More British teens diagnosed with STD

LONDON, July 22 (UPI) -- Health officials in Britain blame television programs celebrating casual sex for a dramatic increase in sexually transmitted disease among teens.

Overall, diagnoses of STD (sexually transmitted disease) were up 2 percent in 2006 from the previous year, The Telegraph reported. But the increase was much bigger among teenagers and young adults.

The number of 16- to 19-year-olds diagnosed with herpes was up 13 percent, while genital warts were up 6 percent in that age group. The number of teenage girls diagnosed with herpes rose 16 percent. The overall increase for herpes was 9 percent and for warts 3 percent.

Pat Troop, head of the Health Protection Agency, said young people watch programs that emphasize sex and not safety.

"You don't see people in films pulling out condoms," she said.

Since 1997, syphilis has increased 1,607 percent, gonorrhea 46 percent and herpes by 36 percent. Dr. Gwyneth Hughes, the head of the HPA's STD division, said young people are more likely to be infected because they are more likely to have multiple partners and to engage in unsafe sex.

Originally Posted at: UPI

Pete Wilson, long-time Bay Area television journalist, dies at 62

07-21) 13:25 PDT Palo Alto, Calif. (AP) --

Pete Wilson, an award-winning broadcast journalist who co-anchored the evening news at the San Francisco Bay Area's KGO-TV, died of a massive heart attack during hip replacement surgery. He was 62.

Wilson, who also hosted KGO Radio's daily afternoon talk radio call-in show, died Friday night at Stanford University Hospital, according to KGO-TV, San Francisco's ABC affiliate.

Wilson's last television broadcast on KGO-TV, also known as ABC7, was on Wednesday. Before his surgery, Wilson had told radio listeners he was nervous about the procedure.

Wilson first joined the news operation at KGO-TV in 1983 after a stint at KTXL-TV in Sacramento. He later went on to anchor the news broadcast at San Francisco competitor KRON-TV for 12 years before returning to KGO-TV about five-and-a-half years ago.

A Wisconsin native, Wilson began his broadcasting career at a country-western station in Milwaukee more than 30 years ago. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in journalism and creative writing.

The Vietnam veteran won several Emmys, Associated Press awards and two Peabody awards for his work, including one for his coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

"He was never fully satisfied just reporting the facts of a situation," KGO Radio President and General Manager Mickey Luckoff said. "He constantly questioned and probed the logic behind the beliefs and views of those in the news."

Wilson lived in Marin County. He is survived by his wife, Sandra, and a son, Brendan, a college student.

Original News from: www.sfgate.com

Hamilton fit to race after crash

Alan Baldwin, Reuters

NUERBURGRING, Germany, July 21 (Reuters) - McLaren cleared Lewis Hamilton to race in Sunday’s European Grand Prix after the Formula One championship leader escaped injury in a heavy qualifying crash.

"There is...absolutely no medical reason that he can’t race," McLaren team boss Ron Dennis told reporters after the 22-year-old Briton returned to the paddock from hospital on Saturday.

The rookie must however have a final check by the International Automobile Federation’s doctor on Sunday morning before being formally given the green light.

"I’m feeling fine, very fortunate, very lucky that I haven’t got any bruises. I’m sure tomorrow I’ll wake up with some bruises," Hamilton told reporters.

"The most important thing is that I’m well and the team is doing a good job to make sure we have a good car tomorrow. I have to be signed off tomorrow morning, so we have to wait and see. But I feel fine for the race. So fingers crossed."

Hamilton, 12 points clear of double world champion team mate Fernando Alonso after nine podium finishes in a row, brought qualifying to a halt when he left the track at around 260kph and ploughed into the tyre wall.

The session remained red-flagged for more than half an hour while doctors attended to him and the debris was cleared away.

Hamilton, wearing an oxygen mask and with a drip applied, waved and gave a thumbs-up sign as he was taken to a waiting ambulance.

RIGHT WHEEL

Dennis said the accident was probably caused by a faulty

wheel gun which failed to tighten a nut on the McLaren’s right front wheel.

"We were quite fortunate to be honest because the wheel nut on Fernando’s car was not properly tightened either," added the team boss.

Read Full Story at: autos.canada.com

Further Reading

Personal Website of Lewis Hamilton: www.lewishamilton.com
Lewis Hamilton at : Wikipedia
Lewis Hamilton Picture Gallery
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Official Site

Burglars hit homes of Hollywood big earners

Skilled burglars have raided the homes of corporate titans, celebrities and sports stars in some of the wealthiest neighborhoods around Los Angeles over the past year, making off with more than US$7 million (HK$54.6 million) in cash, rare books and jewelry while leaving few clues.

The two, possibly three, men clad in black and wearing ski masks and gloves have hit more than 70 homes in areas such as Bel-Air and Beverly Hills, usually at night and often on weekends.

They evade security systems and surveillance cameras, taking advantage of the fact that many of the estates are walled off from street view and their owners are frequently out of town.

The team often enters houses by using bricks to break through backyard sliding glass doors or climbing through second-floor windows.

Police did not release victims' names. But sources with knowledge of the investigation said the burglars hit the home of former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing and her Oscar- winning director husband, William Friedkin.

