Inside a small motor home , Joanne Pierluissi raised her sleeve as nurse Mary Perez inserted a needle into the vein above her forearm , drawing blood into a tube for a diabetes test . As her daughters watched , Pierluissi , 24 , said it was for them , as much as for herself , that she agreed to be tested for the deadly killer of Hispanics . `` I was concerned because they said an aunt of mine had it and I just wanted to come for the checkup . All of our family is going to go through the program to make sure that if we have it that we 'll do something about it . '' Twelve million Americans have some form of diabetes , but it is most prevalent among minorities , especially Native Americans , blacks and Hispanics . Hispanics are three times as likely to develop diabetes as the general population , and 40 percent of the 700,000 victims in Texas are Mexican-American . More than 150,000 Americans die from diabetes each year ; another 150,000 deaths are diabetes-related , according to the American Diabetes Association . No one really knows what sparks it , but researchers believe Hispanics could hold the key . San Antonio , the nation 's ninth largest city , with a population that is 50 percent Hispanic , is becoming the base for diabetes studies . Researchers take a customized mobile home to neighborhoods to randomly check Hispanics and Anglos for the disease , which deprives the body of insulin and can lead to complications affecting the heart , kidneys , eyes and nerves . San Antonio 's Hispanic makeup led Dr. Ralph DeFronzo to abandon his prestigious position as a Yale University diabetes researcher and persuade his four-member team to relocate to the University of Texas Health Science Center . An epidemiologist at the center , Dr. Michael Stern , has devoted 10 years to studying Hispanic diabetes and led the grassroots study of Type II diabetes . Type II , the most common form , develops mostly in obese adults over 40 who also may have a family history of the disease . In obese diabetics , the body has too much insulin because it is burning more fats than sugars . Type I diabetes usually develops among adolescents and requires that they have daily injections of insulin . Stern said family studies of diabetic patients are brining him closer to finding the gene that triggers the disease . A genetic marker might identify people who are susceptible , which could lead to a screening test , he said . `` Then you could go out and zero in on the genetic susceptibles and you can be more intense on your recommendations to them and you could also study that group . '' Stern believes if people exercised more and ate less of the fat-saturated foods common to the diets of low-income Hispanics , fewer would get the disease . `` We use the term double jeopardy for Mexican-Americans , '' he said . `` We do n't know why , when they get diabetes , they have a more severe form of the disease _ whether it 's a biological difference or is it that they are not getting as good medical care . `` But the interesting thing is that upper-income Mexican-Americans do not have the same risk as low-income Mexican-Americans . It may be that the gene is there , but for some reason it may not be expressed in the upper-income Mexican-Americans . `` Also , Mexican-Americans tend to have more body fat in their upper torso and we can see that as related to diabetes . '' Between 1979 and 1988 , Stern and his staff studied more than 5,000 people and found that 387 of 2,905 Hispanics had the disease , or 13.3 percent , compared to only 87 of 1,780 Anglos , or 4.8 percent . Researchers believe that poor Hispanics ' diets of cheap , processed foods , lack of exercise and infrequent medical attention _ either due to poverty or a cultural bias against doctors _ increases their risk of acquiring diabetes . The study is in its follow-up stage , to see if diagnosed diabetes patients have changed their lifestyle and have sought medical care . Teresa Castro , 54 , whose diabetic husband died at age 37 , went through the screening eight years ago . She was told that because of her weight , 254 pounds , she had hypertension and was at risk of diabetes . Doctors put her on a strict , low-fat diet and she lost 26 pounds . `` I went to the screening because they called and said it was free . That 's why I went to it , because being poor I could n't afford to go to the doctor for this type of checkup , '' she said . `` My mother has diabetes and they tell me I might have diabetes , too , but I do n't know too much about it . `` I feel OK , but they tell me that one year you can be OK and the next year , it can be totally different . '' DeFronzo , who in 1988 was chosen the top diabetes investigator by Canadian and Japanese diabetes associations , says his unit at the Health Science Center will try to use many of Stern 's patients for research . That will include work for Lipha Chemicals , which makes an anti-diabetic drug called metaforim that improves the body 's ability to respond to insulin . `` The problem with Type II diabetics is not that they do n't make enough insulin ; they do n't respond to the insulin , '' DeFronzo said . `` What we 'd like to do is make them more responsive and this drug will do that . '' The drug is widely used in Europe , Canada and Mexico and should be approved by the Food and Drug Administration in several years for U.S. use , he said . Educating elementary-school-age children about healthy diets would help reduce the number of diabetes cases , DeFronzo said . `` If you have a 65-year-old mother who weighs 220 pounds and you tell her to go out and jog five miles Monday , Wednesday and Friday , she is going to laugh at you . `` So you have to design an exercise program that is compatible with the patient 's lifestyle and it is something they can do . ''

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

hispanic diabetes
diabetes studies
diabetes test
minorities
american diabetes association
obese diabetics
diabetic patients
hispanics
type ii diabetes
insulin


The government of the northern republic of Slovenia said Friday that Serbia , in the south and east , is attempting to `` oust us from Yugoslavia . '' The statement from the Slovenian presidency followed Serbia 's decision Tuesday to ban all political and economic contacts with Slovenia . Liberal , prosperous Slovenia and the hard-line communist leadership of Serbia have been feuding for years . But the Serbian action Tuesday was the gravest threat to the unity of the Yugoslav federation since the death of the nation 's post-World War II leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980 . Earlier Friday 13 people were arrested when police dispersed a crowd of about 100 gathered for a pro-Serbian rally in Ljubljana that had been prohibited by Slovenian authorities . Slovenia issued an order Tuesday banning the rally and Serbia reacted by severing relations with Slovenia . In its statement , Slovenia 's collective presidency called Serbia 's action `` a flagrant violation of all constitutional , legal and civilized norms . '' `` We shall never permit anyone to drive us away or oust us from Yugoslavia , '' it said . `` Yugoslavia is our country . We have the right to be citizens of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia and also to be different . Those who do not acknowledge this separate themselves from the federal state . '' It denounced the Serbian communist leadership , saying , `` We do not accept a comprehensive control of a single truth , of political uniformity , authoritarianism and intolerance , of ideologic monolithism . '' Serbia is the largest of Yugoslavia 's six republics . Aleksandar Prlja , Serbia 's secretary for foreign affairs , told The Associated Press that Slovenia 's `` banning of the peaceful rally was deeply humiliating for the Serbian people . `` This is irreconcilable with joint existence in a federal state . '' Slovenian officials said the rally had been organized by Serbian politicians trying to oust the Slovenian leadership . Economic decline has brought increased friction between the republics with their different ethnic populations , and the Slovenian Serbian conflict also involves liberal vs. conservative communist leaders . Slovenia advocates regional autonomy and has legalized opposition groups that will contest the region 's first multi-party balloting in elections next spring . Serbia insists on a centralized federtion with the Communist Party the only official party . The Serbian news media on Friday accused Slovenia of `` fascist-like '' behavior and called for the resignation of Yugoslav President Janez Drnovsek , a Slovene . Delo , Ljubljana 's major newspeper , said Friday 's rally was `` an integral part of a plan to alter by force the Yugoslav federation . It was yet another attempt to bring Slovenia to its knees . '' It called Serbia 's imposition of an economic boycott a `` declaration of war '' and said Slovenia would respond by `` opening itself to the world , introducing greater democracy and by holding free elections . ''

