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The swine flu virus is spreading rapidly throughout California, public health officials said today, citing physician reports of higher-than-normal flu illnesses for this time of year. More than 5% of patients coming into doctor's offices are presenting flu-like symptoms, which is much higher than the usual 2%, according to an estimate based on about 50 physicians across California who monitor flu activity for the state. "We are seeing a continued ramp-up of the virus activity," Dr. Mark Horton, California's public health officer, said at a news conference today. "That is very unusual for this time of year." Horton said he...

WASHINGTON (RNS) The White House and federal health officials have released guidelines recommending that worshippers take precautions against spreading germs to reduce the risk of contracting swine flu. Marilyn Meyers, a 67-year-old member of Washington National Cathedral, already had thought about the health risks involved in her church’s services. On Sunday (Oct. 4), as she has for the past several months, she rubbed sanitizer on her hands before getting in line for Holy Communion. “You shake hands, you touch the prayer books we all share, you break off a piece of the same bread—who knows what might be on...

Economic downturns historically have favored the party out of power at election time. Despite this, Sen. McCain was holding even with Sen. Obama until the “bailout” episode began and financial markets fell into turmoil. Many economists now say we are entering a recession. It is widely agreed that raising taxes in a recession is a bad ideas. So, Sen. Obama has shifted his emphasis from talking about higher taxes for “the very rich” to “tax cuts for 95 percent of working families.” Most people consider a cut in taxes means they will get to keep more of what they have...

Censoring of internet is 'spreading like virus' By Richard Spencer in Beijing Last Updated: 1:38am BST 07/06/2007 Dozens of countries are copying China's methods of censoring the internet, Amnesty International said yesterday. In advance of a live webcast to discuss internet freedom, Amnesty gave warning that censorship was a "virus" that was infecting countries round the world. Tim Hancock, Amnesty's international campaigns director, said: "The 'Chinese model' of an internet that allows economic growth but not free speech or privacy is growing in popularity, from a handful of countries five years ago to dozens of governments today who block sites...

Diarrhoea epidemic spreading in Ethiopia 15:30 05 September 2006 NewScientist.com news service A diarrhoea outbreak in Ethiopia has infected at least 15,000 people and killed 148 so far, the United Nations announced on Tuesday. Heavy flooding in the region is partly responsible for the epidemic, and the outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea could spread even further, aid agencies fear. Ethiopia's southern region is particularly hard-hit, says Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "We are concerned that this epidemic could cross the border, contaminating the whole of the southern region of Ethiopia and Kenya,"...

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2006 – American troops in Iraq are bringing freedom to the oppressed and helping to secure the U.S. homeland, President Bush told U.S. troops in Baghdad during a surprise visit there today. "The mission that you're accomplishing here in Iraq will go down in the history books as an incredibly important moment in the history of freedom and peace, an incredibly important moment of doing our duty to secure our homeland," Bush said. The president traveled to Baghdad in secret overnight and met earlier today with new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who was also unaware of...

SALT LAKE CITY - A disease that can deform trout, cause them to chase their own tail and eventually lead to their starvation, continues to spread swiftly through Utah's waterways. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources announced Thursday that six of 30 brown trout taken from Huntington Creek last fall were found to have whirling disease, said Chris Wilson, director of the Fisheries Experiment Station. Huntington Creek is a Blue Ribbon fishery that runs along State Road 31 north of Huntington. The designation means the creek has a viable population of wild fish. The discovery of whirling disease in Huntington...

GARMISCH, Germany, Feb. 15, 2006 – The key to spreading and sustaining democracy is for leaders to remain visionary and optimistic, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told more than 200 students from 49 countries here Feb. 10. Rice addressed the students, faculty and staff of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in a late-afternoon teleconference from the State Department in Washington, D.C. The students were participants in the center's 12-week Program in Advanced Security Studies and its five-week Program in Terrorism and Security Studies. "It really was an extraordinary event for our participants to not only interact...

"A reader living in Moscow," writes National Review's Jay Nordlinger, "sent me a photo from a rally in Azerbaijan, which showed a youth holding up a poster of President Bush with the words, 'We Want Freedom.' The reader commented, 'It's good to remember whom people turn to when they're desperate — and it ain't Kofi Annan."' Indeed. It is fashionable in some circles to invoke the United Nations as the touchstone of moral authority, but realists know better. They look to the United States, not the UN, as the great moral engine in world affairs. Like the Lebanese who waved...

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (June 10) - E-mails claiming pop star Michael Jackson, on trial on sex abuse charges, has tried to kill himself are being spread by hackers as a means to break into computers, a British antivirus firm said on Friday. The hackers have sent e-mails with the subject "Re: Suicidal attempt" and the message text: "Last night, while in his Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson has made a suicidal attempt", said security software specialists at Sophos. Jackson is awaiting a California court verdict on charges of child molestation. The e-mail asks recipients to click on a link that takes them...

