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U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resigns U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has resigned following the Republicans' defeat in the Midterm elections. Study will examine treating heart damage with adult stem cells The UK Stem Cell Foundation (UKSCF) has made its first grant to support a unique project that promises hope for thousands of heart attack patients. The new procedure involves injecting the patient’s heart with his own bone marrow stem cells in the expectation that they will help repair the damaged heart and prolong the patient’s active life.

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Three Walmart superstores open in Canada Wal-Mart Canada's first three supercenters opened in Ontario today. The supercentre has wider aisles, higher ceilings, clear signage, and cash registers in selected departments such as electronics and clothing. The idea originally started in America in late 2005 and was announced that it would be arriving in Canada.

Wikipedia Current Events
Legislators in the Jogorku Kenesh approve a new constitution amidst fears of another revolution in Kyrgyzstan. China has a record high surplus in its balance of trade of $23.8 billion as exports rise and imports fall. Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, tells colleagues that he does not intend to run for the position of Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives. George W. Bush congratulates the Democratic Party of the United States on its success and vows to try and find common ground with Nancy Pelosi, the next Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announces he will step down from his cabinet position. Former Director of the CIA Robert Gates will replace Rumsfeld if confirmed by the Senate. Dr. Margaret Chan, former director of Hong Kong Health Department, represented China to win the nomination to the Director-General of the World Health Organization. At least 42 people die and 20 people are injured in a bomb blast outside an army training centre in north-west Pakistan. Nineteen Palestinian civilians are killed in the Gaza Strip from Israeli tank fire according to medical officers. The Prime Minister of Palestine Ismail Haniyeh states that talks between Hamas and President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas have been suspended. Five senior ministers in the Cabinet of the British Government are questioned by police as part of an investigation into alleged "cash for honours". Windows Vista Microsoft's newest Operating system was RTM (Released to Manufacturers).

Study shows that Canadians enjoy daily commute to work
A new study by Statistics Canada shows that 38 per cent of Canadians enjoy their daily commute to work. One in six workers, about 16 per cent even said that they liked commuting a lot and 30 per cent do not.

The average commute for people from Burlington to Toronto takes about 45 minutes.

The shorter the distance to work, the more enjoyable the commute is. Most commuters who travel to work by bike enjoy the trip the most. "People taking public transit get the least amount of enjoyment out of the commute, which could be because their trips are often longer," said Martin Turcotte, the author of the study. "Baby boomers like commuting more than younger people," he said.

"The time alone is therapeutic," said a 33-year-old, who has been commuting for seven years. "I am alone in my car and I can control all the elements. I can have it hot or cold, have the music on or off and I can choose to take phone calls or not."

"It's also an opportunity to exercise that I otherwise wouldn't have," said Chris Heysel, who cycles 21 kilometres from Stoney Creek to McMaster University in Hamilton.

More workers said that they disliked chores like cleaning the house and grocery shopping more than they did commuting to work.

Three Walmart superstores open in Canada
Wal-Mart Canada's first three supercenters opened in Ancaster, London and Stouffville, Ontario.

The idea originally started in America in late 2005 and was announced that it would be arriving in Canada.

Flat screen TVs suspended from the ceiling will feature a television network, featuring fashion shows of Wal-Mart's clothing lines, TV commercials featuring brands the retailer carries, and corporate messages.

With an expanded selection of electronics, hardware, home and housewares, the Wal-Mart supercentre could be compared to Future Shop, Home Depot, Home Outfitters, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Fortinos. The supercentre has wider aisles, higher ceilings, clear signage, and cash registers in selected departments such as electronics and clothing.

"Our goal is to become the one-stop shop for customers," said Mario Pilozzi, chief executive of Wal-Mart Canada. "You see how fresh that is today? We are going to maintain that freshness in these stores."

Wal-Mart's Canadian supercentres are more sophisticated then their U.S. counterparts, because Canadian grocers have created higher expectations among the average consumer, company officials say.

Wal-Mart already has plans to open up 14 new supercenters in 2007.

Study will examine treating heart damage with adult stem cells
The UK Stem Cell Foundation (UKSCF) has made its first grant to support a unique project that promises hope for thousands of heart attack patients. The new procedure involves injecting the patient’s heart with his own bone marrow stem cells in the expectation that they will help repair the damaged heart and prolong the patient’s active life.

Two advantages claimed for this procedure are the overcoming of the ethical issues related to the use of embryonic stem cells and the reduction of the probability of tissue rejection.

The procedure will be carried out immediately after primary angioplasty, the opening up of blocked arteries, normally performed within the vital few hours after the heart attack.

