Top Stories
American diplomats unwilling to go to Iraq may be forced, says State Department London's Metropolitan Police Service found guilty in suspected suicide bomber case London's Metropolitan police force has been found guilty of endangering the public during an anti-terrorism operation that lead to the death of an innocent Brazilian man in July of 2005.

Featured story
Stephen Colbert denied South Carolina ballot The South Carolina Democratic Party denied Stephen Colbert's application to run for the state's Presidential primary. "It's your loss Democrats," said Colbert on his Thursday night show.
Wikipedia Current Events
2007 Georgian demonstrations: Tens of thousands of Georgians are protesting outside parliament in the capital, Tbilisi, urging President Mikhail Saakashvili to step down. S.P. Thamilchelvan, the political chief of the Sri Lankan rebel group Tamil Tigers, is killed in an attack by the Sri Lanka Air Force near Kilinochchi. Stocks across Asia drop sharply after a rough Thursday in Europe and the United States, with the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong losing over 1,000 points, or 3.25%, the biggest loss of any Asian market. London's FTSE 100 Index loses ground for a second day after the news in Asia.

Vitamin D deficiency more common, serious, than thought
Two scientists working at McGill University in Canada, reporting on their research and the research of other scientists, state in Scientific American that Vitamin D may have many uses in the human body besides building strong bones.

According to the scientists, Luz E. Tavera-Mendoza and John H. White, Vitamin D intake may also be beneficial in the prevention of cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and fighting tuberculosis, influenza and inflammatory bowel disease. The researchers say that there is an emerging "widespread consensus" among experts that a large part of the population has levels of Vitamin D in their bodies that is well below optimal concentrations for health, particularly in temperate regions, due to decreased sunlight and or less time outdoors, and during or just after the winter months. One study indicated that as much as 92% of adolescent girls in Northern Europe may have deficient levels of Vitamin D and 37% have severely deficient levels.

The problem is far worse among African-Americans than Americans with lighter skins. Almost half of African-American women may be seriously Vitamin D deficient, with presumably still another fraction deficient. Furthermore, the authors say researchers at Harvard University and elsewhere believe the FDA minimum recommended daily allowance of Vitamin D is far too low. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) ranges from 200 to 600 International Units (IU). In fact, the authors themselves take Vitamin D supplements. The first author takes 1000 IU during wintertime and the second author takes 5,000 IU in wintertime. They do caution, however, that there is a level at which Vitamin D becomes toxic.

Similar research has also been recently performed by researchers at the Queensland University of Technology who found that many elderly were likely not getting sufficient Vitamin D due in part to insufficient exposure to the sun.

Broken water main cripples downtown London, Ontario
LONDON, Ontario - Just before 5am on October 31, 2007, a water main broke underground in the middle of downtown London, Ontario at the intersection of Wellington and Dundas. As water gushed 5m up into the air the pavement slowly eroded over several hours eventually causing a giant sinkhole 9m wide and 4m deep; large enough for a city bus to hide in.

The quickly escaping water eventually flooded the entire basement of the Galleria Mall including the underground parking. The flooding affected several major electrical systems and left several downtown businesses over several blocks without power including City Hall, the Galleria Mall, both TD Bank Buildings and CIBC until 9pm that night.

Two arrested after UK police officer critically injured whilst trying to make an arrest
A 42 year-old man and a woman in her thirties have been arrested after a police officer was left critically injured after being hit by a car as she tried to make an arrest in west London this morning.

Police are treating the incident as attempted murder.

Detective Constable Catherine Corbett of West Midlands Police was trying to arrest a man at Sheraton Hotel, near Heathrow Airport when the suspect escaped by car and left the officer with head injuries. She was in London as part of a fraud investigation.

The man was arrested by firearms officers in Birmingham and will be taken to London for questioning. The woman has been held after she contacted the police.

Speaking about Corbett, Assistant Chief Constable Gareth Cann said, "Cathy is an experienced police officer and a very good police officer."

