Door to afterlife from ancient Egyptian tomb found
Archaeologists have unearthed a 3,500-year-old door to the afterlife from the tomb of a high-ranking Egyptian official near Karnak temple in Luxor, the Egyptian antiquities authority said Monday.
These recessed niches found in nearly all ancient Egyptian tombs were meant to take the spirits of the dead to and from the afterworld. The nearly six-foot- tall (1.75 meters) slab of pink granite was covered with religious texts.
The door came from the tomb of User, the chief minister of Queen Hatshepsut, a powerful, long ruling 15th century B.C. queen from the New Kingdom with a famous mortuary temple near Luxor in southern Egypt.
User held the position of vizier for 20 years, also acquiring the titles of prince and mayor of the city, according to the inscriptions. He may have inherited his position from his father.
Viziers in ancient Egypt were powerful officials tasked with the day-to-day running of the kingdom's complex bureaucracy.
As a testament to his importance, User had his own tomb on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor, where royal kings and queens were also buried. A chapel dedicated to him has also been discovered further south in the hills near Aswan.
The stone itself was long way from its tomb and had apparently been removed from the grave and then incorporated into the wall of a Roman-era building, more than a thousand years later.
False doors were placed in the west walls of tombs and faced offering tables where food and drink were left for the spirit of the deceased.
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Egyptian is the indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC,[1] making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 7th century AD in the form of Coptic. The national language of modern-day Egypt is Egyptian Arabic, which gradually replaced Coptic as the language of daily life in the centuries after the Muslim conquest of Egypt. Coptic is still used as the liturgical language of the Coptic Church. It reportedly has a handful of native speakers today.
Undersea volcano threatens southern Italy
Europe's largest undersea volcano could disintegrate and unleash a tsunami that would engulf southern Italy "at any time", a prominent vulcanologist warned in an interview published Monday.
The Marsili volcano, which is bursting with magma, has "fragile walls" that could collapse, Enzo Boschi told the leading daily Corriere della Sera.
"It could even happen tomorrow," said Boschi, president of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
"Our latest research shows that the volcano is not structurally solid, its walls are fragile, the magma chamber is of sizeable dimensions," he said. "All that tells us that the volcano is active and could begin erupting at any time."
The event would result in "a strong tsunami that could strike the coasts of Campania, Calabria and Sicily," Boschi said.
The undersea Marsili, 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) tall and located some 150 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Naples, has not erupted since the start of recorded history.
It is 70 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and its crater is some 450 metres below the surface of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
"A rupture of the walls would let loose millions of cubic metres of material capable of generating a very powerful wave," Boschi said.
"While the indications that have been collected are precise, it is impossible to make predictions. The risk is real but hard to evaluate."
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A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or crust, which allows hot magma, ash and gases to escape from below the surface. The word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano island off Sicily which in turn, was named after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.[1]
Volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. A mid-oceanic ridge, for example the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates pulling apart; the Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates coming together. By contrast, volcanoes are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the Earth's crust (called "non-hotspot intraplate volcanism"), such as in the African Rift Valley, the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field and the Rio Grande Rift in North America and the European Rhine Graben with its Eifel volcanoes.
Volcanoes can be caused by mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example at Hawaii, can occur far from plate boundaries. Hotspot volcanoes are also found elsewhere in the solar system, especially on rocky planets and moons.
SKorean president visits shipwreck; diver dies
South Korea's president ordered the military on alert Tuesday for any moves by rival North Korea after the defense minister said last week's explosion that sank a South Korean ship may have been caused by a North Korean mine.
The blast ripped the 1,200-ton ship apart last Friday night during a routine patrol near Baengnyeong Island near the tense maritime border west of the divided Korean peninsula. Fifty-eight crew members, including the captain, were plucked to safety; 46 are missing, with dim prospects for their survival.
A 53-year-old diver who lost consciousness during the underwater mission to locate the missing crewmen died Tuesday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. A second diver was being treated for injuries, officials said.
As the search continued, divers prepared to break into the ship Tuesday, Rear Adm. Lee Ki-sik of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters. He said there were no signs of life inside.
President Lee Myung-bak flew to wreckage site to review search operations, meet with marines and console family members, the presidential Blue House said.
Baengnyeong is just eight miles (13 kilometers) from and within sight of a North Korean military base where surface-to-ship guided missiles and artillery are heavily deployed, presidential spokesman Park Sun-kyoo said.
Lee told officers South Korea must maintain its military readiness until North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons program.
"When we are strong, we can defend ourselves. If we are weak, we'll face more danger," Lee said. "South Korea's military should be strong."
Earlier Tuesday, Lee ordered his military to stay alert for any moves by rival North Korea.
"Since the sinking took place at the front line, the military should thoroughly prepare for any move by North Korea," Lee told his Cabinet, according to his spokesman.
