Scientists have taken a big step towards treating a rare inherited disease by creating healthy cells from flakes of skin and strands of hair plucked from patients.
The study is the first to demonstrate that it is possible to repair genetic faults in human cells and make batches of healthy replacements that could potentially be used to treat a disease.
In a report in the journal Nature, researchers describe how they took skin and hair cells from six patients with a rare inherited blood disorder called Fanconi anaemia.
The disease is caused by a genetic defect that leads to bone marrow failure and a greater risk of cancers, such as leukaemia. People who are born with Fanconi anaemia are usually diagnosed in early childhood and rarely survive beyond 30 years old.
In a three-stage procedure, the researchers used gene therapy to fix the faulty DNA in the cells they had taken from patients. Next, they used a technique called cell reprogramming to convert these cells into healthy stem cells, which are unique in being able to grow into any kind of tissue in the body.
In the final stage of the process, the researchers grew the stem cells in petri dishes into early stage bone marrow cells, which in principle could be injected into patients to treat their condition.
"We haven't cured a human being, but we have cured a cell," said Juan-Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, who led the study at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. "[But] in theory we could transplant it into a human and cure the disease."
The feat will raise the hopes of stem cell scientists all over the world who are working on similar techniques to treat other inherited diseases. The technique is appealing because it uses a patient's own cells, which would not be rejected by the immune system.
The California team stopped short of injecting the healthy cells back into the six patients because they are not considered safe enough to be transplanted. The reason is that harmless viruses are used in the procedure, which could cause the cells to turn into tumours. Scientists are developing alternatives that do not rely on viruses.
"[This work shows] it is possible to reprogram skin cells from these patients into stem cells in which the genetic defect has been corrected. In future it may become possible to transfer the corrected stem cells back into the patient, but much work remains to be done before this can be transferred from the lab bench to the bedside." said Chris Matthews, professor of molecular genetics at King's College London.
Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London, added: "There is no doubt that this paper will be the first of many to offer hope for conditions where today there is no real therapy, let alone a cure."
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Late-term abortion doctor shot dead inside US church
A doctor who was one of the few in the US to continue carrying out late-term abortions was shot dead in a church today.
George Tiller, 67, who had been picketed, bombed and shot in the arms in previous incidents, was killed at his church in Kansas, according to police sources.
Tiller was a controversial man, whose clinic has been the site of protests for two decades. He was shot and wounded by a protester in 1993 and someone placed a bomb on the roof of the clinic in 1986, seriously damaging the building.
Police spokesman Gordon Bassham would not confirm the victim's identity but said a 67-year-old "high-profile individual in the community" was shot and killed. He was shot at 10am in the lobby of Reformation Lutheran church in Wichita, police and city officials said.
According to the reports a white man carrying a handgun shot the doctor and then fled in a blue Ford Taurus.
"It's an unfortunate incident to happen on a Sunday morning," Wichita police captain Brent Allred told reporters. "These things should not occur at any time."
The FBI and state police were called in to help search for the gunman, whose licence plate was registered to a home in a suburb of Kansas City, 200 miles away.
The shooting came just two weeks after Barack Obama sought "common ground" over the divisive abortion debate in a controversial speech at one of America's leading Catholic universities.
The president has attempted to defuse one of the most emotive issues in US public life by arguing that while abortion should remain legal, the government should do all it can to limit unwanted pregnancies.
Tiller had been regularly targeted by abortion opponents who protested outside his clinic. Some 2,000 protesters were also arrested outside the clinic during summer-long demonstrations in 1991.
He was acquitted in March on charges that he performed 19 illegal abortions in 2003. His lawyer described the prosecution as a witch-hunt. Tiller testified during the trial that he spent years under police protection after the FBI discovered an anti-abortion hit list in 1994 that named Tiller as the top target.
The doctor also testified that he owns one of only three clinics in the US that perform late-term abortions, which are performed on foetuses that could survive outside the mother's womb.
Late-term abortions are legal in Kansas if two independent doctors agree that the mother could suffer irreparable harm by giving birth.
