Tribes resistance could help CJD

Kuru attacks the brain tissue

natural selection could help halt human "mad cow disease", experts say after finding a tribe impervious to a related fatal brain disorder.

The Papua New Guinea tribe developed strong genetic resistance after a major epidemic of the CJD-like disease, kuru, spread mostly by cannibalism.

Medical Research Council experts assessed more than 3,000 survivors of the mid-20th Century epidemic.

Their findings appear in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Kuru, a prion disease similar to CJD in humans and BSE in animals, was transmitted at mortuary feasts where - until the practice was banned in the late 1950s - women and children consumed their deceased relatives as a mark of respect and mourning.

But a gene variation, G127V, found in people from the Purosa valley region of the Eastern Highlands seems to offer high or even complete resistance to the disease .

The fact that this genetic evolution has happened in a matter of decades is remarkable MRC Prion Unit director Professor John Collinge

And experts believe this could be the strongest example yet of recent natural selection in humans.

MRC Prion Unit director Professor John Collinge said: "It's absolutely fascinating to see Darwinian principles at work here.

"This community of people have developed their own biologically unique response to a truly terrible epidemic.

"The fact that this genetic evolution has happened in a matter of decades is remarkable.

"Kuru comes from the same disease family as CJD, so the discovery of this powerful resistance factor opens up new areas for research taking us closer to understanding, treating and hopefully preventing of a range of prion diseases."

Survival advantage

University College London's Institute of Neurology geneticist Professor John Hardy said the findings were fascinating.

"It's fantastic demonstration of natural selection.

"Because people who have this mutation were protected from this fatal disease their proportion in society increased massively."

But he said a similar resistance to CJD would be less likely to develop.

He said: "In Papua New Guinea kuru became the major cause of death, so there was a clear survival advantage and the selection pressure was enormous.

"Here in Britain the numbers with CJD are very small and so the selection pressures will be less."

savage Brown’s free care

Labour peers savage Brown’s free care plan

Sam Lister, Health Editor and Philip Webster, Political Editor

A key plank of Gordon Brown’s re-election strategy was condemned by members of his own party yesterday as irresponsible, unaffordable and based on a myth.

The Prime Minister’s plan to offer free care at home to the elderly, outlined yesterday in the last Queen’s Speech before the general election, was compared to “an admiral firing an Exocet into his own flagship”.

Lord Lipsey, a former member of the Royal Commission on Long-Term Care, also accused the Government of peddling a “pernicious myth” that people are better cared for in their own homes than in a nursing home.

The measure, aimed at 400,000 of the neediest people, amounted to a “demolition job on the national budget”, he said, as the Government would be forced to cover unnecessary claims made by the better-off. He said that it threatened to undo current work on building a system to help the elderly and those most in need of care.

Related Links

• 
  human rights in old age
• nhs / abuse of elderly

“I’m not looking forward to the night of the next general election but, if the result goes as I expect, one of the consolations will be that one of the most irresponsible acts to be put forward by a prime minister in the recent history of this country will be swept away with his government,” he added.

Lord Warner, a former health minister, described the care Bill as totally misjudged. “There has been no proper impact assessment, and no data to show how this would work,” he said. “There’s a big question mark as to whether there’s even actually a Bill ready.”

Other peers are known to oppose a Bill that many see as a last-minute, back-of-the-envelope proposal. Mr Brown, criticised by the Conservatives for what they said was a blatantly electoral programme of 15 Bills, faced more attacks from his own side. Charles Clarke, the former Home Secretary, said that the Prime Minister’s attempts to impose political dividing lines was “neither the best way to govern the country nor the best way for Labour to win in 2010”.

David Cameron said that the “biggest omission of all” was the failure to mention MPs’ expenses or the report by Sir Christopher Kelly, the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. Sir Christopher joined in the criticism, issuing a statement pointing out that party leaders had agreed that his recommendations should be implemented in full. It was disappointing, he said, that the speech failed to address the remit, powers and independence of the new body being established to regulate expenses.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “We are not standing in the way of any of Kelly’s recommendations. Everything related to sweeping away the old, discredited expenses system . . . can and should be implemented without further legislation.”

The criticisms of the care Bill were echoed by health economists. Niall Dickson, of the King’s Fund, said: “These latest proposals seem to have been hastily put together and appear to cut across the options set out in the Government’s own Green Paper.”

you want to understand other people and how they think

AFTER AN ASSESSMENT OF AN AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDER… WHAT NEXT?

While you were wondering whether you had an autistic spectrum disorder, you probably read quite a few articles on the

subject. You are an expert on the disorder that the consultant has said you have: you understand the problems of people

who have a form of autism – because you have lived with it all your life.

Quite often, when we know that there is a problem and we know what that problem is, we can fix it. But you should

only attempt to address your own problems if:

�� you understand and accept that you have a disorder

�� you accept that having this disorder means you may have some problems in your life

�� you are willing to talk about your disorder and your difficulties

�� you want to understand other people and how they think

�� you want other people to understand you and how you think

�� you want to understand what is expected of you in certain situations

�� you want to live as independently as possible.

Talking about your autism or Asperger Syndrome with the people you meet will help them understand you better if they

themselves are not autistic, and if they don’t know anybody with autism. It should not become a major topic of

conversation at every meeting or every occasion! But it is very much a part of you and how you function in this world.

For some people the fact that they have had a hip replacement, or cannot see very clearly, or suffer from migraines, is

very much a part of them: it might limit their abilities in some areas, but affect them not at all in others. It is the same

for you: your abilities with factual and technical subjects may well be far higher than average; your understanding of

what others are thinking, however, might be limited.

All of us, after all, are individuals, with very individual likes, dislikes, abilities, limitations and interests. We do not all

have to be exactly the same in order to get on with each other: we would all benefit from becoming more understanding,

tolerant and accepting of people as individuals.

rights in care

National Minimum Standards - Your Rights

24 June 2009

Find out about the minimum standards care services have to meet and what you have a right to expect.

The following guidance is from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the regulatory body for care homes in England.

The Government has set national minimum standards for care services. The standards set out the quality of care, service and facilities you should expect from your care provider.

