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Chavez at helm, again
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez waves the national flag from a balcony at Miraflores Palace in Caracas. — Reuters
2 share medicine Nobel for stem cell work
Shinya Yamanaka (L) of Kyoto University in Japan and John Gurdon of the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, Britain, discovered ways to create tissue that would act like embryonic cells, without the need to harvest embryos.
Maldives ex-Prez Nasheed arrested
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Chavez at helm, again
Caracas, October 8 Tens of thousands of ecstatic supporters thronged the streets around the presidential palace overnight, pumping fists in the air after the former soldier beat opposition candidate Henrique Capriles by 9 percentage points. The new six-year term will let Chavez consolidate his control over Venezuela's economy, possibly by extending a wave of nationalisations, and continue his support for left-wing allies in Latin America and around the world. "This has been the perfect battle, a democratic battle," Chavez thundered from the palace balcony late on Sunday, holding up a replica of the sword of independence hero Simon Bolivar. It was an extraordinary victory for a leader who just a few months ago feared for his life as he struggled to recover from cancer. He won 54.4 percent of the vote, with 90 per cent of the ballots counted, compared with 45 per cent for Capriles. Turnout was a record 80 per cent of registered voters, boosting Chavez's democratic credentials despite critics' depiction of him as a dictator. Supporters dripping with sweat strained to catch a glimpse of Chavez from the street below the palace while dancing and drinking rum. "Chavez, the people are with you!" they chanted. "He will keep protecting the poor, the defenseless and the old," said teacher Gladys Montijo, 54, weeping with joy. The victory was considerably slimmer than his win by 25 percentage points in 2006, reflecting growing frustration at his failure to fix problems such as crime, blackouts and corruption. In a nod to those complaints, Chavez said he would be more focused in his new term beginning on Jan. 10. "Today we start a new cycle of government, in which we must respond with greater efficacy and efficiency to the needs of our people," he said. "I promise you I'll be a better President." A retired lieutenant colonel who first won fame with a failed 1992 coup, Chavez has become Latin America's main anti-US agitator, criticising Washington while getting close to its adversaries, including Cuba, Syria and Iran.
— Reuters
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2 share medicine Nobel for stem cell work
Stockholm, October 8 John Gurdon, 79, of the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, Britain, and Shinya Yamanaka, 50, of Kyoto University in Japan, discovered ways to create tissue that would act like embryonic cells, without the need to harvest embryos. They share the $1.2 million Nobel Prize for Medicine, for work Gurdon began 50 years ago and Yamanaka capped with a 2006 experiment that transformed the field of "regenerative medicine" - the field of curing disease by re-growing healthy tissue. "These groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and specialisation of cells," the Nobel Assembly at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute said. All of the body's tissue starts as stem cells, before developing into skin, blood, nerves, muscle and bone. The big hope for stem cells is that they can be used to replace damaged tissue in everything from spinal cord injuries to Parkinson's disease. Scientists once thought it was impossible to turn adult tissue back into stem cells, which meant that new stem cells could only be created by harvesting embryos - a practice that raised ethical qualms in some countries and also means that implanted cells might be rejected by the body. In 1958, Gurdon was the first scientist to clone an animal, producing a healthy tadpole from the egg of a frog with DNA from another tadpole's intestinal cell. That showed developed cells still carry the information needed to make every cell in the body, decades before other scientists made headlines around the world by cloning the first mammal, Dolly the sheep. More than 40 years later, Yamanaka produced mouse stem cells from adult mouse skin cells, by inserting a few genes. His breakthrough effectively showed that the development that takes place in adult tissue could be reversed, turning adult cells back into cells that behave like embryos. The new stem cells are known as "induced pluripotency stem cells", or iPS cells. "The eventual aim is to provide replacement cells of all kinds," Gurdon's Institute explains on its website. "We would like to be able to find a way of obtaining spare heart or brain cells from skin or blood cells. The important point is that the replacement cells need to be from the same individual, to avoid problems of rejection and hence of the need for immunosuppression." The science is still in its early stages, and among important concerns is the fear that iPS cells could grow out of control and develop into tumours. Nevertheless, in the six years since Yamanaka published his findings the discoveries have already produced dramatic advances in medical research, with none of the political and ethical issues raised by embryo harvesting.
— Reuters
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Maldives ex-Prez Nasheed arrested
Wearing gas masks and riot gear, armed police stormed a house on Fares-Mathoda in Gaaf Dhaal Atoll, breaking down the door, and took into custody Nasheed, who not had only refused to appear in court but had also ignored a travel ban restricting his movement only to Male. The police move follows the Hulhumale Magistrate Court yesterday issuing a warrant for Nasheed's arrest and presentation in court tomorrow. The court ordered Nasheed's arrest after he questioned legitimacy of a special court to try him on charges of abuse of power. He is facing charges of power abuse over the arrest and subsequent detention of Chief Criminal Judge Abdulla Mohamed during his last days in office. Nasheed was forced to resign in February following protests. The ex-President was today escorted by at least a dozen officers and was taken away by boat to capital Male. If found guilty Nasheed faces a maximum sentence of three years in jail or exile or a fine not exceeding MVR 2,000. If Nasheed is convicted and sentenced to a period of more than one year, he would be disqualified from contesting in the upcoming Presidential election.
— PTI
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Assange supporters told to pay up bail sureties by November 6
20,000 websites blocked in Pakistan Syrian rebel bastions pounded, 61 killed 21 Egyptian soldiers killed in mishap
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promised to deepen his socialist revolution after a comfortable election victory that could extend to 20 years his polarizing leadership of the South American OPEC nation.
that adult cells can be transformed back into embryo-like stem cells that may one day re-grow tissue in damaged brains, hearts or other organs.
Male, October 8