George Tiller, 67, who had been picketed, bombed and shot in the arms in previous incidents, was killed at his church in Kansas, according to police sources.
Tiller was a controversial man, whose clinic has been the site of protests for two decades. He was shot and wounded by a protester in 1993 and someone placed a bomb on the roof of the clinic in 1986, seriously damaging the building.
Police spokesman Gordon Bassham would not confirm the victim's identity but said a 67-year-old "high-profile individual in the community" was shot and killed. He was shot at 10am in the lobby of Reformation Lutheran church in Wichita, police and city officials said.
According to the reports a white man carrying a handgun shot the doctor and then fled in a blue Ford Taurus.
"It's an unfortunate incident to happen on a Sunday morning," Wichita police captain Brent Allred told reporters. "These things should not occur at any time."
The FBI and state police were called in to help search for the gunman, whose licence plate was registered to a home in a suburb of Kansas City, 200 miles away.
The shooting came just two weeks after Barack Obama sought "common ground" over the divisive abortion debate in a controversial speech at one of America's leading Catholic universities.
The president has attempted to defuse one of the most emotive issues in US public life by arguing that while abortion should remain legal, the government should do all it can to limit unwanted pregnancies.
Tiller had been regularly targeted by abortion opponents who protested outside his clinic. Some 2,000 protesters were also arrested outside the clinic during summer-long demonstrations in 1991.
He was acquitted in March on charges that he performed 19 illegal abortions in 2003. His lawyer described the prosecution as a witch-hunt. Tiller testified during the trial that he spent years under police protection after the FBI discovered an anti-abortion hit list in 1994 that named Tiller as the top target.
The doctor also testified that he owns one of only three clinics in the US that perform late-term abortions, which are performed on foetuses that could survive outside the mother's womb.
Late-term abortions are legal in Kansas if two independent doctors agree that the mother could suffer irreparable harm by giving birth.
Gordon Brown insists he won't stand down as election rout looms
Gordon Brown today tried to draw the poison from the ongoing scandal over MPs' expenses as a remarkable ICM poll of election voting intentions pushed Labour into third place for the first time in almost 25 years.
After 10 days of lying low, the prime minister finally attempted to establish a clear way forward, setting out a code of conduct for MPs and insisting that he would not step aside, regardless of the scale of defeat for Labour in this week's local and European elections.
Though Brown continued to insist that he would reject any cabinet attempt to persuade him to retire, one leading rebel said yesterday that the weekend's polls confirmed his belief that either "Gordon goes or the Labour party does". The rebel said he had not come across a single voice in England and Wales supporting the prime minister, though Brown continued to enjoy the support of Scottish MPs.
Brown only has a short while to inject new purpose into his party, with many MPs using the days between now and Thursday's polls to decide whether to fall in behind him or join a push to oust him.
However, asked on BBC1's Andrew Marr show today whether he would stand aside if cabinet members said it would help Labour's chances at a general election, Brown replied: "No, because I am dealing with the issues at hand. I am dealing with the economy every day."
His challenge was made more difficult yesterday with a sequence of opinion polls suggesting historically bad results in this week's elections. An ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph of voting intentions in a general election put Labour on 22 points, 18 behind the Conservatives (on 40 points) and three behind the Liberal Democrats on 25 – the first time since 1985 that Labour has plunged so low in an ICM survey.
Brown hinted at an end to the current source of public outrage – the generous MP resettlement allowances – suggesting that the independent Kelly commission looking at MPs' salaries and due to report in the autumn would end their so-called "golden goodbyes".
He said: "I don't think that when the Kelly committee reports this thing will still be like it is." Saying that recent claims had offended his "Presbyterian conscience", he outlined a new system to "clean up" politics and all institutions that rely on public funds, including the NHS and the BBC. The prime minister hopes the plans may be inserted into the constitutional renewal bill due in parliament this year.
It is thought likely to include minimum service commitments to constituents, with those who break it facing a possible fine, being "named and shamed", or even ejected from their seats.
