Times of the Internet

Assemble mobile pharmacy for vacation

HOUSTON, July 9 (UPI) --

Those going on a summer vacation would be wise to assemble a medical travel kit to take along, a U.S. physician advises.

Dr. Herbert DuPont of The Center for Infectious Disease at The University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston suggests getting a kit ready as part of pre-travel planning to ensure safe and healthy travel.

Travelers, especially those with chronic illnesses, should take precaution and locate travel clinics and medical facilities ahead of time in the area they plan to visit, DuPont says in a statement. It is also important for travelers to pack a mobile personal pharmacy.

To assemble a mobile pharmacy, DuPont advises to:

-- Place two sets of prescription and over-the-counter medications , all in their original labeled containers, in two different pieces of luggage.

-- Carry medications and a small first-aid kit for common complaints such as headaches, heartburn, cuts, scratches and colds.

-- Take along specialized items if traveling to developing tropical or semi-tropical regions. These may include medication for treatment and possible prevention of traveler's diarrhea and malaria; antibiotics for infections; and compression stockings for lengthy air travel to reduce the risk of forming blood clots in legs.

Ensign admits family paid $96K to lover

LAS VEGAS, July 9 (UPI) --

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said Thursday his parents gave $96,000 to his mistress and her family out of concern for the well-being of family friends.

In a statement read by his lawyer, Ensign said, None of the gifts came from campaign or official funds, nor were they related to any campaign or official duties, USA Today reported.

Sen. Ensign has complied with all applicable laws and Senate ethics rules, the statement said.

The payments were made to Cynthia Hampton, her husband, Doug, and their two children, the newspaper said. Cynthia Hampton was had been treasurer for two Ensign-controlled campaign committees.

Ensign, 51, told the Las Vegas Sun he had no plans to resign.

I said before, I always planned on serving and working hard -- working harder than I ever worked -- and I'm going to continue to do that, he said.

Doug Hampton said Ensign paid more than $25,000 in severance pay when Cynthia Hampton left her job on Ensign's campaign staff in May 2088, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Doug Hampton was a senior staffer in Ensign's Senate office until May 2008. He claims both he and wife lost their jobs with the senator because of the affair. He also alleged several of Ensign's friends, including Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., urged Ensign to given the Hamptons a huge financial payment -- millions of dollars -- and end the relationship.

The Review-Journal said Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola issued a statement saying, Ensign said Doug Hampton was consistently inaccurate in his statements.

Coburn's office confirmed he knew about Ensign's affair and had urged him to end it, Politico reported. However, Coburn spokesman John Hart said the senator categorically denies Hampton's claim that he urged Ensign to pay millions to the couple.

Coburn said Thursday he would invoke privilege if asked about advice he gave to Ensign on handling the extramarital affair. Coburn said he had talked to Ensign in his capacities as a doctor and an ordained deacon, Roll Call reported.

Book accuses Hemingway of spying

NEW HAVEN, Conn., July 9 (UPI) --

A new U.S. book claims Ernest Hemingway was a not-very-effective spy for the KGB during the 1940s.

The Nobel prize-winning author is listed in Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America, Yale University Press, co-written by John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr and Alexander Vassiliev from notes Vassiliev took in Moscow archives.

A former KGB officer, Vassiliev was provided with access in the 1990s to Stalin-era files, The Guardian reported.

In the book, Hemingway is referred to as a dilettante spy. His file says he was recruited in 1941 before he went to China, the book claims. He was called Argo and allegedly met with Soviet agents in Havana and London in the 40s, The Guardian reported.

The books described Hemingway as enthusiastic, but not very effective, and said Soviet contacts with Hemingway ended by the end of the decade.

Spies doesn't say whether the authors believe Hemingway was serious about spying or looking for material for a book.

New York state Senate standoff ends

ALBANY, N.Y., July 9 (UPI) --

A month of legislative gridlock ended Thursday in Albany, N.Y., when a state senator rejoined the Democrats in return for being made majority leader.