These are just some of the issues the national minimum standards cover:

• you have a right to be treated politely and with dignity

• you have a right to privacy for yourself, and your relatives and friends when they visit

• you have a right to deal with your own finances and spend your money in the way you choose

• you have a right to eat food that is prepared in line with your faith, and to worship when and where you want to

• you have a right to choose the food that you eat and be given the time and space to relax and enjoy your meal

• you have a right to get up in the mornings and go to bed at night when you choose

• you have a right to complain if you are not happy with the care you get.

The national minimum standards enforceable by law but are important guidelines to help providers, inspectors and people who use services to judge the standard of service.

They are designed to make sure everyone understands what's expected and so services can be measured against the same standards.

37 BBC staff earn more than the Prime Minister

(Gill Allen, The Times)

Nearly 300 senior BBC managers earn more than £100,000

Patrick Foster, Dan Sabbagh and Francis Elliott

• 55 Comments

Recommend? (9)

At least 37 BBC executives earn more than the Prime Minister, it was revealed yesterday, as the corporation disclosed the scale of its senior salaries for the first time.

The broadcaster said that its 107 “most senior decision makers” earn £22 million a year and said that the disclosures made it the nation’s most transparent public body. This claim was undermined when it emerged that hundreds of its highest earners were hidden from the published figures.

Nearly 300 senior managers earning more than £100,000, were kept off the list, The Times has learnt. Some earn more than Gordon Brown. Many are paid more than double the £81,100 earned by the lowest-paid manager whose salary was made public. Gordon Brown’s salary is £197,689 but he draws only £192,414.

The revelations put pressure on the Tories to spell out how they would restrain pay in the corporation. In his speech to the Conservative conference last month George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, said: “The excessive salaries at the top have to go. In the current climate, anyone who wishes to pay a public servant more than the Prime Minister will have to put it before the Chancellor. I am not expecting a long queue.” Mr Osborne’s spokesman admitted last night, however, that BBC executives in line to receive more than the Prime Minister would not be required to line up alongside other public sector chiefs.

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Multimedia

• BBC senior staff salaries and expenses

The pay of on-screen stars, such as Jonathan Ross, who earns an estimated £6 million a year, was also left out. Those who were on the list ranged from Mark Thompson, the Director-General, who earned £834,000, down to Tom Sleigh, the chief adviser for operations, earning £81,100.

The BBC’s annual report shows that there are at least 281 staff earning more than Mr Sleigh but who were not featured in the disclosures. Excluded were any who work for the commercial subsidiary, BBC Worldwide, and more than 150 core staff on more than £100,000 who were deemed not to have enough responsibility.

A BBC spokesman said: “The senior managers have been selected according to their salary, responsibility, influence and membership of a BBC board. They are those who have the greatest responsibility for spending public money and for overseeing the BBC’s services and operations.”

Dementia drug use 'killing many'

By Nick Triggle Health reporter, BBC News

Anti-psychotic drugs do not benefit many dementia patients

Needless use of anti-psychotic drugs is widespread in dementia care and contributes to the death of many patients, an official review suggests.

About 180,000 patients a year are given the drugs in care homes, hospitals and their own homes to manage aggression.

But the expert review - commissioned by ministers - said the treatment was unnecessary in nearly 150,000 cases and was linked to 1,800 deaths.

The government in England has agreed to take steps to reduce use of the drugs.

These include:

• Improving access to other types of therapy, such as counselling
• Better monitoring of prescribing practices
• Guidance for families explaining what they can do if they are worried about drug use
• Specialist training in dementia for health and social care staff
• Appointment of a new national director for dementia to oversee the measures

The review - and the government pledge to take action - comes after long-running concerns about the use of anti-psychotic drugs.

Over the past 30 years, the NHS has increasingly turned to the treatment, which was originally aimed at people with schizophrenia, as it has struggled to cope with the rise in people with dementia.

'Different mindset'

There are currently 700,000 people in the UK with the condition, but this is expected to rise to one million in the next 10 years because of the ageing population.

The review, led by King's College London expert Professor Sube Banerjee, accepted that for some people anti-psychotic drugs would be necessary.

But it said they should be used only for a maximum of three months and when the person represented a risk to themselves or others.

Professor Banerjee estimated that of the 180,000 people given the drugs each year, only 36,000 benefited.

He said health and social care services needed to develop a "different mindset".

Allan Trueman's father "became a totally different person"

He believes if the steps the government has agreed to are followed, anti-psychotic drug use could be reduced by two-thirds within three years.

Care services minister Phil Hope agreed action was needed.

"We know there are situations where anti-psychotic drug use is necessary - we're not calling for a ban, but we do want to see a significant reduction in use."

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said the long-awaited review was a welcome recognition of the scale of the problem.

He added: "This goes beyond quality of care. It is a fundamental rights issue.

"Our members tell us of enormous worry and distress over what is happening to their loved ones."

The Royal College of GPs - in most cases the drugs are prescribed by family doctors - admitted the situation was "unacceptable".

President Dr Steve Field said: "People deserve much better."

While the review was commissioned by the government in England, ministers elsewhere in the UK have agreed to study the recommendations.

how do you raise money

You've got a project with potential, but how do you raise money for it?

The good news is that there are thousands of funders, large and small looking for worthwhile initiatives to support.
However, the competition is strong with countless good causes chasing a finite pot of money. To be successful you have to find out what's out there, make your case and stand out from the crowd.
There are a number of ways that Green Communities can support you, you can:
•search our funding database
•get step by step advice on how to successfully apply for funding
•Funding how to guide
•get advice on making your project more attractive to funders
•get regular updates through our monthly e-news alerting you to new sources of funding

Penny Brohn Cancer Care

New healthy eating guidelines for cancer survivors released10/06/2009

Penny Brohn Cancer Care has launched a new set of guidelines called The Bristol Approach to Healthy Eating, designed specifically for people living with cancer and informed by the most up-to-date research evidence.

Based on the charity’s near 30 years of experience of working with people with cancer, The Bristol Approach to Healthy Eating gives practical advice for anyone living with the disease.

The guidelines show how a plant-based diet may support the health of those living with cancer. Highlighted foods include those that are high in compounds thought to inhibit the cancer process, and low in compounds that may undermine overall health.

