Nation, World Briefs: Pentagon plans changes in cremations for soldiers

Published 10:53 pm Friday, May 9, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is recommending changes in the handling of troops’ remains, after it was revealed that crematoriums contracted by the military are used for both human and animal cremations. A military official said there have been no instances or charges that human and pet remains were mixed. But officials are now recommending that troops’ remains be incinerated at a facility that is dedicated entirely to humans.

Georgia: Record flu shots planned for upcoming season

Flu vaccine manufacturers expect to make a record number of doses for next flu season despite concerns that demand may drop because this year’s vaccine was largely ineffective. The five companies that make flu vaccine for the U.S. market plan to make at least 143 million doses for the 2008-2009 season. They made 140 million doses for the current season — the worst in four years for adult deaths from flu and pneumonia. Part of the problem was the vaccine didn’t work well against the viruses that ended up circulating.

Iowa: Corn production expected to tumble

Corn production this year could be down as much as 7 percent from the record-breaking heights of 2007, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Friday. The USDA report projects farmers will harvest about 12 billion bushels of corn this year. About one-third of the harvest will be directed toward ethanol production, the USDA estimates. The projections came as wet weather in the Corn Belt slowed plantings, causing the greatest delay since 1995.

Florida: Fake marriage sting snares 83

A federal sting of four companies accused of arranging fraudulent marriages for U.S. citizenships, complete with wedding photos of brides in gowns and elaborate fake cakes, has netted more than 80 arrests, authorities said Friday. Immigrants, Americans and company officials were among the 83 arrested. The immigrants paid as much as $10,000, while the U.S. citizens were offered up to $2,500, a U.S. attorney in Orlando said. At least one of the businesses kept a standing wedding showroom in its office, complete with a prop cake, an assortment of 10 to 15 wedding dresses and table settings.

Massachusetts: Prison sex change resisted

Allowing a convicted killer to get a sex-change operation would pose insurmountable safety and security problems for the state prison system, the Massachusetts corrections chief said. He said allowing the surgery for Michelle Kosilek could make her a target for assault by other inmates. And, he said prison officials also have concerns that Kosilek — who is serving a life sentence without parole — could try to escape if she is taken out of state for the surgery. Kosilek sued the Department of Corrections in 2000, claiming the system’s refusal to allow the state-funded surgery violated her Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.

Myanmar: Junta exporting rice

While Myanmar’s military regime Friday restricted the rush of international aid offered to help hungry and homeless cyclone survivors, the government was exporting tons of rice through its main port. A crane was loading large white sacks into the hold of a freighter. The sacks were filled with rice destined for Bangladesh, according to the drivers of transport trucks waiting to deliver more rice to the docks. The junta has a monopoly on rice exports and said this week it plans to meet commitments to sell rice, which has reached record high prices on the world market.

Chile: Earliest Americans’ settlement reported

Seaweed found at an inland settlement in Chile confirms that it is one of the oldest inhabited sites in the Americas and demonstrates that the villagers had extensive contact with a coastline that was 50 miles away, researchers at Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University said Friday. Radiocarbon dating of the seaweed samples shows that they are 13,980 to 14,220 years old, confirming that the site, called Monte Verde, is at least a millennium older than the so-called Clovis sites in the American Southwest, which were long believed to be the most ancient in the New World.

Nepal: Everest climbing resumes

Nepal allowed the climbing season on Mount Everest to resume Friday after blocking access to hundreds of climbers so a Chinese team carrying the Olympic flame could ascend without the threat of protests. A Tourism Ministry official said climbers who had been waiting at the Mount Everest base camp could now depart for higher ground, lifting a nine-day ban on ascents on the world’s tallest mountain. Hundreds of climbers were boxed in at the base camp since May 1, waiting for the Chinese to complete their relay.

Canada: Train’s quarantine lifted

Authorities quarantined a passenger train in Ontario on Friday after a woman died and several others reported being ill. But a doctor later ruled out a serious infectious disease and said the train would likely soon resume its journey. Ontario’s chief medical officer said that an elderly woman who died on the train did not have an infectious disease and the illnesses were unrelated. A passenger who was airlifted to a hospital and five others who reported being sick had unrelated illnesses, he said. He called it a confluence of different events.

From Herald news services