The new procedure was designed by Dr Anthony Mathur, Senior Lecturer and Consultant Cardiologist, and Professor John Martin, British Heart Foundation Chair in Cardiovascular Sciences. The trial will involve about 100 patients and will be conducted at St Bartholomew's Hospital.

Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director, British Heart Foundation welcomed research into the role stem cells may play in treating heart conditions and saw it as complementing the Foundation’s own research programme.

Some 600,000 patients survive heart attacks each year and the cost to the country may be as much as £7 billion taking into account not only hospitalisation and medical costs, but also the costs of lost working time. The bone marrow cell transplant is expected to improve the functionality of the damaged heart and increase greatly the capability of patients. It could have a significant economic effects also.

Nigel Hawkes in the Times today argues that it may be unwise to proceed when so little is understood about stem cells. Maybe it would be better to hold back until the science is better developed. He describes the procedure as coming from the "quick and dirty" school of medical research which has produced great benefits before the science has caught up. On the other hand he quotes Roger Pedersen, of the University of Cambridge as saying that we know little about what triggers cells to differentiate, and that “simple alchemy” will not work: “We’re going to have to do some science.” The feasibility and safety of the procedure has been tested in smaller studies, and the few reports available show a trend towards positive effects, but large clinical trials are still missing.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resigns
The Associated Press is reporting that U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is about to resign. President George W. Bush announced that he will nominate Robert Gates, former head of the CIA, as a replacement for Rumsfeld, speaking at a White House press conference at 1 p.m. today.

Rumsfeld is the second longest serving defense secretary, serving in the post from 1975 to 1977 under President Ford and under President Bush from the beginning of 2001.

Several killed and wounded in blast near Pakistan army centre
A suicide bomber killed at least 42 Pakistani soldiers at an army training centre today in the North West Frontier Province, according to Pakistani government soldiers.

The attack took place in the town of Dargai, 100 km north of Peshawar at 8:40 a.m. local time (0310 UTC) today.

20 people were injured in the attack. Some of them are in a critical condition. The injured were admitted to hospitals in Mardan and Peshawar.

Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, Pakistani Federal Minister of Interior, said that the attack was carried out by a man who got down from a car wearing a chaddor [cloak] and walked into the parade. He added, "After the Bajaur incident this was expected, but we will continue the fight against terror. We condemn it, innocent lives were lost."

Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf condemned the suicide attack and directed the interior ministry to track down the culprits involved in the attack.

No terrorist group has claimed for the responsibility of the attack yet.

Concerns raised over UK hospital disinfection practices
A survey, conducted by the Patients’ Association, an independent charity devoted to defending the interests of patients, has revealed "unease and concern among health professionals" that infection control practices in the United Kingdom's National Health Service are "endangering patients’ lives". The survey published today, revealed that NHS infection control staff felt that infection control was inadequately financed, that training was inadequate and that much time has to be spent reassuring patients.

The Association is concerned that the financial deficits of many NHS trusts may prejudice good infection control practice because the resources allocated for this are not effectively ring-fenced. There was evidence of inadequate training and execution of good practice. The report also listed shortcomings in way supplies were acquired and delays in getting supplies of the preferred disinfectant: 2% Chlorhexidine-based solution.

BBC reported that a recent paper to a Society for General Microbiology conference by a University of Leeds team has shown that two chemical cleaners commonly used in hospitals, far from reducing the prevalence of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) bacterium, actually increased its ability to survive. Only cleaners containing bleach had been proved effective in disposing of this bacterium. Authors of the paper refused to disclose what those two cleaners were.

There is particular concern in the Patients' Association about the absence of adequate data on the spread of C. difficile. The Telegraph quotes Katharine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, as saying: "Collection of data about this very dangerous infection is haphazard to say the least, and we are not getting the true picture. How can patients have confidence in their hospitals if the real threat posed by C. difficile is being played down?"

The Report found that only a fifth of respondents confirmed the collection of surgical site (infection) data and that only 27% reported infection data about C. difficile; despite the requirement that Trusts collect and report these data.

Trusts are also required to report the incidence of surgical site infection, but the Patients' Association survey found that only a fifth of respondents confirmed the collection of these data.

The Patients Association called this a "worrying and haphazard situation".

The Telegraph reports that experts consider that C. difficile is an even greater threat to patient’s health than MRSA.

Leicester NHS Trust has reported 49 deaths associated with C. difficile. in three of its hospitals. Six deaths have been reported at Maidstone Hospital and the Healthcare Commission has been asked to investigate. C. difficile was associated with the deaths of nearly 1000 patient in 2003.

