Sunday, November 13, 2005

A 25 year old British man has been reported to have made a full recovery from the HIV virus . Andrew Stimpson did not take any drug treatments after being diagnosed with the virus in August 2002 and was found HIV negative in October 2003.

Stimpson’s two HIV tests were performed by the Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust. It has been reported that the hospital is standing by the validity of the two tests that have so far been performed. The hospital would like to perform additional tests that might reveal an explanation for the two contradictory test results. Tests used for diagnosis of HIV infection can produce false positive results. When this happens, additional testing is required in order to determine if there ever was an actual infection. Some news reports suggest that Stimpson may have had contact with someone known to be HIV-positive and that multiple HIV tests performed by a clinic all gave positive results for Stimpson before he was first tested by the Chelsea and Westminster hospital. However, Michael Hopkin of the British journal Nature, has reported that while Stimpson tested positive for antibodies to HIV in 2002, “tests done during more than two dozen visits in 2003 and 2004 proved negative for the antibodies”. This suggests that either HIV infection took an unusual course in Stimpson or the original test results indicating infection were a false positive.

Many similar cases have been reported in Africa, where the virus is widespread. Due to poor medical facilities all of these reports have been largely anecdotal—Mr Stimpson represents the first well documented case. However, until additional tests are performed it is impossible to know if the second test was a false negative. Dr. Andrew Grulich, who has a PhD in epidemiology and works at the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales has expressed doubt that Stimpson was cured of an HIV infection. In some infected patients, HIV levels can fall to undetectably low levels until their immune system is defeated and virus levels begin to rise.

This discovery may offer a promising new window into how the virus works and furthers hopes that one day a vaccine and/or cure will be found for the disease that is carried by around 35 million people worldwide.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Edinburgh Building Services (EBS) has won a national excellence award at a gala ceremony held in St Andrews last week (8 March 2007). Promises Into Action, an EBS project, won the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) award for “Securing a Workforce for the Future”.

This award follows an innovative cultural change programme led jointly by Pinnacle and the City of Edinburgh Council, which focussed on improving communications and team-work and on recognising good performance and customer care.

Councillor Sheila Gilmore, Executive Member for Community Safety and Housing, said, “It is encouraging to see the hard work that has been done and the changes that have been made as a result of this project is being recognised on a national level. I would like to congratulate the team and thank COSLA for recognising these achievements.”

Pinnacle’s Director, Steve White, and his team accepted the award at the prize ceremony. He said: “When we first begun working with EBS, we would never have believed that within just three years, we would be winning national awards for excellence. Through Pinnacle’s partnership with City of Edinburgh Council, we focused on changing cultures, nurturing talent and delivering outcomes and as a result, EBS has been transformed into a high achieving organisation with a culture that is inclusive, open and trusting.

“The EBS team should feel justifiably proud of such an outstanding achievement.”

John Swinney, Chief Executive of Pinnacle, said: “EBS continues to go from strength to strength – this is the second national award for excellence that it has achieved in just six months. It highlights, yet again, the real benefits of public/private sector partnerships working together to achieve sustainable improvements for communities and customers. Congratulations again to the EBS team.”

EBS provides a range of building maintenance services for Services for Communities and other departments of the City of Edinburgh Council. Pinnacle began work with Edinburgh Building Services in 2003.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Western New York is preparing for what some forecasters are saying to be a major ice storm.

The NOAA has issued several warnings for Western New York which begin at 7:00 p.m. [EST] on Saturday and continue into Monday January 15, 2007.

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for tonight and Sunday Morning for the “potential of heavy amounts” of ice, sleet and snow and has the potential to become “dangerous.” The advisory is set to expire at 8:00 a.m. [EST] on Sunday morning.

“Light freezing rain and freezing drizzle is expected to begin after midnight tonight and continue into Sunday morning. Precipitation amounts are expected to be very light; however, it does not take much freezing rain to make untreated surfaces slippery,” said the advisory on the NOAA’s website.

“It [the freezing rain] is not expected to be heavy enough to cause tree or power problems,” added the statement.

On Sunday night and Monday, “a wintery mix of precipitation with the potential for heavy amounts is expected Sunday night into Monday. This event has the potential to be much more significant than the precipitation tonight and Sunday morning. Heavy accumulations of snow, sleet or freezing rain are possible, which could lead to significant travel problems and utility outages caused by downed powerlines and poles,” said a statement on the NOAA’s website.

Although warnings and watches are posted, the NOAA says that the track of the storm is still “uncertain.”

“There is still a good deal of uncertainty” as to the track of the storm, “but this storm has the potential to become dangerous,” added the statement.

The same storm has caused more than 125,000 people to lose power near St. Louis, Missouri and power officials say that they are “still losing people,” said Springfield’s City Utilities spokesman, Ern DeCamp.

At least 6 people have been killed due to the storm around the Midwest and has caused schools and flights from and to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in Missouri and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas to be cancelled. 25,000 people in Oklahoma are still without power.

An emergency proclamation has been issued by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in California after below freezing temperatures caused “conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property.”

Wednesday, March 9, 2005File:Plastic bag stock sized.jpg

They are cheap, useful, and very plentiful, and that is exactly the problem, according to researchers. A report issued on Feb. 23 by a cadre of environment and economics researchers suggested that Kenya should ban the common plastic bag that one gets at the checkout counter of grocery stores, and place a levy on other plastic bags, all to combat the country’s environmental problems stemming from the bags’ popularity.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Adam Spencer, 26-years-old, and former (CEO) of Emexis Integrated Solutions Inc. turned himself in yesterday morning. His family and his lawyer were with him.

This came after a Canada-wide police search was started on January 12, 2007. The Oakville, Ontario man disappeared last year after asking for money from Canadian investors to help his company Emexis go public. However, Spencer did not take Emexis public as promised.