Sen. Pedro Espada's return restores the 32-30 Democratic majority in the upper house, The Buffalo (N.Y.) News reported. The Republicans held the majority after Espada and state Sen. Hiram Monserrate changed parties June 8 but the GOP lost control June 15 when Monserrate flipped back.

The resulting 31-31 stalemate left both parties insisting they controlled the Senate with no legislation being passed.

Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat, named Richard Ravitch, a former head of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, as his lieutenant governor Wednesday, in an attempt to end the stalemate. Republicans obtained an injunction early Thursday temporarily barring Paterson from swearing Ravitch in and discovered it had already been done Wednesday evening, the New York Daily News reported.

Paterson said he filled the lieutenant governor's position, which he had held before the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, to ensure a successor if he became unable to serve -- and not to provide a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, The New York Times said. But the appointment would have had the effect of breaking the deadlock.

Inge, Victorino voted all stars by fans

NEW YORK, July 9 (UPI) --

The Detroit Tigers' Brandon Inge and Philadelphia Phillies' Shane Victorino were named Thursday as the fans' choice for the final All-Star Game roster berths.

Major League Baseball said on its Web site the fan vote total, 68.6 million, was by far the largest ever, with both players garnering first-time All-Star nods. Their berths started the catch phrase Bran-Torino.

Inge, a third baseman, amassed 11.8 million votes, the most ever for an American League player.

He deserves it, said Detroit Manager Jim Leyland. It's a tremendous honor to have such an opportunity.

Inge, an outstanding defensive infielder, entered Thursday with a .264 batting average, 19 homers and 54 RBI.

Victorino, Philadelphia's center fielder, was batting .306 with 22 doubles, six triples, six home runs, 39 RBI and 13 stolen bases.

It means a lot to me, Victorino -- whose nickname is the Flyin' Hawaiian -- said Wednesday when told that Philadelphia fans spent 24-plus hours hunched over laptops to vote.

Study debunks 'trial marriage' theory

ORLANDO, Fla., July 9 (UPI) --

Most unmarried U.S. couples who live together aren't trying to test their relationship -- they just want to spend more time together, a multiyear study found.

Most couples also didn't consciously decide to live together, the federally funded University of Denver dating and cohabitation study found.

In fact, two-thirds of cohabitors say they either slid into it or talked about it, but then it just sort of happened, said the study, presented Thursday at a Smart Marriages/Happy Families conference of marriage and family experts in Orlando, Fla.

People who are engaged think of (living together) as the next step before they get married, but in many couples, it's part of the dating relationship -- pretty serious, but still well shy of the marriage part, researcher Scott Stanley, co-director of the University of Denver's Center for Marital and Family Studies, told USA Today.

Almost half of cohabitors of both sexes said spending more time together was a reason they moved in together, with only 9 percent of men and 5 percent of women citing to test the relationship before marriage, the study of 1,294 unmarried Americans ages 18 to 34 indicated.

People following their understandings of religious dictums were less likely to cohabit than others, with 49 percent of dating couples and 30 percent of cohabitors agreeing that my religious beliefs suggest that it is wrong for people to live together without being married, the study found.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported 13.6 million unmarried, heterosexual couples living together in 2008.

Researchers say 50 percent to 70 percent of couples who marry today lived together first. Most couples who live together either marry or break up within two years, researchers say.

Woodhouse chosen for Burnham memorial

CHICAGO, July 9 (UPI) --

Architect David Woodhouse won the competition to design a memorial to Chicago planner Daniel Burnham, officials from AIA Chicago Foundation announced Thursday.

Woodhouse, 61, said he wants people to focus on the legacy of the man who created the first comprehensive plan for an American city, which Burnham did in 1909, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

If fundraising for the $5 million project and approval from the Chicago Park District comes quickly, the memorial could be build as soon as 2011. It will include a life-size statue of Burnham and two granite walls that will reflect the skyline on one side and display Burnham's plans on the other, the Sun-Times reported.

