More Evidence That HPV Vaccine Shields Against Cervical Cancer (HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A new study suggests that the Cervarix cervical cancer vaccine may provide "excellent" protection against a precancerous lesion that is often a forerunner to invasive cervical cancer.

Cervarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, protects against human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18, which cause 70 percent of cervical cancers. The vaccine is particularly effective when given to adolescent girls before they become sexually active.

Cervarix is one of two HPV vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the other being Merck's Gardasil.

The four-year study included nearly 20,000 women aged 15 to 25 in 14 countries in North America, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. The vaccine was found to be more than 93 percent effective against the CIN3 lesion, a precancerous anomaly that often appears before invasive cancer.

The vaccine was 100 percent effective against cancer in young women who were not infected with HPV before they were immunized, the study found, and it was 46 percent effective against CIN3 and 77 percent effective against cancer in the general population of women (who may or may not have been previously exposed to HPV).

Cervarix was 100 percent effective against CIN3 lesions specifically linked to the HPV 16 and HPV 18 strains in previously unexposed women, and it was nearly 46 percent effective in the general population.

The study appears online Nov. 8 in The Lancet Oncology.

One expert said the new findings "are further evidence of the benefits of HPV vaccine."

Dr. Stephanie V. Blank, an assistant professor in clinical gynecologic oncology at NYU School of Medicine, said, "Although not perfect, this study is the largest trial of HPV 16/18 vaccine to date. It is significant because with longer time of follow-up, we are better able to show the true effect of the vaccine."

Blank added that the study "shows that the HPV vaccine will be most protective among adolescent girls but that it is also effective among HPV-exposed women."

Along with specifically targeting HPV 16 and 18, Cervarix also partially protects against four other types of HPV (31, 33, 45 and 51) that account for 15 percent of cervical cancers, according to another study in the same issue of the journal.

Increasing vaccination rates, particularly among young females who aren't sexually active, should be a focus of HPV vaccination efforts, Dr. Mark Schiffman and Sholom Wacholder of the U.S. National Cancer Institute stressed in an accompanying commentary.

Blank agreed with that assessment. "There are several take-home messages here: Vaccinate early; catch-up programs are also worth it; the positive impact of the HPV vaccine may be even more than we had expected; and the vaccine has an effect even if a woman is already exposed to HPV," she said.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about HPV vaccines.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111110/hl_hsn/moreevidencethathpvvaccineshieldsagainstcervicalcancer

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Did Rob Kardashian Make It To the Semi Finals On 'Dancing With the Stars'?

This week's Dancing With the Stars competition belonged to J.R. Martinez and Karina Smirnoff whose two perfect scores set the bar at a season high. So it was no surprise when the two couples at the bottom of the leader board -- Nancy Grace and Tristan MacManus and Rob Kardashian and Cheryl Burke -- ended up battling for a shot at the final four. 

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Bradley replaces Paterno as Penn State coach

FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2009, file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno, left, walks with assistant coach Tom Bradley on the field before an NCAA college football game against Syracuse in State College, Pa. Penn State trustees have chosen Bradley as interim head coach for the remainder of the season in the wake of firing Paterno and university president Graham Spanier amid the growing furor over how the school handled sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2009, file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno, left, walks with assistant coach Tom Bradley on the field before an NCAA college football game against Syracuse in State College, Pa. Penn State trustees have chosen Bradley as interim head coach for the remainder of the season in the wake of firing Paterno and university president Graham Spanier amid the growing furor over how the school handled sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2010, file photo, Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley attends the NCAA college football team's media day in State College, Pa. The Penn State board of trustees voted unanimously to fire football coach Joe Paterno on Wednesday night, Nov. 9, 2011, amid the growing furor over how the school handled sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach. Penn State president Graham Spanier also was ousted. Bradley will serve as interim coach while Rodney Erickson will be the interim school president. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

(AP) ? New Penn State coach Tom Bradley says he is replacing Joe Paterno with "very mixed emotions."

The defensive coordinator is Penn State's first coach other than Paterno in almost half a century. He was appointed interim head coach after Penn State's board of trustees fired Paterno on Wednesday night in the wake of a child sex-abuse scandal involving former assistant Jerry Sandusky.

