Law and Order

During experiments on the axons of the Woods Hole squid (loligo pealei), we tested our cockroach leg stimulus protocol on the squid's chromatophores.

2012-08-25T04:02:00.001-07:00

The results were both interesting and beautiful. The video is a view through an 8x microscope zoomed in on the dorsal side of the caudal fin of the squid. We used a suction electrode to stimulate the fin nerve. Chromatophores are pigmeted cells that come in 3 colors: Brown, Red, and Yellow. Each chromatophore is lined with up to 16 muscles that contract to reveal their color.

Paloma T. Gonzalez-Bellido of Roger Hanlon's Lab in the Marine Resource Center of the Marine Biological Labs helped us with the preparation. You can read their latest paper at:http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/08/13/rspb.2012.1374

STAR WARS DETOURS™ Trailer

2012-08-25T03:44:00.001-07:00

The nine people believed injured by stray police gunfire outside the Empire State Building were not the first to learn how dangerous a crowded street can be in a gunfight.

2012-08-25T03:14:00.001-07:00

Civilians occasionally find themselves in harm's way when officers use deadly force, though usually only a handful of times annually. When that happens, a rigid process of investigation is set in motion — and the police department can reasonably expect a lawsuit. The latest episode came when police say a man disgruntled over losing his job a year ago shot a former colleague to death and pointed his weapon at two police officers in the shadow of a major tourist attraction. He apparently wasn't able to fire before police killed him, one firing off seven rounds and the other nine. Bystanders suffered graze wounds, and some were struck by concrete gouged from buildings by the bullets, authorities said. At least one person said he was actually hit by a bullet. Robert Asika, a 23-year-old tour guide who was hit in the right arm, said he was "100 percent positive" he was shot by a police officer. A witness told police that laid-off clothing designer Jeffrey Johnson fired at officers, but ballistics evidence so far contradicts that, authorities said.

Tracking a Rare Tattoo-Related Infection

2012-08-23T08:25:00.001-07:00

A Trail of Ink: Tracking a Rare Tattoo-Related Infection

An uncommon skin infection led to a doctor's investigation into tainted tattoo ink. (Monroe County Health Department)

The reddish-purple rash, seemingly woven into the tattoo on a 20-year-old New Yorker's forearm, was strange enough to have doctors scratching their heads.

This trail began when the man received a tattoo in Rochester, N.Y. in October 2011. A short while later, he noticed the raised, bumpy rash. He called his primary care physician.

Doctors initially treated the man's arm with topical steroids, thinking that the rash was allergic-contact dermatitis. But that only made the problem worse.

By the time dermatologist Dr. Mark Goldgeier saw the patient, it was clear that this was no simple allergy.

He performed a skin biopsy so he could take a closer look at the rash under a microscope. What he saw was startling: the sample was riddled with a wormlike bacterium related to tuberculosis.

"I explained [to the patient] that he had TB, and he had a look of horror on his face," Goldgeier said.

For the patient, the finding meant a trip to an infectious disease specialist to start up to a full year of treatment.

Goldgeier, meanwhile, called the Monroe County Health Department.

"As soon as biopsy came back," he said, "I knew something in the process of tattooing was involved -- the ink, the water used for dilution, the syringes, the dressings."

And so began a nationwide medical mystery.

An article published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine describes how this one dermatologist helped connect the dots in an outbreak of tattoo-related atypical skin infections.

Dr. Byron Kennedy, public health specialist at Monroe County Department of Public Health, took over the case from Goldgeier. Kennedy first confirmed the results by repeating a skin biopsy on the patient. Once again, tendrils of mycobacterium chelonae, a type of tuberculosis-related skin bacteria, showed up in the sample.

Mycobacterium chelonae is a rapidly growing bug found in soil, dust, water, animals, hospitals, and contaminated pharmaceuticals. This family of bacteria does not commonly affect healthy individuals, but in patients with suppressed immune systems -- like those with HIV or on chemotherapy -- these bacteria can cause serious disease, often resulting in death.

The finding sent Kennedy and his associates to the tattoo parlor where the patient had been inked. Everything in the clinic was sterile, which made it unlikely that the infection had arisen there. But the tattoo artist, they learned, had been using a new gray premixed ink purchased in Arizona in April 2011; he used the ink between May and December 2011.

The ingredients of the ink -- pigment, witch hazel, glycerin, and distilled water -- seemed innocuous enough. But further examination revealed that the distilled water in the pigment was the likely culprit of the contamination.