Police have appealed for anyone with any information to contact the Metropolitan Police Incident Room on 020 8358 0400 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Alice Cooper says reality show 'The Osbournes' ruined Ozzy Osbourne's career
Solo American hard shock rock artist Alice Cooper has commented that The Osbournes, a reality TV show starring heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, ruined the career of the Black Sabbath frontman.

Cooper said he felt that by allowing daily life in his house to be broadcast to the world, he destroyed the mystery that had previously surrounded him.

"Most fans thought he lived in a big, dark castle with skeletons in the cellar." said Cooper.

"When that show aired they knew he was just some guy who potters around his Beverly Hills mansion.

"It was meant to be some kind of comedy but the audience was laughing at Ozzy, not with him. And as a close friend, that made me very sad."

Meanwhile, both artists have related news this week. Finnish solo symphonic power metal soprano Tarja Turunen, most famous as the former Nightwish frontwoman, has released a 30-second preview of her cover version of Alice Cooper's top ten hit Poison, which will feature on her upcoming album My Winter Storm.

Cooper himself has stated that during an upcoming tour he will replicate a mock hanging for the first time after a near-fatal accident performing the same stunt in 1988, only this time he will also be wearing a straightjacket.

Meanwhile, Ozzy has blamed illegal music downloads for poor sales of his latest album Black Rain, saying that the low sales has forced him into a 90-gig world tour that he has admitted he can barely cope with.

Genetically altered mice are "superathletes"
Researchers at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio have announced the creation of transgenic mice with substantially improved athletic endurance, which live and breed longer and are more aggressive than genetically unmodified siblings, and are leaner despite consuming 60% more food. The mice have been dubbed "mighty mice" or "supermice" by the popular press and have been compared to cyclist Lance Armstrong.

The changes were created by adding an extra copy of a single gene, PEPCK-C. This gene is already present in the mouse genome, but the modified gene is designed to be strongly active (transcribed) in skeletal muscle. (The natural copy of the gene, most active in the liver, continues to function normally). The gene mediates a crucial rate controlling step of gluconeogenesis and glyceroneogenesis, and its activity helps to allow energy production by the mitochondrial citric acid cycle. In the transgenics, more energy is available to muscle through the burning of fatty acids, with much less production of lactate (a chemical that leads to sore muscles when one exercises). The change does not represent a leap forward in the evolution of the mouse, which in fact produces tiny amounts of PEPCK-C naturally in skeletal muscle, but rather a shift in regulation of the natural metabolism to favor performance over efficiency. The study appears today in the Journal of Biological Chemistry in a paper with lead author Parvin Hakimi from the laboratory of Richard W. Hanson.

The altered mice can run at 20 meters per minute (0.75 miles per hour or 1.2 kilometers per hour) for up to six kilometers (nearly four miles) without stopping. The average treadmill time for strenuous exercise on a 25-degree incline is 31.9 minutes, well in excess of the 19 minute average of unmodified mice. Females can breed at two and a half years of age, whereas most female mice cannot breed after the first year.

A colony of 500 mice has been bred, starting from six independent germline transformations ("founder" mice). The level of PEPCK-C in muscle is 9 units per gram of muscle as opposed to only 0.08 in normal mice. Levels of triglycerides and the number of mitochondria are also increased.

Hanson said that he did not expect that the results would be applicable to humans due to both practical and ethical considerations in addition to the fact that the genes might not function the same way in humans.

This is not the first time that the press has dubbed a genetically modified mouse a "mighty mouse". Earlier scientists at John Hopkins University announced that they had made mice with massively increased muscle mass that were larger and stronger than their normal cousins. These alterations increased strength rather than endurance through the genetic modification of myostatin and follistatin, or by injection of a soluble form of ACVR2B to block myostatin activity in normal mice.

Pipe bomb found near nuclear power plant in Arizona
The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona is currently locked down while security teams are doing a sweep of the area after a pipe bomb was found this morning.