"We're obviously in a very unprecedented situation," a somber Bradley said Thursday morning. "I have to find a way to restore the confidence ... it's with very mixed emotions and heavy hearts that we go through this."

Bradley, nicknamed "Scrap" for his scrappy style on special teams while a player at Penn State and known for his animated machinations on the field, showed little emotion during the half-hour news conference except when talking about Paterno, major college football's winningest coach. Paterno had announced early Wednesday he would resign at the end of the season, his 46th leading Penn State, but the board fired him, anyway.

The 55-year-old Bradley said he found out he was the new coach while watching game film Wednesday night. He called Paterno about 11 p.m., but declined to say what they discussed.

"I think that's personal in nature," Bradley said.

He made clear, though, that he has great respect for the Hall of Fame coach, whose 409 victories are the most by any coach in major college football.

"Coach Paterno has meant more to me than anybody except my father," Bradley said. "... Coach Paterno will go down in history as one of the greatest men. Most of you know him as a great football coach. I've had the privilege and honor to work for him, spend time with him. He's had such a dynamic impact on so many, so many ? I'll say it again ? so many people and players' lives.

"It's with great respect that I speak of him, and I'm proud to say that I've worked for him."

In the days since Sandusky, Paterno's onetime heir apparent, was charged with sexually assaulting eight boys over a 15-year period, the scandal has claimed Penn State's storied coach, its president, its athletic director and a vice president, all of whom have been criticized heavily for failing to do more to bring the alleged abuse to prosecutors' attention.

"We all have a responsibility to take care of our children. All of us," Bradley said.

Sandusky has denied the charges against him through his attorney.

Bradley replaced Sandusky as defensive coordinator following the 1999 season, and testified before the grand jury that indicted Sandusky and two other university officials. He declined several times to answer any questions about his involvement or testimony, finally saying he had been advised not to by attorneys.

Bradley's Penn State roots go back more than three decades. He went from special teams captain to graduate assistant in 1979, and has been in Happy Valley ever since. He took over as defensive coordinator after Sandusky resigned in 1999, and the Nittany Lions are third in the country in scoring defense (12.4 points per game) this year. They rank eighth in total defense (282.3 yards per game).

Bradley was Paterno's lead assistant on the field for the last 11 seasons, and considered the leading in-house candidate to replace his Hall of Fame boss.

"I am who I am, I'm not going to change," Bradley said. "I'm not going to pretend I'm somebody else."

Bradley grew up in Johnstown, a western Pennsylvania mining town, as the second oldest of seven kids (three boys and four girls). His father, Jim, played basketball for Pittsburgh but, like many Irish Catholics, the Bradleys' football allegiances were to Notre Dame. The Penn State connection started with his older brother, Jim, who played defensive back for Paterno from 1973-74.

Tom played defensive back from '77-78, and his younger brother, Matt, was a linebacker from '79-81.

Bradley also encouraged students, some of whom scuffled with police Wednesday night, to act with class at Saturday's game. He also said his team, which had met earlier in the morning, would be ready to play.

Bradley acknowledged the magnitude of the job ahead of him, saying he had not slept. Asked when he might, Bradley flashed one of the few smiles of the morning.

"Do I look that bad?" he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-10-Penn%20State-Bradley/id-a3361b91780b4325808e7d9c7ea7b3e6

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Adventure along the Namibian coast

When the first European explorers arrived on Namibia?s Skeleton Coast in the late fifteenth century, they named it As Areias do Inferno ("The Sands of Hell").

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Where in the world is Matt Lauer? The Skeleton Coast in Africa

In those days, they weren?t exaggerating.

Over the centuries, sailors shipwrecked on this treacherous coast would sometimes find alluvial diamonds lying in the sand at their feet. Then, after filling their pockets with the equivalent of a lifetime?s wages, they usually died of thirst within days.

Today, thankfully, even visitors on a tight budget can experience Namibia?s extraordinary desert coastline in considerably more comfort ? or, for those with enough dollars to spare, in luxury.

