CAT PARASITE LINKED TO BRAIN CANCER

An infectious parasite spread by cats may be a cause of brain cancer in humans, research suggests.

The single-celled organism Toxoplasma gondii infects about a third of the world's population.

Often it causes no symptoms, but the parasite can be fatal to unborn babies and damage the nerve systems of people with weak immune systems

The new study shows a positive correlation between rates of infection by T. gondii and brain cancer incidence around the world.

Scientists collected global data on brain cancers in men and women and compared them with figures on T. gondii prevalence.

Adjusting for a range of factors that can influence brain cancer statistics, the researchers found that cancer rates went up with greater exposure to the parasite.

Across the range of infection prevalence, from 4% to 67% of the population, T. gondii was associated with a 1.8-fold increase in the risk of brain cancer.

The scientists, led by Frederic Thomas, from the CNRS research institute in Montpellier, France, wrote in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters: "We feel our results are sufficiently strong to propose that T. gondii potentially increases the risk of brain cancer in humans."

Previous research had already linked the parasite to brain tumours in animals.

There is also other evidence that T. gondii has effects on the brain leading to changes in behaviour.

Malott: Now, even Washington is aware of Altantuya's murder

By Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Prime Minister Najib Razak is in the doghouse over the way he has handled several contentious issues including the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally for free and fair elections and the recent deporting of French lawyer William Bourdon over the submarines corruption scandal.

Former US ambassador John Malott minced no words in a recent interview with Malaysia Chronicle that that the Najib administration was "shooting itself in the foot" and creating confusion in the country. The attempts by his minders to cover for him have led to even greater repercussions, with many prominent US leaders shocked when they read of the Altantuya murder by his bodyguards in reputable Washington Post.

"This is a government – even though they have spent millions on Public Relations firms and management consultants – that keeps shooting itself in the foot. The deportation of the French lawyer is only the latest example. Now, for the first time, all the juicy details of that scandal – including the model who was murdered by the PM’s bodyguards – have appeared in the Washington Post. It just adds to the confusion among people here – what kind of a country is Malaysia, anyhow? And is Najib really the person that he has portrayed himself to be?" said Malott.

Harsh as his comments may seem, Malott is only one in the long queue of Najib critics. Top Malaysian NGO Suaram had also warned that Najib was making his biggest mistake when he deported Bourdon last Friday, on fears that the renowned French human rights lawyer may expose information linking him to the Scorpene kickbacks scandal and the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder.

"It is an affront to diplomacy, to international law and common decency. It was a totally arbitrary act by the Home Ministry and a gross abuse of executive power of the Najib administration," Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel said in a statement.

"This clumsy attempt to silence the truth about the Scorpene scandal and the murder of Altantuya only serves to fortify the belief that the Prime Minister and his government is inextricably linked with the scandal."

Bersih was also a disaster

As for the Bersih rally, which some say was Malaysia's first mini Arab Spring and the door open for further such protests, given Najib's refusal to address the concerns of the people, who want clean polls. The impact of Najib's slew of bizarre actions to suppress the rally is only now filtering in from the international community.

Most have expressed disgust at the Malaysian leader's choice of conduct and are also alarmed that he may repeat the harsh action in the not too distant future to cling to power. But according to Malott, whether Malaysians stand their ground and fight for their rights and democratic space depends on civil society groups as well as the political opposition.

"Will an increasing number of Malaysians wake up and understand the status of democracy and political freedom in their country, or will it go back to business as usual, where it is just activists in civil society and the opposition who are vocal. As I said, the actions of the government, before and after July 9, backfired against them. Matthias Chang wrote that they acted with sheer stupidity," said the former US ambassador to Malaysia from 1995 to 1998

"The Government still has a chance to turn this around, but that would require them to give more political “space” to those who don’t agree with them, and to make sure that the people get to enjoy the rights that the constitution guarantees them. Will they? I have my doubts."

Malott was referring to Matthias Chang, the former political secretary to ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad, who in the runup to July 9 march had written an article, which many pundits here believed was a warning from Mahathir to Najib not to resort to Emergency or police rule.

An admission of guilt?

As for William Bourdon, he was in Malaysia last week representing the NGO in the ongoing French investigations over irregularities involved in the purchase of two Scorpene class submarines from the French state company DCN costing more than RM 7.3 billion ringgit. No reasons were given to Bourdon for his sudden detention and subsequent deportation.