The finding raised a number of questions -- not the least of which was how the bottles of premixed ink passed U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged this gap in regulations Wednesday in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report.

"Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, tattoo inks are considered to be cosmetics, and the pigments used in the inks are color additives requiring premarket approval," the report says.

Armed gang fight breaks out in Venezuelan prison

2012-08-23T03:58:00.001-07:00

Twenty-five people were killed and 43 others hurt in a prison battle in Venezuela as two armed gangs vied for control of a penitentiary near Caracas, authorities said on Monday.

Invasion of the pickpockets

2012-07-19T17:25:00.001-07:00

Britain is in the grip of a pickpocketing epidemic as Eastern European gangs descend on London ahead of the Olympic Games.

A surge in sneak street thefts means more than 1,700 people fall victim every day – an increase of nearly a fifth in only two years, according to official crime figures released yesterday.

At the same time, police warned that professional gangs from Romania, Lithuania and even South America who operate in capitals across Europe are heading to Britain, intent on cashing in on unwitting tourists at London 2012.

How they do it: A member of the pickpocket gang approaches a BBC reporter investigating the rise in thefts ahead of the Olympics

Keeping him occupied: The man speaks to the victim on the pretense of needing directions while another gang member approaches from behind

A BBC investigation exposed the tactics used by Romanian thieves, who were previously operating in Barcelona, to dupe their victims.

The criminals boasted of their ‘one-second’ theft techniques which leave targets unaware that anything has happened until it is too late. They can make £4,000 a week taking wallets, smartphones and laptop bags. The goods are then shipped back to Romania and sold on the black market.

Scotland Yard has made more than 80 arrests already and warned thieves the capital will be a ‘hostile environment’ in the coming weeks.

The Met has even drafted in a team of Romanian police officers to deal with the problem and patrol in the West End of London and Westminster during the Games. They will not have arrest powers.

Distracted: An accomplice (left) then plays drunk so he can get close enough to the target to strike

Sleight of hand: The 'drunk' man jostles around with the BBC reporter, making it harder for him to notice what is going on

Rich pickings: The sneering thief walks away with the wallet from the unsuspecting victim

Teamwork: The thief quickly hands the wallet to another member of the gang, who spirits it away

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: ‘These Romanian officers will prove to be a huge asset in cracking down on certain criminal networks who are targeting tourists in central London.’

Official statistics released yesterday showed pickpocketing thefts rose 17 per cent in the past two years.

In 2011/12, a total of 625,000 people fell victim, the Crime Survey of England and Wales showed.

That is an increase of more than 102,000 since 2009/10.

The vast majority of the total are classified as ‘stealth thefts’, but in 83,000 cases the victims’ possessions were ‘snatched’.

Bankers face the prospect of jail as Serious Fraud Office launches criminal probe into interest-rate fixing at Barclays

2012-07-06T08:34:00.001-07:00

Hearing: Former chief executive Bob Diamond left Barclays over the matter, before appearing before MPs this week

A criminal investigation has been launched into alleged rigging of the Libor rate within the banking industry, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) confirmed today.

SFO director David Green QC formally accepted the Libor issue for investigation after Barclays was fined by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) last week for manipulating the key interbank lending rate which affects mortgages and loans.

The claims ultimately led to the resignation of Barclays boss Bob Diamond and have become the focal point of a fierce political debate over ethics in the banking sector.

The investigation could ultimately lead to criminal prosecutions and bankers facing charges in court.

The SFO's update came after it revealed earlier this week that it had been working closely with the FSA during its investigation and would consider the potential for criminal prosecutions.

The Government department, which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting serious and complex fraud, said on Monday the issues surrounding Libor were "complex" and that assessing the evidence would take time.

Under fire: Barclays former chairman Marcus Agius (right) with former CEO Bob Diamond (centre), and former chief executive John Varley (left)

As the SFO prepares its investigation, Labour leader Ed Miliband continued to push for an independent inquiry into the banking scandal despite MPs rejecting the demands.

The Labour leader said that while the party would cooperate with a parliamentary investigation, its remit was too "narrow" and a judge-led probe was still needed.

Mr Miliband also defended the conduct of Ed Balls after the shadow chancellor engaged in a bitter war of words with his opposite number George Osborne in the Commons.