In addition, a granite terrace overlook will hold metal panels showing other major city plans and the names of others who have contributed to the building of Chicago will be inscribed on a curved wall.

Coburn claims privilege on Ensign advice

WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) --

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said Thursday he would invoke privilege if asked about advice he gave to Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., on handling an extramarital affair.

Coburn said he was talking to Ensign about his tryst with a former staffer in his capacities as a doctor and a man of the cloth, Roll Call reported.

I was counseling him as a physician and as an ordained deacon, Coburn said. That is privileged communication that I will never reveal to anybody. Not to the (Senate) Ethics Committee, not to a court of law, not to anybody.

Doug Hampton, whose wife had engaged in an affair with Ensign, has claimed Coburn urged Ensign to pay the Hamptons millions of dollars after Hampton confronted Ensign about the affair.

I categorically deny everything he said, Coburn said.

Coburn said he has acted as a counselor to other lawmakers in the past.

Ya'll don't know about all the people I've counseled, he told Roll Call when asked why Ensign sought his help.

Fruit, vegetable intake may reduce colds

BOSTON, July 9 (UPI) --

Pregnant women who consumed seven servings per day of fruits and vegetables moderately reduced risk of upper respiratory infection, U.S. researchers say.

Upper respiratory tract infections include the common cold and sinus infections, which can lead to lower respiratory problems, such as asthma or pneumonia.

Senior author Martha M. Werler of the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University says eating nutritious foods, especially fruits and vegetables, improves immunity but that hadn't previously been associated with reducing the risk of upper respiratory infections in pregnant women.

The study of more than 1,000 pregnant women, published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, found those who ate the most fruits and vegetables were 26 percent less likely to have a upper respiratory infection relative to those who ate the least amount.

It has been recommended that pregnant women consume at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

Pregnant women may require more fruits and vegetables than usual because of the extra demands on the body, Werler said in a statement.

San Francisco targets non-native kelp

SAN FRANCISCO, July 9 (UPI) --

Scientists in San Francisco said a team of divers has been recruited to rid marinas of an exotic form of fast-growing seaweed.

The scientists said the kelp, Undaria pinnatifida, is native to Japan and China and was first discovered at the San Francisco Yacht Harbor and the South Beach Harbor in May, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday.

The species can grow an entire inch in a single day, said experts with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center satellite lab at San Francisco State University's Romberg Tiburon Center.

There was no mistaking it for anything else but Undaria, said Chela Zabin, a Smithsonian staff biologist.

The scientists said the exotic species is a threat to native forms of seaweed, including the giant kelp and bull kelp that provide shelter for fish, otters and other marine animals.

Phelps breaks 100m butterfly world record

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (AFP) --

Michael Phelps broke the 100m butterfly world record Thursday, clocking 50.22sec to win the title at the USA Swimming World Championship trials.

Phelps broke the previous record of 50.40sec set by Ian Crocker on July 30, 2005 at the World Championships in Montreal.

The record takes Phelps's current tally of world marks to five, along with the 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly and 200m and 400m individual medley.

The American had won the 100m fly title at the past two Olympic Games, but hadn't been able to wrest the world record from Crocker.

Phelps had held the 100 fly world mark before - for a day. He broke it in the semi-finals at the 2003 World Championships, only to have Crocker lower the mark in winning the final the following day.

Tyler McGill was second in 51.06, and Aaron Peirsol was third in 51.30.

G8 agrees to work on trade matters

L'AQUILA, Italy, July 9 (UPI) --

Group of Eight leaders meeting in Italy agreed Thursday to try to resolve outstanding world trade issues before the Group of 20 ministers meet in Pittsburgh.

A compromise would allow the G20 ministers to give World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamay a mandate to close the Doha, Qatar, Development Round of trade talks in 2010, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The Doha Development Round's objective is to lower global barriers to permit countries to increase trade. As of 2008, talks stalled over issues such as agriculture, industrial tariffs and non-tariff barriers, services and trade remedies.

