Last month an Arabic satellite TV channel broadcast a chilling video of a group of Iraqi teenagers called the "Youths of Heaven" -- their faces masked and brandishing Kalashnikov rifles, chanting "Allahu Akbar" and vowing to blow themselves up with "crusaders and apostates".
The film of these aspiring suicide bombers, all said to be under 16, was produced by al-Furqan, the media arm of the Islamic State of Iraq, aka al-Qaeda. But such material is rare these days, with film coming out of Iraq looking suspiciously like posed training sessions with little of the live action of ambushes that has been the staple fare of jihadi websites.
Ebola's cell-invasion strategy uncovered
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have discovered a key biochemical link in the process by which the Ebola Zaire virus infects cells - a critical step to finding a way to treat the deadly disease produced by the virus.
Ebola produces severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in its victims and inflicts mortality rates close to 90 percent in some outbreaks. No vaccine or antiviral therapy has been developed against the virus, and it is considered a high-risk agent for bioterrorism.....
New alcohol based hand sanitizer may minimize viral transmission, including norovirus
In the study the researchers formed a synergistic blend of ethanol, polyquaternium polymer and organic acid and tested its capability to inhibit human and animal viruses. When compared with a benchmark alcohol-based hand sanitizer, results showed higher levels of reduced infectivity of human rotavirus, adenovirus type 5, poliovirus type 1, and norovirus, as well as feline calicivirus and murine norovirus type 1 from the new ethanol-based sanitizer.
"Based on these results, we conclude that this new ethanol-based hand sanitizer is a promising option for reducing the transmission of enteric viruses, including norovirus, by food handlers and care providers," say the researchers.
Bacterial pneumonia was main killer in 1918 flu pandemic
It was secondary bacterial pneumonianot the influenza virus by itselfthat killed most of the millions who perished in the 1918 flu pandemic, which suggests that current pandemic preparations should include stockpiling of antibiotics and bacterial vaccines, influenza researchers reported this week.
Typhus outbreak handling draws ire
Stanhope also said the nation's current system of monitoring disease, in which health departments collect specimens and wait for a lab to confirm the disease, rather than monitoring a collection of symptoms in hospitals and alerting doctors to unusual clusters of illness, is badly outdated. He said the country is at risk of a biological attack if it doesn't change the way it monitors illness.
"It leaves us absolutely vulnerable and damned near unable to respond a bioterrorism event," Stanhope said.
Two Christians kidnapped, then killed in Iraq
Tariq Qattan, a 65-year-old doctor, was recently kidnapped by a terrorist group. Then on Wednesday, news emerged that he had been killed, according to Assyrian International News Agency.
His family had reportedly paid around £10,000 in ransom money, but it was not enough to free the Christian man.
On the same day, news also was released about the kidnapping and murder of another Christian, Nafi Haddad. Nafi was kidnapped on Monday and it is unclear whether the captors demanded ransom money.
Thank you MamaDearest.
So much information you provided.
I appreciate it.
Thank you for the ping and the kind words.
Your information on disease, is important and timely.
Thank you for the information.