Snowden stranded Sheremetyevo International Airport's transit area

Embattled former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden is yet to step outside the Moscow airport where he's been kept up for weeks; despite conflicting reports about his asylum. His Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, confirmed that his client was still stranded at the air port where he is not allowed to leave.

Russian media had reported Wednesday that the U.S. intelligence leaker had been issued a document that would allow him to wait elsewhere in Russia while his request for provisional asylum was considered. However, Kucherena, after meeting with Snowden in Sheremetyevo International Airport's transit area on Wednesday, said that his client hadn't received the certificate and that he would remain in the transit area for now. “The certificate still could come at any time," Kucherena told reporters.

Attempts to contact the Russian officials for comment were futile.

Snowden applied for provisional asylum in Russia on July 16 and if granted, he would be privileged to live in Russia, and even travel abroad, for at least a year, Kucherena said last week. A ruling on the application is expected to take months. But Kucherena said that the Russian authority could issue him a moratoria certificate that would allow him to leave the airport and wait somewhere else in the country while the application is considered.

State-run media RIA Novosti reported that Mr.  Kucherena is in daily contact with Russian authorities about securing Snowden permission to leave the airport.

This news is the latest development in Snowden's search for a place to settle after the United States charged him with spying and vowed to indict him.

Snowden, who admitted last month to revealing sweeping U.S. electronic surveillance programs to the news media, has been in Moscow since he left Hong Kong on June 23. He however, failed to leave the airport after United States revoked his passport.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Wednesday that the U.S. government was seeking "clarity" about Snowden's status. And a spokesperson for John Kerry said Washington would be disappointed with Russian authority if Snowden were allowed to leave the airport.

The Obama authority wants Snowden to return to US and answer charges labeled against him. According to Jen Psaki the spokesperson for  Kerry, Mr. Kerry spoke with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Jen Psaki added "He reiterated our belief, which we stated publicly and privately, that Mr. Snowden needs to be returned to the U.S., where he will face a fair trial". Its unclear if Snowden would want to move elsewhere despite his indication earlier he eventually ask for refuge in Latin America.

The presidents of Venezuela and Bolivia said their countries would host Snowden, and Nicaragua's president said he would him asylum "if circumstances permit." But he would need the legal ability to travel there.

The U.S. government has asked Russia to deport Snowden. It said it will watch carefully the route he takes if he tries to reach one of the Latin American countries willing to take him in. the US is also considering crabbing him if any plane carrying him were to refuel in a country that respects U.S. arrest warrants. Meanwhile, the United States has sent arrest warrants to a number of countries where Snowden could either transit or seek asylum, a U.S. official said last week.

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Cure for cat allergies discovered

Scientists have unveiled how a cascade of allergic reactions to cats are triggered, raising hopes of preventative medicine. Scientists from University of Cambridge have discovered the pathogenesis of cat related allergies. According to the team, the body’s immune system detects cat allergen, leading to symptoms such as, irritation, coughing and sneezing.

Researchers led by Dr Clare Bryant of the University of Cambridge studied allergenic proteins found in particles of cat skin, known as cat dander, which is the most common cause of cat allergy. They found that cat allergen activates a specific pathway in the body, once in the presence of a common bacterial toxin. The team from Cambridge University discovered the trigger that can cause allergic reactions in one in ten people.

This triggers a large immune response in allergy sufferers, causing symptoms such as rashes, coughing, wheezing, sneezing and a runny nose. They explained.

Researchers say treatment could be on the market within five years. Scientists remained opportunistic that a pill or inhaler could be used to treat the problem.

The only and most reliable treatment currently available for symptoms is to take antihistamines or to have a multiple injections to build up a tolerance to the allergen.

“New treatments to block this pathway raise hopes of developing medicines to protect sufferers”, they said.

Allergy UK a charity said the research, published in Journal of Immunology, “is a big step forward” in understanding how cat allergen causes such severe allergic reactions.

Dr Bryant said, "By understanding the triggering mechanism, there are now drugs that have been designed that are in clinical trials for other conditions, such as sepsis, that could potentially then be used in a different way to treat cat allergy and to prevent cat allergy."