A 2006 nutritional survey undertaken by Penny Brohn Cancer Care shows that 82 per cent of the survey’s respondents were not given any dietary advice by a member of their healthcare team when diagnosed. 61 per cent of respondents would have liked to have received such advice, and over a third (38 per cent) sought information about healthy eating outside of their healthcare team.

Liz Butler, Senior Nutritional Therapist at Penny Brohn Cancer Care, said: “There is a wealth of information on diet and cancer in books and on the web but much of it has little scientific basis. From our 2006 survey we know that people living with cancer are generally not receiving dietary guidance or being encouraged to adopt a healthy diet by their healthcare professionals. This can often lead to patients conducting their own investigations into nutrition and cancer and collecting information from sources of questionable quality.

“We have produced the Bristol Approach to Healthy Eating guidelines that are informed by the most up-to-date evidence, including studies that directly examine the effects of diet on the health of cancer survivors.

“The evidence showing that healthy eating can benefit those living with cancer has grown significantly in the last few years. We feel it is time that all cancer patients are offered healthy eating advice and that doctors regard this as an essential part of long-term care, as they already do for people with cardiovascular disease.

“There is no one diet that suits every person with cancer, but the basic healthy eating principles will always apply. Practical and informative guidelines such as these provide strong foundations which can be further adapted for those needing more specialist advice.”

The guidelines encourage people to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, together with other plant foods – whole grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. It is recommended that people include moderate amounts of animal products, particularly unprocessed meat, fish and eggs. For some people, moderate amounts of dairy products may also be included. Foods containing refined sugar and processed fats such as crisps, cakes, biscuits, margarine, and ready meals should be cut down or avoided. The guidelines also encourage people to keep alcoholic drinks to a minimum.

Penny Brohn Cancer Care (formerly known as Bristol Cancer Help Centre) is the UK’s leading and oldest provider of complementary care for people with cancer. The charity has almost thirty years of experience of providing healthy eating advice to people living with cancer, delivered as part of a person-centred package of physical, emotional and spiritual support known as The Bristol Approach. The Bristol Approach works as a natural partner to medical treatment, and is delivered by the charity’s experienced team of doctors, nurses and complementary therapists.

The full guidelines are available to download in PDF format by clicking here.

- Ends

Asia

Asia slips into cold war
Under a deal signed in August, India is installing radar across the Maldives, linked to its coastal command

Jeremy Page in Delhi
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You have to go to a tropical paradise to find the latest front in the brewing cold war between China and India.

On the southernmost tip of the Maldives lies the island of Gan, a tiny patch of coconut palms and powdery white beaches. It was here that Britain set up a secret naval base in 1941, building airstrips and vast fuel tanks to support its fleet in the Indian Ocean during the Second World War.

The RAF then used it as a Cold War outpost until 1976, when the British withdrew and the officers’ quarters were converted into a resort called Equator Village.

Now, 33 years later, India is preparing to reopen the base to station surveillance aircraft, helicopters, and possibly ships, to monitor Chinese vessels in the Indian Ocean. Under a deal signed in August, India is also installing radar across the Maldives, linked to its coastal command.

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Multimedia
Graphic: Asian giants face off
Both countries publicly deny that the move is aimed at Beijing, but privately admit that it is a direct response to China’s construction of a giant port at Hambantota in nearby Sri Lanka.

The plan is also being seen as the latest move in a low-level, but escalating struggle for economic and military supremacy between Asia’s two emerging giants. This week the flashpoint is their disputed Himalayan border, as China protests over the Dalai Lama’s visit to a northeastern Indian state that it claims. But they are also competing over naval control of the Indian Ocean, resources and markets in Africa, strategic footholds in Asia — and are even in a race for the Moon.

“It doesn’t have the same proportions as the Cold War,” said Alexander Neill, head of the Asia programme at the Royal United Services Institute, a research centre. “But there is potential for this to spiral out of control. Allies of both countries need to think carefully about the consequences of this rivalry.”

Relations were cordial for the first decade after India’s independence in 1947, and the founding of communist China in 1949. They quickly deteriorated, however, when the Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet in 1959 and was granted refuge in India. China then humiliated India in 1962 when its troops briefly occupied the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh and seized the region of Aksai Chin. Beijing also began to provide aid and weapons to Pakistan — India’s rival.

In the past decade, the frost had been thawing as bilateral trade expanded from $3 billion in 2000 to $51 billion last year — the two even began joint military exercises.

Yet this year, things have taken a sudden turn for the worse as China seeks to project its economic and military clout, and a more assertive India tries to respond. Militarily, India frets over China’s recent efforts to improve infrastructure around its frontiers and force a compromise on the disputed border. It also worries about China’s plans to develop a “blue water” navy capable of protecting trade routes through distant waters, including the Indian Ocean.

India feels particularly threatened by China’s “string of pearls” strategy, building ports in Burma, Sri Lanka and Pakistan that could be used by its navy. Beijing is concerned that a nuclear deal finalised last year between India and the US, was designed as a counterbalance to China. The deal not only lifted a ban on India buying US nuclear supplies, it also opened the door for India to take part in joint military exercises and buy billions of dollars of US weaponry.

“Since 1962, I think Chinese strategists have basically decided that they can deal with India on their own terms,” said Evan Feigenbaum of the Council on Foreign Relations, an American research centre. “But when you introduce the United States into that equation, it introduces all kinds of uncertainties. I think we’re in for a period of India-China tension.”

Economically, the competition is most intense in Africa, where India and China are vying for resources and markets in a rerun of the “Scramble for Africa” by colonial powers.

China began courting African nations a decade ago, offering investment and trade in exchange for soft loans and development aid with no political conditions attached. But India is catching up fast, pledging $5 billion in credit and hundreds of millions of dollars in financial help at an inaugural India-Africa summit last year. At stake is not just access to industrial raw materials, but support for India’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, which China opposes. India is also trying to make up lost ground in South, South-East and Central Asia.

China has been trying to negotiate a friendship treaty with Nepal to replace the one that has tied the country to India since 1950. Beijing’s growing clout in Bangladesh was highlighted last week when armed police closed a photo exhibition organised by Tibetan activists. India has poured $1 billion in aid into Afghanistan, while a Chinese company has invested $3 billion in a giant copper mine in the country. Technologically, the contest is playing out in a 21st-century Asian version of the Cold War space race. India launched its first unmanned lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, last year and plans to land a man on the Moon by 2020. China sent its first taikonaut into space in 2003, and plans its first manned lunar mission by 2024.