Military officials say the exact cause of the explosion remains unclear, and U.S. and South Korean officials said there was no evidence of North Korean involvement.
However, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers Monday that a floating mine dispatched from North Korea was one of several scenarios for the disaster.
"North Korea may have intentionally floated underwater mines to inflict damage on us," Kim said.
The two Koreas remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. North Korea disputes the sea border drawn by the United Nations in 1953, and the western waters near the spot where the Cheonan went down have been the site of three bloody skirmishes between North and South.
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Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.
Diving is one of the most popular Olympic sports with spectators. Competitors possess many of the same characteristics as gymnasts and dancers, including strength, flexibility, kinaesthetic judgment and air awareness.
China came to prominence several decades ago when the sport was revolutionized by national coach Liang Boxi and after intense study of the dominant Louganis. China has lost few world titles since. The success of Greg Louganis has led to American strength in diving internationally. Other noted countries in the sport include Italy, Australia and Canada.
Somali pirates holding dhows with Indian crew
Somali pirates may be holding several dhows carrying an estimated 100 Indian sailors they have seized over the past five days, an Indian naval spokesman and a diplomat said Tuesday.
Indian navy spokesman P.V.S. Satish said Tuesday the navy was checking reports that eight dhows with Indians aboard have been missing since Sunday.
A Nairobi-based diplomat said the dhows were seized between Friday and Sunday, but could not say how many vessels were taken. The boats are believed to have been moving goods between Somalia and the United Arab Emirates, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
He said some of dhows have drifted away from the Somali coastline but their location is not clear.
Pirate attacks have continued to climb despite three dozen warships patrolling the Somali coast.
Experts say piracy will continue to be a problem until an effective government is established on Somalia's lawless shores. There are few other job prospects in the impoverished nation, which has not had a stable government for 19 years.
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Piracy off the Somali coast has been a threat to international shipping since the beginning of the Somali Civil War in the early 21 century and is a continuous threat.[1] Since 2005, many international organizations, including the International Maritime Organization and the World Food Programme, have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy.[2] Piracy has contributed to an increase in shipping costs and impeded the delivery of food aid shipments. Ninety percent of the World Food Programme's shipments arrive by sea, and ships have required a military escort.[3] According to the Kenyan foreign minister, Somali Falla have received over US$150 million in ransom during the 12 months prior to November 2008.
Dutch court upholds UN immunity in Srebrenica case
Netherlands – Relatives of Bosnian Muslims killed in Europe's worst massacre since World War II lost another round Tuesday in their attempt to sue the United Nations for responsibility.
The Hague Appeals Court upheld a 2008 lower court ruling affirming U.N. immunity from prosecution enshrined in international conventions that established the world body, and said the legal protection is an essential foundation of its peacekeeping operations around the world.
Lawyers for the family members, known as the Mothers of Srebrenica, vowed to take the case to the Dutch Supreme Court and the European Court of Justice if necessary.
"The immunity from prosecution guarantees that the U.N. is not thwarted in the execution of its duties as a result of court cases being instigated against it, possibly for no other reason than to frustrate the U.N.'s work," the court said. "It is in the best public interest that the U.N. can avail itself of its duties untroubled."
Some 8,000 men were murdered in July 1995 by Serb forces who overran Srebrenica, which had been declared a U.N. safe zone for the Muslim civilians in the Bosnian enclave. The Dutch U.N. peacekeepers protecting the enclave were undermanned and outgunned, and failed to intervene.
International courts have ruled the slayings were a genocide.
Lawyers for the Mothers of Srebrenica said the ruling undermines their "fundamental human rights" of access to "effective legal remedies."
"How long can the U.N. retain its credibility, striving to protect human rights but at the same time disregarding them itself?" the lawyers said.
However, the appeals court said the mothers do have legal avenues open to them as they are free to sue both the perpetrators and the Dutch government.
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Srebrenica (Cyrillic: Сребреница, pronounced [ˈsrɛbrɛnitsa]) is a town and municipality in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Srebrenica is a small mountain town, its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War, it was the site of the Srebrenica genocide. On March 24, 2007, Srebrenica's municipal assembly adopted a resolution demanding independence from the Republika Srpska; the Serb members of the assembly did not vote on the resolution.
Russia mourns 39 dead in Moscow subway blast
Russians on Tuesday nervously returned to the subway stations where two suicide bombers killed 39 people, lighting candles and leaving heaps of carnations at one site as the country began a day of mourning.
Monday's attacks shocked a country that had grown accustomed to such violence being confined to a restive southern corner — and marked the return of terrorism to the everyday lives of Muscovites after a six-year break.
Many have speculated that the blasts, blamed on North Caucasus rebels, were retaliation for the recent killing of separatist leaders in the region by Russian police.