The charity Allergy UK said "Cat allergen is particularly difficult to avoid as it is a 'sticky' molecule that is carried into every building on people's shoes and clothes," said director of clinical services Maureen Jenkins.

"It can also still be found in a home, on the walls and ceiling or fittings, even a few years after a cat has ceased to live there.

"Therefore, this new information identifying the specific receptor interaction in the immune system could pave the way for treatments for those with persistent disease triggered by cat allergen and, in the future, potentially dog and house dust mite allergen."

Allergic reactions happen when the immune system overreacts to a perceived or foreign body or danger. In the due course, a lot of chemicals are produced by the body such as histamines which cause the symptoms.

Meanwhile cats are among the most notorious culprits for pet allergies. Folks with cat allergy are allergic to proteins in the urine, dried flakes of skin (dander) and saliva. Symptoms of cat allergy which may include; a rash, cough, sneezing, a runny nose and asthmatic syndrome may appear in a few minutes after contact with the cat or just smelling the presence of a cat.

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Spanish train death tall staggering close to 80 feared dead

The number of people who died in the tragic north-western spain train derail accident is soaring. Close to 80 souls of passengers are said to have been taken and more than 100 injured in the Galicia region according to officials.

This follows reports that a high speed moving train had its cabins come off the tracks nears the city of Santiago de Compostela. According to survivors and eye witnesses the train was travelling at more than twice the speed limit around a curve when all carriages derailed mortally wounding dozens on spot and leaving many in a terrible condition. 

No official statement has been released so far but by yesterday terrorism had been ruled out. "We are moving away from the hypothesis of sabotage or attack," one unnamed official said.

Analysts say it is the worst train accident in Spain in 40 years. Spain's last major rail disaster was in 1972 when 77 people were killed in a derailment in Andalusia in the south.

According to railway firm Renfe, the train came off the tracks on a bend about 3 or 4km (2-2.5 miles) from Santiago de Compostela station at 20:41 local time (18:41 GMT).

The train was on the express route between Madrid and the ship-building city of Ferrol on the Galician coast.

The actual cause of accident is being investigated by a judge in collaboration with Renfe and the track operating company Adif.

Meanwhile dozens of rescue workers including at least 300 police officers have continued to search for survivors in the wreckage. 73 bodies had been recovered from the accident site and while five people had died either on the way to or in hospital by press time, said the spokeswoman for Galicia's Supreme Court early on Thursday. The judiciary in Spain is solely responsible for registering deaths and offering death certificates.

Bodies covered with blankets next to the tracks were seen on site, as emergency crews searched the wreckage. The number of Renfe employees on board is not known as the company has remained taciturn on the issue.

Rescue workers recovering bodies

More than 145 passengers were receiving treatment for injuries sustained, a health official told reporters on Thursday morning. Several people flocked hospitals to search for the bodies of their dead while others were seen donating blood.

Below is a summary of Spanish train accidents:

·         August 2006: Inter-city train derails in Villada, in the province of Palencia, killing six people and injuring dozens more.

·         July 2006: At least 43 people killed in a metro train crash in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia.

·         June 2003: At least 19 people killed and some 40 injured in a head-on train collision near Chinchilla in Albacete province.

·         March 2002: Two express trains collide outside Tarragona, in Catalonia, killing four people and injuring more than 80.

The scene of accident is near the site believed to be housing the remains of st. James one Jesus disciples. The derailment happened on the eve of Santiago de Compostela's main annual festival where thousands of Christian flock the city in honour of Saint James. The Thursday festivities have been suspended following the tragedy according to the city's tourism board. 

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A train kills at least a 20 in spain.

A sky rocketing passenger train carrying more than 200 has derailed near the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela in the Galicia region according to Spanish railway company Renfe. Information from the Prime minister’s office indicated that at least 20 people were killed and more than 50 were injured.

Renfe said the train was on the express route between Madrid and Ferrol on the Galician coast.

It is said that all 13 carriages had left the tracks, and four carriages had overturned completely. Dozens of emergency workers were seen crowding around the ruined cabins.

Several passengers were seen lying on the ground being treated.

Investigators are looking at all possible causes of the crash, the aide said; their initial assessment indicated no evidence of possible terrorism.

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Parliament passes population Bill.