Video: Trip to Skeleton Coast kicks off Where in the World (on this page)

Westerners first arriving here tend to find that this is far from the Africa of movie clich?s like vast herds of migrating wildebeest or bored-looking professional dancers dressed up for tourists in gaudy traditional costume. Instead, the very harshness of the landscape here is what makes it unique, a blend of grandeur in some places, emptiness and stark beauty in others ? and sometimes just sheer oddness elsewhere.

The Namib Desert stretches the entire length of the coast, nearly a thousand miles from the South African border in the south to the exclusive Skeleton Coast Wilderness toward the Angolan border.

Video: Meet?Namibian tribesmen who bathe in smoke (on this page)

Between the two lies a breathtaking coastline of surprising contrasts, from vast orange dune fields (including "Big Daddy," the world?s highest sand dune at Sossusvlei) and lunar landscapes to genteel colonial settlements and comfortable lodges. Further north, ghostly shipwrecks litter the Skeleton Coast, with great rusting hulks stranded between cold Atlantic breakers and a shoreline described by 19th century explorer Charles Andersson as one of "frightful desolation."

How to explore Namibia
Predictably, things have changed along the Namibian Coast since the early seafarers first struggled to survive. Activities for visitors now include just about everything humanly possible on a desert coast, from boat-fishing trips, bird-watching and desert golf to balloon flights over the dunes, dolphin-watching trips, canyon-hiking, kite surfing, 4-wheeling, sand boarding and surf skiing. In short, there are enough adventure activities to exhaust the hardest-bitten adrenaline junkie or wilderness trekker.

Video: Getting sporty on Namibia's sand dunes and coastline

The ideal base for exploring the coast is the town of Swakopmund, easily reachable by road or rail, and a delightfully odd place to visit in its own right. The 2009 television miniseries "The Prisoner" starring Jim Caviezel was filmed in the area, a perfect location to suggest incongruity and desert isolation.

Part of the former German colony, the town still retains its strong Germanic influence, which makes for a bizarre contrast against the harsh African desert coastline. Colonial buildings from charmingly colorful private houses to a full-on neo-baroque church stand alongside German bakeries, caf?s and bars, fine restaurants (especially for seafood and game dishes), tour operators and the full range of accommodation from backpacker hangouts to luxury hotels.

But for many visitors, the desert itself is what makes a visit here so unforgettable. Take, for instance, the Fish River Canyon in the south (at 1,800 feet deep second only to the Grand Canyon) and the strange "roaring dunes" of the northern Skeleton Coast, which produce bizarre acoustic effects, thought to be caused by electrically charged sand particles.

Video: Matt takes birds-eye tour of the ?sands of hell? (on this page)

It?s not all jaw-dropping vistas, however. At first glance, for some stretches of the Namibian coast one can see little life in the landscape. Yet on closer inspection, at different times of day, one realizes that life goes on here after all, cunningly adapted to cope with an annual rainfall of almost zero.

What initially seems ugly and odd soon looks ingenious, with its own strange beauty, like beetles that perform handstands to collect condensed mist (their only source of moisture here) and the "fossil plant" Welwitschia, which can live up to two millennia. There are flora so curious-looking that Bushmen legend insists they grow upside down with their roots pointing skywards.

Video: Getting to know Namibia?s exotic creatures (on this page)

The treacherous ocean holds its own rewards. The cold Benguela Current sweeping northwards supports the best fishing on the southwest coast of Africa, and in season South African anglers flock here to catch steenbras, galjoen and blacktail.

Nature at its rawest
But all the comforts of the coastal settlements and tourist lodges rarely disguise the fact that nature in some of its rawest forms is all around you. What at first appears still and timeless is in fact in constant motion, the dune landscape steadily shifting and transforming before the ocean breeze, inch by inch. This is nowhere more evident than the "Ghost Town" of Kolmanskop near Luderitz in the south, a spooky colonial diamond settlement finally abandoned half a century ago and since slowly consumed by the desert.

Video: Exploring a?prohibited mining zone to find diamonds (on this page)

For many, the highlight of the Namibian coast is the incredible peace and beauty of the Namib. But this is peace and beauty with a slight edge to it. Even close to the settlements, once the sand-boarders and 4-wheelers have retired for the evening to the coastal bars and restaurants, the silence in the desert can be enjoyably eerie ? especially when dense fog creeps inland from the ocean, or on clear nights when the Milky Way and Southern Cross above the desert shine with extraordinary brilliance.