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

slovenian presidency
economic contacts
serbian action
yugoslav federation
economic boycott
regional autonomy
slovenian serbian conflict

pro-serbian rally
hard-line communist leadership


`` Mad cow disease '' has killed 10,000 cattle , restricted the export market for Britain 's cattle industry and raised fears about the safety of eating beef . The government insists the disease poses only a remote risk to human health , but scientists still are n't certain what causes the disease or how it is transmitted . `` I think everyone agrees that the risks are low , '' says Martin Raff , a neurobiologist at University College , London . `` But they certainly are not zero . I have not changed my eating habits , but I certainly do wonder . '' Mad cow disease , or bovine spongiform encephalopathy , or BSE , was diagnosed only in 1986 . The symptoms are very much like scrapie , a sheep disease which has been in Britain since the 1700s . The incurable disease eats holes in the brains of its victims ; in late stages a sick animal may act skittish or stagger drunkenly . The suspicion is that the disease was transmitted through cattle feed , which used to contain sheep by-products as a protein supplement . The government banned the use of sheep offal in cattle feed in June 1988 , and later banned the use of cattle brain , spleen , thymus , intestines and spinal cord in food for humans . Sheep offal is still used in pig and poultry feed . Earlier this month , the government announced it would pay farmers 100 percent of market value or average market price , whichever is less , for each animal diagnosed with BSE . `` I think it is a recognition _ not just of pressure from farmers _ but that the public would feel more confident that no BSE-infected animal would ever be likely to go anywhere near the food chain if there was 100 percent compensation , '' said Sir Simon Gourlay , president of the National Farmers Union . The disease struck one of his own cows , Gourlay said . `` In the course of 24 hours , the animal went from being ostensibly quite normal to very vicious and totally disoriented . '' As of Feb. 9 , the Ministry of Agriculture , Fisheries and Food said that 9,998 cattle have been destroyed after being diagnosed with BSE . The government has paid $ 6.1 million in compensation , and is budgeting $ 16 million for 1990 . Ireland 's Department of Agriculture and Food said about 20 cases have been confirmed there , all of them near the border with the British province of Northern Ireland . Because of the disease , the U.S. Department of Agriculture 's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service banned imports of cattle , embryos and bull semen from Great Britain in July , said Margaret Webb , a USDA spokeswoman in Washington . Similar embargoes have been imposed by Australia , Finland , Israel , Sweden , West Germany and New Zealand , according to the agriculture ministry , and the European Community has proposed a ban on exports of British cattle older than 6 months . David Maclean , a junior agriculture minister , has complained of `` BSE hysteria '' in the media and has insisted that the risk of the disease passing to humans is `` remote . '' The government has committed $ 19 million to finding the cause of the disease . A commission chaired by Professor Sir Richard Southwood of Oxford University reported last year that the cause of BSE `` is quite unlike any bacteria or known viruses . '' The report said the disease was impossible to detect in apparently healthy animals because it did not prompt the immune system to produce antibodies . The Southwood report said it was `` most unlikely '' that the disease was a threat to humans . But the report added : `` If our assessments of these likelihoods are incorrect , the implications would be extremely serious . '' There is a human variant of spongiform encephalopathy , known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease . About two dozen cases were reported in Britain last year . Another form , known as kuru , had been found cannibals in New Guinea . According to a report in the British Medical Journal , the incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is no higher in Britain than it is in countries free of scrapie . `` It is urgent that the same reassurance can be given about the lack of effect of BSE on human health , '' a consultative committee reported to the agriculture ministry . The committee 's report , released early this year , said it is only a `` shrewd guess '' that BSE was transmitted through sheep offal in cattle feed .

O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O

mad cow disease
bse
sheep disease
immune system
british cattle
government
exports
scrapie


Forecasters preparing for Thursday 's opening of the Atlantic hurricane season wish they could predict the arrival of new technological help they say may be crucial to ever-growing coastal populations . The Air Force has agreed to fly hurricane reconnaissance flights for two more years , but has made it clear it plans to phase out the missions . And only one satellite is available for tracking hurricanes . `` We just have nothing right now to lean on , '' says Ken McKinnon , a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Tom Lewis of North Palm Beach , Fla. , who has introduced a bill in Congress to keep hurricane hunters flying at least another five years . `` We 've got one satellite and they 're telling us it 'll do the job . If it blinks , how do you track weather ? '' The Air Force does n't want to be involved . `` We have in the last few years examined our need for manned weather reconnaissance and feel there 's no real compelling military reason , '' said spokesman Lt. Col. Darrell Hayes . `` We 're not disputing that the hurricane center and the weather service need the data . We 're just saying there may be more appropriate agencies to provide the information , '' he said , adding that the service had approached the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about taking over the flights . Besides the flights , forecasters depend on radar and satellite data . The single working weather satellite was n't intended to be alone . A second satellite failed , and a replacement for the failed craft was blown up in a mishap on the launch pad , forcing forecasters to make do . There are new satellites on the horizon , says Bob Sheets , director of the National Hurricane Center . But they 've been due for a long time and are n't expected before late 1990 . `` It is a major concern for us , '' Sheets said . Forecasters also are worried about a shift in the pattern of hurricane activity in recent years . Since 1985 , Sheets said , there seem to be more hurricanes and they 're more likely to hit the United States . `` We may be in an upswing , '' he said , `` possibly back to the pattern of the '40s , '50s and '60s when we had a tremendous number of landfall hurricanes . '' Max Mayfield , hurricane specialist at the National Weather Service in Miami , said experts do n't known enough yet about hurricanes to tell if this is just a peak in activity , or a return to the 50s and 60s . `` Now we can see past the Antilles out into the Atlantic , and over toward Hawaii on the west , '' said forecaster Hal Gerrish . `` We 'd like to be able to see all the way to Africa , '' which is where Atlantic hurricanes develop , he said . The need for improved tracking systems is important because more and more people are moving to coastal locations likely to be affected by storms . `` I spoke to about 5,000 people on the west coast of Florida , '' Sheets said . `` Ninety-plus percent of them were from the Midwest or Northeast and had just come to Florida . They really have very little concept of what a hurricane is . '' During the average Atlantic hurricane season , which stretches from June through the end of November , six tropical storms will grow into hurricanes , with heavy rains and winds of 74 mph . Donna , in 1960 , struck the Florida Keys at Marathon , then raked across Naples and Fort Myers before weakening inland . Last season , 505 people died in Atlantic hurricanes , including Gilbert and Joan . Gilbert killed more than 300 people and did heavy damage in Mexico , Jamaica , Haiti and the Dominican Republic as it blasted across the the western Caribbean and part of the Gulf of Mexico _ including the Florida Keys , the Florida Straits and Cuba . Joan hovered off the coast of Central America for days before howling in with top winds of 135 mph . The storm caused mudslides , floods and other damage in Nicaragua , Costa Rica , Colombia and Panama .