Brown said of the reforms: "[They] cannot be gimmicks. It's got to be serious, it has got to be ordered, and it has got to be done in a calm way. What I have seen offends my Presbyterian conscience. What I have seen is something that is appalling. I did not expect to see instance where there are clear cases which maybe have to be answered to for fraud."
The last four years' worth of receipts submitted by all MPs are currently being scrutinised by an independent committee of auditors. Brown has also set up a Labour party "star chamber" which is hearing the cases of backbenchers David Chaytor and Ian Gibson. Last week two of their colleagues, also in front of the panel, removed themselves from proceedings by announcing that they would stand down at the next general election.
At the weekend, the health secretary, Alan Johnson, who has been repeatedly tipped as preparing to step into the prime minister's shoes, warned Labour activists that the party would be the most badly affected by the expenses scandal when the election results come in on Friday.
The party faces the ignominy of losing all its county councils across England, with the Tories confident of taking control of Lancashire and Staffordshire while robbing Labour of overall control in the other two, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
Backbenchers believe the prime minister's aides are planning to outfox any backbench coup and expect Brown to hold a reshuffle of his cabinet on Friday which would make more difficult the organisation of a challenge. One said: "It will be difficult to get on side ministers who have within the last few hours agreed to take part in a new government."
Meanwhile, the bullishness of the Tory leader, David Cameron, who has sought to articulate public outrage over MPs' expenses, was pricked yesterday when a Sunday newspaper alleged that he had paid off a loan of £75,000 on his London home after buying a second home in Oxfordshire on which he could claim the second home allowance.
Though he defended an arrangement whereby all of his mortgage appeared to be on the property for which he could claim allowances, he said he would accept the finding of his party's scrutiny panel.
After 10 days of lying low, the prime minister finally attempted to establish a clear way forward, setting out a code of conduct for MPs and insisting that he would not step aside, regardless of the scale of defeat for Labour in this week's local and European elections.
Though Brown continued to insist that he would reject any cabinet attempt to persuade him to retire, one leading rebel said yesterday that the weekend's polls confirmed his belief that either "Gordon goes or the Labour party does". The rebel said he had not come across a single voice in England and Wales supporting the prime minister, though Brown continued to enjoy the support of Scottish MPs.
Brown only has a short while to inject new purpose into his party, with many MPs using the days between now and Thursday's polls to decide whether to fall in behind him or join a push to oust him.
However, asked on BBC1's Andrew Marr show today whether he would stand aside if cabinet members said it would help Labour's chances at a general election, Brown replied: "No, because I am dealing with the issues at hand. I am dealing with the economy every day."
His challenge was made more difficult yesterday with a sequence of opinion polls suggesting historically bad results in this week's elections. An ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph of voting intentions in a general election put Labour on 22 points, 18 behind the Conservatives (on 40 points) and three behind the Liberal Democrats on 25 – the first time since 1985 that Labour has plunged so low in an ICM survey.
Brown hinted at an end to the current source of public outrage – the generous MP resettlement allowances – suggesting that the independent Kelly commission looking at MPs' salaries and due to report in the autumn would end their so-called "golden goodbyes".
He said: "I don't think that when the Kelly committee reports this thing will still be like it is." Saying that recent claims had offended his "Presbyterian conscience", he outlined a new system to "clean up" politics and all institutions that rely on public funds, including the NHS and the BBC. The prime minister hopes the plans may be inserted into the constitutional renewal bill due in parliament this year.
It is thought likely to include minimum service commitments to constituents, with those who break it facing a possible fine, being "named and shamed", or even ejected from their seats.
Brown said of the reforms: "[They] cannot be gimmicks. It's got to be serious, it has got to be ordered, and it has got to be done in a calm way. What I have seen offends my Presbyterian conscience. What I have seen is something that is appalling. I did not expect to see instance where there are clear cases which maybe have to be answered to for fraud."