So far, the French probe has uncovered 2 more paid out commissions amounting to Euro 30 and 2.5 million respectively besides the initial Euro 104 million. The beneficiaries will be exposed once the investigation moves into the open court.

In 2002, when Najib was still the defense minister, he had controversially sanctioned the purchase of the submarines amid accusations of gross over-pricing and kickbacks. In 2006, Altantuya who acted as translator for Najib's proxy in the Scorpenes deal, Razak Baginda, was murdered in Selangor by two of Najib's former bodyguards. Najib has denied involvement in the murder or having a hand in any financial impropriety in the submarines deal.

But the mountain of 'evidence' could not be ignored, leading Suaram to complain in France where it is illegal for DCN to offer any bribes to win the procurement order. If found guilty, DCN would have to compensate Malaysian taxpayers for the overpricing due to the commissions it paid out, as well as reveal the names of those Malaysian officials who accepted the bribes. Najib is believed to be one of them and he has been accused of blocking all efforts by citizen groups in Malaysia to get the local authorities to begin a long-overdue investigation.

"The government must explain its shameful action in detaining and deporting William Bourdon to the Malaysian public, and give assurances that there will be full cooperation when the case goes to the open court in France," said Cyntha.

Norway shooting: British police investigating Knights Templar right wing radicals

British police are investigating a cell of right wing radicals known as the Knights Templar, as it emerged that a blogger using the name Lionheart had called for a revival of the movement.

By Duncan Gardham, John-Paul Ford Rojas

In his 1,500-page "manifesto", Anders Behring Breivik described attending the founding meeting of the Knights Templar in London in 2002 and wrote that his “assigned mentor” was “referred to as Richard (the Lionhearted).”

He said he had a “relatively close relationship” with the Englishman, who first described the concept of the “perfect knight”.

Referring to the right-wing British group the English Defence League, Breivik added: “I wonder sometimes if one of the EDL founders was one of the co-founders of [the Knights Templar], I guess I’ll never know for sure.”

A blog seen by The Daily Telegraph has been written by an individual called 'Lionheart', who has said: “Moslem’s soldiers ... seeking to conquer our lands and take our civilized world back into the Dark Ages”.

He wrote that “God will revive the ancient order of the Knights Templar and count me worthy to die amongst them in service of my God in protection of the Christian and Jewish world”.

The blogger’s real name is Paul Ray, from Bedfordshire, who described himself as one of the “founding fathers” of the right-wing English Defence League. Mr Ray was arrested three years ago on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred with material on his blog.

Lionheart closed his blog on Thursday, but reopened it on Sunday to post: “A crackpot killing innocent Norwegian children in the name of anti-government politics. The extreme far-right of the political spectrum that has no place in modern civilised society.”

Mr Ray did not initially respond to an email request for comment but asked later if he had been in touch with Breivik, he told the internet magazine Vice: “No. Not at all. Not that I know of, anyway.”

But he added: “It’s bad isn’t it? Look at what he’s been saying, and then look at what I’ve been portraying. Don’t look good, does it? My friends have been reading the manifesto and a lot of the things that we’re involved in and promoting are in there.

“It apparently says in his manifesto that he has an English mentor called Richard. People are thinking that might be a code word for Richard Lionheart. Who else is there called 'Lionheart' who’s writing about anti-jihad, Muslims and Templar iconography? It blatantly looks like it’s me!”

Intrigue at boiling point in Umno as Najib shortens holiday, deports lawyer

Written by Maclean Patrick, Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

It looks like Prime Minister Najib Razak is on his way out. Whether the next general election is called this year, 2012 or 2013 and whether BN secures a two-thirds parliamentary majority, Najib is unlikely to retain the UMNO presidency.

A concerted effort is now being made amongst the UMNO elite to oust him, even as they publicly profess support and smile indulgently at his Satu Malaysia clarion call. But make no mistake, the jury is in. The warlords know Najib is finished, he has lost too much credibility both inside and outside the country to be worthwhile to salvage as their leader, or even just as a 'front-man'.