Even visitors not generally given to reflection have found themselves setting aside their sand-board or bottle of Windhoek Lager, and instead questioning their place in the grand scheme of things. Despite the fragility of its precious ecosystems, the Namib Desert ? the oldest in the world ? has been here for a very long time.

Best catch it while you can.

If You Go...

With its temperate climate, the Namibian coast can be visited at any time of year (fishing is best November to March). Bring sunblock. Nights can be chilly, and inland temperatures can soar. English is widely spoken in tourist areas.

Tours and activities
For many activities and trips you can make arrangements after arrival in Namibia, either in the capital Windhoek or in Swakopmund on the coast. Hotels, guesthouses and lodges can often make arrangements for you. However, if time is limited or you're set on some of the more exclusive destinations, such as the Skeleton Coast Wilderness (fly-in tours only, numbers strictly controlled), book well in advance before leaving home. Contact the Namibian Tourist Board or your preferred travel agent at home for advice on tour companies, trips and permits.

For exploring the coast you?ll need to hire a vehicle or arrange a tour. Most operators in Swakopmund or Windhoek can tailor your itinerary. One of the best is Wilderness Safaris, which also has exclusive access to some parts of the Skeleton Coast Wilderness.

Accommodation
For colonial luxury in Swakopmund try the Hansa Hotel, built in 1905. Aristotle Onassis stayed here, and the restaurant is highly recommended. Cheaper and more modern is the quiet and tasteful Sea Breeze Guesthouse in Swakopmund. If money is no object, for an exclusive luxury retreat the Skeleton Coast Wilderness Camp (run by Wilderness Safaris) is unbeatable. Camping is also possible in many parts of Namibia.

Eating
In Swakopmund, The Tug is actually built around a tugboat, with excellent seafood, ocean views, and very popular with the locals, so advanced booking is essential. A favorite bistro pub is the Swakopmund Brauhaus, serving German and Namibian game and seafood dishes.

Fran Sandham is the author of "Traversa: A solo walk across Africa from the Skeleton Coast to the Indian Ocean," published by Overlook.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45167964/ns/today-travel/

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Lady Gaga steals show at MTV Europe Awards...again (Reuters)

BELFAST (Reuters) ? Lady Gaga stole the show at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Belfast on Sunday, scooping four prizes and going one better than 2010 when she also led the field with three.

The flamboyant 25-year-old New Yorker won best female, best song and video for her hit single "Born This Way" as well as the biggest fans award.

"I knew that this song was very special when I wrote it and I just didn't know when I first started out ... how special you would all be to me," a tearful Gaga told a packed, boisterous Odyssey Arena as she accepted the best song award.

"This is the single most important song that I've ever written and the single most important album. I love you little monsters to the end!" she added, using the term she employs to describe her fans.

Canadian teen sensation Justin Bieber was among the other multiple winners, picking up best pop act and top male singer.

Much of the attention in the run-up to the awards has been on the 17-year-old, who has denied allegations made by a U.S. woman that he fathered her child when he was 16.

Accepting the second of his awards, he said: "There's been a lot of crap talked about me lately, but I've pulled through!" according to MTV.

Bieber's girlfriend Selena Gomez, an actress and singer, hosted the MTV event, and the pair were photographed out the previous night in the city in a public show of togetherness.

She also told Katy Perry during the show "I think he's cute!"

Los Angeles rockers Thirty Seconds to Mars won two awards -- best alternative act and best world stage -- as did Bruno Mars, honoured as the best new act and "push" artist who was promoted by MTV as an up-and-coming talent.

Perry was voted best live act, Eminem won best hip-hop artist, repeating his 2010 success, and Linkin Park scooped best rock. More than 150 million MTV viewers voted and decided most of the categories.

"BIRTH OF MTV"

Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen accepted the previously announced Global Icon prize. "We were there at the birth of MTV," May said.