Some lawmakers on Tuesday called for the return of the death penalty for terrorism, and President Dmitry Medvedev in televised remarks called on judges to consider amending terrorism laws.
The city remained on edge, even as people began to commute on the subway again.
"I feel the tension on the metro, nobody's smiling or laughing," said university student Alina Tsaritova, not far from the Lubyanka station, one of the targets.
The preliminary investigation found that female suicide bombers detonated belts of explosives during the Monday morning rush-hour at the stations.
Five people remain in critical condition out of 71 hospitalized after the blasts, city health department official Andrei Seltsovsky told the Rossiya-24 state news channel. Only eight victims had been formally identified, he said.
Some commuters said Tuesday they would try and block the events out of their mind completely.
"We have to live with this, not to think about it, especially when we're underground," said Tatyana Yerofeyeva, a Muscovite in her early 50s.
As public outrage swells, the upper house of parliament is proposing bringing back the death penalty for such crimes, a lawmaker was quoted as saying.
"This is our reaction to yesterday's tragic events," Anatoly Kyskov, the Federation Council's legal committee chairman, said in comments carried by state news agency RIA Novosti.
Medvedev called on chairmen from the Supreme Court and the High Court of Arbitration to propose ways to "perfect" terrorism laws.
Russia announced a moratorium on capital punishment when it joined the Council of Europe in 1996 and pledged to abolish it, but has not done so. The Kremlin-controlled parliament has been reluctant to fully outlaw executions, due to broad public support for the death penalty.
As Moscow mourned, plastic plaques hung in the two metro stations above rickety tables overflowing with flowers; their inscriptions promised permanent replacements. Some people were choked by tears as they laid candles.
Flags flew at half staff on government buildings, at the Kremlin, and in other cities across the vast country. Entertainment events and television shows were canceled, and services were scheduled at several churches.
Heightened transportation security remained in effect across the capital and elsewhere. Police with machine guns and sniffer dogs patrolled subway entrances.
Monday's first explosion took place just before 8 a.m. at the Lubyanka station in central Moscow, beneath the notorious headquarters of the Federal Security Service or FSB, the KGB's main successor agency. The FSB is a symbol of power under Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer who headed the agency before his election as president in 2000.
About 45 minutes later, a second blast hit the Park Kultury station on the same subway line, which is near the renowned Gorky Park. In both cases, the bombs were detonated as the trains pulled into the stations and the doors were opening.
Amateur video on Russian TV showed wounded and possibly dead commuters on the floor of the smoke-filled Lubyanka station. One video showed gruesome images of dead passengers sprawled inside a mangled subway car and a bloody leg lying on a station platform.
By late Monday, both stations had been scrubbed clean. Holes left by shrapnel in the granite were the only reminder of the day's tragic bombings.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who built much of his political capital by directing a fierce war against Chechen separatists a decade ago, has promised to track down and kill the organizers of what he called a "disgusting" crime.
The ornate Moscow subway system is the world's second-busiest after Tokyo's, carrying around 7 million passengers on an average workday, and is a key element in running the sprawling and traffic-choked city.
The last confirmed terrorist attack in Moscow was in August 2004, when a suicide bomber blew herself up outside a subway station, killing 10 people. Chechen rebels claimed responsibility.
Dozens of contributors to three Web sites affiliated with al-Qaida wrote comments in praise of Monday's attacks. One site opened a special page to "receive congratulations" for the Chechen rebels who "started the dark tunnel attacks in the apostate countries," and wished for God to accept the two women as martyrs.
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Law enforcement in Russia is the responsibility of a variety of different agencies.
- The Militsiya are the civil police service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
- The Internal Troops provide a gendarmerie function, supporting the Militsiya and dealing with large-scale riots and internal armed conflicts. They also provide security for highly-important facilities (like nuclear power plants).
- The Federal Protective Service of Russia is responsible for the protection of Russian state property and high-ranking government personnel, including the President of Russia.
- The Federal Security Service (FSB) is the domestic security service, and the main successor agency of the Soviet-era Cheka, NKVD, and KGB.
- The Federal Border Guard Service is subordinate to the FSB.
2 bodies found near car sought in Okla. kidnapping
Police in Oklahoma said Monday that two bodies found near a car belonging to a man accused of killing his estranged wife and kidnapping her 7-year-old daughter more than two months ago are likely those of the girl and the man.
Police said officers discovered the vehicle and bodies after receiving a call about 2:45 p.m. about an abandoned car near Oklahoma Highway 9 in southeast Norman. Police suspect the bodies are those of 7-year-old Aja Johnson and her stepfather, Lester Hobbs.
"We have no reason to believe it's not those two people," said Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, who added that the bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition. "We wish it would have turned out differently."
Brown said the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's office will use fingerprints to positively identify Hobbs and dental records may have to be used to identify the girl. Brown characterized papers found inside the vehicle as a possible suicide note. She said no weapon had been found and officials hadn't immediately determined a cause of death.