Holidaymakers in Spain this summer are facing a surprise new airport tax imposed by the Spanish government

2012-07-05T09:20:00.001-07:00

Holidaymakers in Spain this summer are facing a surprise new airport tax imposed by the Spanish government as it tries to balance its books. Some airlines are passing the new departure tax on to passengers, even if they booked their flights months ago. Some passengers have received emails telling them either to pay an extra charge of up to seven euros (£6) per person - or to cancel their flights. Other airlines are deciding whether to absorb the cost themselves. The budget airline Ryanair said Spain's 2012 budget, passed into law at the end of June, obliged airlines to pay increased taxes. Spain is implementing drastic measures to try to slash its budget deficit to 5.3% from 8.5% in 2011. It has been promised bailout funds of up to 100bn euros for its banks, but wants to avoid a full state bailout. Retrospective The European travel agents' association ECTAA said the amount of the extra levy varied depending on which airport people used. It said the average rise in the tax was 18.9%, but at some of the larger airports it would almost double. For instance, at Madrid-Barajas the tax would rise from 6.95 euros to 14.44, while at Barcelona's El Prat airport it would rise from 6.12 euros to 13.44. Ryanair said it would pass the cost on to passengers, even those who had already paid in full for their flights, because the tax applied "retrospectively to customers who booked flights before 2 July 2012 and are travelling from 1 July onwards". It said for bookings made on or after 2 July, the increased tax would have been included in the price. The Spanish low-cost airline Vueling is also passing on the cost. It sent emails to passengers giving them seven days to cancel their flight, or the extra payment would be debited automatically from the card they used to book. British Airways and Iberia told the BBC they had not yet decided whether to pass on the cost or absorb it. ECTAA said in a statement it was "dismayed" by the rise, which was imposed "without proper consultation of airport users nor appropriate implementation time". It said travel agents faced a "technical and financial nightmare to recover the extra charge".

15 people have been shot since 5 p.m. Tuesday in Chicago

2012-07-04T01:06:00.001-07:00

including a 10-year-old girl and a man cooling off at an open fire hydrant on the West Side, authorities said. The girl and a 24-year-old man were struck as they stood at a hydrant in the 200 block of North Leamington Avenue in the city's South Austin neighborhood, police said, citing early reports. The girl, struck in the left wrist and the abdomen, was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park before being transferred to John H. Stroger Hospitalin critical condition, said Officer Hector Alfaro, a police spokesman. The wounded male was taken to West Suburban in good condition with a wound to the right hand. Relatives of the girl said the wounded man was the boyfriend of the child's mother. At about 10:15 p.m., a 48-year-old man, was shot in the right knee by an acquaintance in the 700 block of North St. Louis Avenue, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment. The suspected gunman remained at-large. The late night shootings followed a rash of afternoon and evening shootings that began with a 15-year-old boy was shot in the left armpit in a park in the 8500 block of South Peoria Street, Zala said. The park is adjacent to Gresham Elementary School. The boy was in the park when another young man or boy came up to the boy and shot him, Zala said. The boy was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital for treatment, he said. Although the investigation is ongoing, initial indications are that the boy's shooting was not gang-related. About a half hour later, a man and three boys, ages 14 to 19, were shot near 60th Street and Rockwell Avenue, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala. The victims were wounded in a drive-by shooting, Zala said, citing preliminary information. One boy, 14, was shot in the right hand, another, also 14, was shot in the right foot. A 15-year-boy was shot in the right knee. And a 19-year-old was shot in the right thigh. The Fire Department only had information on three victims. One patient was taken in serious-to-critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, a second in fair-to-serious condition to Holy Cross Hospital, and a third in fair-to-serious condition to St. Bernard Hospital, according to Fire Department spokesman Will Knight. A few minutes earlier, a man and a woman were shot in the 3800 block of West Augusta Boulevard, Zala said. About 5:33 p.m., a 34-year-old woman was shot in the buttocks, and a 21-year-old man suffered a graze wound, in a drive-by shooting. The woman was taken to an area hospital for treatment, but the man refused medical attention, Zala said. Meanwhile in the North Side Sheridan Park neighborhood, two women and a man -- all believed to be in their 20s --were wounded in the 4400 block of North Racine Avenue just before 7:30 p.m. in what was believed to be a drive-by shooting, Zala said. The other woman and the man had had their conditions stabilized, Zala said. A male and female were wounded in a drive-by shooting near a bus stop at about 8:15 p.m. in the 2300 block of West Washington Boulevard on the city's Near West Side. The male was struck in his side, while the female was struck in one of her toes, police said, citing early reports. Both victims were listed in serious-to-fair condition and were treated at the scene, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