Eighty-nine investors, who, at the time, believed Spencer, have come forward to police.

“The long and the short of it is that he did not meet his obligations in terms of what he promised his investors,” Mr. Peter Leupen, one of the investors who helped Spencer, said. “He promised us a dividend on an initial investment and that never happened.”

“He’s genuinely dishonest, I think he’s immature and putting the best gloss on it, he let the money he was collecting go to his head. He was spending it like a drunken sailor on boats, houses, race cars, everything but what he was supposed to be spending it on,” Mr. Symon Zucker, a Toronto lawyer who the investors sought help from.

Spencer was last seen before Christmas and recently returned to Canada. Detective Jeff Thompson said Spencer was in Chicago, Illinois for the weekend.

“It appears that he was not in any hurry to face the music,” said Thompson.

Spencer will go to a Toronto court on Monday.

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Huffington Post reported Friday that U.S. presidential candidate Buddy Roemer received a $25 campaign donation from an individual listed as ‘Homer Simpson’; the same name as the main character of the long running animated television series The Simpsons. Along with the name, the donor also shares the cartoon character’s place of residence and employment. He claims to live at 742 Evergreen Terrace, and to work as Safety Inspector at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.

The Huff Post discovered the July 31 donation while analyzing Roemer’s Federal Election Commission records. After being notified, Roemer’s campaign manager, Carlos Sierra, responded “Oh my God. That is too funny”. He added that the campaign uses “one of the best accountants in the business,” and that he would personally find out who actually made the donation. Sierra noted that “we do not accept anonymous donations”.

Roemer, who previously served as a member of the House of Representatives (1981–1988) and Governor of Louisiana (1988–1992), has been running for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination since earlier this year. However, he has failed to receive invitations to any presidential debates.

Roemer, who recently expressed his support for the Occupy Wall Street protests, has focused his campaign on finance reform, and has limited individual contributions to $100. In the third quarter of 2011, he raised $138,000.

Wikinews contacted Carlos Sierra yesterday for an update on the matter. He explained, “I reached out to the individual and he was very apologetic. I have the correct information now and will turn it over to our compliance officer.”

Saturday, April 17, 2021

On Wednesday, the US President Joe Biden announced plans to withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11, officially ending the US’ involvement in the 20-year-long war in Afghanistan. Similar troop withdrawals by the United Kingdom and NATO were also announced.

Former US President Donald Trump had set May 1 as the deadline. Both the US and NATO allies are to begin troop withdrawals on May 1. The date of conclusion of the US withdrawal is to coincides with the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, incidents which began the US-led incursion into Afghanistan, now the nation’s longest war.

Speaking from the room George W. Bush announced the US had launched airstrikes on Al-Qaeda training camps, Biden said “[w]e went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that happened 20 years ago. That cannot explain why we should remain there in 2021. […] We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan hoping to create ideal conditions for the withdrawal and expecting a different result”. On the war’s longevity, Biden said “I’m now the fourth United States president to preside over American troop presence in Afghanistan: two Republicans, two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth”.

Biden said of a worldwide threat assessment claiming “the Taliban is likely to make gains on the battlefield” and “American troops shouldn’t be used as a bargaining chip between warring parties in other countries. That’s nothing more than a recipe for keeping American troops in Afghanistan indefinitely.” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in a tweet “we will work with our U.S. partners to ensure a smooth transition.”

The US currently has about 2500 troops stationed in Afghanistan of a NATO mission of 9600; according to NPR, as many as 1000 special operations forces may be present as well. However, combat operations from both the US and UK ended in October 2014.

Biden said “[i]t’s time for American troops to come home”, the exit will be done “responsibly, deliberately and safely”. Though NATO and the United Kingdom will join the US in making considerable withdrawals in the coming months, according to the BBC the US will continue “diplomatic and humanitarian work” in Afghanistan.

NATO has said they have achieved their goal of “prevent[ing] terrorists from using Afghanistan as a safe haven to attack us”, and “[t]here is no military solution to the challenges Afghanistan faces”. According to Politico, NATO’ statement read: “Our troops went into Afghanistan together, we have adjusted together, and now we are leaving together”. Defence Minister of Germany, a NATO member, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the German public broadcaster ARD “we’ll go in together, we’ll leave together. I am for an orderly withdrawal”.

Pledging co-operation, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Brussels “I am here to work closely with our allies […] on the principle that we have established from the start: In together, adapt together and out together.”

According to the BBC, in announcing the British “drawdown” Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said while “[t]he people of Afghanistan deserve a peaceful and stable future”, “the security of our people currently serving in Afghanistan remains our priority and we have been clear that attacks on Allied troops will be met with a forceful response.” Wallace said in his statement “we must remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, who will never be forgotten.”

After a phone call to the former President Bush, Biden said “[w]e’re absolutely united in our respect and support for the valor, the courage and integrity of the women and men of the United States armed forces who have served”.

In the United States Senate, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the move “a grave mistake”, adding “[f]oreign terrorists will not leave the United States alone simply because our politicians have grown tired of taking the fight to them.” Republican Representative Liz Cheney called it “a huge victory, huge propaganda victory, for the Taliban, for Al-Qaida”. Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan criticised the plan saying “Withdrawal of U.S. troops must be based on the facts on the ground, not arbitrary deadlines”. Her fellow Democrat Elizabeth Warren said Biden “recognizes the reality that our continued presence there does not make the U.S. or the world safer.” Former US President Barack Obama gave his support as well, saying it was “the right decision”.

Director of the US’ Central Intelligence Agency told the Senate “I think we have to be clear-eyed about the reality, looking at the potential terrorism challenge”, there is a “significant risk” and “Al-Qaida and ISIS in Afghanistan” could pose a threat to “US targets”.