HIV rates among drug users rising

DRUG USER HIV BLACKSPOTS
Countries where over 40% of injecting drug users are thought to be HIV positive:
Estonia : 72.1%
Argentina: 49.7%
Brazil : 48.0%
Kenya : 42.9%
Burma : 42.6%
Indonesia: 42.5%
Thailand : 42.5%
Ukraine : 41.8%
Nepal : 41.4%

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7632804.stm (24 Sept 2008, By Matt McGrath Science reporter, BBC News)

Over half of Americans believe in guardian angels: study

More than half of Americans believe they are protected by a guardian angel and two in three are certain that heaven exists, according to a study of US religious beliefs released Thursday.

The survey, conducted by researchers at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, asked 350 questions about religion to 1,648 adults across the country.

Fifty-five percent said they believed they were protected from harm by a guardian angel, a figure that researcher Christopher Bader said came as a surprise.

"To find out that more than half of the American public believes this was shocking to me. I did not expect that," he said.

Sixty-seven percent said they were "absolutely sure" heaven exists and 17 percent believed it "probably" does. Seventy-three percent of Americans believe in hell, it found.

Women are more likely than men to believe in heaven (68 percent to 56 percent), blacks more than whites (86 percent to 60 percent), southerners more than easterners (76 percent to 50 percent).

Also, political party was linked to religious beliefs, with 77 percent of Republicans saying they believed in heaven, compared to 54 percent of Democrats.

Those Americans who say they do not believe in God -- four percent -- as well as those who say they have no religion -- 11 percent -- were very close the figures in the 2005 survey.

In all 45 percent of Americans say they have had at least two religious encounters in their lives, the survey found, and conservative Protestants were more likely than Catholics or Jews to report religious or mystical experiences.

Source: http://news.my.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1684697 (Agence France-Presse - 9/19/2008)

Why is Mr Olmert stepping down as prime minister?

He has faced growing pressure over multiple corruption investigations during his less than three years in office. In July he announced he would step down after leadership elections within his centrist Kadima Party on 17 September.

Police have since recommended that he be indicted over two of the probes - allegations that he misused cash payments from a US businessman, and accusations that he double-billed government agencies for trips abroad. He had previously said he would resign if formally indicted.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7613137.stm, 17 Sept 2008

Study into near-death experiences by BBC

Study into near-death experiences
By Jane Dreaper
Health correspondent, BBC News



Many people report seeing a bright light
A large study is to examine near-death experiences in heart attack patients.

Doctors at 25 UK and US hospitals will study 1,500 survivors to see if people with no heartbeat or brain activity can have "out of body" experiences.

Some people report seeing a tunnel or bright light, others recall looking down from the ceiling at medical staff.

The study, due to take three years and co-ordinated by Southampton University, will include placing on shelves images that could only be seen from above.

This is a mystery that we can now subject to scientific study

Dr Sam Parnia
University of Southampton

To test this, the researchers have set up special shelving in resuscitation areas. The shelves hold pictures - but they're visible only from the ceiling.

Dr Sam Parnia, who is heading the study, said: "If you can demonstrate that consciousness continues after the brain switches off, it allows for the possibility that the consciousness is a separate entity.

"It is unlikely that we will find many cases where this happens, but we have to be open-minded.

"And if no one sees the pictures, it shows these experiences are illusions or false memories.

"This is a mystery that we can now subject to scientific study."

Dr Parnia works as an intensive care doctor, and felt from his daily duties that science had not properly explored the issue of near-death experiences.

Process of death

He said: "Contrary to popular perception, death is not a specific moment.

"It is a process that begins when the heart stops beating, the lungs stop working and the brain ceases functioning - a medical condition termed cardiac arrest.

"During a cardiac arrest, all three criteria of death are present. There then follows a period of time, which may last from a few seconds to an hour or more, in which emergency medical efforts may succeed in restarting the heart and reversing the dying process.

"What people experience during this period of cardiac arrest provides a unique window of understanding into what we are all likely to experience during the dying process."

Dr Parnia and medical colleagues will analyse the brain activity of 1,500 heart attack survivors, and see whether they can recall the images in the pictures.

Hospitals involved include Addenbrookes in Cambridge, University Hospital in Birmingham and the Morriston in Swansea, as well as nine hospitals in the US.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7621608.stm, 18 Sept 2008

Chinese Words 5000 History

Source : Sin Chew Daily, 03/09/2008