The last four years' worth of receipts submitted by all MPs are currently being scrutinised by an independent committee of auditors. Brown has also set up a Labour party "star chamber" which is hearing the cases of backbenchers David Chaytor and Ian Gibson. Last week two of their colleagues, also in front of the panel, removed themselves from proceedings by announcing that they would stand down at the next general election.
At the weekend, the health secretary, Alan Johnson, who has been repeatedly tipped as preparing to step into the prime minister's shoes, warned Labour activists that the party would be the most badly affected by the expenses scandal when the election results come in on Friday.
The party faces the ignominy of losing all its county councils across England, with the Tories confident of taking control of Lancashire and Staffordshire while robbing Labour of overall control in the other two, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
Backbenchers believe the prime minister's aides are planning to outfox any backbench coup and expect Brown to hold a reshuffle of his cabinet on Friday which would make more difficult the organisation of a challenge. One said: "It will be difficult to get on side ministers who have within the last few hours agreed to take part in a new government."
Meanwhile, the bullishness of the Tory leader, David Cameron, who has sought to articulate public outrage over MPs' expenses, was pricked yesterday when a Sunday newspaper alleged that he had paid off a loan of £75,000 on his London home after buying a second home in Oxfordshire on which he could claim the second home allowance.
Though he defended an arrangement whereby all of his mortgage appeared to be on the property for which he could claim allowances, he said he would accept the finding of his party's scrutiny panel.
Indian growth unexpectedly strong
India's economy grew 5.8% in the first three months of the year compared with the same period last year, which was better than had been expected.
The official gross domestic product figure was down from 8.6% annual growth seen in the first quarter of 2008.
Although growth has slowed from last year, the economy is still expanding faster than most other countries.
It grew 6.7% in the full financial year, which was down from a rate of 9% in the year to the end of March 2008.
'Growth bottomed out'
"The GDP growth number justifies the claim that India is dealing with the global crisis from a position of strength," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at Bank of Baroda in Mumbai.
"This means that growth has bottomed out, or at least the deceleration has stopped."
The figures are good news for the newly-elected Congress-led government, which has made reviving growth its top priority.
Among the sectors showing an improvement was farm output, which grew at an annualised rate of 2.7% in the first three months of 2009 having contracted 0.8% in the previous quarter.
Construction grew 6.8% in the period compared with 4.2% in the previous quarter.
But the manufacturing sector contracted an annual 1.4%, having grown 0.9% in the previous three months.
The official gross domestic product figure was down from 8.6% annual growth seen in the first quarter of 2008.
Although growth has slowed from last year, the economy is still expanding faster than most other countries.
It grew 6.7% in the full financial year, which was down from a rate of 9% in the year to the end of March 2008.
'Growth bottomed out'
"The GDP growth number justifies the claim that India is dealing with the global crisis from a position of strength," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at Bank of Baroda in Mumbai.
"This means that growth has bottomed out, or at least the deceleration has stopped."
The figures are good news for the newly-elected Congress-led government, which has made reviving growth its top priority.
Among the sectors showing an improvement was farm output, which grew at an annualised rate of 2.7% in the first three months of 2009 having contracted 0.8% in the previous quarter.
Construction grew 6.8% in the period compared with 4.2% in the previous quarter.
But the manufacturing sector contracted an annual 1.4%, having grown 0.9% in the previous three months.
Last Titanic survivor dies at 97
Millvina Dean was nine weeks old when the liner sank after hitting an iceberg in the early hours of 15 April 1912, on its maiden voyage from Southampton.
The disaster resulted in the deaths of 1,517 people in the north Atlantic, largely due to a lack of lifeboats.
Miss Dean, who remembered nothing of the fateful journey, died on Sunday at the care home in Hampshire where she lived, two of her friends told the BBC.
Her family had been travelling in third class to America, where they hoped to start a new life and open a tobacconist's shop in Kansas.
Miss Dean's mother, Georgetta, and two-year-old brother, Bert, also survived, but her father, Bertram, was among those who perished when the vessel sank.
The family returned to Southampton, where Miss Dean went on to spend most of her life.