"How wonderful for us to be here 40 years later ... and here in Belfast which is finally showing its beauty and setting an example to the world by finding, out of grief and tragedy, the beginnings of truth and peace."

British rockers Coldplay kicked off one of the biggest nights of pop music outside the United States with "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" from their new album "Mylo Xyloto."

Host Gomez underwent multiple costume changes -- at least eight -- while lasers and flames lit up the darkened arena.

LMFAO performed "Party Rock Anthem," a high octane disco hit that brought over 20 dancers to the stage where they strutted under tinsel "snow" that fell from the roof.

Red Hot Chili Pepper and Northern Irish favourites Snow Patrol played at other venues around Belfast, while Bieber earned the loudest screams when he sung his new track "Under the Mistletoe" followed by "Never Say Never."

Lady Gaga sang "Marry the Night" from the top of a giant moon structure, and presenter and actress Hayden Panettiere was joined on stage by a naked man in a scripted appearance.

There was also a video tribute to late singer Amy Winehouse, who died in July aged 27.

The event closed with a medley of Queen hits including "The Show Must Go On" and "We Will Rock You."

Belfast had been overtaken by "Biebermania" ahead of the show with hundreds of girls camped outside his hotel to catch the briefest glimpse of their idol.

"He's beautiful, he's like an angel," said Aya Lawlor, a 14-year-old Belfast girl who stood for hours on a cold Saturday night just to see Bieber. "He's proven that anyone can do it."

Thousands watched the main concert and other performances in the open and in smaller venues around Belfast, and millions tuned in around the world to see it via live stream on the web.

The awards are generally dominated by U.S. acts even though they are held in a different European city each year.

Last year Gaga picked up prizes for best female artist, best pop act and best song for "Bad Romance." This year she led the way with six nominations.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111107/india_nm/india603601

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What's the Price of Climate Change? $14 Billion in Lost Lives and Health Care

2003-southern-california-wildfiresFlood, famine, fire and disease?climate change is expected to have an impact on all of these threats, by altering the earth in many ways, from changes in the planet?s water cycle to making a broader swath of the planet amenable to insect-born illnesses such as malaria. A new study in the November issue of Health Affairs by public health scientists (most of whom work for an environmental group, the Natural Resources Defense Council) attempts to put a price on all that change.

These researchers picked six representative disasters and tallied up the economic impact as a first estimate of the kinds of health-related costs climate change might bring. By the group?s calculation, the six ?climate change-related? disasters?ranging from the Red River floods in North Dakota in 2009 to worsening levels of smog pollution nationwide?accounted for roughly $14 billion in lost lives and healthcare costs.

Using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency?s preferred method [pdf] of assigning a dollar amount to every lost life, the researchers estimated that the 1,689 premature deaths from all six catastrophes cost $7.9 million each?meaning casualties contributed the bulk of the climate change costs. Health care costs from hospitalizations, emergency room visits and consulting doctors, on the other hand, tallied a much more manageable $740 million (which is not chump change, mind you).

Of course, the dollar amount sets aside the human misery and suffering caused by the six catastrophes?which also included the 2003 wildfire and 2006 heat wave in California, Florida?s 2004 hurricane season and a West Nile Virus outbreak in Louisiana in 2002?but that?s what economists like to do, and what seemingly drives political decision-making.

Although this study represents a first effort to quantify such health-related economic impacts, it ultimately raises more questions than it answers. West Nile?s appearance in the U.S. is at least as much due to international travel as any climate change, and the scientific jury is out on whether hurricanes will be made stronger or less frequent (or both) by global warming. Further, the health impacts from the Florida hurricanes had more to do with the carbon monoxide poisoning that followed improper use of generators than a direct impact of hurricane winds or rains, as the report noted.

There are also plenty of other potential climate change impacts that do not factor here, ranging from the waterborne disease outbreaks that follow flooding to infrastructure damage. Nor did the researchers include ?lost leisure time, days when activity is restricted, lost school days for children, and lost work and leisure time for those who instead must visit and care for patients,? they write. The costs, if any, are likely to fall disproportionately on those least financially capable of dealing with them.