US health fraud costs Glaxo £1.9bn

2012-07-04T01:03:00.001-07:00

Drugs firm GlaxoSmithKline will pay three billion dollars (£1.9bn) in fines after admitting to the largest healthcare fraud in US history. The UK's largest pharmaceutical company was accused of bribing doctors in America to prescribe medicines for unapproved uses, with potentially dangerous side effects. Glaxo, which is based in west London and has household names such as Lucozade and Ribena under its brand, is due to plead guilty to criminal and civil offences involving 10 drugs taken by millions of people. It promoted the popular anti-depressants Paxil and Wellbutrin for unapproved uses. Prosecutors said that between 1998 and 2003 Glaxo illegally promoted Paxil for treating depression in children, even though it was not approved for under 18s. The company also promoted Wellbutrin from 1999 to 2003 for weight loss, sexual dysfunction, substance addictions and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, although it was approved only for treatment of major depression. And Glaxo will admit failing to report to the government for seven years on safety problems with the diabetes drug Avandia, which was restricted in the US and banned in Europe after it was found in 2007 to sharply increase the risks of heart attacks and congestive heart failure. Glaxo has also agreed to resolve civil liability for promoting asthma drug Advair and two lesser-known drugs for unapproved uses. The company also resolved accusations it overcharged the government-funded Medicaid for some drugs and bribed doctors to prescribe several medicines including asthma drug Flovent and herpes medicine Valtrex. Sir Andrew Witty, Glaxo's chief executive, said: "Today brings to resolution difficult, long-standing matters for GSK. Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored. On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made." Sir Andrew said the company had "fundamentally changed" its procedures for compliance, marketing and selling, and that Glaxo understood "how important it is that our medicines are appropriately promoted to healthcare professionals and that we adhere to the standards rightly expected by the US government". While doctors are allowed to prescribe medicines for any use, pharmaceutical firms cannot promote them in any way not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. "Let me be clear, we will not tolerate health care fraud," US deputy attorney general James Cole said at the Justice Department in Washington.

Barclays ex-boss Bob Diamond faces MPs' questioning

2012-07-04T01:02:00.001-07:00

Bob Diamond is due to be grilled by MPs a day after resigning as Barclays chief executive in the wake of the inter-bank interest rate-fixing scandal. His appearance was arranged before the latest furore, but he is likely to be quizzed about who knew what and when. MPs are also likely to ask about the role of the Bank of England and the previous government in the rate-fixing. There have been suggestions the BoE's deputy governor and senior Whitehall officials knew rates were manipulated. Amid reports that Mr Diamond was pressured to resign, there is speculation that he will use the Treasury Committee hearing to hit back at senior political and City personnel. Robert Peston, the BBC's business editor, said that Mr Diamond "has an opportunity to take his revenge if he so chooses". On Tuesday, Barclays released Mr Diamond's note of a conversation in 2008 with the Bank of England's Paul Tucker. Mr Diamond writes that Mr Tucker told him of concerns among "senior figures within Whitehall" about why Barclays was setting its Libor rate - the rate at which banks lend to one another - at the "top end". He went on: "Mr Tucker stated the levels of calls he was receiving from Whitehall were senior and that, while he was certain that we did not need advice, that it did not always need to be the case that we appeared as high as we have recently." Subsequently, the Libor borrowing rates submitted by Barclays fell, potentially understating the extent of the bank's borrowing costs. Wrong impression? Continue reading the main story Crisis jargon buster Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms: Libor Libor London Inter Bank Offered Rate. The rate at which banks in London lend money to each other for the short-term in a particular currency. A new Libor rate is calculated every morning by financial data firm Thomson Reuters based on interest rates provided by members of the British Bankers Association. Glossary in full The Libor inter-bank rate plays a key role in global markets, affecting what banks, businesses and individuals pay to borrow money. Manipulating the rate might have given the impression that Barclays - and other banks also thought to have used the practice - was in a stronger financial position than it was. Barclays said in Tuesday's statement that Mr Diamond did not view his conversation with Mr Tucker as an instruction to change its rates submission. However, after the phonecall with Mr Tucker, Mr Diamond relayed the conversation to Jerry del Missier, a senior executive in Barclays investment banking arm BarCap who resigned on Tuesday. Barclays said: "Jerry del Missier concluded that an instruction had been passed down from the Bank of England not to keep Libors so high and he therefore passed down a direction to that effect to the [traders]." It is unclear who the "senior Whitehall" figures mentioned by Mr Diamond were. Documents seen by the BBC on Monday indicate that ministers in the last Labour government held discussions with banks about policies which would allow the Libor rate to fall. 'No recollection' Speculation about how much the government of the day knew prompted a statement on Tuesday evening from former Labour minister Baroness Vadera of Holland Park. She said she "has no recollection of speaking to Paul Tucker or anyone else at the Bank of England about the price setting of Libor". Mr Diamond's resignation came less than a week after Barclays was fined £290m for its role in Libor manipulation. The BBC's Robert Peston has disclosed that Mr Diamond was encouraged to go by Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King and the head of the FSA Lord Turner. Tuesday's resignations follow an announcement on Monday that Barclays chairman Marcus Agius will stand down. However, he will now take over the running of the bank until a new chief executive is appointed.