Despite having no memories of the disaster, she always said it had shaped her life, because she should have grown up in the US instead of returning to the UK.
She was fond of saying: "If it hadn't been for the ship going down, I'd be an American."
In 1985 the site of the wreck was discovered and, in her 70s, she found herself unexpectedly in demand on both sides of the Atlantic.
"I think sometimes they look on me as if I am the Titanic!" she said after a visit to a Titanic convention in America. "Honestly, some of them are quite weird about it."
Unimpressed
But she never tired of telling her story.
"Oh not at all. I like it, because everyone makes such a fuss of me! And I have travelled to so many places because of it, meeting all the people. Oh I wouldn't get tired of it. I'm not the type."
But she was unimpressed when divers started to explore the wreck, located 3,000m below the surface of the Atlantic, saying: "I don't believe in people going to see it. I think it's morbid. I think it's horrible."
According to BBC South transport correspondent Paul Clifton, she refused to watch James Cameron's epic film of the disaster, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo diCaprio, fearing it would be too upsetting.
But in the last years of her life, she began struggling with monthly bills of £3,000 at her care home and had been in danger of losing her room.
She began selling some of her Titanic-related mementoes to raise funds, and in April a canvas bag from her rescue was sold at auction for £1,500. It was bought by a man from London who immediately returned it to her.
Actors Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, who appeared in the 1998 movie Titanic, also contributed towards her care costs, along with the film's director James Cameron, by donating to the Millvina Fund which was set up by her friends
John White, managing director of exhibition company White Star Memories, and organiser of the Millvina Fund campaign said Miss Dean was always "very supportive".
She travelled to exhibitions around the country and took the time to sign autographs and write personal messages for adults and children.
"She was a lovely supportive lady and very kind-hearted," Mr White told BBC News website.
International Titanic Society President Charles Haas, from Randolph, New Jersey, met Miss Dean on numerous occasions and described her as an "effervescent person with a wonderful sense of humour".
"It is truly the end of an era," he said.
"She was a truly remarkable woman. She had a marvellous approach to life. It is almost as if God gave her the gift and she really took advantage of it."
David Lawrence, from the Nomadic Preservation Society, was a friend of Miss Dean and said he was "very sad" to hear the news.
"She was very sharp-minded and very spritely. One of those people who could make a whole room laugh with a story," he said.
Youngest passenger
Built in Belfast, the White Star Line vessel became infamous for not having enough lifeboats onboard, leading to the deaths of many passengers.
Elizabeth Gladys Dean, better known as Millvina, was the Titanic's youngest passenger, born on 2 February 1912.
Another baby on board, Barbara Joyce West, was nearly 11 months old when the liner sank. She also survived.
Barbara Joyce Dainton, as she became when she married, died in October 2007, leaving Miss Dean the last Titanic survivor
The disaster resulted in the deaths of 1,517 people in the north Atlantic, largely due to a lack of lifeboats.
Miss Dean, who remembered nothing of the fateful journey, died on Sunday at the care home in Hampshire where she lived, two of her friends told the BBC.
Her family had been travelling in third class to America, where they hoped to start a new life and open a tobacconist's shop in Kansas.
Miss Dean's mother, Georgetta, and two-year-old brother, Bert, also survived, but her father, Bertram, was among those who perished when the vessel sank.
The family returned to Southampton, where Miss Dean went on to spend most of her life.
Despite having no memories of the disaster, she always said it had shaped her life, because she should have grown up in the US instead of returning to the UK.
She was fond of saying: "If it hadn't been for the ship going down, I'd be an American."
In 1985 the site of the wreck was discovered and, in her 70s, she found herself unexpectedly in demand on both sides of the Atlantic.
"I think sometimes they look on me as if I am the Titanic!" she said after a visit to a Titanic convention in America. "Honestly, some of them are quite weird about it."
Unimpressed
But she never tired of telling her story.
"Oh not at all. I like it, because everyone makes such a fuss of me! And I have travelled to so many places because of it, meeting all the people. Oh I wouldn't get tired of it. I'm not the type."
