Pakistan's Musharraf flees court after judge orders his ... - World News

AFP - Getty Images

Pakistani special security commandos escort a vehicle carrying former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as he leaves an Islamabad court Thursday despite a judge ordering his arrest.

By Waj S. Khan and Fakhar Rehman, NBC News

ISLAMABAD -- Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was arrested early Friday after he fled a court on Thursday when a judge ordered him detained on treason charges.

Musharraf's lawyer Qamar Afzal told NBC News, "Musharraf has surrendered himself before the law, and now he is in judicial custody."

Television footage showed Musharraf being escorted by uniformed police officers to an Islamabad court.

Earlier, Musharraf? had said he was being "punished for making Pakistan prosper and for making the country economically sound."

In a brief televised address that was distributed to different Pakistani channels, Musharraf claimed credit for bringing an "information revolution to Pakistan, breaking the shackles of IMF, building roads and protecting women and minorities. That's why I'm being punished."

It was a moment out of an international suspense novel when former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf dashed out of a courtroom after a judge revoked his bail and ordered his arrest. Musharraf is now back at his heavily fortified compound on the outskirts of Islamabad - surrounded by military commandos and police. Lindsey Hilsum, Channel Four's International editor, reports.???

Musharraf, a retired general, took power in Pakistan in a coup in 1999 and was an ally of the West until he resigned in 2008.

After nearly four years of self-imposed exile in England and despite Taliban death threats, he returned to Pakistan last month hoping to win a seat in the country?s National Assembly in elections in May.

But Musharraf was then accused of treason over events in 2007, when he declared emergency rule during a power struggle with judges. He had been on bail.

During a High Court hearing on Thursday, however, a judge ordered that his bail be canceled and that he be detained.

---

Then, in dramatic scenes caught on television, Musharraf dashed from the court and left in a black SUV, Reuters reported. The images showed several lawyers making half-hearted attempts to pursue his vehicle.

When he returned to Pakistan, Musharraf was given a security detail -- including special forces units, police and helicopters -- and they helped him get back to his home on the outskirts of Islamabad.

Rashid Qureshi, an adviser to Musharraf and also a former general, said that Musharraf was ?safe? in the house.

?Roadblocks have been planted outside his house by the police to protect him, not to cut off his exit. The general is here to stay. He knew of these challenges when he decided to return boldly to Pakistan,? Qureshi said.

?He is still being protected by the police, and did not escape anything or anyone,? he said.

Former President Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan Sunday hoping to return to mainstream politics. NBC's Waj Khan reports.

Musharraf's lawyer Afzal said later that the former president had filed petitions in the Supreme Court, hoping it would overturn the High Court's ruling.

Afzal had insisted Musharraf "did not flee" the court. "He came and left with the same security detail attached to him by the government, which is his right as a former president."?

Musharraf's hopes of standing in the elections were dashed earlier this week when election officers barred him from standing, in part due to the various legal challenges he faces, Reuters reported.

Str / AFP - Getty Images

Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

Pakistan's military has ruled the nation for more than half of its 66-year history, through coups or from behind the scenes. It sets foreign and security policy even when civilian administrations are in power.

The arrest pushes Pakistan's increasingly audacious judiciary into uncharted territory, challenging a long-standing, unwritten rule that the top ranks of the army, which ruled Pakistan for decades, are untouchable.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the man Musharraf ousted in a coup in 1999, is seen as the front-runner to win the premiership.

Musharraf also faces charges of failing to provide adequate security for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto before she was assassinated in late 2007.?

Reuters and NBC News' Ian Johnston contributed to this report.

Related:

Taliban threat forces Pakistan's Musharraf to cancel welcome rally

Analysis from 2007: Should the US support Musharraf?

