An ex-collaborator of disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk claimed Monday that he succeeded in cloning a female dog after last year’s breakthrough of creating the world’s first cloned dog, which was male.

An Afghan hound, named Bona, was born on June 18 using cloning technology, said Lee Byeong-chun, a veterinary professor of Seoul National University. Two more of the same breed were born later, he said. DNA tests showed that the three female dogs are clones, he said.

Lee was a key member of Hwang’s research team, most of whose purported breakthroughs in cloning human stem cells were found to be fake. But the team’s success in cloning the world’s first dog, Snuppy, was confirmed. Lee was the main scientist that led the dog cloning. (more…)

Less than two thirds of people whose profile is stored on the National DNA Database are there for having been cautioned or convicted of a criminal offence, Home Office figures have revealed.

In response to a parliamentary question, John Reid last week responded that 3,457,000 individuals are on the database, but 1,139,445 have no criminal record. The figure is eight times the total of 139,463 reported by the Home Office Earlier in March.

The news sneaked out on Monday last week, at the height of the Ipswich serial killings manhunt. The Tories this weekend accused the government of burying bad news and called for a vote on whether the innocent should be included in the database. (more…)

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said overstretched US troops are losing the conflict in IraMr Powell told CBS News that bolstering troop numbers would be unlikely to reverse the “grave and deteriorating situation” in the country.

President Bush is trying to shape a new strategy for Iraq, with officials suggesting more soldiers may be sent.

Mr Powell’s comments come a day before the new defence secretary, Robert Gates, is to be sworn in.

During his confirmation hearings, Mr Gates also conceded that the US was not winning in Iraq and faced a “regional conflagration” unless the downward spiral was reversed.

The recent Iraq Study Group review said the US strategy of “staying the course” was no longer viable and suggested combat troops could be withdrawn by early 2008. (more…)

Some kept visiting schools for 3 years after FBI caught them on tape

A Midtown strip mall that should have housed the best of the best served as Corruption Central in Tucson.

Two military recruiting stations sit side-by-side there, one run by the Army, the other by the Marines. Between them, a total of seven recruiters were on the take, secretly accepting bribes to transport cocaine, even as most spent their days visiting local high schools.

They had help from several more recruiters at an Army National Guard office, where one recruiter was said to be selling cocaine from the trunk of his recruiting vehicle.

Together, these dozen or so recruiters formed the nucleus of one of the FBI’s biggest public corruption cases, the sting known as Operation Lively Green, which unfolded in Southern Arizona from 2002-2004 and was made public last year. (more…)

New passports using radio frequency identification (RFID) chips to hold personal data can be cloned in less than five minutes, it has been claimed.

Two technology consultants have discovered that ePassports can be cloned using internet-bought software and put the owner “more at risk” from identity thieves, according to the BBC.

RFID chips on ePassports contain information about the owner via radio signals which can be read from a short distance.

However, Lukas Grunwald and Christian Bottger bought an RFID reader on eBay and developed software that provides a blank chip for the cloned details to be copied onto. (more…)

North Korea set out sweeping demands on Monday for scrapping its nuclear arms and the United States warned that its patience was running out — an inauspicious start to six-party talks after a year-long hiatus.

Addressing the six-party forum at the first talks since the North’s October 9 nuclear test, Pyongyang’s chief envoy demanded an end to U.N. sanctions and U.S. financial curbs and the grant of a nuclear reactor before it would consider disarmament.

In response to this “exhaustive list”, chief U.S. envoy Christopher Hill warned that Washington’s patience had “reached its limits”. (more…)

During a Sunday morning interview on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nevada, Dem) indicated that he would back a short-term surge of more US troops sent to Iraq, as reports indicate that President Bush may be contemplating such a plan.

“If the president calls for adding more troops to Baghdad, adding more troops to Iraq, will you oppose it?” Stephanopoulos asked.

Reid said that he’d “go along” with such a plan if it’s “part of a program” to get the United States out “by this time next year.”

“If it’s for a surge, that is, for two or three months and it’s part of a program to get us out of there, as indicated, by this time next year, then, sure, I’ll go along with it,” Reid said. (more…)

But this time it’s between France and Israel

After French troops in southern Lebanon almost shot down an Israeli fighter jet that was diving toward them on Nov. 17, France warned the Israeli ambassador that Israel was constantly breaking the UN-brokered ceasefire by operating over-flights in the south and in other regions.