Yet the most fundamental source of rivalry is also the most abstract: the relative merits of Indian-style democracy and Chinese-style autocracy. Although neither promotes its political system, they are seen as rival models for the developing world. And if this is the “Asian Century”, as many agree, then it will be defined to a large extent by that ideological contest.

on genes

Early life stress 'changes' genes
By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News



Mice that are abandoned as pups have behavioural problems later on
A study in mice has hinted at the impact that early life trauma and stress can have on genes, and how they can result in behavioural problems.

Scientists described the long-term effects of stress on baby mice in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Stressed mice produced hormones that "changed" their genes, affecting their behaviour throughout their lives.

This work could provide clues to how stress and trauma in early life can lead to later problems.

The study was led by Christopher Murgatroyd, a scientist from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany.

He told BBC News that this study went into "molecular detail" - showing exactly how stressful experiences in early life could "programme" long-term behaviour.

To do this, the researchers had to cause stress to newborn mouse pups and monitor how their experiences affected them throughout their lives.

"We separated the pups from their mothers for three hours each day for ten days," Dr Murgatroyd explained.

"It was a very mild stress and the animals were not affected at a nutritional level, but they would [have felt] abandoned."

The team found that mice that had been "abandoned" during their early lives were then less able to cope with stressful situations throughout their lives.

The stressed mice also had poorer memories.

Programming genes

Dr Murgatroyd explained that these effects were caused by "epigenetic changes", where the early stressful experience actually changed the DNA of some of the animals' genes.

"This is a two-step mechanism," Dr Murgatroyd explained.

When the baby mice were stressed, they produced high levels of stress hormones.

These hormones "tweak" the DNA of a gene that codes for a specific stress hormone - vasopressin.

"This leaves a permanent mark at the vasopressin gene," said Dr Murgatroyd. "It is then programmed to produce high levels [of the hormone] later on in life."

The researchers were able to show that vasopressin was behind the behavioural and memory problems. When the adult mice were given a drug that blocked the effects of the hormone, their behaviour returned to normal.

This work was carried out in mice, but scientists are also investigating how childhood trauma in humans can lead to problems such as depression.

Professor Hans Reul, a neuroscientist from the University of Bristol, UK, said that this was "a very valuable addition to the body of work on the long-term effects of early-life stress".

"There is strong evidence that adversities such as abuse and neglect during infancy contribute to the development of psychiatric diseases such as depression," he told BBC News.

"This underscores the importance of the study of epigenetic mechanisms in stress-related disorders."

Blood, bullets and motorcycle oil

Blood, bullets and motorcycle oil

By Chris Summers
BBC News

Six members of a Canadian motorcycle gang have been jailed for life for murdering eight fellow bikers found shot to death in deepest Ontario. What lay behind the massacre?

Four of the killers
Killers and victims (L to R): Raposo, Muscedere, Kellestine and Sandham

Realising he and his friends had been betrayed and faced death, John "Boxer" Muscedere told his killers: "Do me. Do me first. I want to go out like a man."

Muscedere, who was betrayed by his best friend Wayne Kellestine, was one of eight men shot dead in a barn in Ontario.

Their bodies were found on 8 April 2006 in three cars and a tow truck which had been dumped in a field near the town of Shedden, 14km (10 miles) from where they had been killed.


THE KILLERS
Wayne Kellestine

Wayne Kellestine, 60 (pictured)

Michael Sandham, 39

Dwight Mushey, 41
Marcelo Aravena, 33
Frank Mather, 35
Brett Gardiner, 25

Ironically several of the men - suspects in another murder case - had been under surveillance by the Ontario Provincial Police only hours earlier.

All eight were associated with the Bandidos, one of North America's most notorious biker gangs and second only in power to the Hells Angels worldwide.

Schism

The motive for the bloodshed lay in a deep schism that had developed within the Bandidos' Canadian chapters.

The victims were members of the Toronto chapter, who were sponsored by the gang's Scandinavian wing but were not recognised by the Bandidos' head office in Texas.

Peter Edwards, a journalist with the Toronto Star and expert on the case, explained: "There was a chapter based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, who came under the auspices of Toronto.

"But Winnipeg were not granted full patches by Toronto. They effectively had no job security and they grew really frustrated."

The killers were led by Michael Sandham, a former soldier and police officer who became president of the Winnipeg chapter.

THE VICTIMS
John 'Boxer' Muscedere, 48
Luis 'Porkchop' Raposo, 41
George 'Pony' Jessome, 52
George 'Crash' Kriarakis, 28
Frank 'Bam Bam' Salerno, 43
Paul 'Big Paulie' Sinopoli, 30
Jamie 'Goldberg' Flanz, 37
Michael 'Little Mikey' Trotta, 31

Bikers guilty of massacre

Lured to death

He tried to claim that he had actually been working undercover for the police, but was unable to explain why he had initially denied being at the scene.

Sandham was helped by Kellestine, an Ontario native who was allied with the Winnipeg chapter.

The victims were lured to their deaths in his barn, after being told they would meet to settle their grievances.

When police arrived, they found blood smears and pieces of flesh amid the detritus of a biker party - beer bottles on a table and Confederate and Nazi flags hanging on a wall.

Kellestine and five of his buddies were arrested. Three years later they finally went on trial.

The star prosecution witness was another Bandido, known only as MH, who testified about the events leading up to the killings.

MH, who hailed from Winnipeg, told the court the original plan was to "pull the patches" of the Toronto members, effectively throwing them out of the Bandidos.

But Kellestine then decided they would have to kill all eight.

MH described a messy and farcical situation in which Kellestine frequently changed his mind about whether or not to let his rivals live and at one point allowed Muscedere to call his wife as long as he "didn't say anything stupid".

Bungling

He broke down as he described the stoic reaction of one of the men, Frank "Bammer" Salerno.

"Bammer went to shake my hand. I didn't do it," said MH.

BBC

MH said Kellestine had been promised that in return for carrying out the killings he would be named Canadian president of the Bandidos and could start up his own chapter based in nearby London, Ontario.