This story was originally published on Thu Apr 18, 2013 6:55 AM EDT

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/18/17807384-pakistans-musharraf-flees-court-after-judge-orders-his-arrest-for-treason?lite

masters par 3 gwen stefani overeem laron landry mary j blige burger king islands 2013 nissan altima

Cue the Screaming Girls! Bieber Posts Shirtless Selfies

Justin Bieber gives a shirtless shoutout to his critics! Check out other cute and candid moments from the stars

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/celebrity-twitter-pictures/1-b-229669?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Acelebrity-twitter-pictures-229669

mary kay ash tiny houses maya angelou joan of arc tony robbins bon iver abraham lincoln vampire hunter

Are human genes patentable?

Apr. 12, 2013 ? On April 15, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral argument in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, a case that could answer the question, "Under what conditions, if any, are isolated human genes patentable?" Kevin Emerson Collins, JD, patent law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, believes that layered uncertainties make this case an unusually difficult case in which to predict the outcome.

During the early 1990s, Myriad Genetics made important scientific discoveries related to mutations in the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes, which are biomarkers for increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Based on this work, Myriad sought, and obtained, patent protection for "isolated" DNA molecules that embody these sequences.

The Supreme Court's opinion in Myriad will determine whether Myriad's gene patents are valid or, alternatively, whether they were improperly issued from the beginning.

"The legal controversy centers on patent law's 'products of nature' doctrine -- a doctrine that prevents the patenting of newly made products that do not display a 'marked difference' from naturally occurring products," Collins says.

"A perfectly circular section cut out of a leaf of a newly discovered plant may be technically new at the time that it is first made -- and it may be socially useful if the leaf contains chemicals that are natural wound healers, but it's likely an unpatentable product of nature because there is no marked difference between the newly created product and the naturally occurring product.

"Importantly, the Myriad gene patents only encompass DNA molecules in an 'isolated' state, separate from the remainder of the chromosome in which they exist in a human body, and they thus describe molecules that were technically new when Myriad first made them."

The question before the Court is whether the structural and functional differences between naturally occurring DNA molecules and DNA molecules in an isolated state is sufficiently significant to constitute a "marked difference" and to sanction the patenting of the isolated DNAs.

Behind the legal controversy is an economic controversy that may (or may not) influence the Supreme Court's pronouncement on the products of nature doctrine. "The social costs of the exclusive rights to inventions granted by patents are normally justified by the incentives that patents provide for self-interested entities to invest in research and development and generate the socially valuable inventions," Collins says.

However, under some circumstances, there are legitimate concerns that the incentive-based benefits of patents may not outweigh these costs.

"One function of the products of nature doctrine is to ensure that the basic tools of scientific and technological work are not constrained by claims of patent rights and remain free for all to use as inputs into future research," says Collins.

"To the extent that isolated genes are essential technological and scientific building blocks, the costs of Myriad's gene patents in the form of slower innovation in the future may be so great that they will outweigh the benefits of the patent-induced incentives that speed up the creation of the isolated genes themselves."

The verdict

Collins says it is difficult to predict how the Supreme Court will decide this case because of three compounded uncertainties.

First, the Supreme Court has to date not offered a clear legal framework for identifying products of nature, so it is unclear how high a hurdle the markedly different standard will prove to be.

Second, it is unclear how strongly the Court's legal determination will be influenced by the underlying economic concerns about the privatization of the building blocks of technological progress.

Third, the relationship between the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals -- the court that authored the opinion below in Myriad -- is not likely to lead to much of any deference.

"Recent Federal Circuit patent decisions have been poorly received by the Supreme Court," Collins says. "The Federal Circuit upheld the patentablity of these genes, but, given recent history, this is not much of an indicator as to Supreme Court will handle this case."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University in St. Louis. The original article was written by Jessica Martin.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/u6tBHbmvrbM/130412084225.htm

nikki minaj grammy performance shel silverstein niki minaj grammy performance grammys 2012 deadmau5 phoebe snow jennifer hudson tribute to whitney houston

Cyprus financial crisis boosts demand for digital dollars

Jeff Cox , CNBC.com ? ? ? 4 hrs.

