UK-Odd Summary (Reuters)

AIDS group seeks LA vote on condoms in porn films

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Voters in Los Angeles, home to the U.S. porn industry, could soon be asked to decide whether condoms should be required in adult films to reduce sexually transmitted diseases. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation said on Monday it submitted far more than the required number of signatures on a petition for a public ballot that could go before voters in June 2012.

Chavez laughs off Obama-kiss Benetton advert

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez laughed off a Benetton advertisement that showed him kissing his ideological adversary and U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, guffawing on Tuesday that it was a "good joke." The photo was part of a controversial campaign by the Italian fashion company that showed political and religious leaders kissing each other on the mouth.

Pampered pandas flown into Scotland

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - A pair of pampered giant pandas arrived in Scotland on Sunday to a reception of cheering and flag-waving crowds while British officials said the 10-year loan of the bears by China strengthened ties between the two countries. Tian Tian and Yang Guang -- whose names in English are Sweetie and Sunshine -- arrived at Edinburgh airport after flying in from Chengdu, Sichuan province, and were later greeted at Edinburgh zoo by around 450 people waving Chinese and Scottish flags.

Protester shaves year-old beard with new Belgian government

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A Belgian radio presenter who grew a beard for almost a year in protest at protracted talks to form a government finally shaved on Monday with new coalition about to take office. Koen Fillet and almost 800 others joined the call for a beard protest by actor Benoit Poelvoorde in January 2011, when negotiations had already dragged on for more than six months after a June 2010 election.

Pig challenges Putin party in ballot-spoiling bid

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin's United Russia party faces an array of Communists, nationalists and liberals in a parliamentary election Sunday, but one of its ardent opponents is a more peculiar political animal: a cartoon pig named Nakh-Nakh. Pushed to the margins since Putin came to power 12 years ago, some of the prime minister's fiercest foes are urging Russians to reject the political system he has put in place by spoiling their ballots in Sunday's State Duma vote.

Mayans never predicted world to end in 2012 - experts

PALENQUE, Mexico (Reuters) - If you are worried the world will end next year based on the Mayan calendar, relax: the end of time is still far off. So say Mayan experts who want to dispel any belief that the ancient Mayans predicted a world apocalypse next year.

Blind French eaterie seeks to conquer New York

PARIS (Reuters) - A French restaurant where diners cannot see what they are eating, often spill their wine and must conduct conversations while staring into pitch darkness has proved such a success in Europe that it is making a foray into the Americas. After expanding from Paris into London, Moscow, Barcelona and St. Petersburg, the "Dans Le Noir" chain, staffed by blind waiters, will open an outlet in the neon-lit tourist hub of New York's Times Square this month.

U.S. professor is dumpster-diving urban Robin Hood

FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - University professor Jeff Ferrell is something of a U.S. urban Robin Hood, although what he gives away is not stolen but the result of dumpster diving. The Texas Christian University (TCU) professor of sociology sifts through dumpsters and gives the vast majority of what he finds to the needy or to friends.

Gold ATM offers convenience, not glamour, to India jewellery

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Teenage girls pose for pictures beside the latest arrival in Mumbai's modern Phoenix Mills mall -- a gold ATM machine selling jewellery and $600 (382 pound) gold coins -- but for more than just window-shopping, it faces stiff competition from traditional stores. India's first such machine may be grabbing the attention of passers-by in the world's biggest bullion market, but upstairs in an air-conditioned store, the sparkling gold and silver bangles offered by smiling sales assistants have customers grabbing their credit cards.

iPhone surpasses celebs, news as most searched on web

(Reuters) - Apple's iPhone edged past major news events, celebrities and pop stars as the top searched term on the Web in 2011, according to Yahoo! The digital media company said the smartphone proved more popular than reality television celebrity Kim Kardashian, pop star Katy Perry and singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, who placed in the top five.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sexualhealth/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111206/od_uk_nm/oukoe_summary

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Japan's 'nuclear gypsies' face radioactive peril at power plants

Reporting from Namie, Japan?

Kazuo Okawa's luckless career as a "nuclear gypsy" began one night at a poker game.

The year was 1992, and jobs were scarce in this farming town in the shadow of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. An unemployed Okawa gambled and drank a lot.

He was dealing cards when a stranger made him an offer: manage a crew of unskilled workers at the nearby plant. "Just gather a team of young guys and show up at the front gate; I'll tell you what to do," instructed the man, who Okawa later learned was a recruiter for a local job subcontracting firm.

Okawa didn't know the first thing about nuclear power, but he figured, what could go wrong?

He became what's known in Japan as a "jumper" or "nuclear gypsy" for the way he moved among various nuclear plants. But the nickname that Okawa disliked most was burakumin, a derisive label for those who worked the thankless jobs he and others performed.