Arizona Public Service Company (APS) spokesman Jim MacDonald said a contract worker was stopped at the main gate of the facility for a routine security sweep and a suspicious looking device was reportedly found in the bed of the worker's pickup truck. APS owns the station, which is located in Wintersberg, Arizona.

According to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), the suspicious looking device was a pipe bomb.

"MCSO bomb squad tests later determined that the capped pipe was a credible explosive device," said APS in a written statement.

The worker was taken into custody, and the entrance to the plant was immediately closed.

The suspect, only described as a white male, lives in a Phoenix apartment complex, is reportedly an engineer who works with computers, and is cooperating with police.

Three schools in the Saddle Mountain Unified School District were locked down voluntarily, affecting about 1,500 students.

According to Fox News, the Department of Homeland Security's operations center was monitoring the incident.

MacDonald said the plant nor the public are at risk, "We have a large and well-trained security force that followed the procedures exactly the way they're supposed to." The incident, which was classified as an "unusual event" -- the lowest emergency classification, is not believed to be terrorist related.

The FBI and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department are investigating.

The Palo Verde plant is about 35 miles west of Phoenix and is the largest nuclear electric generating site in the country, producing as much electricity as nine Hoover Dams.

Russian choreographer Igor Moiseyev dies at age 101
gor Moiseyev, who has been widely acclaimed as the greatest 20th-century choreographer of folk dance has died today after a long illness. He was 101 years old.

Born Igor Alexandrovich Moiseyev on January 21, 1906 in Kiev, Moiseyev graduated from the Bolshoi Theatre ballet school in 1924 and danced in the theatre until 1939. His first choreography in the Bolshoi was Footballer in 1930 and the last was Spartacus in 1954.

Since the early 1930s, he staged acrobatic parades on Red Square and finally came up with the idea of establishing the Theatre of Folk Art. In 1936, Vyacheslav Molotov put him in charge of the new dance company, which has since been known as the Moiseyev Ballet. Among about 200 dances he created for his company, some humorously represented the game of football and guerrilla warfare. After visiting Belarus he choreographed a Belarusian "folk" dance Bulba ("Potato"), which over the years indeed became a Belarusian folk dance. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Moiseyev's work has been especially admired "for the balance that it maintained between authentic folk dance and theatrical effectiveness".

Moiseyev was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1953, Hero of Socialist Labor in 1976, received the Lenin Prize (1967, for the dance show A Road to the Dance), four USSR State Prizes (1942, 1947, 1952, 1985), Russian Federation State Prize (1996), was awarded numerous orders and medals of the Soviet Union, Spain and many other countries. On the day of his centenary, Moiseyev became the first Russian to receive Order for the Merits before the Fatherland, 1st class — the highest civilian decoration of the Russian Federation.

American diplomats unwilling to go to Iraq may be forced, says State Department
Almost fifty positions at the American embassy in Iraq remain unfilled with no volunteers, and the State Department has recently told diplomats that if they go unfilled then they will begin forced assignments. "We must go forward with the identification of officers to serve should it prove necessary to direct assignments," said Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on Friday. "Should others step forward, as some already have, we will fill these new jobs as we have before —with volunteers. However, regardless of how the jobs may be filled, they must be filled."

Since the 48 vacant Iraq posts were announced last Friday, only 15 diplomats have volunteered to work there. Diplomatic assignments are almost always filled by volunteers.

At a State Department "town hall" meeting, Jack Crotty, a 36 year State Department veteran, pointed out the main issue: It's a "potential death sentence".

"It's one thing if someone believes in what's going on over there and volunteers," said Crotty, "but it's another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment."

But U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker's response to such fears was unequivocal: "It's for us to go and serve, not to debate the policy, not to agree with it."