They won't make a sound no matter how many of them you try to toss in a bucket, and you can't pitch them in a fountain and wish for good luck. But make no mistake, bitcoins are getting big.

The online alternative currency, previously little more than a curiosity in financial markets since its 2009 inception, has zoomed in trading value since the Cyprus banking crisis erupted two weeks ago.

With fears spreading that even insured deposits might not be safe in similar nations hit by banking crises, those looking for a haven to store their wealth have fled to the complicated world of digital cash.

"Incremental demand for bitcoin is coming from the geographic areas most affected by the Cypriot financial crisis?individuals in countries like Greece or Spain, worried that they will be next to feel the threat of deposit taxes," Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx, said in a report on the startling trend.

Read More: It's Back! Dark Cloud From Europe Stalls US Stock Market Bull Run

Bitcoins operate on a network that, at least on the surface, resembles a typical exchange on the capital markets. Buyers can exchange their paper currencies for bitcoins and use them wherever they are accepted. Sellers can exchange their bitcoins back for their original currency.

But the value of the currency has been anything but typical.

Bitcoincharts.com lists the value of bitcoins compared to other currencies, including U.S. and Canadian dollars, euros and pounds.

Cypriots fear run on banks as branches prepare to reopen

On one of the U.S. currency exchanges, labeled "Mt. Gox," the bitcoin value has zoomed to more than $87 in Wednesday trade. That represents close to a 20 percent gain over just the past week, a one-month gain of 41 percent and nearly a quintupling of value in the past year.

The "Mt. Gox" euro trading has seen numbers nearly identical to the dollar pairing.

Read More: Cyprus Controls to Hit Foreign Transactions

A more sober perspective might suggest that bitcoins are at best a momentary bubble and at worst a risky chance to take considering their novelty.

But the trend also exemplifies just how nervous cash-holders are over the European situation.

"This is a clear sign that people are looking for alternative ways to get their money out of the country," said Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at DailyFX. "If we're going to talk about the stability of the euro and whether or not there are going to be capital controls in place not just in Cyprus but around the euro zone, I think there is some efficacy behind bitcoins as an alternative liquidity vehicle."

The role of alternative currency had been falling largely to gold over the past several years. But the precious metal has been on a pretty aggressive downward path since its most recent peak in October.

Gold advocates, though, continue to stress its importance as a safe haven and store of wealth.

"Why would anyone trust an electronic form of money that could get hacked and then diluted into oblivion?" said Michael Pento, president of Pento Portfolio Strategies. "We already have a form of money that is indestructible and whose supply cannot be increased by any government or individual decree. It's called gold."

Yet currency pros are at least willing to give bitcoins the benefit of the doubt as a legitimate trading vehicle as situations like Cyprus continue to crop up.

The $964 million bitcoin network pales to the $4 trillion a day in total currency trading, but it's clearly growing.

"Right now it seems safe. Personally it wouldn't be my preferred vehicle to trade money because it's unregulated," Vecchio said. "But people are deeming it legitimate even though it's not backed by a sovereign. That could be the attraction behind it. There's no sovereign credit risks to bitcoins."

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a10569b/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Ceconomywatch0Ccyprus0Efinancial0Ecrisis0Eboosts0Edemand0Edigital0Edollars0E2B9111490A/story01.htm

gawker Romney Bosses Day 2012 Arlen Specter Winsor McCay Amanda Todd washington nationals

Dorothy Hamill: Dancing With the Stars' Early (Fan) Favorite

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/dorothy-hamill-dancing-with-the-stars-early-fan-favorite/

PNC Bank Louisville football Fidelity pnc Charlie Strong Calendar 2013 john boehner

The Military and Family Support centers at McGuire, Dix and Lakehurst will close...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/JBMDL/posts/625097860840476

paula deen birth control recall nick carter leslie carter aaron carter sister pfizer signing day 2012 football

Scientists say baby born with HIV apparently cured

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A baby born with the virus that causes AIDS appears to have been cured, scientists announced Sunday, describing the case of a child from Mississippi who's now 2? and has been off medication for about a year with no signs of infection.