But Mr Edwards, who has covered the trial, said the killers were disorganised and bungling.

"They were at the very bottom rung of biker gangs. Some were in their 40s but still lived with their parents. They were not making any money, many of them had been rejected by the Hells Angels and half of them didn't even own a motorbike," he said.

Mr Edwards says they were forced to dump the cars with the bodies in because they were "too cheap to buy enough gasoline".

"They didn't even set fire to the bodies or the cars," he says.

All six men were jailed to life, which means they will not be eligible for parole for at least 25 years.

Victim impact statement from the families of the eight men were read out.

Muscedere's daughter, Tereasa, 24, said: "My daughter will never remember the tickle of my father's moustache or the way she loved to jump on the front of his Harley and pretend it was hers."

The massacre, and Thursday's convictions, have left the Bandidos effectively defunct in Canada.

According to Mr Edwards, there is very little public sympathy for the victims because they were bikers, and Canada has seen a lot of biker wars in the past.

Pause in Arctic's melting trend

By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Walrus have been seen on Alaska's north coast in unusual numbers

This summer's melt of Arctic sea ice has not been as profound as in the last two years, scientists said as the ice began its annual Autumn recovery.

At its smallest extent this summer, on 12 September, the ice covered 5.10 million sq km (1.97 million sq miles).

This was larger than the minima seen in the last two years, and leaves 2007's record low of 4.1 million sq km (1.6 million sq miles) intact.

But scientists note the long-term trend is still downwards.

They note that at this year's minimum, the ice covered 24% less ocean than for the 1979-2000 average.

The analysis is compiled from satellite readings at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado.

Colder front

Among the reasons for the less drastic melt are that Arctic temperatures have been cooler this year than last, researchers said, and that winds have helped disperse sea ice across the region.

Arctic ice in retreat

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

NSIDC scientist Walt Meier said the reasons for the somewhat cooler temperatures this year were not entirely clear yet.

"We had cloudier conditions and low pressure zones in late summer that probably helped keep temperatures down," he told BBC News.

"It's something we need to look at in more detail.

"But it certainly wasn't as warm as 2007, which was in the order of 2-3C warmer than the average in a lot of places."

The question now, he said, was whether 2007 turns out to be a "high-melt blip", or whether 2009 turns out to be a "low-melt blip" - which will not become evident until next summer at the earliest.

What continues to have scientists worried is that a significant proportion of the cover consists of young, thin ice formed in a single winter.

This is much more prone to melting than the older, thicker ice that dominated in years gone by.

"If we get another warm year, anything like 2007, then the ice is really going to go," said Dr Meier.

"And the chances are that at some point in the next few years we are going to get a warm one."

White heat

In recent decades, the Arctic region has been warming about twice as fast as the average for the Earth's surface.

Recently, scientists specialising in reconstructing past temperatures released data showing that the current decade is the warmest in the Arctic for at least 2,000 years.

Melting ice is a "positive feedback" mechanism driving temperature rise faster. Whereas white ice reflects sunlight back into space, dark water absorbs it, leading to faster warming.

The NSIDC team cautions that this is a preliminary analysis and that further melt is possible, though unlikely, this year.

Next month they will publish a full analysis including more details of how temperatures, currents and winds affected the sea ice this summer.

Kenya: Government destroys the Ogiek's forest

Alert Bulletin from Survival International

Kenya: Serikali yaharibu Msitu wa Wa-Ogiek

'Kutoa makazi kwa watu wengine katikati yetu ina maana kuwa mila ua Wa-Ogiek itakufa na sis tutapotea kabisa.' Joseph Towett, Mwenyekiti wa Halmashauri ya Wa-Ogiek

Jamii ya Wa-Ogiek wa Kenya wanapinga serikali inayokusudia kuharibu msitu ambao ni mahali pao pa kuishi.

Jamii hii yenye karibu watu 14,000 wameishi hapo tangu zama za kale katika mlima wa msitu wa Mau unaoelekea bonde la ufa kwa upande wa Kenya. Jamii hii huishi kwa kutegemea ukusanyaji wa matunda mwitu na uwindaji, ingawa wanafahamika pia kwa umaarufu wao wa kukusanya asali kutoka mizinga iliyotundikwa katika matawi makubwa ya miti ya msitu huo. Pamoja na kuwa wala asali maarufu, Wa-Ogiek pia hufanya biashara na majirani zao waishio nje ya msitu. Baadhi ya Wa-Ogiek waishio ndani ya msitu huishi kwa kutegemea ukusanyaji na uwindaji tu, wengine hukamilisha mahitaji yao ya chakula kwa kulima mboga kidogo na ufugaji. Kwa Wa-Ogiek wote, ufugaji nyuki na okusanyaji wa asali ni sehemu muhimu ya aina ya maisha yao. Kama wakusanyaji/wawindaji hawapewi heshima inayostahili na majirani zao ambao ni wafugaji.

Mau ni makazi ya asili ya Wa-Ogiek, ni sehemu iliyotengwa maalum na serikali ya Kenya chini ya sheria ya Misitu. Tangu nyakati za Wakoloni, serikali imejaribu kuwatoa kutoka msituni chini ya kigezo cha 'kulinda mazingira' kutoka shughuli za Wa-Ogiek; lakini mwaka huu mamlaka inayohusika imejaribu kuwatoa nje ya makazi yao ya asili. Lakini siku zote watu hawa wamejaribu kurudi kwao ingawa sasa wamepata vitisho vikali zaidi.

Kwa madai kuwa msitu unahitaji kulindwa kutoka jamii hizi ambazo kwa namna nyingine wametunza mazingira yake vema, serikali ya Kenya imefungua karibu heckta 60,000 kwa matumizi ya sekta binafsi. Watakaofaidika na hatua hii, wengi si Wa-Ogiek, ila ni wafanyabiashara kama vile wa mashamba ya chai, wakata mbao na wakulima kutoka sehemu zingine za Kenya. Kampuni kubwa tatu za mbao kwa mfano, Pan-African paper Mills, Raiply Timber na Timsales Ltd – tayari zinaendesha shughuli zao katika msitu huu.