Hobbs and the child had been missing since Aja's mother, Tonya Hobbs, was found dead Jan. 24 inside Lester Hobbs' motor home in Geronimo, about 100 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. Police searched for Hobbs and the girl and an Amber Alert was issued, but information called into authorities didn't lead to their whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Comanche County prosecutors charged Lester Hobbs with first-degree murder for his estranged wife's killing and with kidnapping for Aja's disappearance.
Brown said investigators don't know how long the vehicle had been at the scene, but it could have been at least a month. The car was found well off the road in a clearing surrounded by trees and thicket.
Brown said Hobbs, 46, lived in Norman for several years in the past and may have been familiar with the area where the car and bodies were discovered.
Brown also said Hobbs' relatives would be questioned about whether they helped him flee following Tonya Hobbs' killing.
"We have no indication at this point in time that anyone did that," she said.
Aja's father, J.J. Johnson, couldn't be reached for comment by The Associated Press. He told reporters earlier that the discovery was closure for him and his family and his daughter is in a better place.
"As a parent, you know, the love for your child always burns in you. For some odd reason that fire burned out," Johnson told KWTV.
"I had a funny feeling something would happen like this. I never really wanted to accept it, but it was in the back of my mind. The thought of what he may be doing to her, I don't have to think about that anymore."
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Oklahoma (
i /ˌoʊkləˈhoʊmə/)[2] is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,687,050 residents in 2009 and a land area of 68,667 square miles (177,847 km²),[3] Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people",[4] and is known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State. Formed by the combination of Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory on November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was the 46th state to enter the union. Its residents are known as Oklahomans, and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City.
A major producer of natural gas, oil and agriculture, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology.[5] It has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth and gross domestic product growth.[6][7] Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly 60 percent of Oklahomans living in their metropolitan statistical areas.[8] The state holds a mixed record in education and healthcare, and its largest universities participate in the NCAA and NAIA athletic associations, with two collegiate athletic departments rated among the most successful in American history.[9][10]
With small mountain ranges, prairie, and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains and the U.S. Interior Highlands—a region especially prone to severe weather.[11] In addition to having a prevalence of German, Irish, British and Native American ancestry, more than 25 Native American languages are spoken in Oklahoma, the most of any state.[12] It is located on a confluence of three major American cultural regions and historically served as a route for cattle drives, a destination for southern settlers, and a government-sanctioned territory for Native Americans. Part of the Bible Belt, widespread belief in evangelical Christianity makes it one of the most politically conservative states, though Oklahoma has more voters registered with the Democratic Party than with any other party.
Boy faces adult trial in death of Pa. woman, fetus
A judge's ruling that a 12-year-old boy will be tried as an adult on charges of fatally shooting his father's pregnant fiancee is an unprecedented move, an advocate for defense attorneys says.
Jordan Brown is charged with criminal homicide in the death of 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk in their farmhouse in New Galilee, in western Pennsylvania, on Feb. 20, 2009. Houk was 8 1/2 months pregnant when she died of a shotgun blast to the back of her head as she lay in bed; the male fetus died from a resulting lack of oxygen.
Cynthia Orr, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, said she's never heard of someone as young as Brown charged with fetal homicide. Brown's attorneys are expected to appeal.
"It's simply inappropriate to put a 12-year-old child in the adult prison system, it won't work," said Orr, a Texas attorney. "It won't benefit society or this child."
In his opinion Monday refusing to move the case to juvenile court, Lawrence County Judge Dominick Motto called Houk's death "an execution-style killing of a defenseless pregnant young mother.
"A more horrific crime is difficult to imagine," he wrote.
Brown's attorneys, Dennis Elisco and David Acker, have argued the boy's case would best be dealt with in juvenile court, where he could receive treatment and incarceration specifically aimed at younger offenders.
Under state law, the attorneys had to convince the judge that he was more "amenable" to rehabilitation in the juvenile system — which would have jurisdiction only until he is 21 — than as an adult.
But the judge said the testimony of defense psychologist Kirk Heilbrun didn't convince him that Brown was best tried as a juvenile.
Motto focused on findings by a prosecution psychiatrist, Dr. John O'Brien, who found that Brown tended to "minimize" the allegations against him. Brown denied killing Houk when examined by both doctors.
Kevin Harley, spokesman for the Pennsylvania attorney general, said prosecutors agree with the decision but stressed that prosecutors could still decide to move the case to juvenile court themselves if he admits he committed the crimes.
"Our position is he isn't amenable (to juvenile court rehabilitation) because he didn't admit he did it and hasn't accepted responsibility for his actions," Harley said.
Orr said Harley's comments show that Pennsylvania's system is flawed if a child must, for all practical purposes, admit guilt to have a chance to be tried as a juvenile.