There's no guarantee the child will remain healthy, although sophisticated testing uncovered just traces of the virus' genetic material still lingering. If so, it would mark only the world's second reported cure.

Specialists say Sunday's announcement, at a major AIDS meeting in Atlanta, offers promising clues for efforts to eliminate HIV infection in children, especially in AIDS-plagued African countries where too many babies are born with the virus.

"You could call this about as close to a cure, if not a cure, that we've seen," Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, who is familiar with the findings, told The Associated Press.

A doctor gave this baby faster and stronger treatment than is usual, starting a three-drug infusion within 30 hours of birth. That was before tests confirmed the infant was infected and not just at risk from a mother whose HIV wasn't diagnosed until she was in labor.

"I just felt like this baby was at higher-than-normal risk, and deserved our best shot," Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi, said in an interview.

That fast action apparently knocked out HIV in the baby's blood before it could form hideouts in the body. Those so-called reservoirs of dormant cells usually rapidly reinfect anyone who stops medication, said Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins Children's Center. She led the investigation that deemed the child "functionally cured," meaning in long-term remission even if all traces of the virus haven't been completely eradicated.

Next, Persaud's team is planning a study to try to prove that, with more aggressive treatment of other high-risk babies. "Maybe we'll be able to block this reservoir seeding," Persaud said.

No one should stop anti-AIDS drugs as a result of this case, Fauci cautioned.

But "it opens up a lot of doors" to research if other children can be helped, he said. "It makes perfect sense what happened."

Better than treatment is to prevent babies from being born with HIV in the first place.

About 300,000 children were born with HIV in 2011, mostly in poor countries where only about 60 percent of infected pregnant women get treatment that can keep them from passing the virus to their babies. In the U.S., such births are very rare because HIV testing and treatment long have been part of prenatal care.

"We can't promise to cure babies who are infected. We can promise to prevent the vast majority of transmissions if the moms are tested during every pregnancy," Gay stressed.

The only other person considered cured of the AIDS virus underwent a very different and risky kind of treatment ? a bone marrow transplant from a special donor, one of the rare people who is naturally resistant to HIV. Timothy Ray Brown of San Francisco has not needed HIV medications in the five years since that transplant.

The Mississippi case shows "there may be different cures for different populations of HIV-infected people," said Dr. Rowena Johnston of amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research. That group funded Persaud's team to explore possible cases of pediatric cures.

It also suggests that scientists should look back at other children who've been treated since shortly after birth, including some reports of possible cures in the late 1990s that were dismissed at the time, said Dr. Steven Deeks of the University of California, San Francisco, who also has seen the findings.

"This will likely inspire the field, make people more optimistic that this is possible," he said.

In the Mississippi case, the mother had had no prenatal care when she came to a rural emergency room in advanced labor. A rapid test detected HIV. In such cases, doctors typically give the newborn low-dose medication in hopes of preventing HIV from taking root. But the small hospital didn't have the proper liquid kind, and sent the infant to Gay's medical center. She gave the baby higher treatment-level doses.

The child responded well through age 18 months, when the family temporarily quit returning and stopped treatment, researchers said. When they returned several months later, remarkably, Gay's standard tests detected no virus in the child's blood.

Ten months after treatment stopped, a battery of super-sensitive tests at half a dozen laboratories found no sign of the virus' return. There were only some remnants of genetic material that don't appear able to replicate, Persaud said.

In Mississippi, Gay gives the child a check-up every few months: "I just check for the virus and keep praying that it stays gone."

The mother's HIV is being controlled with medication and she is "quite excited for her child," Gay added.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-03-04-HIV-Baby%20Cure?/id-b1a51c3687384ccf8bee0aef799a3590

www.walmart.com Macho Camacho Rise of the Guardians Pumpkin Pie Jack Taylor Apple Pie Recipe black friday