B O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

atlantic hurricane season
coastal populations
hurricane reconnaissance flights
air force
forecasters
weather satellite
hurricane hunters
hurricane activity


A stone 's throw from the smelly Smithfield meat market is an office building complex with no sign or anything to attract the attention of Londoners hurrying by . Mounted cameras , jumpy guards and heavy doors keep out the uninvited . The gold-colored interior is hushed and luxuriously decorated . This is the Central Selling Organization , London-based marketing arm of the De Beers diamond empire , controlled by the wealthy Oppenheimer family of South Africa . Its experts sort mounds of rough diamonds constituting 80 percent of the world 's annual production . But scratch the surface of this secretive world , and the diamond business loses some sparkle . Sales have declined sharply , and the 56-year-old cartel is facing pressure to give producers better terms and allow them to sell more of their own gems . Although its prosperity and control of the world diamond industry looks unchallengeable , the pressures could loosen its grip and crimp its profits . `` This year is going to be a critical one for De Beers , '' says Diamond Intelligence Briefs , a trade publication . De Beers ' South African interests face an uncertain future , largely because of a newly energized political will by the black majority in that country , an important diamond producer . The African National Congress has pledged to nationalize South Africa 's major sources of wealth if it takes power . Apparently attempting to limit risk , De Beers recently announced it would split South African and foreign interests into two publicly held companies , one based in Switzerland . After growth spurts of 19 percent in 1987 and 35 percent in 1988 , rough diamond sales fell 2 percent to $ 4.09 billion last year because of slowing economies , high interest rates and the organization 's two double-digit price increases in 1988 and 1989 . The decline was sharpest in the second half of the year , when sales fell 24 percent from the first six months . `` There was a very definite , noticeable slack in demand , '' said analyst Peter Miller of Yorkton Securities Inc. in London . The decline has limited De Beers ' scope for raising prices . This past week , De Beers announced it was increasing prices 5.5 percent , compared to a 15.5 percent increase a year earlier . The organization must this year renegotiate five-year contracts with Botswana , the second biggest diamond producer in terms of value , and Argyle Diamonds of Western Australia , the biggest producer in terms of quantity . The government of newly independent Namibia , meanwhile , is expected to demand a one-fifth stake in Consolidated Diamond Mines , De Beers ' Namibian subsidiary . The organization sells most of the Soviet Union 's West-bound diamonds , but the Soviets , the biggest value producer , have been acting more independently and squeezing the cartel 's margins , the experts say . Jack Lunzer , managing director of IDC Ltd. , an independent diamond distributor in London , said De Beers undoubtedly will continue to control the major part of world production , but its marketing arm 's profits will fall . The effect has n't been felt yet ; De Beers ' profit rose 37 percent to $ 1.1 billion in 1989 . Few diamond-producing countries dare sell their output outside the organization , and some bold enough to leave have returned because of the difficulty in peddling diamonds alone . Zaire returned in 1983 after a two-year split . Angola , which broke in 1985 , has been negotiating its re-entry . `` We are as strongly in control of the diamond market as we have been for many years , '' said Tim Capon , the cartel 's director . The organization buys rough diamonds from De Beers ' own mines , which represent 30 percent of world production , and from producers in Tanzania , South Africa , Zaire , Botswana , Namibia , Australia and the Soviet Union . It reveals few details about security . It was robbed once , in the early 1980s , when some diamonds were snatched as couriers carried them from one building to another . De Beers picks its 160 or so buying customers from thousands of hopefuls . Ten times a year , at sales called `` sights , '' the clients are offered a selection of diamonds chosen by the organization and placed in a simple cardboard box . The buyer basically can take it or leave it . The gems then go to cutters in the world 's major diamond-cutting centers : Bombay , India ; Tel Aviv , Israel ; Antwerp , Belgium ; and New York . Of all diamonds mined , only 15 percent will end up in jewelry , but these represent 80 percent of the value of the world 's diamond production . The rest are put to industrial use . The organization is fighting the lackluster sales trend by trying to create new demand . Last year , it spent $ 160 million on advertising and promotion , trying , for example , to boost purchases of men 's diamond jewelry . De Beers 's achievement over the decades has been to mass-market what was once an aristocratic luxury without greatly diminishing its value . Today , diamonds remain `` the gem of gems , '' although millions of people own them . De Beers insists it seeks long-term stability and prosperity for the industry , saying price fluctuations would undermine confidence in the value of diamonds . So far , it has succeeded . While other commodities markets have suffered repeated convulsions , rough diamond prices have n't fallen since the organization started announcing price changes in 1964 . Even its fiercest competitors laud De Beers for putting up considerable amounts of money and assuming the risks to develop mines and support the market . During the early 1980s , when high interest rates caused the worst diamond slump since the 1930s , the organization prevented the market 's collapse by doubling its diamond stockpile to nearly $ 2 billion worth . But producers criticize the organization 's secretiveness and what they call its arbitrary valuation system . Some want more of the industry 's millions of jobs relocated in their own countries . Said Lunzer : `` It 's not unnatural for people in the producing countries to say , ` Are we getting a proper share of the value of our national resource ? '' ' After reviewing a complaint filed by the British mining company Consolidated Gold Fields PLC alleging anti-competitive practices , Britain 's Office of Fair Trading decided in August against formally investigating whether the organization abuses its monopoly . Gold Fields acknowledged the complaint was a defensive maneuver against a hostile , and ultimately unsuccessful , takeover bid from Oppenheimer-controlled Minorco SA last year . Formally known as De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. , and based in Kimberley , South Africa , the company was formed in 1888 by the British industrial colonialist Cecil Rhodes . Sir Ernest Oppenheimer , a diamond merchant , became chairman of De Beers in 1929 and five years later formed Diamond Trading Co. , the precursor of today 's cartel . Oppenheimer , who linked the diamond business with his extensive Anglo American Corp. gold-mining interests , is credited with steering De Beers through the Depression . He died in 1957 and was succeeded by his son , Harry Oppenheimer , who has made the company more internationally minded and therefore less vulnerable . Now 81 , Oppenheimer still serves on De Beers ' board of directors , of which he previously was chairman . His 44-year-old son and heir apparent , Nicholas , is deputy to Chairman Julian Ogilvie Thompson .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O B I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

de beers diamond empire
central selling organization
diamond business
world diamond industry
south african interests
diamond producer
rough diamond sales


