HEALTH, December 9 – Vioxx is quickly turning into the consumers worst nightmare. After being pulled off the market in September of 2004 for concerns about cardiovascular safety new details emerged today which could put Merck in a very bad light.

Witnesses testifying before the FDA earlier this year and testimonies in three lawsuits indicate that Merck was aware of the safety issues as early as 2000. The editors of the New England Journal of Medicine reported that in 2000 a study was submitted called VIGOR which was actually used to prove the safety of Vioxx. As it now seems the study neglected to report three heart attacks and other cardiovascular incidents among the trial patients. Allegedly Merck was responsible for deleting this information, not strange considering that they funded the study.

This news may be extremely bad for Merck, they were already losing big lawsuits but these details aren’t giving them a better chance at redeeming themselves.

An estimated 20 million people used Vioxx since its launch, at the peak of the product the sales grossed over $2 billion yearly making it the number one seller for Merck. It could very well be that this same drug will destroy everything that it has created, at least the Merck stocks plummeted when this news was made public.

BAGHDAD, December 8 – The capital of Iraq was disturbed heavily today as many explosions ripped through the city. The deadliest one occurred at the biggest bus station in Baghdad where most buses leave for a long travel to large Shiite cities.

Witnesses reported a man getting out of a vehicle in a hurry and entering the bus at the last moment, just before it left. The man then immediately detonated his belt filled with explosives as the bus took off. The explosions left a carcass of fire in which all passengers died. At least 30 deaths were reported so far and almost 40 were wounded. Locals standing at a nearby food stall were swept away in the blast too which demanded a few casualties as well.

It was expected that in the last week before the election of December 15th the violence would surge to influence the voters and wreak fear among the already divided citizens of Iraq.

Meanwhile in other news a terrorist insurgent group claimed to have killed a U.S. security advisor who was taken hostage a few days ago. No pictures, videos or other means of proof have been released yet but the group claiming the killing said they would release proof soon.

Global Warming Force Islanders to Move Inland, Says UN

Rising seas have forced 100 people on a Pacific island to move to higher ground in what may be the first example of a village formally displaced because of modern global warming, a UN report said.

With coconut palms on the coast already standing in the water, inhabitants in Lateu settlements on Tegua island in Vanuatu started dismantling their wooden homes in August and moved about 600 meters inland.

“They no longer live on the coast,” Taito Nakalevu, a climate change expert at the secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP), said during a 189-nation conference in Montreal on ways to fight climate change.

So-called “king tides” often whipped up by cyclones, had become stronger in recent years and made Lateu uninhabitable by flooding the village four to five times a year.

“We are seeing king tides across the region flooding islands,” he said.

The UN Environment Program (UNEP) said in a statement that the Lateu settlement “has become one of, if not the first, to be formally moved out of harm’s way as a result of climate change.”

The scientific panel that advices the United Nations projects that seas could raise by almost a meter by 2100 because of melting icecaps and warming linked to a build-up of heat trapping gases emitted by burning fossil fuels in power plants, factories and autos.

Many other coastal communities are vulnerable to rising seas, such as th U.S city of New Orleans, the Italians city of Venice or settlements in the Arctic where a hawing of sea ice has exposed coasts to erosion by the waves.

Pacific islanders, many living on coral atolls, are among those most at risk. Off Papua New Guinea, about 2000 people on the Cantaret Islands are planning to move to near by Bougainville Island, a four hour boat ride to the south west.

Two inhabited Kiribati islands, Tebua Tarawa and Abenuea, disappeared underwater in 1999.

“In Tegua, the dwellings are moving first. The chief has moved, he has to start the process, so his people are now following,” Mr. Nakalevu said.

A church would also be dismantled and moved inland.

Mr. Nakalevu said the rising seas seemed linked to climate change.

It was unknown if the coral base of the island, about 31 square km, might be subsiding. Most villagers rely on yams, beans and other crops grown on higher grounds…

WASHINGTON, December 7 – Today a comprehensive report was issued indicating that television advertising and obesity among children are directly linked. The federal institute concluding this did so after a long study which finally confirm long-suspected views.

The National Academies’ Institute for Medicine has advised for a long-term and highly efficient campaign to educate parents and children on healthier food choices. Also the use of cartoon characters for promotion of low-nutrient high sugar foods should be disallowed. Many breakfast cereals successfully use this strategy to attract young fans.

It has been long suspected that television ads are very productive in influencing children, one of the researchers said that it’s no surprise since almost $10 billion is spent on advertising towards the younger audience yearly. Not only TV ads are to be blamed though, online advertising as well as product placement in video games and movies are used to achieve the same result. Even many kids shows are sponsored by certain food products and many schools sign exclusive contracts for soft drinks.

The food industry meanwhile responded mildly, saying that they acknowledge the outcome but blamed the institute for not admitting that the industry is already moving forward to healthier food choices as many parents require this.

To stay updated on children’s news please visit Kir.org Kids Radio Network

BAGHDAD, December 6 – In one of the deadliest attacks on Iraqi forces this year at least 27 police students were killed. Local reports have named numbers ranging from 27 to 43 but the official count is still on 27. At least 50 people were wounded in the process but this number is likely to increase as well. One U.S. contractor was among the wounded.

At around 1PM local time the police academy in eastern Baghdad faced these deadly strikes. First one suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest in the middle of a group of police students standing outside a classroom. The students and officers were under the impression that they were fired on so they ran for cover to the bunker, at the bunker another bomber was waiting to detonate his vest wreaking total chaos.

First indication was that the attack was carried out by female muslims but these reports were withdrawn sometime later. At least seven female police students were among the victims.

It was already expected that the rate of terror attacks would increase in the last two weeks before the elections of December 15th. Insurgents still believe they can disrupt the democratic process by carrying out such elaborate and deadly strikes.

WASHINGTON, December 5 – Being as unspecific as possible Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried to defend the U.S. policy on terror before embarking on her trip to Europe where many critics are patiently waiting for explanations.

Rice did everything possible to urge the importance of the CIA covert operations and implicitly confirmed the secret CIA flights that have been recorded in many European countries. She stated that the U.S. must use every lawful weapon to gather as much intelligence as possible. She also mentioned that thanks to these covert operations many terrorist attacks have been prevented, as well in Europe as in the United States. Naturally no specifics were given so it’s anyone’s guess whether this is a sincere statement or just a patch to fix all the critical notes.

Interestingly she used the word “lawful”, something many critics doubt as there have been reports of detainees being kidnapped from various European countries. Rice did not say anything about the existence of alleged secret prisons in Europe, she sufficed saying that she cannot disclose any information that could interrupt or compromise the gathering of intelligence and other military operations.

Explicitly she denied the use of torture to extract information from detainees, of course there is no proof or confirmation on any of this because it’s simply here word against any other.