A new Code of Practice "for the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections" was issued by the Department of Health in October 2006 under the Health Act 2006. This refers to the NHS in England and Wales only.

2006 U.S. Congressional Elections
(As of 4:00 a.m. EST November 8, 2006) The Democratic Party has gained control of the United States House of Representatives in the 2006 United States general elections. The Democrats are projected to have at least 227 seats, 9 more seats than the 218 needed to control the House of Representatives as all 435 seats were up for election. In the Senate, where the balance of power is closer, one-third of the seats were up for grabs. As of 4:00 a.m EST, CNN was projecting that the Democrats had picked up at least four of the six seats they needed to retake the Senate, including the seats of incumbents Rick Santorum (Penn.), Lincoln Chafee (R.I.), Jim Talent (Missouri) and Mike DeWine (Ohio). A recount is now possible in the U.S. Senate race in Virginia where incumbent George Allen trails Democrat Jim Webb by less than 1% of the vote. The race in Montana remained too close to call.

Issues

Although the Bush Administration's policy on Iraq was seen as a major issue by voters, exit polls indicated that corruption was of greater concern. Republicans found themselves plagued by a series of scandals in recent months, ranging from the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal to revelations about sexual improprieties involving well-known Republicans, including Congressman Mark Foley and White House confidant Ted Haggard. Many conservative evangelical Christians, the GOP's most reliable voting block, have become disappointed by the scandals and may not vote in great numbers. Pat Buchanan, whose campaigns have often appealed to that voting block, told ABC News, "There's the spending orgy, the arrogance of power . . . . The war in Iraq, failure to protect our border, hurting the working class in Ohio, for example, the list goes on and on. We're more dissatisfied with the Republican Party than we've ever been."

Voter turnout was also influenced by a number of initiatives on state ballots. Michigan's Proposal 2 would outlaw affirmative action in virtually all government programs. Oklahoma voters were slated to decide if stores could sell alcohol on election days. In South Dakota, voters were asked if the state should make marijuana use legal for therapeutic purposes. Many states included initiatives related to eminent domain powers, same-sex marriage, and taxes. In California, voters faced a whopping 36 initiatives. Voters energized by initiatives were more likely to show up at the polls, and more likely to vote for candidates from their party.

Campaigns turn nasty

Several races turned nasty in the closing days of the campaign, with candidates from both parties turning up the heat on their opponents and accusing their rivals of dirty tricks. MSNBC reported that the FBI was investigating calls made to voters in Virginia in an apparent attempt to intimidate and confuse voters. This follows a similar investigation in California, where staff in Republican Congressional candidate Tan D. Nguyen's campaign office sent letters to Latino voters telling them that "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time." Naturalized citizens are allowed to vote in elections.

Candidates in both New York and Michigan reported that automated telephone calls had been made to voters in the dead of night, purporting to be from their campaigns. The candidates said their campaigns had nothing to do with the calls, and had been made fraudulently in an attempt to make voters angry at them.

It was unclear whether these calls were related to other calls, financed by the National Republican Congressional Committee, that had been made to voters in several states in the previous week. Those calls had generated complaints by voters from both parties who said they were repeated several times in the same day. In at least one state, the calls were pulled when the attorney general notified the NRCC that the calls violated state law.

A different kind of "robocall" was reported in Iowa, where three Democratic candidates for the state House reported that they had been the target of anonymous attack ad calls. The calls inaccurately claimed that the candidates support free health care and college tuition for illegal aliens.

The New Jersey Attorney General's office sent deputies to polling places after Republicans reported possible fraud. The deputies reportedly found no problems.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund photographed armed men attempting to prevent Hispanic voters from entering polling places in Tucson. The photographs and reports of the incidents were sent to the FBI.

Polling Problems

United States time zones

Problems with voting devices, both electronic and manual, required some polling places remain open later than scheduled. Electronic devices were being used for the first time in about a third of the states.

Air America Radio reported that electronic voting machines in Delaware County, Indiana and Cleveland, Ohio malfunctioned, frustrating voters and election workers. A report published on the USA Today website said election workers in some parts of Florida had resorted to using paper ballots when their electronic voting machines failed to work. National Public Radio reported that some electronic voting machines in Texas had to be turned off when they improperly gave votes to candidates not selected by voters. Problems were also reported in Maine, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

A voting problem of a different type was reported in Kentucky. A Louisville poll worker is alleged to have physically assaulted a voter. Jefferson County clerk spokesperson Paula McCraney said that the voter wanted to press charges after being allegedly choked and pushed by the election worker. No information was available on what led to the incident.