The Group of 20 finance ministers are scheduled to meet in October in Pittsburgh.

SKorea to set up cyber command against NKorea

by Park Chan-Kyong SEOUL (AFP) --

South Korea announced it would set up a military command next year to tackle the threat of cyber warfare from North Korea, amid suspicions the North was behind virus attacks earlier this week.

The information security command will be launched on January 1, two years earlier than planned, and become operational in July, said Kim Jae-Min, a defence ministry official in charge of the project.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) warned of a possible third wave of cyber assaults, after identifying the communist North as a suspect in earlier attacks that temporarily crippled South Korean and US websites.

The White House, State Department and Pentagon websites were among those targeted in the initial attack, US experts said separately.

The hacking programme hit 12 South Korean and 14 US organisations early this week.

The NIS said in a statement a second wave of attacks Wednesday was aimed at domestic banks and a security solution provider, and it fears a third round which may target infrastructure such as energy and telecommunications.

The spy agency, which was itself reportedly targeted, said it has urgently distributed "vaccine" programmes to 10 security solution providers.

Its public statement did not suggest the source of the "distributed denial of service" (DDoS) viruses, which invade thousands of personal computers and are programmed to swamp selected websites.

But Park Jie-Won, a member of parliament's intelligence committee, said the NIS told members Wednesday it believed the North or its sympathisers was to blame.

"The NIS claimed the attack was presumed to have been staged by North Korea or followers, without presenting evidence," Park, from the opposition party, told AFP.

The communist state has staged a nuclear test and numerous missile launches in recent weeks, raising regional tensions. A cyber attack, if confirmed, would be a new tactic.

Yonhap news agency quoted a NIS report to the committee as forecasting potential "financial chaos" in the event of a larger cyber attack.

It said the daily value of all online transactions in South Korea -- one of the world's most wired nations -- is six trillion won (4.7 billion dollars).

The NIS said the internal networks of the Seoul government are safe and no information has been leaked.

The government's Korea Information Security Agency said most sites had been restored after the first attacks began in the country late Tuesday -- using 12,000 domestic PCs and 8,000 abroad.

However it said a second round -- using 29,000 hijacked PCs -- was hitting one foreign site and 15 domestic sites, including government agencies and banks and a security solution provider.

Yonhap said victims included the US-South Korea Combined Forces Command, whose server is based in the United States, the National Intelligence Service and South Korea's top security solution provider AhnLab.

AhnLab predicted a third DDoS attack would start at 6:00 pm (0900 GMT) against seven domestic sites.

"This is the worst cyber attack I have seen in my 15-year career," its CEO Hongsun Kim told reporters. "This is an online equivalent of 9/11.

"I don't think an individual hacker can do this. This is an organised attack," he said, adding "very complicated" codes are being planted.

In Washington the Department of Homeland Security confirmed US government and private websites came under attack but declined to identify them.

"It was a pretty massive attack," Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer for the private US SANS Internet Storm Center, said of the assault which began in the United States last weekend.

He said government sites which were hit included the White House, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, National Security Agency, State Department, US Postal Service, US Treasury Department and Voice of America.

A Pentagon site was also targeted, he said.

'Feeling' is No. 1 on U.S. record chart

LOS ANGELES, July 9 (UPI) --

The Black Eyed Peas's I Gotta Feeling is No. 1 on the U.S. record chart, Billboard.com reported Thursday.

Coming in at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 is the band's song Boom Boom Pow, followed by Drake's

Best I Ever Had at No. 3, Keri Hilson's Knock You Down featuring Kanye West and Ne-Yo at No. 4 and Lady Gaga's LoveGame at No. 5.

Rounding out the top tier are Sean Kingston's Fire Burning at No. 6, Jeremih's Birthday Sex at No. 7,

Pitbull's I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) at No. 8, Taylor Swift's You Belong with Me at No. 9 and Linkin Park's New Divide at No. 10.