18-year-old man accused of murdering Canadian model Diana O'Brien

2008-11-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

Trial of an 18-year-old man accused of murdering Canadian model Diana O'Brien in China began Monday in a Shanghai courtroom.China's official Xinhua news agency said the hearing for the accused, Chen Jun, lasted about two hours."So far, no sentence has been issued," the agency reported.Chen is described by the No. 1 Intermediate People's Court of Shanghai as a native of nearby Anhui province who earned a monthly wage of about 1,000 yuan - equivalent to about US$146 - at a restaurant in Shanghai.
Prosecutors say he ran out of money after quitting his job.Chen has confessed that he followed Obrien to her apartment in Shanghai on the night of July 6. O'Brien was said to have resisted when Chen asked for money, and the accused allegedly stabbed her to death, according to Xinhua.Her body was found the next day in the building.
O'Brien, 22, was from Salt Spring Island, B.C.Prosecutors said Chen took her laptop, a digital camera and some money before going back to his home in Langxi County, Xuancheng City, a few hundred kilometres west of Shanghai.The accused was arrested in an Internet cafe five days later, Xinhua said.The agency said O'Brien entered China on June 24 and worked for Shanghai-based JH Model Agency.After his arrest in July, Chen described his confrontation with O'Brien in a televised interview with the popular Shanghai crime news show, Dongfang 110 - produced by Shanghai's police force to showcase real-life investigations.In the interview, Chen said he was in O'Brien's building when he saw the door to her apartment open. He said he didn't see anyone around and was taking a laptop when O'Brien came out of another room.
"While I wasn't looking, she hit me and knocked me to the floor," Chen said.
He said he took out a knife and stabbed her, then followed when she ran out of the apartment screaming and stabbed her again in the stairwell, fearing the neighbours would come out to look. Chen did not actually confess to killing O'Brien during the broadcast.Chen also said in the interview that he left the apartment building empty-handed after the stabbing but came back a few hours later to get the laptop so he could sell it and have money to escape home to Anhui.Killing a foreigner in China usually results in the death penalty.Obrien's friends have said she was unhappy with her overseas assignments and planned to return to Canada before the end of her three-month contract.

Two of the witnesses in the film have already been killed

2008-11-15T04:04:00.000-08:00

Produced and directed by Irish filmmaker and former BBC producer Jamie Doran, the film tells the story of thousands of prisoners who surrendered to the US military's Afghan allies after the siege of Kunduz. According to the film, some three thousand of the prisoners were forced into sealed containers and loaded onto trucks for transport to Sheberghan prison. When the prisoners began shouting for air, U.S.-allied Afghan soldiers fired directly into the truck, killing many of them. The rest suffered through an appalling road trip lasting up to four days, so thirsty they clawed at the skin of their fellow prisoners as they licked perspiration and even drank blood from open wounds. Witnesses say that when the trucks arrived and soldiers opened the containers, most of the people inside were dead. They also say US Special Forces re-directed the containers carrying the living and dead into the desert and stood by as survivors were shot and buried. Now, up to three thousand bodies lie buried in a mass grave. Outraged human rights groups and lawyers are calling for an investigation but the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan refuses any U.N.-backed investigation until the Afghan government can protect witnesses. Two of the witnesses in the film have already been killed

tUNNEL OF dEATH

2008-11-15T03:57:00.001-08:00

Steve Irwin's Death

2008-11-15T03:55:00.001-08:00

Steve Irwin's Death - video powered by Metacafe

Death Lists

2008-11-15T03:49:00.000-08:00