And this may be the reason for the past month's binge of political madness that saw Malaysia completely transformed from being a nation of reason to one where Emergency rule or a police state was almost declared; which would have paved the way for Najib and his cousin Hishammuddin Hussein to stay in power as a last resort. The cousins were not only going against the massive popular support for the Bersih rally for free and fair elections, nor the political opposition put up by Pakatan Rakyat and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, but also, most dangerous of all - against their own UMNO party.

Hence the slew of outlandish caveman-like tactics aimed to show the UMNO elite how to the brink they were willing to go to ensure that UMNO stays in power. But sadly for the cousins, the UMNO elite are not so gullible. If they allowed Najib to continue, he would only try to strengthen his grip further and this could mean a massive purge in UMNO once the general elections are over.

Hence, the UMNO warlords are not taking any chances and they have all begun drawing battle lines.

Scorpenes and Ku Li's Amanah

Rushing home to be with Malaysians was the saccharine reason Najib gave on Friday and also the news spun by the mainstream media to explain his sudden return from Europe. He had been scheduled to take another long holiday with his family in the Mediterranean, Europe's playground for the ultra rich and famous.

But instead of breezy yachting trips and hob-nobbing with other super-rich, Najib found himself on walkabouts in down-to-earth Subang Perdana, performed Friday prayers at the Subang Perdana Mosque and ate lunch at Sekolah Kebangsaan in Jalan U3, Subang Perdana. And all on the very same day that his plane landed. Unsual diligence indeed.

Najib also pointedly dropped information that he had told his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin, it was important that both of them and the other ministers go down to the ground and meet the people. Yes, it was all a publicity walk for Najib - a show of strength that he was still very much in control and was the boss.

But sadly, nobody believes in this sort of contrived hoopla anymore; this is a prime minister whom people are merely being polite with. His rivals are merely waiting at the gates of the city to remove him from his high seat. And his rivals are not the usual suspects - not Pakatan or Anwar although they too are circling close. Najib is now in clear and present danger from the party he proudly leads and lords over as president. The splinter groups in UMNO are poised to pounce on him at any time.

His sudden return to Malaysia was indeed prompted by the appearance of William Bourdon. But UMNO insiders also say he was worried by the launch of Tengku Razaleigh's NGO - Amanah.

Given the massive loss of faith in Najib's leadership, Razaleigh or Ku Li can really hammer in the final nail into the PM's political coffin. Ku Li offers a plausible centrist platform for wearied UMNO members to run to, now that it is clear that Najib has rushed to the right in a bid to impress Mahathir Mohamad, a top party power broker and ex-premier who ruled Malaysia with a fist of iron from 1981 to 2003.

Great measures but unconvincing: Dr M switches sides

Back in 2007, Abdullah Badawi had attempted to expose Najib's role in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder to stop him from assuming the presidency of UMNO and hence becoming the prime minister of Malaysia.

But Abdullah failed in his attempt primarily because he was not only going against Najib, who was then his deputy, but also the person backing Najib - ex-premier Mahathir Mohamed. It was with Mahathir’s blessing that Najib became president of UMNO and thus prime minister.

Great measures were used to cover-up Najib’s involvement in the Altantuya murder case which is intertwined with the ministry of defense's RM7 billion purchase of the Scorpene submarines.

Najib was not only DPM but also defense minister. After ousting Abdullah, he became prime minister in April 2009 but by default as president of UMNO and not by a mandate from the people.

The mandate from 2004 to 2008 and from 2008 to 2013 was actually won by Abdullah, But because BN lost its two-third majority in Parliament, it gave Najib and Mahathir the excuse to push out Abdullah.

And knowing that he has yet to gain the mandate of the people, Najib is desperate to remain a popular figure among Malaysians. But despite the splurges on public relations, it looks like he has lost the battle and fairly conclusively. If not, he would have called for snap polls.

In the two years since taking over, Najib has shown his incapability to lead a nation. Popular, he may be but popularity cannot lead a nation. And it is this inability to lead that has been his Achilles heel. Najib, the poster boy of UMNO, should have remained just that.

Now due to his ineptness, he has lost the backing of the grand old man of Malaysian politics - Mahathir Mohamed. Mahathir has thrown his weight behind Muhyiddin Yassin; who saw it fit to leave Najib and his cousin Hishammuddin Hussein to fumble in handling the Bersih protest.