But she was unimpressed when divers started to explore the wreck, located 3,000m below the surface of the Atlantic, saying: "I don't believe in people going to see it. I think it's morbid. I think it's horrible."
According to BBC South transport correspondent Paul Clifton, she refused to watch James Cameron's epic film of the disaster, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo diCaprio, fearing it would be too upsetting.
But in the last years of her life, she began struggling with monthly bills of £3,000 at her care home and had been in danger of losing her room.
She began selling some of her Titanic-related mementoes to raise funds, and in April a canvas bag from her rescue was sold at auction for £1,500. It was bought by a man from London who immediately returned it to her.
Actors Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, who appeared in the 1998 movie Titanic, also contributed towards her care costs, along with the film's director James Cameron, by donating to the Millvina Fund which was set up by her friends
John White, managing director of exhibition company White Star Memories, and organiser of the Millvina Fund campaign said Miss Dean was always "very supportive".
She travelled to exhibitions around the country and took the time to sign autographs and write personal messages for adults and children.
"She was a lovely supportive lady and very kind-hearted," Mr White told BBC News website.
International Titanic Society President Charles Haas, from Randolph, New Jersey, met Miss Dean on numerous occasions and described her as an "effervescent person with a wonderful sense of humour".
"It is truly the end of an era," he said.
"She was a truly remarkable woman. She had a marvellous approach to life. It is almost as if God gave her the gift and she really took advantage of it."
David Lawrence, from the Nomadic Preservation Society, was a friend of Miss Dean and said he was "very sad" to hear the news.
"She was very sharp-minded and very spritely. One of those people who could make a whole room laugh with a story," he said.
Youngest passenger
Built in Belfast, the White Star Line vessel became infamous for not having enough lifeboats onboard, leading to the deaths of many passengers.
Elizabeth Gladys Dean, better known as Millvina, was the Titanic's youngest passenger, born on 2 February 1912.
Another baby on board, Barbara Joyce West, was nearly 11 months old when the liner sank. She also survived.
Barbara Joyce Dainton, as she became when she married, died in October 2007, leaving Miss Dean the last Titanic survivor
Pakistan city centre 'destroyed'
The scale of the war damage to the main city in the Swat valley has become clear, as fears are expressed about the humanitarian situation in the region.
Taliban rebels were driven out of Mingora on Saturday by Pakistan government troops.
The defence secretary says operations in the whole Swat valley region should end in the next few days, though military chiefs are more cautious.
A BBC correspondent who went to Mingora has reported widespread damage.
Rifatullah Orakzai, reporting for the BBC's Urdu Service, said that all the buildings and shops in the town square had been completely destroyed.
However, local people have now been able to seek supplies in the town's market after the lifting of a curfew.
Pakistan's army said essential services were being restored to the city.
The International Red Cross said it was "gravely concerned" by the humanitarian situation in Swat.
Water and electricity were not available, there was no fuel for generators, most medical facilities had stopped operating and food was scarce, it said.
"The people of Swat need greater humanitarian protection and assistance immediately," said Pascal Cuttat, head of the organisation's delegation in Pakistan.
Fawad Hussein, of the United Nations office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs, said:
"Since there is no electricity supply, the wells are not working. People are forced to use alternative water sources, which is causing water-borne diseases. There is no electricity in any of the health facilities."
Some 2.5 million people have fled their homes since military operations began in Swat more than a month ago.
Army operations
Earlier, the Pakistani Defence Minister, Syed Athar Ali, told a meeting of Asian nations in Singapore that only "5% to 10% of the job" of clearing the Taliban from the Swat valley remained.
Syed Athar Ali said the Swat operations had 'almost met complete success'
But an army spokesman said it was not possible to predict when the military operation would be completed.
Meanwhile, 40 militants were killed in an attack on a Pakistani army base near the Afghan border, officials said
Officials said four soldiers were also killed in an eight-hour gun battle at the camp in South Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold.
"Militants came in force and attacked a paramilitary camp and fighting lasted for eight hours," an intelligence official in the region told Reuters news agency.