Mark Bellamy, a former deputy assistant secretary of state who is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also questioned the entire diplomatic mission. "How do you do diplomacy and development work in an environment as violent as this?" asked Bellamy. The Green Zone can be a demoralizing place for a diplomat to work. Aside from the physical risk, the violence that surrounds daily life in Baghdad creates an isolated atmosphere and a sense of futility. The idea of traveling outside the fortified zone is outlandish and only under heavy guard (the Blackwater guards accused by the Iraqi government of attacking Iraqi civilians were guarding diplomats).

The only association the diplomats have with civilian Iraqis is with those who work at the embassy. Even those Iraq nationals fear for their lives as they are targeted as "collaborators."

Microsoft Taiwan will bring on high-definition audio-visual Market in Taiwan after Xbox360 will support HDMI interface
With some topics on high-definition audio-visual era world-wide, Microsoft Taiwan recently announced the HDMI support of new Xbox360 console. With a Xbox360 HD-DVD Player, consumers can fulfill enjoyment on a wide-resolution scale of 1080p (Full HD). In fact, Microsoft Taiwan demonstrated the player for the pre-market preparation in the X06 Taiwan show last year.

Microsoft Taiwan invited DeltaMac Taiwan (Movie Agency Member of CMC Magnetics Corporation) demonstrating their published and represented movie discs at the Press Conference. According to DeltaMac, those movie discs supported not only 1080p HD scales but also all HD-DVD players including Xbox360 HD-DVD Player without DVD Region Code Limitation.

Many medias and younger players in Taiwan focused on the latest Xbox360 RPG game "Viva Piñata: Party Animals" because of Halloween. Burger King Taiwan announced some promotions with this game, and the anime film "Viva Piñata" will be available next month in Taiwan.

With announcements of several newly Xbox360 games, launch of Xbox360 HD-DVD Player, and HDMI support, topics of high-definition audio-visual market in Taiwan will be brought on the announcements and The 28th Taipei Audio Fair next week.

Taiwan's "Doritos Coolpedia" website announces top "Internet Quote"
"Among men, La-La; among horses, Red Hare" (In Chinese: 馬中赤兔，人中拉拉) was recently elected as the "Best Internet Cool Quote".

Laa-Laa refers to the yellow character from the Teletubbies television series, and Red Hare refers to military general Lü Bu's horse during China's Three Kingdoms period.

The quote was given its title after a two-week voting period, that started on October 14 until Pepsico Taiwan & Doritos announced "Top 10 Internet Cool Quote" on October 31. Voting was on the Doritos Coolpedia website, which started on September 28.

Voting attracted more than 10,000 Internet users from 64 countries participating and electing.

Coolpedia is a portal for teens and young adults to share and contribute their creations, and interact.

At the announcement event was the famous Taiwanese band "MACHI Brothers" (MACHI). Described by Pepsico as a symbol of younger people in the presence of the e-Century in Taiwan, MACHI serves as spokespeople for the website. Members of band dressed in different "Cool Quote T-Shirts" to symbolize the "unlimited creation" of Coolpedia.

On November 1, Coolpedia launched a website for a "Cool Video Award" contest, with the slogan "No pictures, no truth!". Pepsico Taiwan has suggested that the site will be a major Web 2.0 site.

Stephen Colbert denied South Carolina ballot
The South Carolina Democratic Party denied Stephen Colbert a place on the primary ballot Thursday. “The council really agonized over this because they really like him, they love his show, and everyone thinks it’s wonderful that he cares about us,” said Carol Fowler, the chairwoman of the state’s Democratic Party. The council voted 13-3 to reject Colbert's application. According to their statement, Colbert did not meet two basic requirements: that he be a viable national candidate; and that he actively campaign for the state’s primary.

"It's a distraction," said Waring Howe Jr., one of the executive council member who voted against Colbert, "and takes away from the seriousness of our primary here and takes attention from the serious candidates: Clinton, Edwards, Barack Obama and the rest."