Kuruhusu wageni ndani ya msitu wa Mau ni sehemu ya kampeni ya kufungua moja ya kati ya sehemu kumi za misitu ya Kenya kwa makazi ya watu wasio na ardhi – msitu wa Mau ukiwa ni mmoja wao. Tatizo kubwa ni kuwa hatua hii ya serikali ikitekelezwa, Wa-Ogiek wataingia katika idadi ya Wakenya wasio na ardhi na wasio na hadhi na watapotea kama watu. Licha ya hivyo, mpango huu pia unatishia usalama wa mazingira ya Kenya kwa sababu msitu huu ni eneo muhimu kwa ukusanyaji wa vianzo vya maji. Tayari ukame umeikumba Kenya na wataalamu wanakubali kuwa kupotea kwa msitu huu kutaongeza tatizo hili na itaathiri eneo kubwa zaidi hadi eneo la jirani yao Tanzania.

Mpango wa kufungua misitu ya taifa ulitangazwa kwa mara ya kwanza januari mwaka huu 2001, na ulifungua mlango wa upinzani mkali kutoka pande zote za dunia. Upinzani ulitokea pia toka bunge la Kenya na makundi ya wanamazingira. Chama cha Maendeleo ya Wa-Ogiek kilipata amri ya mahakama kuu ya Kenya ikiamuru kusimamisha ufunguaji wa hekari 35,000 za upande wa mashariki ya Msitu wa Mau hadi usuluhishi wa kesi waliyopeleka mahakamani kupinga hatua hiyo mnamo mwaka 1997. Mamlaka ya halmashauri yalitoa vitisho kwa jamii hii ili ifute kesi hii lakini wao walisimama imara na hawakufuta, mzee mmoja aliiambia mamlaka hii kuwa 'hakuna kiasi cha vitisho kitakachowafanya waache kudai haki yao ya asili waliyopewa na Mungu na ya kikatiba.' Katika mazingira ya kawaida ya kukataa kujibu madai ya Wa-Ogiek, kesi hii imeahirishwa. Hata hivyo uchoraji ramani wa eneo hilo umeendelea licha ya amri ya mahakama. Mara eneo la mashariki la mlima huu litakapofunguliwa, maeneo mengine ya mlima huu yatafuata.

Mnamo mwezi wa kumi wa mwaka huu, Waziri wa Mazingira alitoa amri ya kuruhusu kufungua maeneo haya ya mlima huu na kuna taarifa kuwa wakata mbao wameshaanza kusafisha maeneo yaliyotolewa. Kwa kuchukua hatua hii, serikali inapingana na maoni ya kimataifa, utaratibu wake wa kisheria, na haki za Wa-Ogiek chini ya sheria za kimataifa na inahatarisha usalama wa Wa-Ogiek kama watu.

Tafadhali andika kwa kifupi na kwa lugha nzuri barua au fax kwa Kiswahili au Kiingereza au kwa lugha yako mwenyewe na ingiza mambo yafuatayo:

• Haki ya Wa-Ogiek kumiliki ardhi yao ya asili inatambulika katika sheria za kimataifa na ni lazima itambulike.

• Kufunguliwa kwa msitu wa Mau kutakiuka amri ya Mahama Kuu ya Kenya na itaongeza kiwango cha kudharau mahakama.

• Kupima na kuweka mipaka katika maeneo yenye mgogoro ndani ya msitu huu ni lazima kusimamishwe.

Tafadhali andika kwa

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ENGLISH :

Kenya: Government destroys the Ogiek's forest

"Settlement of other people in our midst would mean that the Ogiek culture would cease. We will be wiped out." Joseph Towett, Chairman, Ogiek Welfare Council.

The Ogiek people of Kenya are resisting a government that seems determined to destroy their forest home.

The Ogiek, who number about 20,000, have lived since time immemorial in the Mau mountain forest overlooking Kenya's Rift Valley. They live by gathering wild plants and hunting, but most of all they are famous as collectors of honey from beehives in the high branches of the forest trees. As well as eating this honey themselves, they also trade with neighbouring peoples living outside the forest. Some Ogiek in the deep forest live purely by hunting and gathering; others supplement their hunting with small vegetable plots and some livestock. For all Ogiek, bee-keeping and collecting honey remain central to their way of life. As a hunter-gatherer people they are looked down on by their cattle-herding neighbours.

Mau, the Ogiek's ancestral home, is a protected area under Kenya's Forest Act. Ever since colonial times, governments have tried to evict them from the forest, under the fiction of 'protecting the environment' from the Ogiek's activities; even this year the authorities have tried to throw the Ogiek out of their homeland. Up until now, the Ogiek have always made their way back. But now they are facing the worst threat yet.

While still claiming that the forest needs protection from these hunter gatherers who have always managed it sustainably, the Kenyan government has opened up nearly 60,000 hectares of it for private use. Those who will benefit are mostly not the Ogiek, but developers such as tea planters and loggers, along with settlers from elsewhere in the country. Three powerful logging companies – Pan African Paper Mills, Raiply Timber, and Timsales Ltd – are already active in the forest.

Allowing outsiders into the Mau forest is in fact part of a larger vote-winning scheme to open up around one tenth of Kenya's forests for settlement by some of the country's many landless people – the Mau forest makes up a large proportion of the total area being opened up. The tragedy is that if the government's scheme goes ahead, the Ogiek will simply join the numbers of Kenya's dispossessed and die out as a people. The plan also threatens Kenya's environment, as the Mau forest is a vital water catchment area. Drought is already endemic in Kenya, and experts agree that the loss of forest cover will worsen the problem, affecting neighbouring Tanzania also.

The plan to open up the nation's forests was first announced in January 2001, sparking a wave of international protest. There was opposition in the Kenyan parliament, and protests and petitions from environmentalists. The Ogiek Welfare Association obtained an order from the Kenya High Court halting the opening up of 35,000 hectares in East Mau until after the resolution of a case which they had filed in defence of their land as long ago as 1997. Local authorities tried, through threats and intimidation, to make the Ogiek withdraw the case, but they remained firm; one elder told the local head of government, 'No amount of intimidation will deter us from demanding our God-given right within the constitution.' In an obvious attempt to avoid answering the Ogiek's claims, the case has been postponed. Yet surveying of the disputed land has gone on, in clear contempt of court. Once the East Mau has been opened up, the same is likely to happen to other Ogiek areas.