But, even independent of climate change, dealing with smog seems to make health care economic sense based on recent recent research from the EPA and others. More than 287 million Americans live in areas where ground-level ozone levels climb above 80 parts-per-billion for extended periods, according to the Health Affairs research, which has been linked to everything from asthma to increased heart disease. The primary culprits are our cars and our coal-fired power plants.

Reducing the emissions of nitrogen oxides from tailpipes and smokestacks is one sure way to cut down on smog-related death and disease?and yet the Obama administration recently announced plans to avoid mandating such smog reductions until after the 2012 election. The reason? The new rules would cost car manufacturers and electric utilities, among others, some $90 billion. Numbers do matter.

Image: Several massive wildfires were raging across southern California over the weekend of October 25, 2003. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres,?MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=7cc8e6e16ccaa90620a055655b853b89

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Verdict reached in case of Michael Jackson doctor (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? A jury reached a verdict Monday in the involuntary manslaughter case against Michael Jackson's doctor, deliberating for less than nine hours after the six-week trial that included the pop star's own recorded voice but no testimony from the physician accused of causing his death.

Court officials said the verdict would be read at 1 p.m. PST.

"I'm shaking uncontrollably!" Michael Jackson's sister LaToya commented via Twitter on the pending verdict.

Jackson family members arrived at the courthouse after court officials said a verdict had been reached.

Outside the courthouse, supporters and fans of Michael Jackson seemed to get word that the jury had reached a verdict. They started cheering and started chanting, "Guilty! Guilty!"

Prosecutors depicted Dr. Conrad Murray as a reckless physician who abandoned Jackson while he was under the effects of the powerful anesthetic propofol on June 25, 2009.

Attorneys for the Houston-based cardiologist countered that Jackson was addicted to the drug and self-administered the fatal dose when Murray left his bedroom.

Murray agreed to become Jackson's personal physician as the singer prepared for a series of comeback concerts in 2009.

Murray did not testify during the trial but previously acknowledged to police that he gave Jackson propofol and other sedatives on the morning the singer died.

The seven men and five women who hold the fate of Murray in their hands are a diverse cross-section of Los Angeles, people of varying ethnicities from different towns who might never have met if they had not been thrown together in the jury pool.

They are white, black and Hispanic, mostly middle-aged and live in an assortment of suburbs in the Los Angeles urban sprawl. Most have children and some have grandchildren.

They include a professor, postman, bus driver, actor and movie animation supervisor.

The panel was in its second day of deliberations when it reached the verdict.

Murray has pleaded not guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors accused him of administering a fatal dose of propofol to the King of Pop.

The jurors, who were engaged by all the details of the case, were likely methodical in their deliberations.

Nine of them have prior jury experience and one woman, a native of Spain, has served on five juries, all of which reached verdicts. She was once a jury forewoman.

A woman who has worked as a paralegal for 30 years is serving on her first jury and appeared enthralled.

They knew about the involuntary manslaughter charge against Murray before they came to court and most of them know Jackson's music. A few said they were fans and one, the video animation specialist, said he had some interaction with Jackson when the singer was making the video, "Captain EO."

Details about their lives were culled from lengthy written questionnaires obtained by The Associated Press. Their identities have been kept secret and even lawyers in the case know them only by their jury numbers.

In six weeks together the jurors have displayed uncommon attentiveness to the task at hand. Several, including alternates, have taken notes and kept lists of evidence. Once, when the judge was at a loss to find the number of an exhibit, a member of the jury spoke up and told him.

There were no drooping eyelids or distracted glances. When a scientific expert was conducting experiments on the floor of the courtroom, panelists stood up in the jury box to get a better view.

Their attention to evidence and witnesses has impressed Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, who commended them for their commitment, punctuality in getting to court and willingness to give up their personal lives to serve.

When the trial went longer than Pastor had predicted, he apologized, but the jurors seemed unperturbed.

Every night, when he gave them an admonition to avoid the news, the Internet and other sources of information about the trial, they listened as if it was the first time they had heard it and they nodded in agreement.

Many of the panelists have a familiarity with prescription drugs; most of them said they trust their doctors and several believe that celebrities receive a different kind of justice than average people.