Less than a month before elections , the assassination of a third presidential candidate has pushed Colombia to the brink of political chaos . After the shooting of candidate Carlos Pizarro in a jetliner Thursday , the country 's largest newspaper implored the government to `` do something , for the love of God . '' Addressing President Virgilio Barco , the El Tiempo editorial said : `` In your hands , and only in your hands , is the power to avoid the country 's dissolution . '' `` The gravest aspect of Colombia 's bloodletting is that the government has no idea how to even slow it , '' said a member of a regional human rights committee based in Medellin , the cocaine capital . He declined to be identified because he was afraid someone might be angered by his statements and kill him . Four of his predecessors have been assassinated . In recent interviews , Pizarro , the candidate for the leftist April 19 Movement , or M-19 , admitted he was afraid . But he said his desire to lead Colombia was greater than his fear of assassins ' bullets . A gunman on a suicide mission shot Pizarro aboard a Colombian jetliner after it took off from Bogota 's airport . Pizarro 's bodyguards shot and killed the assassin . Two other presidential candidates had already been assassinated during the campaign for May 27 elections . Sen. Luis Carlos Galan of the ruling Liberal Party was gunned down last August at a political rally in Bogota , and Bernardo Jaramillo of the leftist Patriotic Union Party was killed last month at the Bogota airport . Authorities blamed the assassinations on drug traffickers . The media , citing security sources , reported that traffickers were the main suspects in Pizarro 's killing as well . But the Medellin cartel denied involvement , and no government official has yet said who was responsible for Pizarro 's assassination . On Saturday Antonio Navarro , a longtime guerrilla leader of the April 19 Movement , announced he would take Pizarro 's place as candidate for president . Traffickers have carried out a terrorist campaign that has killed nearly 300 Colombians in the past nine months in an effort to halt the government 's campaign to capture and extradite drug barons to the United States . Bombings by the Medellin cartel have caused millions of dollars in property damage , led to the militarization of Medellin and other cities and shattered the nerves of citizens . Pizarro 's death appears to have pushed the country to its limit . For the first time , leading politicians suggested the government itself might be compromised by the killing . Several politicians and analysts said an armed assassin could not have been aboard a jetliner without the complicity of government and airport security personnel . Former president Alfonso Lopez said the assassinations of three candidates indicated that Colombia 's armed forces must be reorganized . Lopez , of the Liberal Party , was president from 1974 to 1978 . Official investigations have shown that certain members of the armed forces are allied with drug traffickers and the country 's right-wing death squads . One of the country 's presidential candidates , Alvaro Gomez , said Friday that Barco should name a three-man council to run Colombia 's security forces to avoid a military coup . He suggested that Barco had lost control over the armed forces . Gomez made the proposal in a written statement given to the press . `` Never has there been such a great and pathetic image of anarchy , '' said Gomez , a presidential candidate of the Conservative Party . Barco , of the Liberal Party , rejected Gomez 's suggestion of a triumvirate , saying the armed forces would be reorganized only if necessary . Continuing to focus on a military solution to Colombia 's problems , Barco said late Friday he would double the size of a 3,000-man anti-terrorist police unit . The unit achieved its greatest success against drug traffickers when it killed a Medellin cartel leader , Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha , in a gunfight last December . Both Barco and his party 's presidential candidate , Cesar Gaviria , have linked Colombia 's salvation to constitutional reform . Through such reforms they hope to reform the corrupted Congress , strengthen the judicial system and provide more political representation for minority parties . According to recent polls , Gaviria is heavily favored to win the presidential elections .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O B I O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O

candidate carlos pizarro
gunman
suicide mission
assassinations
drug traffickers
terrorist campaign
drug barons
presidential elections
colombia
political chaos


Here is a chronology of the Exxon Valdez oil spill , its cleanup and related developments :

exxon valdez oil spill
chronology
cleanup
developments


Here are some tornado facts from the National Weather Service , Insurance Information Institute and news accounts : _ Tornadoes can occur in any month , but are more frequent from April through June and between 3 and 6 p.m. _ Most tornadoes track southwest to northeast , but their paths can spiral erratically . _ The portion of a thunderstorm adjacent to large hail is where tornadoes are most likely to occur . _ There were 32 tornado-related deaths reported in 1988 , down from 59 in 1987 and well below the average of 99 a year . _ Less than 2 percent of all tornadoes are classified as violent , with wind speeds of more than 200 mph and a path averaging 26 miles . The longest tornado on record went 219 miles across Missouri , Illinois and Indiana in March 1925 . _ Tornadoes travel at an average 30 mph , but can stand still or go 70 mph . _ The largest single outbreak of twisters on record was in April 1974 , when 148 storms killed 300 people in 13 states over two days . _ When a tornado threatens , seek shelter in the basement or central parts of the house , office or school building , away from windows .

O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


Supercomputers , satellites and the expertise of several hurricane forecasters predicted the destructive path Hurricane Hugo would follow , giving people plenty of time to flee the South Carolina coast . But hurricane tracking remains an uncertain science . Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center used computer models to track Hugo 's path into Charleston , S.C. `` All the world 's knowledge about meteorological conditions and forecasting changes in those conditions is embodied in those models , '' said Thomas Pyke , head of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 's satellite service . Pinpointing the exact point of Hugo 's landfall was difficult , but forecasters said Friday that the landfall was predicted in time for evacuation . `` Overall , I think the tracking models gave us a very good idea where Hugo would be so officials in South Carolina could act in a timely manner , '' said research meteorologist Colin McAdie . The real forecasting problem with Hugo was predicting the intensity of the storm , which was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane just hours before it slammed into Charleston . `` It is very difficult to predict changes in intensity because we do n't have very reliable computer models for that , '' McAdie said . `` We really need to improve on our forecasting ability of strength . '' The hurricane specialists were surprised by the last-minute increase in wind speed , which was reported to them by Air Force reconnaissance . Hurricane specialist Gil Clark , who has tracked hurricanes for 35 years , said that a couple of decades ago , the only forecasting tools were reports from aircraft or ships . `` We had no radar or satellites then , so needless to say our forecasts were less accurate , '' Clark said . In the late 1960s , the weather service began using satellites to obtain a global weather picture . Information from the satellite is used to improve the accuracy of the large-scale models that television viewers see every night . Using the information from the satellite , supercomputers at the National Meteorological Center in Suitland , Md. , send information to the hurricane center where a tracking model constantly changes to account for current weather conditions and the position of the hurricane . To determine the track of the storm , the forecasters analyze supercomputer predictions , satellite data , the history of similar storms and the current path of the hurricane . Then they make an educated guess about the landfall . Meteorology professor Kerry A. Emmanuel of the Massachussetts Institute of Technology criticizes the current forecasting system . `` Congress and the American people are suffering from the collective delusion that our data problems have been solved by satellites and that just is n't true , '' Emmanuel said . Satellites can give a `` pretty picture , '' he said , but not enough information about the wind and temperatures that affect a hurricane 's path . `` Most of the information actually used to predict hurricanes comes from flying airplanes into the hurricane , and they do a very good job , '' Emmanuel said . Forecasters say the accuracy of satellite pictures is improving every year so long-range forecasting should become more precise . `` We have to remember that those models used are only guidance products , '' Pyke said , `` and that it 's ultimately the job of the forecaster to predict the storm 's path . ''

O O O O O O O O B I O O B I B I O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

hurricane hugo
destructive path
supercomputer predictions
satellite data
satellite pictures
hurricane forecasters
real forecasting problem
forecasting ability
south carolina coast
landfall


A major earthquake registering 7.2 on the Richter scale shook the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific today , the U.S. Geological Survey says . The preliminary reading of 7.2 is slightly stronger than the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit the San Francisco Bay area Oct. 17 . The earthquake struck the islands at 8:05 a.m. today , or 5:05 p.m. EDT Friday , said USGS spokesman Don Finley . It was the largest earthquake in the Solomons since a 7.4 quake on Nov. 5 , 1978 . There were no immediate reports of injury or damage . Major earthquakes in the Solomons usually do n't cause much damage or many casualties because the area is sparsely populated and not extensively developed . The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said no Pacific-wide tsunami _ popularly called a tidal wave _ was generated by the quake , but some areas might see small changes in sea levels . Saturday 's earthquake was the strongest in the world in five months , Finley said . An 8.3 quake hit the Macquarie Islands south of Australia on May 23 . The survey 's earthquake monitors in Golden , Colo. , said early seismograph readings placed the epicenter of Saturday 's earthquake about 200 miles southeast of Honiaria , which is on Guadacanal Island and is the capital of the Solomons . That places the earthquake just east of San Cristobal , the easternmost island in the Solomons chain and about 1,300 miles northeast of Brisbane , Australia . The Richter scale is a measure of ground motion as recorded on seismographs . Every increase of one number means a tenfold increase in magnitude . Thus a reading of 7.5 reflects an earthquake 10 times stronger than one of 6.5 . An earthquake of 3.5 on the Richter scale can cause slight damage in the local area , 4 moderate damage , 5 considerable damage , 6 severe damage . A 7 reading is a `` major '' earthquake , capable of widespread heavy damage ; 8 is a `` great '' quake , capable of tremendous damage .