They also stole US$500,000 in cash and jewelry from the Bel-Air mansion of Los Angeles Clippers basketball player Cuttino Mobley.

Read Full Story at: thestandard.com.hk

Mourinho Urges Galaxy: Don't Take Risks With Beckham

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho hopes LA Galaxy will not take chances with the fitness of superstar recruit David Beckham.

The Major League Soccer side host Premiership big hitters Chelsea in Los Angeles tonight in a prestigious friendly which has been billed for weeks as Beckham's baptism into the US soccer scene.

But the script has been compromised by an ankle injury that could well delay Beckham's much-anticipated Galaxy debut.

While Mourinho has reassured all and sundry that the Chelsea players would not be intent on targeting Beckham should he play and aggravating his injury, he has advised the Galaxy coach, Frank Yallop, to think long and hard about whether or not play his prized asset in a friendly against the Blues.

"When I was a child I heard dozens of stories of Eusebio, who was injured but had to play a certain game because of the cachet of the match," recalled Mourinho.

Read Full Story at: goal.com

Hackers Cracked iPhone

Hackers have succeeded in (partially) unlocking the iPhone so Apple's much-hyped device can be used on at least one network other than AT&T.

Although the iPhone Development Project team has broken the shackles tying the device and AT&T directly, there are still limitations that mean customers can use pre-paid SIMs from Cingular, for example, but not yet use any SIM of their choice.

A tool called iASign will unlock the iPhone allowing it to be used with any singular or AT&T SIM with FULL functionality of the iPhone, avoiding the need to use the iPhone-specific SIM that comes with the device. Virtual network operator pre-paid SIMs also work, providing these operators piggy-back on AT&T's network.

Using alternative SIMs provides several advantages. In the case of a Cingular SIM, there's no need to sign up to a new two-year contract. Those whose businesses subscribe to Cingular can use company SIMs on personally-bought iPhones. Finally, those not wishing to tie themselves to a contract can use pre-paid SIMs.

Hackers have been hard at work trying to unlock the functionality of the iPhone since the devices were released in the US earlier this month. Reverse engineer Jon Lech Johansen (DVD Jon) discovered a way to get iPod and Wi-Fi - though not the phone - features of the device working without signing up to AT&T within three days of its release.

Read Full Story at: theregister.co.uk

Waiting over for Harry Potter fans

The wait was finally over this morning as thousands of Harry Potter fans got their hands on copies of the seventh and final book.

Thousands of people queued at book shops and supermarkets around the country, waiting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to go on sale at midnight.

More than 1,000 fans lined the streets around Waterstones’ flagship store in central London and another 1,000 waited at Asda’s superstore in Pudsey, near Leeds.

Many will have already started reading the book this morning but one of the first to finish it was speed reader Anne Jones, who read more than 199,900 words, on 607 pages, in 47 minutes and one second.

Spoiler Warning

Fans from India confirmed that Harry is not dead at the end.

Read Full Article at: breakingnews.iol.ie

UP boy claims to be incarnation of a US scientist

This story is could be described as bizarre, miracle of nature and unbelievable. How can a 14 yr old boy suddenly forget his language Hindi and start speaking in English with an American accent?

New Delhi: Last week, many news channels showed the story of a 4-year-old girl in a tiny village in Uttar Pradesh, India, who claims to be incarnation of Kalpana Chawla.

Now, if that wasn’t enough, there is another bizarre case of a 14-year old boy, who talks in a strange accent and claims he is an incarnation of a US scientist.

The boy talks gibberish with a few words of science thrown in here and there. And the people in his village Rampur claim that "Rajesh Kumar is explaining scientific formulas and concepts," although he has never studied science or has been overseas.

Rajesh’s family claims that this transition occurred after the boy hurled a stone at his father and was severely punished. They say he suddenly started speaking in accent and hasn't talked in Hindi ever since.

While the Indian media is going gaga over the case, it’s not for the first time that something bizarre as this has attracted undue attention.

“There are channels that thrive on such news. From morning till evening they will keep repeating special shows, overtly stressing upon such stories. They even bring in experts to give even more stupid theories on reincarnation and re-birth. What they don’t understand is that by doing so, they are promoting bunkum,” Sanal Edamaruku President Indian Rationalist Association said.

As the Indian media runs after the bizarre, one can only hope it will also try to show the scientific side of things.

Original Story by: IBNLive.com
Further Reading: Rajesh or American scientist: Rebirth or something else?

J.K. Rowling - Life without Harry

She is feted across the globe for her magic-filled books but now the final Harry Potter has hit the shelves, what on earth will J. K. Rowling do with herself?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, on finishing the last page of his historical novel, The White Company in 1890, cried "That's torn it!" and flung his steel-tipped pen across the study so it twanged in the wood panelling. Edward Gibbon, on finishing Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in 1787, after 15 years' work, went for a reflective stroll in his arboretum and recorded "a profound combination of exhilaration and melancholy".

When J.K. Rowling completed the last page of her seven-volume, multi-movie-spawning, billion-spinning, Harry Potter super-saga this year, she, too, felt the moment deserved a memorial. She was staying at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh and recorded the moment by writing in marker pen, on a marble bust, the words: "J. K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11 January 2007."

Need More? Read Full Story at: nzherald.co.nz