Headless chickens

Indeed, the two cousins have lost much support from their own backers in UMNO over the rally. They are now like a pair of headless chickens, rushing to the right to please Mahathir and running back a fews steps to the centre in case that void gets filled by the likes of Razaleigh's Amanah.

Amanah is a non-partisan NGO calling for better governance in Malaysia. It is interesting that on the day of its launch, Razaleigh or Ku Li threw his support behind Bersih’s call for free and fair elections. This in turn launch a round of support from former ministers such as ex-Tourism minister Kadir Sheikh Fadzir towards the need for free and fair elections.

Amanah's call for free and fair elections is similar to what Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih supporters have been advocating. The difference is that Ku Li is still an UMNO member and is seen to trying to force his party to shift back to a more centred position.

Make no mistake, the call for reform by Amanah is a call for Najib to step aside. And this call is now publicly coming from UMNO itself and not just Pakatan supporters. Najib is too scandal-plagued. Apart from Bersih, the Scorpenes-Altantuya is something impossible for him to wriggle out. The mess of shenanigans that Malaysians have been inflicted with as Najib and Hisham flail and feint their way out is a sign of how desperate and limited their solutions are.

Najib cannot trust a Mahathir-backed Muhyiddin and with Ku Li back in the picture at a most interesting timing, Najib is now desperately in need of support and he is turning to the Malay grass-roots.

Hence, the ever-more urgent need to remove William Bourbon from Malaysia. Not only are the French investigators closing in on the culprits, of which he is possibly one, Najib cannot afford to have a foreign lawyer walking around, exposing his involvement in corrupt practices and murder.

The stain to his already battered public image due to the Bersih, Queen E and Pope fiacso would be the proverbial final straw to break the camel's back. It is slowly becoming clear that there are more high-level officials involved in the kickbacks for the submarine purchases.

Could Najib now be facing pressure from his colleagues in the UMNO elite to close this case as fast as possible?

UMNO premier wrestling league

The 58-year-old Najib's political salvation is now in the hands of the UMNO grassroots, hence his watchfulness over Felda, the rural Malay land resettlement scheme.

But even in Felda, a huge time-bomb is ticking from his alleged mishandling causing hundreds of million to be lost. A once cash-rich entity, Felda's finances are now a Bermuda Triangle and the giant agency has to borrow RM6 billion from the EPF, of which half went to cover a loss-making overseas unit.

The eldest son of second prime minister, the late Abdul Razak Hussein, Najib has lost the support of the Malay intellectuals, who can now clearly see through his charades. So he has to gun for the support of the more simple-minded UMNO members, who traditionally believe in anything the party president would say.

This is the group that have been taught by UMNO all along that they can depend only on BN and no-one else. This is the group that has been trained to believe that only Malays can reign supreme in Malaysia. Sounds a bit like the group that Mahathir and Muhyiddin have been courting? Yes, it does look like a tag-team of Najib-Hishammuddin versus Mahathir-Muhyiddin is warming up in the UMNO premier wrestling league.

In the coming weeks, expect Najib to strut himself all over the nation. He needs to give the impression that he has the political upperhand and he will brave the giggles and the sniggers.

Bersih, the Malay and non-Malay intellectuals can forget about any olive branchs - please don't be naive. Reforms may be the only solution for Malaysia but Najib is not thinking for Malaysia.

He will be reaching out to the UMNO elite, offering all sorts of plans A, B or C. Just let him have one term, that's all he wants and that is what he will plead. But does Mahathir really need him anymore, when he has sullied his own image and credibility beyond repair.

Even Mahathir would not want his son, Mukhriz, to take over a bankrupted nation. Indeed, intrigue in UMNO is at boiling point and Najib is set to be boiled.

Iran: Ahmadinejad threatens to send US, Israel 'to the morgue'

Tehran, 20 July (AKI) - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to destroy the United States and Israel if put on the defensive.

"Resistance will continue until Iran sends its enemies to the morgue," he said on his website, making a reference to the US and Israel who he said are "on the verge of collapse and gasping for their last breathes."

Ahmadinejad may have been reacting to news from Iranian state media that Iran brought down a U.S. "spy drone" flying near its Fordo nuclear enrichment plant in Qom province.

State-run Press TV didn't say when the incident happened. US officials said there were unaware that a US unmanned aircraft was downed, according to news reports.

The Islamic Republic, Ahmadinejad said on his website "is the region's