate gp120 molecules, thus tying up not one but two cell-infecting structures. Other mechanisms may also be at work.
Toward an AIDS Vaccine
Researchers hope to use the knowledge of these antibodies' binding sites on HIV to develop vaccines that stimulate a long-term -- perhaps lifetime -- protective antibody response against those same vulnerable sites.
"We'll probably need multiple targets on the virus for a successful vaccine, but certainly PGT 128 shows us a very good target," said Burton.
Intriguingly, the basic motif of PGT 128's target may mark a general vulnerability for HIV. "Other research is also starting to suggest that you can grab onto two glycans and a beta strand and get very potent and broad neutralizing antibodies against HIV," Wilson said.
In addition to Pejchal, Doores, and Khayat, Laura M. Walker of Scripps Research and Po-Ssu Huang of University of Washington at Seattle were co-first authors of the study, "A potent and broad neutralizing antibody recognizes and penetrates the HIV glycan shield." Along with Wilson, Burton, and Ward, additional contributors were Sheng-Kai Wang, Chi-Huey Wong, Robyn L. Stanfield, Jean-Philippe Julien, Alejandra Ramos, Ryan McBride, and James C. Paulson of Scripps Research, and Pascal Poignard, and William R. Schief of Scripps Research, IAVI and University of Washington at Seattle; Max Crispin and Christopher N. Scanlan of the University of Oxford; Rafael Depetris and John P. Moore of Weill Medical College of Cornell University; Umesh Katpally, Andre Marozsan, Albert Cupo, and William C. Olson of Progenics Pharmaceuticals; Sebastien Maloveste of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health; Yan Liu and Ten Feizi of Imperial College, London; Yukishige Ito of the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute in Japan; and Cassandra Ogohara of University of Washington at Seattle.
The research was supported by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the UK Research Councils, the Ragon Institute, and other organizations.
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The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Scripps Research Institute, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111013141816.htm
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