Colbert's Thursday night program centered around his campaign in South Carolina until a Democratic official called mid-show with the news of the council's rejection. "It's your loss Democrats," Colbert said. "I had a lot of good ideas."

Colbert had originally announced his intention to run as both a Republican and Democrat, but only filed for the Democratic. The Republican primary ballot application cost was $35,000, versus $2,500 for the Democratic application. Fowler stated the council will return Colbert's check.

London's Metropolitan Police Service found guilty in suspected suicide bomber case
London's Metropolitan police force has been found guilty of endangering the public during an anti-terrorism operation that lead to the death of an innocent Brazilian man in July of 2005.

The British jury at Old Bailey convicted the police force of violating the Health & Safety legislation because the operation was deemed an excessive threat to the public. They also stressed that no individual culpability should be placed on Cressida Dick, the officer in charge of the operation. The police force was fined £175,000 and ordered to pay £385,000 for legal expenses.

"This was very much an isolated breach brought about by quite extraordinary circumstances," said Justice Henriques. "One person died and many others were placed in potential danger."

Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, was at Old Bailey to hear the verdict. He said he plans to "continue leading the Metropolitan police." Len Duvall, chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said it "fully supported" Blair. A spokesperson for Gordon Brown said that Blair continues to have the confidence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

However, Asad Rehman, a spokesperson for the victim's family, called for Blair's resignation. "Whilst it was a difficult day, that does not mean that procedure and the Metropolitan Police did not fail," he said.

Electrician Jean Charles de Menezes died in the Stockwell Tube Station after being shot in the head by police officers seven times. They mistook him for another man, Hamdi Adus Isaac (aka Osman Hussain), who failed in the July 21, 2005 attack on the London underground one day before.

Today in History
1793 – French playwright, journalist and outspoken feminist Olympe de Gouges was guillotined for her revolutionary ideas.

1838 – The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper, was founded as the The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.

1848 – A new constitution drafted by Johan Rudolf Thorbecke was proclaimed, severely limiting the powers of the monarchy of the Netherlands.

1948 – The Chicago Tribune newspaper published the erroneous headline "Dewey Defeats Truman" shortly after incumbent U.S. President Harry S. Truman upset heavily favored Governor of New York Thomas Dewey in the U.S. presidential election.

1957 – The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, carrying Laika the Russian space dog as the first living creature from Earth to enter orbit.

November 03 is Independence Day in Panama (1903), Dominica (1978) and the Federated States of Micronesia (1986); Culture Day in Japan.

Quote of the Day

Man's right to know, to learn, to inquire, to make bona fide errors, to investigate human emotions must, by all means, be safe, if the word FREEDOM should ever be more than an empty political slogan. ~ Wilhelm Reich

Word of the Day

connote; v

To signify beyond a literal or principal meaning.

To possess an inseparable related condition; to imply as a logical consequence.

About Wikinews
We are a group of volunteer journalists whose mission is to create a diverse community where citizens from around the globe (including you) can collaborate to report the news on a wide variety of current events. By making our content perpetually available for free redistribution and use, we hope to contribute to a global digital commons. Got news and no computer? Call the Wikinews Hotline +1-866-653-4265 (toll-free in the U.S.) +1-202-742-5918 (outside the U.S.) +44-871-218-6397 (U.K. / Europe)
License
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Articles published in this Print edition were created by Wikinewsies. Other content released under the GNU Free Documentation License. To view a copy of the CC-BY license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor San Francisco, California, 94105, USA To view a copy of the GFDL, visit: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html Wikipedia Current Events http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events Today in History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Quote of the Day http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Page Word of the Day http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Main_Page
About Wikinews Print Edition
For more information about Wikinews Print Edition visit: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Print

Saturday, November 3, 2007	Wikinews	Page 6

If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit www.wikinews.org

November 3, 2007	The free-content news source that you can write!	Page 6

If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit en.wikinews.org

Wikinews Back Page

2007-11-02T22:29:54