W.L. Cati, a former Muslim and founder of an evangelical Christian ministry, wants to train fellow followers of Christ how to go boldly into mosques and witness to Muslims. W.L. Cati heads a Florida-based organization called Zennah Ministries, which she founded to reach out to people whose lives have been affected by Islam, especially women under Muslim influence; to educate the public about the differences between the Christian faith and the Muslim religion; and to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ, even taking the good news into "the mouth of hell" if necessary. Not long ago, Cati led a group...

The 37-year-old, U.S.-educated freedom fighter who led a popular uprising in 2003 dubbed the "Rose Revolution," which ousted a former top Soviet official from power told The Washington Times yesterday that the U.S. president is on the right side of history. "It's a new kind of ideology that we have from this president that's kind of crystallized now. It is idealistic. It's a much more moral position, a winning position," "I think President Bush was very fast to capture this mood," he added. The boyish leader of this nation of 4.4 million people sees the sweep of peaceful uprisings in...

The war to the death against big estates decreed by President Chávez in the Poliedro put paid to the illusions held by many who still believed that the government was going to act rationally and within the confines of the law. ... This Commission will have a “constitutional mandate” to incorporate the land it considers “idle, abandoned or underused” into “the productive process of the country,” according to the Decree on the Reorganization of the Ownership and Use of Land Suitable for Agricultural Use. The land so considered will be handed over to groups of the population and organized communities...

Drug-resistant germ spreading outside U.S. hospitals Thursday July 15, 1:46 AM By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drug-resistant "superbug" found in hospitals has a close cousin that is affecting athletes, prisoners and small children in growing numbers across the United States, disease experts said on Wednesday. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA can become fatal if not treated with the right antibiotics, said Dr. Daniel Jernigan of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "MRSA is showing up in places it had never been seen before -- as a predominant cause of skin disease among...

New Netsky-D Worm Spreading Through E-Mail Mon Mar 1,10:28 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - A new computer worm dubbed "Netsky-D" was clogging e-mail systems around the world after emerging on Monday, a security expert said. The worm is particularly difficult to root out because it lands in e-mail boxes using a number of different subject lines such as "re:details" or "re:here is the document." "It arrives with an attached pif file (program information file) and it's already extremely widespread," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Plc. He said experts do not think the new virus is as big...

Bird Flu Has Mutated and Is Spreading Sunday January 25, 2004 5:31 AM By DANIEL LOVERING Associated Press Writer BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The bird flu virus spreading through Asia appears to have mutated and development of a more effective vaccine is not likely for more than six months, the World Health Organization said Sunday. Vietnam, which reported its sixth death due to the avian influenza virus on Saturday, and Thailand are the only countries this year where the avian influenza virus has been passed onto humans. But the virus has hit millions of chickens in four other countries as...

Security experts say that the Swen mass-mailing Windows worm appears to be spreading quickly, moving to the top of the virus charts a day after it first appeared--and even maintaining its own counter that supposedly monitors how many PCs have been infected. For information on how to combat the worm, click here. Antivirus companies warned on Thursday that the worm, variously known as I-Worm.Swen, W32/Swen.A@mm or W32/Gibe@MM.e, had the potential to spread quickly because it is well-disguised as a security update from Microsoft. It takes advantage of a two-year-old Internet Explorer flaw that allows it to execute directly from an...

OTTAWA (CP) - A Newfoundland man who infected a woman with the AIDS virus had his conviction reduced by the Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday from aggravated assault to a lesser charge. The high court, in a 7-0 decision, ruled the Crown had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Harold Williams knowingly endangered the life of his partner - a necessary element in law for an aggravated assault conviction. The judgment doesn't rule out criminal charges against those who spread the AIDS-causing virus to unwitting partners. The Supreme Court cleared the way for such prosecutions in a landmark...

In recent years the Bnei Noach, or Noahide movement, has seen an extraordinary increase in numbers and activity around the world. Its adherents are non-Jews who embrace the truth of the Torah and therefore accept the seven ‘Laws of Noah’ – those laws which are incumbent upon gentiles as well as Jews. Israel National Radio’s Tamar Yonah recently interviewed Jacob Sharf, a ‘Ben Noach,’ son of Noah, who explains that he espouses “The Orthodox stream of Judaism for non-Jews, which consists of observance of the seven laws given by God to Noah after the flood which are obligatory for all...

'Thoughtless' families blamed for spreading Sars as survivor tells of his ordeal By Phil Thomas and Lorraine Fraser (Filed: 06/04/2003) Hundreds of expatriates fleeing Hong Kong because of the mystery Sars virus are risking spreading the disease to Britain, a doctor in the territory has warned. Dr David Stirling, told The Telegraph that families trying to escape the outbreak of the incurable illness - which has killed 80 people worldwide - were now the most likely reason for the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. "Many people have, in my view foolishly, rushed to leave Hong Kong - taken their...