The Israelis at first claimed the incident had not happened and pointed out they did not have a policy of authorizing flyovers. Later, under pressure from the French, who are leading the UN mission (UNIFIL) in Lebanon, an Israeli government spokesman admitted there had been an incident but downplayed it, saying it was misunderstood. (more…)

WASHINGTON — The military says it could save lives in war zones like Iraq. But the Navy wants to test a blood substitute on civilian trauma victims without getting informed consent.

Hemopure is derived from cow blood. If the Food and Drug Administration agrees, it would be given to patients between the ages of 18 and 69 who’ve lost dangerous amounts of blood. They’d get it on the way to the hospital, instead of saline fluids that are normally given in ambulances. (more…)

Computer scientists have used the power of thought to control a humanoid robot.

Wearing a special cap dotted with 32 scalp electrodes, an individual can “order” the robot to move about and pick up objects merely by generating brain waves that reflect the instructions.

Rajesh Rao, of the University of Washington, demonstrated the robot at the Current Trends in BrainComputer Interfacing meeting in Whistler, British Columbia.

“It suggests that one day we might be able to use semi-autonomous robots for helping disabled people,” he said. (more…)

Russian authorities pulled hundreds of opposition activists off buses and trains and detained them along with scores of others on Saturday ahead of a rare anti-government rally in Moscow, organizers said.

The police action did not prevent more than 2,000 people from gathering in a central square, where leftist and liberal groups demanded that Russian President Vladimir Putin stop what they called Russia’s retreat from democracy.

“In 15 months political power will be changed,” said Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister who is now an opposition leader, referring to the March 2008 presidential election.

“Next year everyone should make a personal decision about what to do with our country _ whether we allow these people to continue their illegal undertakings … or we finally make our main goal to build a democratic and socially oriented state,” Kasyanov told demonstrators. (more…)

Saddam Hussein said on Monday he would take responsibility “with honor” for any attacks on Iran using conventional or chemical weapons during the 1980-1988 war but he took issue with charges he ordered attacks on Iraqis.

The former president and six others are on trial for the Anfal — Spoils of War — military campaign against ethnic Kurds in northern Iraq in the 1980s in which prosecutors say up to 180,000 people were killed in gas attacks and mass executions.

“In relation to Iran, if any military or civil official claims that Saddam gave orders to use either conventional or special ammunition, which as explained is chemical, I will take responsibility with honor,” Saddam told the court.

But he added: “I will discuss any act committed against our people and any Iraqi citizen, whether Arab or Kurdish. I don’t accept any insult to my principles or to me personally.” (more…)

Dose ten times the lethal level, Investigators are baffled by amount

British investigators believe that Alexander Litvinenko’s killers used more than $10 million of polonium-210 to poison him. Preliminary findings from the post mortem examination on the former KGB spy suggest that he was given more than ten times the lethal dose.
Police do not know why the assassins used so much of the polonium-210, and are investigating whether the poison was part of a consignment to be sold on the black market.

They believe that whoever orchestrated the plot knew of its effects, but are unsure whether the massive amount was used to send a message — it made it easier for British scientists to detect — or is evidence of a clumsy operation. (more…)

On Sunday morning, December 17, 2006, syndicated radio host Jack Blood was Pepper sprayed and arrested by Austin PD. He received multiple injuries to his Face, hands, arms, back, and legs in a 12 hour ordeal in police custody.

Following an after party for “The Arab League” with many fans and supporters of Jack Blood at the Jackalope on Austin Texas’s famous 6th street, Jack was standing at the back alley exit of the club waiting to leave, and talking to fans. Out of nowhere a fight broke out between two Hispanic males and one Caucasian victim who turned out to be an employee of the Jackalope.

The victim was knocked unconscious by the two perpetrators who were continuing to attack the defenseless victim. Without any fear for his own safety, Jack Blood jumped in and fended off the attackers and chased them away while dozens of onlookers witnessed the mêlée. (more…)

British detectives probing the murder of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko have wound up their investigation in Moscow and are due to leave for home on Tuesday, a British police source said on Monday.

No details of what the Scotland Yard investigators had discovered were available.

Earlier, Russian agency Interfax, quoting what is said was an informed source, reported that the investigators had interviewed six people including Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoy, who met Litvinenko in London on November 1, the day he fell ill with radiation poisoning. (more…)