In October 2001, the environment minister gave the order to go ahead with the opening up of these forest areas, and there are reports that loggers have already started systematic clearing of the newly-opened forest tracts. By going ahead, the Kenyan government is defying international opinion, its own legal system and the Ogiek's rights under international law, and is endangering the survival of the Ogiek as a people.

Please write a brief and polite letter or fax (in Kiswahili, English or your own language) including these points:

• The right of the Ogiek people to the ownership of their ancestral land is enshrined in international law and must be recognised.
• The opening up of East Mau Forest would be a blatant violation of High Court orders, and by extension a contempt of court.
• Surveying and logging in all the disputed areas of the Mau forest must be stopped.

Please send your letter to

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world's primates says 48% of species face extinction,

Primates 'face extinction crisis'

By Mark Kinver Science and nature reporter, BBC News

Under pressure: The Critically Endangered grey-shanked douc langur is one of the primates in peril

A global review of the world's primates says 48% of species face extinction, an outlook described as "depressing" by conservationists.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species says the main threat is habitat loss, primarily through the burning and clearing of tropical forests.

More than 70% of primates in Asia are now listed as Endangered, it adds.

The findings form part of the most detailed survey of the Earth's mammals, which will be published in October.

PRIMATES IN PERIL Nations with the highest percentage of threatened species: Cambodia - 90% Vietnam - 86% Indonesia - 84% Laos - 83% China - 79% (Source: IUCN Red List)

Other threats include hunting of primates for food and the illegal wildlife trade, explained Russell Mittermeier, chairman of global conservation group IUCN's Primate Specialist Group and president of Conservation International.

"In many places, primates are quite literally being eaten to extinction," he warned.

"Tropical forest destruction has always been the main cause, but now it appears that hunting is just as serious a threat in some areas, even where the habitat is still quite intact."

The survey, involving hundreds of experts, showed that out of 634 recognised species and subspecies, 11% were Critically Endangered, 22% were Endangered, while a further 15% were listed as Vulnerable.

Asia had the greatest proportion of threatened primates, with 71% considered at risk of extinction. The five nations with the highest percentage of endangered species were all within Asia.

'Depressing' picture

"It is quite spectacular; we are just wiping out primates," said Jean-Christophe Vie, deputy head of the IUCN Species Programme.

RED LIST DEFINITIONS The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey is listed as Critically Endangered Extinct - Surveys suggest last known individual has died Critically Endangered - Extreme high risk of extinction - this means some Critically Endangered species are also tagged Possibly Extinct Endangered - Species at very high risk of extinction Vulnerable - Species at high risk of extinction Near Threatened - May soon move into above categories Least Concern - Species is widespread and abundant Data Deficient - not enough data to assess

He added that the data was probably the worst assessment for any group of species on record.

"The problem with these species is that they have long lives, so it takes time to reverse the decline. It is quite depressing."

Although habitat loss and deforestation were deemed to be the main threats globally, Dr Vie explained how human encroachment into forests was also creating favourable conditions for hunters.

"This creates access, allowing people to go to places that they could not go in the past," he told BBC News.

"Primates are relatively easy to hunt because they are diurnal, live in groups and are noisy - they are really easy targets.

"Many of the Asian primates, like langurs, are 5-10kg, so they are a good target. Generally, you find that what is big and easy to get disappears very quickly."

In Africa, 11 of the 13 kinds of red colobus monkeys assessed were listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered.

Conservationists fear that two may already be extinct. The Bouvier's red colobus has not been seen for 25 years, and no living Miss Waldron red colobus has been recorded since 1978.

The authors of the primate Red List did consider downlisting mountain gorillas to Endangered from Critically Endangered because the great apes had recorded a population increase.

But they decided to delay reclassification as a result of five of the gorillas being killed in July 2007 by gunmen in the DR Congo's Virunga National Park, which is still at the centre of a conflict between rebel forces and government troops.

During 2007, wildlife rangers in the park recorded a total of 10 gorilla killings. The rangers have been documenting their struggles in a regular diary on the BBC News website over the past year.

Mountain gorillas have been caught in the crossfire of a land dispute Diary: Protecting mountain gorillas

"If you kill seven, 10 or 20 mountain gorillas, it has a devastating impact on the entire population," Dr Vie explained.

"Within the Red List criteria, you are allowed to anticipate what will happen in the future as well as look at what has happened in the past.

"So it was decided not to change the mountain gorillas' listing because of the sudden deaths, and we do not know when it is going to stop."

Dr Emmanuel de Merode, chief executive of Gorilla.cd - an EU-funded programme working in Virunga National Park - said the gorillas' long-term survival was still far from assured.

"Militias have been in control of the Gorilla Sector since September last year, which means the Congolese wildlife authority has been unable to manage the area and protect the gorillas," he told BBC News.

"Until the war ends and the rangers are able to get back in and patrol the area, we have no idea as to the fate of almost a third of the mountain gorillas left in the world."

Golden glimmer of hope

Despite the gloomy outlook, the Red List did record a number of conservation successes.

The re-introduction of golden lion tamarins is one of the few successes

Brazil's populations of golden lion tamarins and black lion tamarins were downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered.

"It is the result of decades of effort," said Dr Vie. "The lion tamarins were almost extinct in the wild, but they were very popular in zoos so there was a large captive population.

"So zoos around the world decided to join forces to introduce a captive breeding programme to reintroduce the tamarins in Brazil."

However the first attempts were not successful and the released population quickly crashed because the animals were ill-prepared for life in the wild, he recalled.

"They were not exposed to eagles or snakes and they did not know how to find food, so a lot of them died. But some did survive and, slowly, the numbers began to increase."

Ultimately, the success was a combination of ex-situ conservation in zoos and in-situ conservation by protecting and reforesting small areas around Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

"It took time, money and effort at all levels, from the politicians to scientists and volunteers on the ground, for just two species."

The findings, issued at the International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland, will be included in a survey described as an "unprecedented examination of the state of the world's mammals", which will be presented at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in October.

Climate focus 'good news for species' ?population ?