 Amidst a boycott of plenary proceedings by opposition MPs over what they deem to be the questionable manner in which Gen. Aronda Nyakairima was recently approved as Internal Affairs minister.  Parliament passed the national population council bill 2011. This  Council Bill was passed with minor amendments ,Among these included vesting the president instead of the Minister of Finance with powers to appoint the Director General of the National Population Council Secretariat

The bill which had its first reading in parliament early last year  is intended  to establish a national population council as a body corporate, ascertain the Population Secretariat as the secretariat of the Council; to provide for the Council’s composition, functions and administration.

The bill will also create a strong and effective oversight mechanism at the population council whose main function will be to formulate policies that give strategic direction on the implementation of the objectives of the national population policy.

The house was commanded to reserve appointing of the director general for the sector minister to ensure “that the reporting mechanism is clear and streamlined.” By  the report of the committee on Finance Planning.

The committee report was reluctant to the idea of the president appointing the Director General out of fear that such an appointee might refuse to submit to the National Population Council Secretariat.

This position which was supported by Hellen Asamo and Margaret Baba Diri was however opposed by a section of legislators including Milton Muwuma and Kyooma Xavier.

By vesting the power to appoint the Director General in the hands of the president in consultation with the sector minister, Muwuma and Kyooma urged, the aura of highest office in the land would lend clout to the Director General’s office.

If it becomes an Act of parliament after getting assented to by the president, the piece of legislation will become the country’s blue print in integrating population factors in development planning,  at all development levels,  in accordance with the National Development Plan.

Minister of State for finance (planning) Matia Kasaija said the bill will come in handy in government’s plans to align the population policy and programs with population related national policies.

Among these include analyzing, interpreting and documenting demographic trends including fertility, mortality, urbanization and migration and their implication on socio economic development.

Kasaija allayed fears that the bill is set to create layers of corporate bodies duplicating responsibilities on population issue, saying: “The bill will only supplement the work of National Bureau of Statistics.”

Uganda is set to conduct its first population census in more than a decade next year during which some of the body corporates created by the Bill will come in handy.

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Meddie Sentongo out of prison.

 After serving  18-month jail sentence in Luzira Prison .Meddie Sentongo, a Kampala business man walked to freedom on Tuesday morning.  On July 12, 2012 Anti-Corruption Court Judge Catherine Bamugemereire sentenced Bad Black to four years in prison after condemning her of fraud. Over the same crime, Ssentongo was sentenced to 18 months.

Black was convicted for embezzling US$3.9m from the company she jointly owned with her ex-lover, a British engineer, David Greenhalgh. Evidence given by the acquaintances whose help they sought in their fraudulent quest as well as accountants and bank officials was to pin them  in court.
The Judge noted that when Meddie needed documentation with a resemblance of any professionalism to convince Greenhalgh for money, "he naturally failed to pay to the back street engineering firm to which prosecution witness Peter Michael Lule belonged…."The documentation concerned the Bill of quantities and Lule attributed its authorship to Alkon (U) Ltd on advice of Meddie who wanted it to be associated with a stronger brand of Alcon.

The Documentation was needed to convince Greenhalgh to send US$8m to Daveshan Developments company" from which he and Black would siphon it. And since Black was the only signatory to the company because Greenhalgh was far away in Britain.The judge noted that although the US$8m did not come, the US$3.9m that was wired was taken off by Black and at the same time, an equivalent of the withdrawn dollars would be deposited on Meddie's account by her.

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Government of Uganda asks universities to give more bursaries.

International university of East Africa is one of the newest universities in Uganda. The university has reduced 40% of its tuition fee for Ugandan student the states minister for primary education Dr. Kamada Bataringaya said on representing Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi that all institutions of learning should emulate International University of east Africa   by increasing the number of free bursaries given to students.

At a one day opening function of International University of east Africa the occurred over the r weekend. Dr Kamada  Bataringaya  added “ government is  about  to start  it’s scholar ship curriculum  to finance all those joining high tertiary institution.

 Talking about the 40% tuition reduction, the vice chancellor, Prof Dawoud Shenouda says it applies the duration of the course being under taken. The international student’s will receive 20% reduction of the under taken course. Basing on this institutional tuition reduction policy, 600 students have been attracted to the institute.

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