Such unskilled contractors exist at the bottom rung of the nation's employment ladder, subjecting themselves to perilous doses of radioactivity.

Solicited from day labor sites across the country, many contractors are told little of the task ahead.

"The recruiters call out their windows that they have two days of work; it's not unlike the way migrant farm workers are hired in the U.S.," said Kim Kearfott, a nuclear engineer and radiation health expert at the University of Michigan.

"Many are given their training en route to the plant. They're told: 'Oh, by the way, we're going to Fukushima. If you don't like it, you can get off the truck right now.' There's no such thing as informed consent, like you would have in a human medical experiment," she said.

After an earthquake-triggered tsunami deluged the Fukushima plant in March, a disaster that cascaded into reactor core meltdowns, activists are calling for better government regulation of what they call the nuclear industry's dirtiest secret.

For decades, they say, atomic plants have maintained a two-tiered workforce: one made up of highly paid and well-trained utility employees, and another of contractors with less training and fewer health benefits.

Last year, 88% of the 83,000 workers at the nation's 18 commercial nuclear power plants were contract workers, according to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, a government regulator.

A study by the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, a Tokyo-based watchdog group, found that contractors last year accounted for 96% of the harmful radiation absorbed by workers at the nation's nuclear power plants. Temporary workers at the Fukushima plant in 2010 also faced radiation levels 16 times higher than did employees of the plant's owner-operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., because contractors are called in for the most dangerous work, according to the government's industrial safety agency.

"This job is a death sentence, performed by workers who aren't being given information about the dangers they face," said Hiroaki Koide, an assistant professor at Kyoto University's Research Reactor Institute and author of the book "The Lie of Nuclear Power."

Okawa, who was off work from the plant the day of the tsunami, immediately quit the job and the "suicidal work" he performed there: mopping up leaks of radioactive water, wiping down "hot" equipment and filling drums with contaminated nuclear waste.

He described an unofficial pecking order at most nuclear plants among contractors, with the greenest workers often assigned the most dangerous jobs until they got enough experience to question the work or a newer worker came along.

"In the beginning, you get a little training; they show you how to use your tools," said Okawa, 56. "But then you're left to work with radiation you can't see, smell or taste. If you think about it, you imagine it might be killing you. But you don't want to think about it."

Okawa, a small man with powerfully built hands, said contractors knew they faced layoff once they reached exposure limits, so many switched off dosimeters and other radiation measuring devices.

"Guys needed the work, so they cut corners," he said. "The plant bosses knew it but looked the other way."

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/pjOyTztzcOc/la-fg-japan-nuclear-gypsies-20111204,0,6661765.story

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3quarksdaily: Biography of cancer wins Guardian First Book award

Biography of cancer wins Guardian First Book award

From Guardian:

An oncologist has won the Guardian First Book award for his "biography" of cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies, which traces the disease from the first recorded mastectomy in 500BC to today's cutting edge research. Siddhartha Mukherjee has called his book ? a mix of history, memoir and biography, of science and the personal stories of cancer patients ? "an attempt to enter the mind of this immortal illness, to understand its personality, to demystify its behaviour". The only non-fiction title on the shortlist, it beat four novels to win the ?10,000 award, narrowly seeing off Amy Waldman's The Submission, set in post-9/11 America. Stephen Kelman's Booker-shortlisted novel Pigeon English was also in the running. The chair of judges, Lisa Allardice, editor of Guardian Review, said Mukherjee's "anthropomorphism of a disease" was a "remarkable and unusual achievement".

"In the end it came down to a very difficult decision between a first novel [The Submission] and a first book of tremendous research," she said. "They were so different ? both incredibly impressive achievements in their own rights, but in the end the Mukherjee was felt to be the more original. "He has managed to balance such a vast amount of information with lively narratives, combining complicated science with moving human stories. Far from being intimidating, it's a compelling, accessible book, packed full of facts and anecdotes that you know you will remember and which you immediately want to pass on to someone else."

More here.?(Note: Congratulations to Sid...dear friend, brilliant colleague and fantastic writer who is great at everything he does including all the bone marrows on my patients.)

Posted by Azra Raza at 05:53 AM | Permalink

Source: http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2011/12/biography-of-cancer-wins-guardian-first-book-award.html

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon LTE hands-on (video)

New Yorkers got a sneak peek at the Verizon LTE flavor of the Galaxy Nexus at the Samsung Experience in Columbus Circle today, and we dropped by to spend a few minutes with the Ice Cream Sandwich handset in the Manhattan showroom. Samsung had just four pre-production Nexus models on hand, which were running Android 4.0.1 -- not the final 4.1 version we're expecting to see shortly, with a baseband update in tow. None of the samples included SIM cards, so we were only able to test them using the built-in WiFi module. A security alarm sounded when we attempted to remove the back cover to install a SIM, though the battery was also superglued in place, further inhibiting our access.