O O O O O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

richter scale
solomon islands
major earthquakes
epicenter
widespread heavy damage
largest earthquake
earthquake monitors


Suspected communist rebels today killed the police chief of the Philippines ' major financial center in an escalation of street violence sweeping the capital area , police said . Col. Herminio Taylo , 54 , police chief of Makati , had just finished jogging and was buying fruit in a public market when two assassins opened fire with .45 - caliber pistols , police said . He died an hour later in a hospital . Police Sgt. Lydio Zeta quoted witnesses as saying the gunmen shouted `` We are NPAs , '' referring to the rebel New People 's Army , and warned bystanders not to interfere . They fled in a commandeered passenger jeep after taking Taylo 's pistol , Zeta said . Makati , a twin city of Manila with a population of about 440,000 , is the country 's major banking and financial center and is also the home of numerous foreign embassies . Taylo was the 10th soldier or policeman slain in the Manila area in the last two weeks . The military says communist rebels have killed up to 65 soldiers and police in the capital region since January . The New People 's Army also claimed responsibility for the April 21 assassination of U.S. Army Col. James `` Nick '' Rowe , who was slain on his way to work at the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group headquarters in suburban Quezon City . Taylo was slain one day after Brig. Gen. Alexander Aguirre , Capital Region commander , announced formation of a special task force to track down rebel assassins in the capital . President Corazon Aquino deplored the latest killing but said public officials must learn to live with the threat of assassination . She said the government had provided bodyguards to Cabinet members who have requested them or who have received death threats . `` It is really very unfortunate and I do sympathize with the family of Col. Taylo , '' said Mrs. Aquino , whose husband Benigno was slain in a political assassination in 1983 . `` And I hope that this , perhaps , could be a reminder to all our people in the military and police that they should take necessary precautions to ward off these assasination attempts . '' National Security Adviser Rafael Ileto said the killing of Taylo showed that every soldier and policeman was a potential target of assassination . `` This is war and somebody is bound to get hurt in the process , '' Ileto said . `` I 'm sure all the major unit commanders are doing their best not only to protect their men but to counter such acts . '' Despite the escalating violence , Mrs. Aquino said she still plans to go ahead with a visit to Western Europe this month . Mrs. Aquino leaves Saturday for an official visit to West Germany . She will also visit France and Belgium before departing Brussels for home on July 15 .

O B I O O O B I O O B O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

political assassination
communist rebels
philippines
assasination attempts
rebel assassins
police chief
street violence
makati
gunmen

col. herminio taylo
rebel new people's army


Elizabeth Taylor suffered complications including new infections in her fifth week of hospitalization for pneumonia , and will remain hospitalized for about six more weeks , doctors said Friday . The recovery of Miss Taylor , near death two weeks ago with viral pneumonia , was dealt a setback by bacterial pneumonia and a yeast infection , her doctors said . During the next 1 -LCB- months , she will require intravenous therapy in the hospital , they said in a statement released by St. John 's Hospital and Health Center . Bacterial pneumonia is generally considered less serious than the viral pneumonia Miss Taylor initially contracted . That 's because antibiotics are effective against bacteria but not viruses . `` She is tolerating this therapy extremely well and her doctors are pleased with her progress , '' Miss Taylor 's publicist , Chen Sam , said after talking to doctors . Hospital spokeswoman Paulette Weir said she could n't go beyond the statement . Miss Taylor was still in a private room and not the intensive care unit , she said . Earlier this week , Ms. Sam said the 58-year-old actress was improving and would be released from the hospital this week to recuperate at home . During a news conference last month , Miss Taylor 's doctors revealed she was near death on April 22 . The Oscar-winning star of `` Who 's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? '' and `` Butterfield 8 '' entered Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital on April 9 with a sinus infection , but her condition deteriorated and she was moved to St. John 's for treatment of viral pneumonia . Miss Taylor was reportedly in one of the hospital 's suites . Suites are `` like a small hotel room with a sitting room , a living room area , '' Weir said without confirming whether the actress was in a suite . Visitors throughout Miss Taylor 's hospitalization included her four children , Maria Burton-Carson , Liza Todd-Tivey and Christopher and Michael Wilding . Entertainer Michael Jackson also paid a visit .

B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

elizabeth taylor
bacterial pneumonia
viral pneumonia
yeast infection
intravenous therapy
sinus infection


Drugs are now available that can put AIDS patients into remission , and recent advances have made clear that a vaccine to protect against AIDS infection is possible , a panel of AIDS experts said Saturday . At the same time , however , the AIDS epidemic is being followed by a suddenly resurgent epidemic of tuberculosis , the scientists said . `` We have now made demonstrable first steps in inducing remission , '' said William Haseltine of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston . `` I think there is evidence that a substantial number of people who would have died are now alive , '' Haseltine said at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . He cautioned against a premature conclusion that the AIDS epidemic may be coming to an end . A number of treatments for AIDS and AIDS-related infections are available , he said , but many of them are not available to the poor or to developing countries . `` It looks like most of these will be expensive , hard to deliver and require monitoring , '' Haseltine said . `` Unless we develop a vaccine , the future of this epidemic worldwide will be extremely grim , '' he said . A year ago , the prospects for an AIDS vaccine looked doubtful , said James Mullins of Stanford University . But that has changed . `` There has been a transition in the effort to find a vaccine , '' Mullins said . Vaccines to protect animals against AIDS-related viruses have shown some success , he said , encouraging researchers to believe that similar vaccines can be found for humans . `` There 's new hope and interest that a vaccine is possible , '' said John McGowan of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda , Md. . Sten Vermund , also of the Allergy Institute , noted that an epidemic of tuberculosis is emerging in AIDS patients in the inner cities . In New York City , for example , tuberculosis declined between 1960 and 1977 , but is now increasing and has reached the 1960 level again . `` We anticipate in our major cities losing two decades of progress in our tuberculosis control efforts , '' said Vermund . And unlike the AIDS virus , which can not be transmitted through casual contact , tuberculosis is easily transmitted through the air . `` I think we should worry about tuberculosis and the risk to the general population , '' Vermund said . Many of the cases of tuberculosis are occurring when individuals who were exposed to tuberculosis early in life contract AIDS . They lose the ability to continue suppressing the tuberculosis bacteria , which normally would have remained dormant , and tuberculosis appears . `` It 's likely to be yet another health problem imposed on the inner cities , where the health problems are already legion , '' Vermund said . There is no strong evidence yet that tuberculosis is spreading to a significant number of poeple who do not have AIDS , but that is likely , Vermund said . He said the rise in tuberculosis began before the AIDS epidemic , probably because of the rise in the homeless population during the 1970s . Homeless people are at elevated risk of tuberculosis , Vermund said .

