Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick said Friday he will push to reverse stem cell research restrictions imposed by his predecessor, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.The changes last August prompted complaints from researchers who said they could be prohibited from using some embryonic stem cells. They also argued the restrictions undercut a 2005 law that had been approved by the Legislature over Romney's veto.Patrick told a meeting of the Life Sciences Council on Friday that he would ask the Public Health Council, which approved the changes, to revisit the policy. In effect, Patrick will be able to reverse the policy, since he will gain control over the panel next week amid an overhaul linked to the state's new health insurance law."I believe that life sciences should be guided by science, not politics," Patrick told the roundtable of biotechnology officials....
http://www.usatoday.com
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Editor - 09:25:00 03-30-07
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 EU ministers back UK in Iran spat |
EU foreign ministers are closing ranks behind the UK in its row with Iran over 15 captive British sailors and marines. "We intend to send out a message of solidarity," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at an EU meeting in Bremen. The German port city is hosting the ministers, as Germany currently holds the European Union presidency. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the UK crew should be freed immediately, without any preconditions. Mr Steinmeier held a separate meeting on Iran with the European members of the UN Security Council - Britain, France, Belgium, Slovakia and Italy - to agree on a common line. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy described Iran's detention of the Royal Navy crew as "a very serious and unacceptable act which we immediately condemned". ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6509217.stm
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Editor - 09:23:00 03-30-07
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| Pakistani tribals, militants clash; up to 54 killed Fighting marks a breakdown in relations between Islamists and tribesmen |
More than 50 people, most of them foreigners, have been killed in clashes between al-Qaida-linked militants and Pakistani tribesmen on Friday, Pakistan’s interior minister said. Fighting in the South Waziristan tribal region broke out earlier this month between foreign fighters, most of them believed to be Uzbeks, and Pashtun tribesmen after the militants tried to kill a pro-government tribal leader. The fighting marks a breakdown in relations between the foreign militants and tribesmen who had hitherto sheltered them. The latest clashes erupted on Wednesday after attempts to broker a truce failed. Fighting intensified on Friday. “Around 54 people have been killed. Among them 45-46 are foreign militants,” Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told Reuters....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17871424/
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Editor - 09:22:00 03-30-07
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| Japan Prepares for Wave of Retirements Japan's Workaholic Boomers Shift Gears for Fruits of Retirement As Homeland Grapples With Cost |
The way Masahiro Shimizu sees it, he and Japan's other postwar baby boomers built the country into an economic powerhouse and now it's time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Shimizu will leave his job in the department store business next year, having become one of some 5.4 million Japanese boomer employees who will reach the standard retirement age of 60 over the next three years. The retirement of the boomers, which kicks off in April with the start of the fiscal year, is a signature event for Japan, symbolizing a rapidly aging society, a looming fiscal crunch and the emergence of a roaring "gray economy" fueled by free-spending retirees. The impact of mass retirements is expected to be limited at first, but the debate which to some extent mirrors the one in the United States over Social Security and longevity is in full swing, and the retirement age is already edging upward. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2995323
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Editor - 09:20:00 03-30-07
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| Bloody week in Iraq points to emboldened al Qaeda |
A surge of violence in Iraq in the past week demonstrated the ability of al Qaeda to strike virtually anywhere at will with a seemingly limitless supply of explosives and suicide bombers to wreak chaos.The bombings claimed 300 lives, with one attack triggering mass reprisal killings by Shi'ites, making it the bloodiest week since the launch of a major U.S.-backed security crackdown in Baghdad in mid-February aimed at curbing sectarian violence. The top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, accused Sunni Islamist al Qaeda on Friday of barbarity and said it was trying "to ignite sectarian violence" between minority Sunnis and majority Shi'ites and derail efforts to unify Iraqis. Amid fears the country is being dragged ever closer to the brink of all-out civil war, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called for restraint, urging Iraqis not to allow themselves to be divided by "evil doers." ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2995176
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Editor - 09:18:00 03-30-07
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| China facing U.S. sanctions in paper dispute |
The Bush administration, facing heavy pressure to deal with soaring trade deficits, said Friday it is imposing economic sanctions against China to protect American paper producers from unfair Chinese government subsidies. The action reverses 23 years of U.S. trade policy by treating China, which is classified as a non-market economy, in the same way that other U.S. trading partners are treated in disputes involving government subsidies. The decision was announced by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. "China's economy has developed to the point that we can add another trade remedy tool," Gutierrez said. "The China of today is not the China of years ago. Just as China has evolved, so has the range of our tools to make sure Americans are treated fairly."...
http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2007-03-30-china-trade_N.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 09:17:00 03-30-07
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