We did take the unit for a speed test spin using our Verizon LTE MiFi, and achieved download speeds ranging from 5000-7000kbps and upload speeds of 300-2000kbps when connected to LTE over WiFi. These results don't represent what you'll see with the built-in module, but considering there was no way to get these running on the Verizon network, connectivity was limited to the MiFi and in-house WiFi. Still, this is your best shot at getting your hands on a device ahead of Verizon's official launch, so if you happen to be anywhere near NYC, head on down to the Samsung Experience to get your Nexus fix. Or hop past the break for our hands-on video.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon LTE hands-on

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon LTE hands-on (video)

Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon LTE hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/03/samsung-galaxy-nexus-for-verizon-lte-hands-on-video/

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Protests at climate change summit

3 December 2011 Last updated at 19:10 ET By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News

Thousands of demonstrators have marched through the South African city of Durban demanding faster action on climate change.

The annual UN climate summit is being held at the city's convention centre.

Protesters were particularly angered by the stance of rich countries such as the US and Canada.

In London former UK Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott said the approach of these nations was "appalling".

Halfway through this summit, some progress has been made, but a few countries including the US, Canada and Saudi Arabia are holding out on important issues such as the future of the Kyoto Protocol.

Fourteen years ago, Lord Prescott played a leading role in the UN summit in Kyoto that brought the protocol into existence.

Speaking to the BBC, he was scathing about nations trying to delay progress now.

Continue reading the main story

Adaptation

Action that helps cope with the effects of climate change - for example construction of barriers to protect against rising sea levels, or conversion to crops capable of surviving high temperatures and drought.

"Let's have a reassessment of it by 2015." he said. "But if you don't finish in time for the ending of Kyoto Two, which is next year, 2012, then, you know, it will actually wither on the vine and that's what Canada and America wants - and one or two other rich countries.

"It's a conspiracy against the poor. It's appalling. I'm ashamed of such countries not recognising their responsibilities."

The European Union wants talks on a new global agreement covering all nations to start as soon as possible.

It is backed by most of the world's poorest countries and small island states vulnerable to rising sea levels.

But even if resistance from the US and others can be overcome, it is hard to envisage anything being agreed that can start to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions before 2020.

And that is the timeframe science suggests is necessary if the most dangerous climate impacts are to be avoided.

Follow Richard on Twitter

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/science-environment-16021217

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Railroad strike averted with agreements, extension

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The threat of a costly national railroad strike during the busy holiday season has been averted after the freight rail industry settled labor disputes with two of its unions and agreed to extend talks with a third.

Without the agreements, the railway unions could have begun striking as early as Tuesday, when a federal "cooling off" period was set to expire. Retailers warned that a rail strike would cost businesses and consumers $2 billion a day and prove especially damaging during the most important shipping season of the year.

The National Railway Labor Conference, which represents the railroads in bargaining talks, said its negotiators would try to reach an agreement with the final union before Feb. 8.

The agreements late Thursday with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the American Train Dispatchers Association came just hours after Republican House leaders said they would move to vote Friday on emergency legislation to prevent a work stoppage.

The group of more than 30 railroads ? including Union Pacific Corp., CSX Corp. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe ? has been trying for more than a year to reach collective bargaining agreements with 13 unions representing about 132,000 workers.

President Barack Obama appointed a five-member emergency board in October to mediate the dispute. The White House action averted a strike for at least 60 days, ending Tuesday at 12:01 a.m.

With the help of federal mediators, the railroads have now settled with 12 of the 13 unions in the current bargaining round. The only unsettled union is the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, which has about 25,000 workers.

"Everyone wins when we reach voluntary agreements," said Kenneth Gradia, chairman of the National Carriers' Conference Committee, which bargains on behalf of the railroads. "In a tough economy, these agreements offer a terrific deal for rail employees. They lock in well-above market wage increases of more than 20 percent over six years, far exceeding recent union settlements in other industries."

The last time a freight railroad strike occurred, in 1991, Congress quickly passed legislation that ended it within a day. A 1982 strike lasted four days.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-02-Railroad%20Strike/id-50fea2f0881249bfab945b8e4d672991

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Just 1 in 4 with HIV have infection under control (AP)

ATLANTA ? Health officials say only 1 in 4 Americans with the AIDS virus have the infection under control with medications.

Part of the reason is that about 20 percent of those infected with HIV don't know it. People can be infected with the AIDS virus for years without developing symptoms.

An infection was once considered a death sentence. But medications that have been available for 15 years can reduce the amount of virus to low levels.

However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found only a small fraction of those infected are being successfully treated.

Of the nearly 1.2 million people with the infection, about 40 percent are getting medications regularly. Worse, only 28 percent have the virus under control at low levels.

The CDC report was released Tuesday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/aids/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_on_he_me/us_med_aids_virus

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