B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

drugs
aids epidemic
remission
aids infection
aids vaccine
tuberculosis bacteria


A steady decline in tuberculosis has all but stopped amid the continuing threat of TB for the AIDS-infected , federal health researchers say . In 1988 , the last year for which complete statistics are available , 22,436 U.S. tuberculosis cases were reported , down 0.4 percent from 1987 , the national Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday . That slight drop compares with an average annual decrease of 6.7 percent from 1981 to 1984 . One reason for the slowing of progress in wiping out TB is `` the increasing occurrence of TB in persons infected with ... HIV , '' the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome , the CDC said . AIDS leaves the body susceptible to a number of serious illnesses , including TB , and studies have found that about 4 percent of AIDS patients also are listed as TB patients . If the 6.7 percent average annual decline had kept up through the late 1980s , an estimated 14,768 fewer TB cases would have been expected during 1985-1988 , the CDC said in its weekly report . Tuberculosis was down 8.7 percent among whites in 1988 , as compared with 1985 , but up 9.1 percent among blacks and 17.6 percent among Hispanics _ two groups with proportionately higher rates of AIDS cases . In 1988 , 7,720 new tuberculosis cases were reported in whites , compared with 8,280 in blacks and 3,637 in Hispanics . The TB rate among blacks was 28.3 per 100,000 , compared with 18.3 for Hispanics and 4.1 for whites . Another 2,371 TB cases were reported among Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States , for a rate of 36.3 per 100,000 . The CDC estimates that 10 million Americans are infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis , an infection of the lungs . The vast majority will never become ill . But the number of new cases is only part of the toll from tuberculosis , the CDC said . In 1987 , more than 115,000 Americans were under TB treatment : 20,000 new patients plus 95,000 people labeled high-risk and on preventive therapy . Tuberculosis , which is curable in most cases with drug treatment , killed 1,755 Americans in 1987 .

O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

steady decline
tuberculosis cases
aids cases
disease control
complete statistics


This week 's flare-up of Western wildfires ca n't hold a candle to the damage wrought by last year 's record-breaking fire season , but officials say a dry August could change everything . Fire has charred more than 1.3 million acres of forest and range land since January in the contiguous United States , compared to 2.1 million acres by this time last year , fire officials said Monday . `` Right now , the fire season is just starting to gear up , '' said Sandi Sacher , spokeswoman at the federal government 's wildfire command post in Boise , Idaho . Nearly 10,000 firefighters in five Western states are battling hundreds of blazes , most of them sparked last week by lightning . Fire is a natural part of Western forest and range land . But some years are worse than others . Last year 's combination of heat and drought across a wide swath of the West produced a hellish summer of smoke and flame . One of the hardest-hit areas was Yellowstone National Park , where fire blackened about 1 million acres , nearly half the park 's territory . By year 's end , 6 million acres had burned in the West and Alaska , making 1988 the worst fire season in 30 years , and , in terms of firefighting resources committed , the most expensive in U.S. history , Sacher said . The widespread drought of 1988 has been replaced by spotty rain and local areas of dry weather , Sacher said . Fire danger is high this week in parts of Oregon , Nevada and Idaho , the National Weather Service said Monday . Forecasters just now are trying to get a handle on what kind of weaer August will bring , Sacher said . `` It 's arly to speculate , '' she said . `` Last year therein at all . This year , it seems to be fluctuating . You 'll get a dry period , then a front will come through and it will rain . `` They 're keeping a very close eye on the weatt , dry weather with lightning strikes , that could be serious . ''

O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O

western wildfires
contiguous united states
firefighters
blazes
fire danger
dry weather


Tuberculosis is alarming health officials again because it 's posing new health threats with its connection to the AIDS virus . A 35 percent increase in tuberculosis in 1989 in Newark , N.J. , has caught the attention of health officials , who had been previously recording with satisfaction a slow , steady decrease in TB cases over the last few decades . They attribute the 5 percent national increase in TB cases in 1989 to the ravages of the AIDS virus , which destroys the body 's immune system and leaves victims open to TB infection , Dr. Philip C. Hopewell of San Francisco General Hospital said Sunday . Hopewell and other health officials discussed the link between AIDS and TB during the a four-day World Conference on Lung Health in Boston , which ends Wednesday . About 4 percent of Americans identified as having the AIDS virus also have been diagnosed as being infected with tuberculosis , said Dr. Dixie E. Snider Jr. , director of the division of tuberculosis control at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta . The American Lung Association estimates that 20,000 Americans a year develop TB . In parts of Africa , where AIDS is already a health risk , tuberculosis has become epidemic , said Dr. Annik Rouillon , executive director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease in Paris . `` The combination of the two is really catastrophic , '' she said . Snider stressed that tuberculosis , unlike AIDS , is a curable disease and called for TB screenings at drug rehabilitation programs , prisons or other places where AIDS tests are being administered . Snider also said doctors should administer TB tests to all persons testing positive for the HIV virus since TB may not be readily diagnosed in AIDS patients . `` It 's important we get control of the situation , '' he said . In Wyoming , the Centers for Disease Control recorded no new cases of TB in 1989 , demonstrating that it is a condition that can be controlled and cured , according to Dr. Lee B. Reichman , director of the pulmonary division of the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey . `` I have never heard of a rise of the magnitude seen in New Jersey or , on the other hand , the hope generated by no cases in one state , '' Reichman said . Moreover , unlike AIDS , TB is a highly contagious disease that can be spread by airborne particles coughed up by a person with untreated , clinically active pulmonary TB . Untreated , tuberculosis kills about 50 percent of its victims within two years , according to the Centers for Disease Control . Snider said sustained contact is necessary for TB transmission , and would not pose new problems for AIDS victims already fighting discrimination in jobs and housing . However , he noted that there had been an increase in positive TB tests among AIDS health workers . Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium that commonly affects the lungs but can attack almost any organ . For the last three decades , it has been preventable and curable through multiple drug therapy , Snider said . Snider said 10 million to 15 million Americans have been infected with the tuberculosis germ , but only a small percentage of them develop the disease because their immune system was strong enough to prevent the disease from developing . If , however , a person 's immune system is impaired by poor nutrition or weakened by the HIV virus , people can develop active TB . `` TB is long known as an opportunistic organism , '' Hopewell said . The doctors said U.S. minority groups have become increasing susceptible to TB . Snider said there has been a 150 percent increased in cases of TB among young blacks in New York City . Tuberculosis can be effectively treated , even in AIDS patients , underscoring efforts to screen persons for the disease , the doctor said . Reichman noted that most American have forgotten about the problems of TB ; from 1981 to 1984 , TB cases declined an average of 6 percent per year according to the Centers for disease control . But , he said , `` TB is back with a vengeance . '' While associated with poverty and crowded living conditions , TB through history has ravaged both the poor and the famous . TB victims include Henry David Thoreau , Washington Irving , Franz Kafka , Ring Lardner , Somerset Maugham and Vivien Leigh . An estimated 3 million persons a year die worldwide from TB , according to the American Lung Association .