"That means this whole process is inappropriate and, certainly, unconstitutional," she said.
Debbie Houk, the victim's mother, said she doesn't understand why there would be debate about the decision.
"There was no reason for uncertainty in our eyes," Houk said. "We're pleased."
Prosecutors have said they will seek a conviction on first-degree murder charges, for which Brown could face up to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors have suggested the boy was jealous of Houk and her unborn son. Police had said Brown hid the weapon under a blanket so Houk's 7-year-old daughter wouldn't see it as he entered her mother's room. Later, authorities say, he threw the spent shell casing along a path on his way to a bus and went to school.
A state trooper testified that tests showed the shell was fired from Brown's youth-model 20-gauge shotgun.
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The idea of crime has a long history. Some religious communities regard sin as a crime; some may even highlight the crime of sin very early in legendary or mythological accounts of origins — note the tale of Adam and Eve and the theory of original sin. What one group considers a crime may cause or ignite war or conflict. However, the earliest known civilizations had codes of law, containing both civil and penal rules mixed together, though not always in recorded form.
The Sumerians produced the earliest surviving written codes.[4] Urukagina (reigned ca. 2380 BC–2360 BC, short chronology) had an early code that has not survived; a later king, Ur-Nammu, left the earliest extant written law-system, the Code of Ur-Nammu (ca. 2100-2050 BC), which prescribed a formal system of penalties for specific cases in 57 articles. The Sumerians later issued other codes, including the "code of Lipit-Ishtar". This code, from the 20th century BCE, contains some fifty articles, and scholars have reconstructed it by comparing several sources.
The Sumerian was deeply conscious of his personal rights and resented any encroachment on them, whether by his King, his superior, or his equal. No wonder that the Sumerians were the first to compile laws and law codes.— Kramer[5]
Successive legal codes in Babylon, including the code of Hammurabi (ca. 1790 BC), reflected Mesopotamian society's belief that law derived from the will of the gods (see Babylonian law).[6] Many states at this time functioned as theocracies, with codes of conduct largely religious in origin or reference.
Sir Henry Maine (1861) studied the ancient codes available in his day, and failed to find any criminal law in the "modern" sense of the word. While modern systems distinguish between offences against the "State" or "Community", and offences against the "Individual", the so-called penal law of ancient communities did not deal with "crimes" (Latin: crimina), but with "wrongs" (Latin: delicta). Thus the Hellenic laws[7] treated all forms of theft, assault, rape, and murder as private wrongs, and left action for enforcement up to the victims or their survivors. The earliest systems seem to have lacked formal courts.
The Romans systematized law and applied their system across the Roman Empire. Again, the initial rules of Roman Law regarded assaults as a matter of private compensation. The most significant Roman Law concept involved dominion.[8] The pater familias owned all the family and its property (including slaves); the pater enforced matters involving interference with any property. The Commentaries of Gaius (written between 130 and 180 AD) on the Twelve Tables treated furtum (in modern parlance: "theft") as a tort.
Similarly, assault and violent robbery involved trespass as to the pater's property (so, for example, the rape of a slave could become the subject of compensation to the pater as having trespassed on his "property"), and breach of such laws created a vinculum juris (an obligation of law) that only the payment of monetary compensation (modern "damages") could discharge. Similarly, the consolidated Teutonic laws of the Germanic tribes,[9] included a complex system of monetary compensations for what courts would now[update] consider the complete[citation needed] range of criminal offences against the person, from murder down.
Even though Rome abandoned its Britannic provinces around 400 AD, the Germanic mercenaries – who had largely become instrumental in enforcing Roman rule in Britannia – acquired ownership of land there and continued to use a mixture of Roman and Teutonic Law, with much written down under the early Anglo-Saxon Kings.[10] But only when a more centralized English monarchy emerged following the Norman invasion, and when the kings of England attempted to assert power over the land and its peoples, did the modern concept emerge, namely of a crime not only as an offence against the "individual", but also as a wrong against the "State".[11]
This idea came from common law, and the earliest conception of a criminal act involved events of such major significance that the "State" had to usurp the usual functions of the civil tribunals, and direct a special law or privilegium against the perpetrator. All the earliest English criminal trials involved wholly extraordinary and arbitrary courts without any settled law to apply, whereas the civil (delictual) law operated in a highly-developed and consistent manner (except where a King wanted to raise money by selling a new form of writ). The development of the idea that the "State" dispenses justice in a court only emerges in parallel with or after the emergence of the concept of sovereignty.
In continental Europe, Roman law persisted, but with a stronger influence from the Christian Church.[12] Coupled with the more diffuse political structure based on smaller feudal units, various different legal traditions emerged, remaining more strongly rooted in Roman jurisprudence, but modified to meet the prevailing political climate.