Climate focus 'good news for species'

VIEWPOINT Russell Mittermeier

Climate change could actually benefit some of the world's most endangered species, says Conservation International president Russell Mittermeier. In this week's Green Room, he explains that conservationists should capitalise on the worldwide attention being given to global warming.

The good news is that the unprecedented spotlight on climate change is also shedding light on how tropical forests balance our Earth's climate

Climate change could be the best thing that ever happened to the amazing array of animal and plant species that make up the Earth's biodiversity.

Don't get me wrong; climate change is the most serious environmental threat we have ever encountered, and it is already taking a terrible toll on species, as well as people, all over the world.

The silver lining is that climate change has triggered a universal wake-up call that we all hear, and are beginning to heed.

Never before have so many sectors of society been equally concerned and motivated to combat an environmental threat.

Of course, some die-hard pessimists say it's too late, that the climate change train has left the station and there is nothing we can do but get ready for catastrophic consequences.

Nothing could be more wrong. Just ask the thousands of participants at the World Conservation Congress (WCC) now taking place in Barcelona, Spain.

MAMMALS IN PERIL Hunting and habitat loss has left the Caspian seal struggling to survive Mammals facing extinction threat

Representatives from governments, indigenous peoples, industry and environmental groups are meeting to present innovations and create partnerships.

Climate change and protecting species are focal points, and pessimism is not on the agenda. Instead, smart constructive ideas for solutions are being shared.

We estimate the Earth harbours a minimum of six million living species, from microscopic bacteria to magnificent great apes.

The major news announced at the WCC on Monday was that the latest assessment of the world's mammals shows more than 20% to be threatened with extinction.

That includes 188 mammals, such as the Iberian Lynx, in the highest threat category of Critically Endangered.

This assessment is part of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which now includes 44,838 species, of which 16,928 (38%) are threatened with extinction.

Self preservation society

Why should people care about the fate of these plants and animals?

In the most simple terms, we should care because the quality of our lives ultimately depends on them.

Without species diversity, we wouldn't have the healthy ecosystems that supply our food, cleanse our air and water, provide sources of life-saving medicines and help stabilise our climate.

Demise of the devils and other mammals under threat In pictures

We would also miss out on a free and ubiquitous source of miraculous beauty and endless possibilities.

We continue to discover new species every day. Just since 1994, we've discovered 54 new lemur species on the Indian Ocean island nation of Madagascar.

The thrill of documenting a new primate is tempered, however, with the knowledge that many species will become extinct before they are even discovered.

On a global scale, we're losing species 1,000 times faster than what scientists consider normal.

It is an insidious, silent epidemic that could wreck our planet's ability to heal itself.

While the Red List does make headlines, somehow the irreplaceable loss of species does not stay in the minds of the general public, and it has certainly never prompted major financial investments.

This has always puzzled me. As a colleague of mine puts it: "Imagine what would happen to us if rainfall was a thousand times more than normal? What if snowfall were a thousand times more than normal? What if rates of disease transmission for malaria or HIV/AIDS were a thousand times higher than they are now? That is what is happening to plant and animal biodiversity today."

Just as climate change threatens us with rising sea levels, droughts, floods and more category five hurricanes, it is also one of the greatest threats to species.

We could lose more than 30% of the Earth's plants and animals this century due to shifts in the Earth's climate.

Conservationists describe the outlook for primates as "depressing" Primates 'face extinction crisis'

So where is the silver lining?

The good news is that the unprecedented spotlight on climate change is also shedding light on how tropical forests balance our Earth's climate.

At least and possibly much more than 20% of the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change come from forest destruction - that's more than from all the world's cars, trucks, airplanes and trains combined.

At the same time, forests are effectively our life support system, absorbing carbon dioxide and emitting oxygen.

Those same tropical forests are also home to the world's greatest preponderance of species diversity.

Remove the forests and you will also exterminate countless species. By the same token, the species are essential to healthy forests for many reasons, including pollination and seed dispersal.

There is still time to protect these forests while also providing economic opportunities to developing countries and local people.

One of the key issues at the WCC in Barcelona is how conserving standing tropical forests to fight climate change must be included in a new United Nations agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the current climate change treaty that expires in 2012.

If we ensure that nations will be compensated for forest conservation that reduces emissions, we will also contribute to redressing some of the huge economic imbalances that exist in the world, since many tropical forest countries are among the more economically stressed.

A message Barcelona can send to the rest of the world is that it is not too late to protect species as well as combat climate change.

On both counts, the welfare of humanity is at stake.

the hoofed group including goats, bison and cattle.

Horse genome unlocked by science

The horse genome could yield clues to human disease

The genome of a domestic horse has been successfully sequenced by an international team of researchers.

The work, published in the journal Science, may shed light on how horses were domesticated.

It also reveals similarities between the horse and other placental mammals, such as bovids - the hoofed group including goats, bison and cattle.

The authors also found horses share much of their DNA with humans, which could have implications for medicine.

Horses suffer from more than 90 hereditary diseases that show similarities to those in humans.

"Horses and humans suffer from similar illnesses, so identifying the genetic culprits in horses promises to deepen our knowledge of disease in both organisms," said co-author Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, from the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, US.

"The horse genome sequence is a key enabling resource toward this goal."

To generate a high-quality genome sequence, the researchers analysed DNA from an adult female thoroughbred named Twilight.

The horse's DNA was sequenced using capillary DNA sequencing technology (known as Sanger sequencing) to reveal a genome that is roughly 2.7 billion "letters", or nucleotides, in size.

In addition to sequencing the genome of a thoroughbred horse, the researchers also examined DNA from a variety of other horse breeds.

These included the American quarter horse, Andalusian, Arabian, Belgian draft horse, Hanoverian, Hokkaido, Icelandic horse, Norwegian fjord horse, and Standardbred breeds.

The team surveyed the extent of genetic variation both within and across breeds to create a catalogue of more than one million single-letter genetic differences in these breeds.

This is slightly larger than the genome of the domestic dog, and smaller than both the human and cow genomes.

So far, scientists have also sequenced the genomes of the platypus, mouse, rat, chimpanzee, rhesus macaque and, of course, human.

Horses were first domesticated 4,000 to 6,000 years ago. Over time, as machines have become the chief sources of agricultural and industrial muscle, those roles have shifted to sport and recreational activities.