Boys were told to ‘steer clear’ of Foley more than a decade ago

The Australian | Oct 5, 2006

MARK Foley, the former congressman who sent explicitly sexual e-mails to a teenage congressional pageboy, was known for his ‘extraordinarly friendly’ behaviour more than a decade ago, a former aide has claimed.

Mr Foley’s conduct has long been a source of concern on Capitol Hill, Mark Beck-Heyman, told The Washington Post. The former aide, who had worked as a congressional page in 1995, said that he had been warned by another page to steer clear of Mr Foley.

“Many people on Capitol Hill have known for over 11 years about what was going on and chose to do nothing,” the Post quoted Mr Beck-Heyman as saying.

As far back as 1995, Mr Foley was learning the names of the teenagers, sending them notes, letters and e-mails and asking them to join him for ice cream, the newspaper reported.

CDC Connects Perchlorate with Thyroid Problems in Women

News Inferno | Oct 6, 2006

In an alarming, newly published study, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that even low-level exposure to perchlorate can interfere with normal thyroid function in women, specifically by reducing the production of essential thyroid hormones. Women with low levels of iodine in their urine have shown to be most susceptible to thyroid aliments. While the risks associated with high levels of perchlorate exposure have been long established, the new report has found lower levels of exposure to be more dangerous than previously thought.

The CDC survey was conducted on approximately 2,300 subjects–both male and female–in 2001 and 2002. The delayed release of the survey’s findings has caused considerable consternation among health officials and environmentalists. Some have accused the Bush Administration of pressuring the CDC to withhold the information from the public in order to protect the Pentagon and its contractors from increased regulation.

Putin silent as murder outcry grows

Scotsman | Oct 9, 2006

RUSSIA’S chief prosecutor yesterday took personal charge of the investigation into the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, as international pressure mounted to find the killer.

Ms Politkovskaya, 48, was gunned down in the stairwell of her Moscow apartment.

She was a leading critic of president Vladimir Putin and had won prizes with exposés of human rights violations by Russian security forces in Chechnya.

Her murder on Saturday night – Mr Putin’s birthday – has sent shockwaves around the world and tributes poured in throughout yesterday.

Kremlin accused over reporter death

Times Online | Oct 9, 2006

She  was a fearless critic of President Putin and chronicler of atrocities in Russia’s long war with its breakaway republic of Chechnya. One of those concerns may have cost Anna Politkovskaya her life.
The most famous investigative journalist in Russia was shot dead by an assassin on Saturday, Mr Putin’s 54th birthday, as she stepped from the lift of her Moscow apartment building to collect shopping from her car. The murder bore the hallmarks of a contract killing.

Ms Politkovskaya, 48, was said to have been preparing an article about torture in Chechnya for today’s edition of her newspaper, Novaya Gazeta. Dmitri Moratov, the Editor-in-Chief, said: “She had important photographs. We have some of her notes and of course we will partly publish this material.” Mikhail Gorbachev, today a Novaya Gazeta shareholder, described the killing as “a blow to the entire independent press”.

The Kremlin remained silent for a full 24 hours after Ms Politkovskaya’s death.