In Scandinavia the effect of Roman law did not become apparent until the 17th century, and the courts grew out of the things — the assemblies of the people. The people decided the cases (usually with largest freeholders dominating). This system later gradually developed into a system with a royal judge nominating a number of the most esteemed men of the parish as his board, fulfilling the function of "the people" of yore.
From the Hellenic system onwards, the policy rationale for requiring the payment of monetary compensation for wrongs committed has involved the avoidance of feuding between clans and families.[13] If compensation could mollify families' feelings, this would help to keep the peace. On the other hand, the institution of oaths also played down the threat of feudal warfare. Both in archaic Greece and in medieval Scandinavia, an accused person walked free if he could get a sufficient number of male relatives to swear him unguilty. (Compare the United Nations Security Council, in which the veto power of the permanent members ensures that the organization does not become involved in crises where it could not enforce its decisions.)
These means of restraining private feuds did not always work, and sometimes prevented the fulfillment of justice. But in the earliest times the "state" did not always provide an independent policing force. Thus criminal law grew out what 21st-century lawyers would call torts; and, in real terms, many acts and omissions classified as crimes actually overlap with civil-law concepts.
The development of sociological thought from the 19th century onwards prompted some fresh views on crime and criminality, and fostered the beginnings of criminology as a study of crime in society. Nietzsche noted a link between crime and creativity – in The Birth of Tragedy he asserted: "The best and brightest that man can acquire he must obtain by crime". In the 20th century Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish made a study of criminalization as a coercive method of state control.
US judge strikes down patent on cancer genes
In a ruling with potentially far-reaching implications for the patenting of human genes, a judge on Monday struck down a company's patents on two genes linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet challenging whether anyone can hold patents on human genes was expected to have broad implications for the biotechnology industry and genetics-based medical research.
Sweet said he invalidated the patents because DNA's existence in an isolated form does not alter the fundamental quality of DNA as it exists in the body nor the information it encodes.
He rejected arguments that it was acceptable to grant patents on DNA sequences as long as they are claimed in the form of "isolated DNA."
"Many, however, including scientists in the fields of molecular biology and genomics, have considered this practice a `lawyer's trick' that circumvents the prohibitions on the direct patenting of the DNA in our bodies but which, in practice, reaches the same result," he said.
The judge said his findings were consistent with Supreme Court rulings that have established that purifying a product of nature does not mean it can be patented.
He said the company deserved praise for what is "unquestionably a valuable scientific achievement," but not a patent because the "isolated DNA is not markedly different from native DNA as it exists in nature."
The ruling came in a long-running fight between scientists who believe that genes carrying the secrets of life should not be exploited for commercial gain and companies that argue that a patent is a reward for years of expensive research that moves science forward. It was almost sure to be appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.
Last March, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation sued Myriad Genetics Inc., based in Salt Lake City, the University of Utah Research Foundation and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The ACLU and the patent foundation said Myriad's refusal to license the patents broadly has meant that women who fear they may be at risk of breast or ovarian cancers are prevented from having anyone but Myriad look at the genes in question.
Myriad attorney Brian Poissant declined to comment. At a hearing before Sweet last month, Poissant said disallowing the patents would wreck the foundation of the biotechnology industry.
Chris Hansen, one of the lawyers who argued the case for the ACLU, said the ruling provides a "strong advance for women's health and for science."
He said the ruling, if upheld, would threaten many of the patents held on approximately 20 percent of the human genome.
"In our view, it would enormously increase women's opportunities to receive testing and diagnoses and would liberate research opportunities for researchers all over the country," Hansen said.
Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for lawyers who argued for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, declined to comment.
Mary-Claire King, the University of Washington scientist who discovered the first breast cancer predisposition gene, BRCA-1, while at the University of California at Berkeley in 1990, called the ruling "very good news for women who are potential carriers" of cancer genes and their families.
"It will open the door to truly competitive testing. It will allow the science to drive the field instead of the monopolistic approach that has dominated," she said.
Patenting a gene "makes no sense," King said. "It's like patenting one's thumb."
Testing for mutations in the so-called BRCA genes has been around for just over a decade. Women with a faulty gene have a three to seven times greater risk of developing breast cancer and a higher risk of ovarian cancer.
Men can also carry a BRCA mutation, raising their risk of prostate, pancreatic and other types of cancer. The mutations are most common in people of eastern European Jewish descent.
Myriad Genetics Inc. sells the only BRCA gene test, which one expert says now costs nearly $4,000.
"There are some women without insurance coverage who are not able to pay that," and have not been able to be tested, said Dr. Kelly Marcom, a breast oncologist who runs Duke University's Hereditary Cancer Clinic.
Some doctors and researchers contend that this monopoly has long held up not only competing, cheaper tests but has also hindered gene-based research.