B O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O B I O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

new health threats
aids virus
tuberculosis
disease control
lung disease
tb cases


Ben Johnson , the world-class sprinter knocked off track and field 's pedestal after testing positive for steroids , says it 's wrong for athletes to use the muscle-building substance . `` I got caught in Seoul . I lost my gold medal , '' the Canadian told reporters as legislation to classify anabolic steroids as a controlled substance was introduced Thursday . `` I 'm here to tell the people of this country it 's wrong to cheat , not to take it , it 's bad for your health . '' Watching Johnson was his chief nemesis : Carl Lewis , the man who was awarded the Olympic gold medals Johnson lost . `` I think it 's great , '' Lewis said of the legislation . `` They 're making a move and it 's very positive . I 'm happy to see it . '' However , the flamboyant , pony-tailed Lewis told reporters : `` I do n't understand why Ben Johnson 's here . '' Lewis said he attended the news conference because he was working on his autobiography and one of the chapters deals with steroids . He said he did n't intend to upstage Johnson . Reps. Mel Levine , D-Calif. , Henry Waxman , D-Calif. , and Benjamin Gilman , R-N.Y. , invited Johnson to attend as they presented the legislation that would make anabolic steroids a controlled substance , similar to the designation given cocaine and heroin . The lawmakers emphasized the increasing abuse of steroids by college , high school and even junior high school athletes who believe the substance will enhance their performance . `` America is about to have an adolescent time-bomb explode in its hands , '' Levine said . `` But if we act quickly enough to restrict steroid distribution , and to increase the penalties for illicit distribution , we can prevent this plague from spreading . '' Levine referred to the abuse of steroids as `` the silent side of the drug disease in this country . '' He applauded Johnson 's courage for attending the news conference . Johnson later stepped up to the microphones and in a quiet voice with a slight stutter told other athletes not to make the same mistake he did , urging them `` to come forward , to come clean . '' Lewis dismissed reporters ' questions that he had used steroids , indicating he would be willing to run against Johnson `` if he comes back and he 's clean . '' While Lewis held the spotlight , Johnson slipped away to adjoining congressional offices . `` He 's not here to compete with Carl Lewis . I hope he will someday , '' said Ed Futerman , Johnson 's lawyer .

B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O B I O O O B O O O O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

ben johnson
seoul
gold medal
canadian
anabolic steroids
controlled substance


Solar telescopes yielded views of flare-producing sunspots and silhouetted mountains on the moon Tuesday as crowds gathered to watch a partial solar eclipse visible across western North America . `` There was a childlike delight with the wonder of nature , '' said Ed Krupp , director of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles , where 600 children and at least 400 other people watched the moon block out 37 percent of the sun 's surface at 10:50 a.m. PST . `` It was certainly a lively crowd , '' he said . `` There was a festival atmosphere . '' `` It 's kind of neat , '' said map maker Jan Mayne , who was among dozens of people watching the eclipse through two types of solar telescopes at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena . As the moon passed between the Earth and sun to cause the partial eclipse , those watching through Caltech 's telescopes could see mountains on the edge of the moon silhouetted against the sun . Also visible were gas jets on the sun 's surface and a giant group of sunspots that on Monday produced the most intense solar flare _ a burst of heat and radiation _ since 1984 . `` There was a stunning view of that large sunspot group , '' Krupp said . The eclipse was visible to at least some extent west of a diagonal line stretching roughly from Mazatlan , Mexico , northeast to Dallas and Chicago . Views were best farther west and north . But because the eclipse was partial most people did n't notice the slight dimming of sunlight . `` You ca n't tell the difference between a partial eclipse and a second-stage smog alert , '' joked one observer at Caltech . Several people viewed the eclipse through welder 's helmets in downtown Anchorage , Alaska , where the moon obscured 80 percent of the sun at 9:13 a.m. AST . In San Francisco , the moon eclipsed 46 percent of the sun at 9:52 a.m. , but the event was n't visible because of clouds that were so thick they delayed arriving flights at the airport . A slight dimming was noticed in Seattle , where partly cloudy skies allowed a glimpse of the 56 percent eclipse at 10:10 a.m. PST . The percentage of the sun blocked out and time of maximum eclipse at other locations included 52 percent at 11:28 a.m. MST in Edmonton , Alberta ; 46 percent at 11:09 a.m. MST in Boise , Idaho ; 36 percent at 11:10 a.m. MST in Salt Lake City ; 35 percent at 9:58 a.m. PST in Las Vegas ; 25 percent at 11:17 a.m. MST in Denver ; 15 percent at 12:42 p.m. CST in Minneapolis , and a measly 3 percent at 12:44 p.m. CST in Milwaukee . Fearful that people would suffer eye damage during the eclipse , scientists warned against staring at the sun directly or through inadequate filters , including smoked glass and photographic film or filters . Alan MacRobert , spokesman for Sky & Telescope magazine , said there were 245 known eye injuries in the United States after an eclipse in 1970 , but warnings about the danger reduced the number to three during a 1984 partial eclipse . From any single spot on Earth , a partial eclipse occurs every several years , said Ken Libbrecht , as assistant professor of astrophysics at Caltech . Total solar eclipses are visible from any single location roughly once every four centuries , though they are visible about every two years from somewhere on Earth , he said . The next total eclipse will happen July 11 , 1991 , sweeping across Hawaii , the Pacific Ocean , lower Baja California in Mexico , the west coast of Central America and finally Colombia and Brazil , MacRobert said .

B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

solar telescopes
partial solar
solar eclipses
eye injuries
eye damage
north america
stunning view


Rain and higher humidity helped firefighters whip blazes in six Western states , and a New Mexico fire that polluted a creek with ash forced biologists to rescue hundreds of endangered fish in long-handled nets . Officials said 566 Gila trout were fished out of Diamond Creek in southwestern New Mexico , put in containers on mules and horses , loaded onto trucks and brought to the Mescalero Fish Hatchery . The trout will stay there until the creek rises and becomes ash-free . `` They were in good shape , '' said Toby Martinez , a U.S. Forest Service range and wildlife staff officer for the Gila National Forest . Officials hoped at least 90 percent would survive . Much of the creek was contaminated by ash from the lightning-caused Divide fire , which started June 30 and burned about 10,000 acres 150 miles southwest of Albuquerque , said Forest Service spokeswoman Andrea Garcia . The fire was contained Monday and should be controlled within four days , Ms. Garcia said . Martinez said rescuers used electric shockers to stun the fish , then netted them . When a fish is stunned , it comes to the surface . Gila trout once were widespread throughout mountain streams in the Gila River Basin of southwestern New Mexico , but the habitat was ruined because of wood cutting , overgrazing and irrigation . The trout was placed on the federal endangered species list in 1967 . Lightning sparked three small fires Thursday and today , but firefighters were extinguishing them today , said Willie Zapata , U.S. Forest Service dispatcher in Gila . In California , 1,500 firefighters aided by light wind and higher humidity Thursday had circled 70 percent of an arson fire that has charred more than 3,000 acres of scenic California coastline near Big Sur . Firefighters said they were unable to make progress overnight . They hoped to have the 6-day-old fire contained by late today , but authorities were concerned that higher temperatures could hamper their efforts . A brush fire accidentally started by Marine Corps tracer fire continued burning out of control today after charring at least 3,000 acres at Camp Pendleton , a base spokesman said . Firefighters on Thursday said they had contained the 2,000-acre Livermore Fire west of Fort Collins , Colo. , in Roosevelt National Forest , the last of three major fires in Colorado to be encircled by firefighters . Seven 20-person crews fighting the fire were to be reduced to three crews , officials said . Earlier , firefighters contained the Black Tiger fire which covered 2,000 acres in Boulder Canyon and destroyed dozens of homes , and halted a 2,600-acre fire in Mesa Verde National Monument in southwestern Colorado . Arizona firefighters mopped up hot spots in several small fires , and only one blaze in the state was not fully contained . The stubborn Horton Fire , burning beneath the Mogollon Rim , had grown to 300 acres , but officials expected to have it contained by late Saturday . In northwest Nebraska , members of a volunteer fire department and a few National Guardsmen stood by the smoldering remains of a blaze that charred 48,000 acres of the Pine Ridge . The fire , which raged for four days and destroyed 14 unoccupied structures , was contained Wednesday and officials predicted it would be controlled soon . Forest officials in Nebraska shifted their attention Thursday from firefighting to seeding grass and planting trees . The blaze blackened acres of ponderosa pine trees , many of them 60 to 80 years old , said U.S. Forest Service Fire Staff Officer Jim Carson . Carson hoped for rain . `` My experience is that we 'd see green grass again if we get enough moisture , say a half-inch of rain , '' he said . Rains helped firefighters in western Wyoming forests . The storms dampened a fire in Bridger-Teton National Forest that had burned nearly 3,500 acres . `` It 's been real quiet , '' said Dick Heninger , a ranger in the forest 's Pinedale office . `` It looks better all the time , the way these clouds are coming in . '' Heninger said four crews will probably be released from the fire today , leaving two to continue mop-up work . But one official with the Wyoming Interagency Fire Coordination Center warned the break in the fire season will probably be short-lived . `` As soon as it gets hot and dry again , we will be right back in it , '' said center spokesman Greg Warner . `` For now , anyway , we are getting some relief . ''