Some have learned about the justice system from TV, watching such shows as "Law and Order" and "CSI." Others watched broadcasts of real-life, high-profile trials including the Casey Anthony case and the O.J. Simpson trial.

One woman, an accounting manager, remembered that during the Simpson trial, "a TV was brought to the office for everyone to follow it." A man in his 30s said he followed that trial in school as an educational experience.

While not sequestered, the jurors have had a rare opportunity to bond because they were kept together for lunch and transported together between a secret parking lot and the courthouse. In order to avoid exposure to events outside the courtroom, the judge had lunch catered for them every day.

___

Associated Press Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney and Videographer John Mone contributed to this report.

___

McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111107/ap_on_en_ot/us_michael_jackson_doctor

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Officials: 67 dead in northeast Nigeria attacks

At least 67 people died in a wave of bombings and shootings carried out in northeast Nigeria overnight, officials said Saturday, as frightened mourners left their homes to begin burying their dead.

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A newspaper says a radical Muslim sect known locally as Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks and has promised to launch new assaults.

The Daily Trust, the newspaper of record in Nigeria's Muslim north, says Boko Haram spokesman Abul-Qaqa spoke to them Saturday and claimed the attacks that have killed at least 67 people in and around Damaturu and Maiduguri.

The spokesman told the newspaper: "We will continue attacking federal government formations until security forces stop their excesses on our members and vulnerable civilians."

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, has waged an increasingly bloody sectarian fight against Nigeria's weak central government

The latest attacks centered around Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state, Nigerian Red Cross official Ibrahim Bulama said. The attack started Friday with a car bomb exploding outside a three-story building used as a military office and barracks in the city, with many uniformed security agents dying in the blast, Bulama said.

Gunmen then went through the town, blowing up a First Bank PLC branch and attacking at least three police stations and some churches, leaving them in rubble, he said. Gunfire continued through the night and gunmen raided the village of Potiskum near the capital as well, witnesses said, leaving at least two people dead there.

On Saturday morning, people began hesitantly leaving their homes, seeing the destruction left behind, including military and police vehicles burned by the gunmen, with the burned corpses of the drivers who died in their seats.

Bulama spoke to The Associated Press by telephone Saturday morning from a common Muslim burial ground in the city as his family buried a relative and friend, a police officer who died after suffering a gunshot wound to the head in the fighting.

"There's that fear that something might possibly happen again," he said.

State government officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment Saturday morning.

Four separate bombings
The attacks around Damaturu came after four separate bombings struck Maiduguri, about 80 miles east. One blast detonated around noon outside the El-Kanemi Theological College where parents had gathered. Police said others had entered the college grounds to attend Friday prayers at a mosque located on its campus.

Witnesses who spoke to the AP said they saw ambulances carry away at least six wounded people from the site. Another bombing alongside a road in Maiduguri killed four people, local police commissioner Simeon Midenda said.

A short time later, suicide bombers driving a black SUV attempted to enter a base for the military unit charged with protecting the city from Boko Haram fighters, military spokesman Lt. Col. Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed said. The SUV couldn't enter the gate and the explosives were detonated outside of the base, which damaged several buildings in the military's compound, Mohammed said.

Mohammed said blasts occurred at three other places in Maiduguri besides the base, with no one being killed. However, government officials routinely downplay such attacks in Nigeria over political considerations. Mohammed's claims could not be immediately verified by the AP and the local police commissioner declined to say how many people had been wounded.

Story: Suicide attackers, bombs target northeast Nigeria

The bombings come ahead of Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice, when Muslims around the world slaughter sheep and cattle in remembrance of Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son. Police elsewhere in the country had warned of violence ahead of the celebration in Nigeria, a country of more than 160 million largely split between a Christian south and a Muslim north. On Wednesday, police in Maiduguri had said they broke up a plot to bomb the city over the holiday.

If claimed by Boko Haram, the attacks would be the most bold and coordinated ever carried out by the group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege." In August, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing at the United Nations headquarters in Nigeria's capital, which killed 24 people and left another 116 wounded.

The group has carried out an increasingly bloody sectarian fight with Nigeria's weak central government, seeking to put strict Shariah law in place in the oil-rich nation.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45173869/ns/world_news-africa/

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