SKorea, US hit by more cyber attacks

by Lim Chang-Won SEOUL (AFP) --

A third wave of cyber attacks hit South Korea on Thursday evening, blocking or impeding access to official and private websites, amid suspicions North Korea or its supporters are to blame.

The US State Department said its website also came under attack for a fourth day as it tried to prevent further attacks after the White House and Pentagon websites were among US government entities targeted this week.

AhnLab, a South Korean developer of anti-virus software, had forecast the virus, which hit dozens of US and Korean sites in recent days, would return at 6:00 pm Thursday (0900 GMT) and hit seven domestic sites.

"The third attack was bigger than our office had predicted, affecting some of the sites also hit earlier in the week," a company official told AFP.

The websites of parliament, the defence ministry, the foreign ministry and the National Intelligence Service were either responding slowly or shut down intermittently.

The largest bank, Kookmin, also said access to its website was blocked at one point and it was trying hard to normalise Internet banking.

Officials at the government's Korea Information Security Agency told Yonhap news agency the damage appeared less serious Thursday thanks to concerted efforts to combat the problem.

Hackers have planted the viruses in thousands of personal computers in South Korea and overseas. In what is called a "distributed denial of service" (DDoS), they are programmed to swamp certain websites at selected times.

In a sign of further disruption to come, Yonhap quoted the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) as saying that tens of thousands of virus-contaminated personal computers "appear automatically programmed to destroy their own stored data starting Friday."

The KCC said the virus was set to destroy the data of at least 20,000 contaminated PCs across South Korea.

The report added that government agencies and private network security firms said they have identified and closed four overseas-based intermediate hosts suspected of participating in the latest wave of attacks, without elaborating.

The White House, State Department and Pentagon websites were among government entities targeted this week in the United States, experts said, along with private institutions.

In response, the South Korean military said an information security command will be launched on January 1, two years earlier than planned, and become operational six months later.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said 12 South Korean and 14 US organisations were hit in the first wave early this week.

It said a second wave of attacks Wednesday was aimed at domestic banks and a security solution provider.

The NIS has not publicly suggested who is mounting the attacks.

But it told members of parliament's intelligence committee Wednesday that it believes the North or its sympathisers may be to blame, according to several legislators.

The North has staged a nuclear test and numerous missile launches in recent weeks, raising regional tensions. A cyber attack, if confirmed, would be a new tactic.

Yonhap quoted an NIS report to the committee as forecasting potential "financial chaos" in the event of a larger cyber attack.

It said the daily value of all online transactions in South Korea -- one of the world's most wired nations -- is six trillion won (4.7 billion dollars).

The NIS said the internal networks of the Seoul government are safe and no information has been leaked.

The Korea Information Security Agency said most sites had been restored after the first attacks began in the country late Tuesday -- using 12,000 domestic PCs and 8,000 abroad.

However it said the second round -- using 29,000 "hijacked" PCs -- hit one foreign site and 15 domestic sites, including government agencies, banks and a security solution provider.

Kwon Tae-Shin, senior secretary to the prime minister, described the viruses as "an attack on our system and a provocative activity which poses a threat to our security."

He was speaking after chairing a vice minister-level meeting on the incidents.

"This is the worst cyber attack I have seen in my 15-year career," AhnLab CEO Hongsun Kim told reporters. "This is an online equivalent of 9/11.

"I don't think an individual hacker can do this. This is an organised attack," he said, adding "very complicated" codes are being planted.

SKorea hit by more cyber attacks, NKorea suspected

by Lim Chang-Won SEOUL, July 9, 2009 (AFP) --

A third wave of cyber attacks hit South Korea on Thursday evening, blocking or impeding access to official and private websites, amid suspicions North Korea or its supporters are to blame.

AhnLab, a South Korean developer of anti-virus software, had forecast the virus, which hit dozens of US and Korean sites this week, would return at 6:00 pm Thursday and hit seven domestic sites.

"The third attack was bigger than our office had predicted, affecting some of the sites also hit earlier in the week," a company official told AFP around 7:00 pm. He had no immediate figures on the number of sites hit.