Barbara Caulfield, a former federal judge now a patent attorney in private practice, wrote a friend-of-the-court brief for the March of Dimes arguing against the patents. She said the ruling, if let to stand, will have more of an effect on companies that market tests rather than on drug-makers, which hold patents on biotechnology "methods" that underpin their products.
"This is going to open up competition among test makers and researchers," said Caulfield, who also served as general counsel of biotechnology company Affymetrix Inc., based in Santa Clara, Calif., before joining the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf.
"Among other things, this is going to speed up genetic mutation research," she said.
"The evidence has mounted that human gene patents are doing more harm than good," and resulted more by accident than a well-thought-out policy, said Jesse Reynolds, a policy analyst at the Center for Genetics and Society. The center is a nonprofit policy research group advocating for oversight and responsible use of biotechnologies.
The Myriad patent "was particularly troublesome" because it was so broadly worded, Reynolds said.
Reading the court ruling, "I saw nothing that limited it to Myriad's patents," Reynolds said. It boiled down to this, he said: "Natural things aren't patentable; inventions are."
"This has the potential to dramatically shake up the biotech industry," Reynolds said.
Related information:
A patent is not a right to practice or use the invention.[13] Rather, a patent provides the right to exclude others[13] from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention for the term of the patent, which is usually 20 years from the filing date [3] subject to the payment of maintenance fees. A patent is, in effect, a limited property right that the government offers to inventors in exchange for their agreement to share the details of their inventions with the public. Like any other property right, it may be sold, licensed, mortgaged, assigned or transferred, given away, or simply abandoned.
The rights conveyed by a patent vary country-by-country. For example, in the United States, a patent covers research, except "purely philosophical" inquiry. A U.S. patent is infringed by any "making" of the invention, even a making that goes toward development of a new invention—which may itself become subject of a patent.
A patent being an exclusionary right does not, however, necessarily give the owner of the patent the right to exploit the patent.[13] For example, many inventions are improvements of prior inventions that may still be covered by someone else's patent.[13] If an inventor takes an existing, patented mouse trap design, adds a new feature to make an improved mouse trap, and obtains a patent on the improvement, he or she can only legally build his or her improved mouse trap with permission from the patent holder of the original mouse trap, assuming the original patent is still in force. On the other hand, the owner of the improved mouse trap can exclude the original patent owner from using the improvement.
Some countries have "working provisions" that require the invention be exploited in the jurisdiction it covers. Consequences of not working an invention vary from one country to another, ranging from revocation of the patent rights to the awarding of a compulsory license awarded by the courts to a party wishing to exploit a patented invention. The patentee has the opportunity to challenge the revocation or license, but is usually required to provide evidence that the reasonable requirements of the public have been met by the working of invention.
More flooding threatens storm-weary East Coast
A second major storm in less than a month continued to drench the East Coast as meteorologists predicted "very dangerous" flooding Tuesday in the Northeast and the wettest March on record in some places.
The National Weather Service called on commuters to be prepared to travel alternate routes in case of washed-out roads and posted flood warnings and advisories from Maine to the Carolinas, with as much as 5 to 7 inches of rain expected over the coming days.
The storm hits as the Northeast works to recover from a storm March 13-15 that dropped as much as much as 10 inches of rain, causing several rivers to rise and flooding basements throughout the region.
Wamed Mansour of Paterson, N.J., was scrambling Monday to move new computers, phone consoles and fax machines in his office to higher ground — about $10,000 worth of equipment he bought last week to replace what was destroyed earlier this month when his auto parts business flooded with 7 feet of water from the Passaic River.
"It's been a really tiring few weeks, and now it might be all over again," Mansour said.
In Rhode Island, meteorologists warned of a possible "life-threatening" situation along the Pawtuxet River, with heavy flooding by Tuesday afternoon that could be as severe as or worse than the mid-March storm.
"This is turning out to be a nightmare," said Steve Kass, spokesman for the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency.
In Cranston, R.I., about 100 people were evacuated from their homes late Monday night because a bridge over the Pawtuxet was closed due to damage from the earlier storm, and authorities were concerned that residents would be without an escape route.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency Monday and mobilized as many as 1,000 National Guardsmen to assist in the event of major flooding.
The rainiest March on record in Boston was 1953, when 11 inches fell during the month; nearly 10 inches had already fallen before the start of the latest storm.
New York City was within 3 inches of the March record of 10.54 inches set in 1983, and forecasters said the storm could easily eclipse that mark.
"Our ground is so wet it's like pouring water into an already saturated sponge," said Tony Sutton, commissioner of Emergency Services for Westchester County, N.Y., north of the city. "Thank God we're not expecting real strong winds. That's a break."
Coastal flooding from rain and high tides was a concern on Long Island beaches. Workers were busy Monday trucking tons of sand to the eastern end of the popular Robert Moses State Park to battle erosion, state parks spokesman George Gorman said.
Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell opened the state's emergency operations center Monday as flood warnings were posted along many rivers and streams throughout the state.
Road closures were reported Monday in several states, including New Jersey.
Violent weather from the same system, including at least one tornado, was blamed for injuries to several people and damage to more than 30 homes Sunday night in the Carolinas. Two teenagers in North Carolina died after their car slid off a rain-slick road into a swollen creek.
The rain was tapering off in the Carolinas early Tuesday, but some flood warnings remained.
Related information:
- Ice Storm - Ice storms are one of the most dangerous forms of winter weather. When surface temperatures are below freezing, but a thick layer of above freezing air remains aloft above ground level, rain can fall into the freezing layer and freeze upon impact into a "glaze". In general, 8 millimeters (1/4 in) of accumulation is all that is required, especially in combination with breezy conditions, to start downing power lines as well as tree limbs.[1] Ice storms also make unheated road surfaces too slick to drive upon. Ice storms can vary in time range from hours to days and can cripple both small towns and large urban centers alike.
- Blizzard - There are varying definitions for blizzards, both over time and by location. In general, a blizzard is accompanied by gale-force winds, heavy snow (accumulating at a rate of at least 5 centimeters (2 in) per hour), and very cold conditions (below approximately -10 degrees Celsius or 14 F). As of late, the temperature criteria has fallen out of the definition across the United States[2]
- Snowstorm - A heavy fall of snow accumulating at a rate of more than 5 centimeters (2 in) per hour that lasts several hours. Snow storms, especially ones with a high liquid equivalent and breezy conditions, can down tree limbs, cut off power, and paralyze travel over a large region.
- Ocean Storm - Storm conditions out at sea are defined as having sustained winds of 48 knots (55 mph or 90 km/h) or greater.[3] Usually just referred to as a storm, these systems can sink vessels of all types and sizes.
- Firestorm - Firestorms are conflagrations which attain such intensity that they create and sustain their own wind systems. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires, forest fires, and wildfires. The Peshtigo Fire is one example of a firestorm. Firestorms can also be deliberate effects of targeted explosives such as occurred as a result of the aerial bombings of Dresden and Tokyo during World War II. Nuclear detonations almost invariably generate firestorms
- Dust devil - a small, localized updraft of rising air.
- Windstorm - a severe weather condition indicated by high winds and with little or no rain, like European windstorm. (Some convective storms, such as derechos, are also incorrectly called windstorms)
- Squall - sudden onset of wind increase of at least 16 knots (30 km/h) or greater sustained for at least one minute.
- Gale - An extratropical storm with sustained winds between 34-48 knots (39-55 mph or 63–90 km/h).[3]
- Thunderstorm - A thunderstorm is a type of storm that generates lightning and the attendant thunder. It is normally accompanied by heavy precipitation. Thunderstorms occur throughout the world, with the highest frequency in tropical rainforest regions where there are conditions of high humidity and temperature along with atmospheric instability. These storms occur when high levels of condensation form in a volume of unstable air that generates deep, rapid, upward motion in the atmosphere. The heat energy creates powerful rising air currents that swirl upwards to the tropopause. Cool descending air currents produce strong downdraughts below the storm. After the storm has spent its energy, the rising currents die away and downdraughts break up the cloud. Individual storm clouds can measure 2–10 km across.
- Tropical Cyclone - A tropical cyclone is a storm system with a closed circulation around a centre of low pressure, fueled by the heat released when moist air rises and condenses. The name underscores its origin in the tropics and their cyclonic nature. Tropical cyclones are distinguished from other cyclonic storms such as nor'easters and polar lows by the heat mechanism that fuels them, which makes them "warm core" storm systems.
Heavy storm brought by Typhoon Sanvu in Hong Kong. Sanvu was the first typhoon in 2005 that passed through the city.
- Tropical cyclones form in the oceans if the conditions in the area are favorable, and depending on their strength and location, there are various terms by which they are called, such as tropical depression, tropical storm, hurricane and typhoon.[4]
- Hailstorm - a type of storm that precipitates chunks of ice. Hailstorms usually occur during regular thunder storms. While most of the hail that precipitates from the clouds is fairly small and virtually harmless, there have been cases of hail greater than 2 inches diameter that caused much damage and injuries.
- Tornado - A tornado is a violent, destructive wind storm occurring on land. Usually its appearance is that of a dark, funnel-shaped cyclone. Often tornadoes are preceded by a thunderstorm and a wall cloud. They are often called the most destructive of storms, and while they form all over the world, the interior of the United States is the most prone area, especially throughout Tornado Alley.
Windstorm - A storm marked by high wind with little or no precipitation.[5]Windstorm damage often opens the door for massive amounts of water and debris to cause further damage to a structure