For results please visit http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/2006_U.S._Congressional_Elections

United States Democrats win House majority
House of Representatives

The United States Democratic Party is projected to win control of the United States House of Representatives, the lower house of the United States Congress, the federal legislature. The Republican leadership has conceded defeat.

Senate

In the races for the 33 open seats of the United States Senate or upper house, the Democrats are projected to win five of the six seats they need to gain a majority. Several races are too close to call.

The key race in Virginia, upon which the outcome of majority control of the Senate rests, Republican incumbent George Allen was asked to concede on Wednesday by Senator and chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Charles Schumer. Allen's opponent, Democratic challenger Jim Webb garnered an unofficial win by the slim margin of 7,000 votes in over 2 million cast.

Location of 100 icebergs near New Zealand known
About 100 icebergs that are floating about 260 kilometers south of Stewart Island, New Zealand, were, according to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research oceanographer Mike Williams, from A-43, a superberg that in May 2000 broke off from the Ronne Ice Shelf. The group of icebergs have traveled a total distance of 13,500 km.

The A-43 measured 167 km long and 32 km wide. But when it moved into Scotia Sea, southern Atlantic, in January 2005, it broke apart further then measuring 51 km long and 21 km wide, and had also gained a new name, A-43A. NIWA believes that the A-43A then travelled 13,500 km around Antarctica, landing near Auckland Islands and Stewart Island ending its journey. "Based on A-43A's last recorded position, and assuming it travelled the shortest possible route around Antarctica, we calculate an average speed of 0.9km/h or about 21.5 kilometres a day," Dr Williams said, "Somewhere along the way, A-43A has broken into smaller pieces."

The A-43A spent five years drifting east in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

The A-43A is now heading towards the Chatham Islands, passing Mid-Canterbury on the way.

Dr Williams said: "Despite its size, the monster berg is probably riddled with holes and catastrophic failure could see it "just fall to pieces" relatively quickly, Dr Williams said. The flotilla would probably drift about 300km up the east coast of the South Island before veering back out to sea." In the next ten days the icebergs could be visible from the Otago coast, "There is an outside chance they might be spotted from the mainland provided they broke up into smaller icebergs."

New Zealand police want more taser stun guns
New Zealand police are asking when they will be able to get their hands on the new gun in the arsenal of police weapons, the taser stun gun. This call comes after the police Commissioner, Howard Broad, at a parliamentary select committee today, said: "Frontline police report that Taser stun guns have been a valuable addition to their crime fighting arsenal and officers are keen to see them widely deployed."

However Mr Broad said that tasers are not going to lead to police being fully armed all the time, "I do not believe at this point that the circumstances in New Zealand warrant the general arming of police."

Chester Burrows, Member of Parliament (MP) for the New Zealand National Party, suggested: "Police were gradually losing their ability to engage in dialogue in tense or hostile situations and Mr Broad admitted that was a concerning trend. Such situations were becoming more dangerous for police as weapons became more commonplace in the hands of criminals. Fighting with someone now has that added risk." Mr Broad said: "The expectation is that the use of the tasers will result in fewer assaults on police officers in the districts where the guns are being trialed"

Mr Broad said there is "overwhelming support for tasers from those carrying them and the rest of the force was anxious to follow suit."

Since the tasers were introduced on September 1, 2006, only two of the 180 tasers issued had been fired. Even though assaults on police were increasing. The tasers had been unholstered 20 times, four of those times further action was unnecessary, 13 were resolved when the laser sight was pointed at them and one other time the taser hadn't been fully drawn when the situation was resolved.

Anti-taser campaigners, which includes some MPs, say that death can occur from the use of the taser, which has happened overseas. But an earlier Wikinews report showed that the deaths only happened because of the fall to the ground when immobilized by the taser, not the taser itself.

Today in History
1799 - The coup of 18 Brumaire led by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and Napoléon Bonaparte deposed the French government, replacing the Directory with the Consulate.

1918 - German Emperor William II abdicated, Prince Maximilian of Baden resigned as Chancellor, and Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed the Weimar Republic.

1953 - Cambodia gained independence from France and became a constitutional monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk.

1989 - The Berlin Wall fell, marking the symbolic end of the Cold War, impending collapse of the Warsaw Pact, and beginning of the end of Soviet communism.

November 09 is Muhammad Iqbal's Day in Pakistan; Inventor's Day in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; Schicksalstag in Germany.

Quote of the Day

No man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and dear to his heart and eye the morning can be.
~ Bram Stoker

Word of the Day

crystalize; v

To assume crystalline form.

To take definite form.

About Wikinews
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