O O O O O B O B O O B I O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

fires
blazes
western states
fire season
firefighters
new mexico fire
forest
arson fire


Scientists missed by 150 years in dating the oldest known reliable record of a total solar eclipse , a clay tablet that also reflects fear among the ancient observers , researchers said today . Scientists had concluded about 20 years ago that the eclipse , recorded on a clay tablet found in Syria , occurred on May 3 , 1375 B.C. . But in today 's issue of the British journal Nature , two Dutch scientists report their analysis shows the eclipse really happened about 150 years later , on March 5 , 1223 B.C. . The tablet was found in 1948 in the ruins of Ugarit , an ancient city near Syria 's Mediterranean coast . One side appears to tell of a solar eclipse , and the reverse side reads , `` Two livers were examined : danger . '' `` Apparently the anxiety caused by the eclipse of the Sun and the sudden appearance of Mars had to be resolved by an explanation through liver divination , '' wrote the researchers from the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University . They concluded that the earlier text analysis of the tablet misidentified the time of year in which the eclipse occurred . The new study indicated the eclipse really happened in late February or early March . In addition , the text apparently indicates that Mars was visible at the time of the eclipse , the Dutch researchers said . They compared those criteria and the likely age range for the tablet to a list of possible total solar eclipses visible from Ugarit . Only the event in 1223 B.C. fills the bill , the researchers said . In an accompanying editorial , Christopher B.F. Walker of the British Museum in London cautioned that their conclusion `` can best be regarded as a plausible hypothesis . '' The translation of the tablet 's text is not certain , and the study assumes that citizens of Ugarit followed an Egyptian-style calendar , for which no supporting evidence is available , he said . Even if the tablet is 150 years younger than previously believed , it would remain the oldest known reliable record of a total solar eclipse , Edwin Krupp , director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles , said in a telephone interview . The next-oldest record was made in China in the Eighth Century B.C. , said Krupp , a researcher in ancient astronomy .

O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

solar eclipses
clay tablet
dutch scientists
syria
reliable record
ancient observers


Here is a state-by-state look at the tornadoes and severe thunderstorms that have killed at least 27 people , injured more than 500 and left hundreds homeless since Wednesday :

O O O O O O O B O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


Exxon officials Monday released a revised plan for cleansing 364 miles of Alaskan coastline fouled by the nation 's largest oil spill , but said their proposal requires a suspension of local environmental laws . The plan makes no provisions for continuing the cleanup beyond mid-September , and notes that 191 miles of lightly oiled coastline may not be cleaned mechanically at all , but be allowed to be washed naturally by the environment . `` It is expected that this will be the case for all lightly oiled Gulf of Alaska sites , '' said the two-part , 60-page report . `` We are going to have to take a hard look at that , '' responded Bill Lamoreaux , the ranking state environmental official monitoring the cleanup . Since March 24 , when an Exxon tanker struck a reef outside Valdez and poured more than 10 million gallons of North Slope crude into Prince William Sound , Exxon has financed cleanup crews fighting the spreading sludge . Signs of the spill have been sighted about 500 miles southwest of Valdez . The oil company 's strategy , which was submitted to state and federal authorities only hours before a deadline expired , divides Alaska 's oil-tainted shores into four categories _ from the most heavily polluted to those that are `` only lightly oiled . '' It covers polluted areas within Prince William Sound , as well as those outside the immediate spill zone , and calls for nearly 3,400 workers to participate in the cleanup . The worst areas _ three miles of sludge-covered beaches on several small islands _ would be targeted immediately , with the others scheduled for gradual cleansing through Sept. 15 . Exxon 's plan calls for the recovered waste to be strained for usable oil that can be refined , and said the oil-laced wastewater could be treated at the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. 's disposal plant in Valdez . The gunk and sludge that resists treatment or salvage will be burned or buried , according to the Exxon study . Both methods likely will require exemptions from local environmental laws . Coast Guard Adm. Paul A. Yost Jr. , the ranking federal official tracking the cleanup , told reporters in Sacramento , Calif. that he would decide whether to approve the proposal within a week . Before the plan was released , Yost said he wanted much more detail than Exxon 's original cleanup plan , which included nothing on polluted areas outside the sound . Yost is scheduled to arrive in Valdez on Tuesday to review the latest plan . Meanwhile , tar and sludge from the Valdez spill fouled the beaches of Alaska 's wild Katmai National Park , drenching hundreds of sea otters and birds and threatening the huge brown bears prowling the refuge . The damage stretches along 260 miles of rocky , rugged coastline southwestward from Cape Douglas some 500 miles from Valdez , park superintendent Ray Bane said Monday . `` The oil has made landfall in large quantities in Katmai Bay and Hallo Bay . There is a heavy impact . We have seen several hundred sea otters swimming in oil . The oil has had an impact on virtually the entire coastline of the park , '' Bane said . The 4 million-acre park also is a haven for brown bears , a coastal cousin of the grizzly . `` A number of bears have been seen walking in the vicinity of the beaches . We have one verified sighting of a bear walking through the oil , '' Bane said . Bane said an aerial survey showed an amorphous oil patch 10 miles wide and more than 20 miles long in the Shelikof Strait , which is located along the migration route used by whales . Exxon is feeling the effects of the spill far beyond Alaska waters . Several groups throughout the country have called for a boycott Tuesday of Exxon products . In Anchorage , a group called the Boycott Exxon Alliance has scheduled a rally in front of Exxon 's Alaska headquarters . The attorneys general of Idaho , Oregon and Washington state scheduled a news conference Tuesday to call for a federal investigation into the sharp rise in the price of gasoline since the spill . The oil industry blames the spill and crude oil prices that have risen $ 7 a barrel since January for higher prices at the gas pumps . Exxon also received sharp criticism from the federal government , which accused the company of `` foot-dragging '' in the construction of a second facility in Seward to aid in the cleanup of sea otters fouled by the oil . The animals depend on their thick fur for insulation against the cold water but the oil ruins the insulation effect . Exxon says the center will open Wednesday .

B I O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

oil spill
alaskan coastline
exxon tanker
polluted areas
valdez spill
crude oil prices
exxon officials
cleanup plan
oiled coastline