'Elusive enemy'
The army has said it will pursue "hardcore" rebels after recapturing Mingora, the main town in Swat.
Mingora was home to 300,000 people before the fighting began.
"The main cities in the Swat valley stand clear today. The operation is being conducted in the countryside to the right and left of the valley and to the North... so the operation is ongoing and it will take a little more time," army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the BBC.
But while Maj Gen Abbas said the remaining militants were being hunted down, he could not confirm when the army's operation in the area would be complete.
"It's difficult to give a timeline because this is an elusive enemy that has strongholds in the countryside," he said.
The US is giving full backing to the Pakistani operations, which are linked to its own offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan
Taliban rebels were driven out of Mingora on Saturday by Pakistan government troops.
The defence secretary says operations in the whole Swat valley region should end in the next few days, though military chiefs are more cautious.
A BBC correspondent who went to Mingora has reported widespread damage.
Rifatullah Orakzai, reporting for the BBC's Urdu Service, said that all the buildings and shops in the town square had been completely destroyed.
However, local people have now been able to seek supplies in the town's market after the lifting of a curfew.
Pakistan's army said essential services were being restored to the city.
The International Red Cross said it was "gravely concerned" by the humanitarian situation in Swat.
Water and electricity were not available, there was no fuel for generators, most medical facilities had stopped operating and food was scarce, it said.
"The people of Swat need greater humanitarian protection and assistance immediately," said Pascal Cuttat, head of the organisation's delegation in Pakistan.
Fawad Hussein, of the United Nations office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs, said:
"Since there is no electricity supply, the wells are not working. People are forced to use alternative water sources, which is causing water-borne diseases. There is no electricity in any of the health facilities."
Some 2.5 million people have fled their homes since military operations began in Swat more than a month ago.
Army operations
Earlier, the Pakistani Defence Minister, Syed Athar Ali, told a meeting of Asian nations in Singapore that only "5% to 10% of the job" of clearing the Taliban from the Swat valley remained.
Syed Athar Ali said the Swat operations had 'almost met complete success'
But an army spokesman said it was not possible to predict when the military operation would be completed.
Meanwhile, 40 militants were killed in an attack on a Pakistani army base near the Afghan border, officials said
Officials said four soldiers were also killed in an eight-hour gun battle at the camp in South Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold.
"Militants came in force and attacked a paramilitary camp and fighting lasted for eight hours," an intelligence official in the region told Reuters news agency.
'Elusive enemy'
The army has said it will pursue "hardcore" rebels after recapturing Mingora, the main town in Swat.
Mingora was home to 300,000 people before the fighting began.
"The main cities in the Swat valley stand clear today. The operation is being conducted in the countryside to the right and left of the valley and to the North... so the operation is ongoing and it will take a little more time," army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the BBC.
But while Maj Gen Abbas said the remaining militants were being hunted down, he could not confirm when the army's operation in the area would be complete.
"It's difficult to give a timeline because this is an elusive enemy that has strongholds in the countryside," he said.
The US is giving full backing to the Pakistani operations, which are linked to its own offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Police fined for FIR against kissing
When policemen in Dwarka charged a newly-married couple with obscenity for “sitting in an objectionable position” and kissing openly near a Metro station in September last year, they said it was done as the “passers by were annoyed and embarrassed”.
Eight months down the line, it turns out that it is the police who have been left deeply embarrassed by the criminal proceedings against the couple.
So much so that Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal has informed the Delhi High Court that he is ready to write a letter of apology to the couple for “the hardship they were subjected to”.
The Delhi Police had earned severe criticism from the Delhi High Court for “over-reacting” after the couple filed a plea seeking dropping of the charges. An angry judge even ordered an enquiry against the policemen involved. This was after the couple told the court that the policemen sought Rs 20,000 for setting them free or for booking them for a lesser offence.
Questioning how an expression of love by a married couple at a public place amounts to obscenity, Justice S Muralidhar quashed the FIR against them. He also asked the state to pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 each to the man and woman.
The 28-year-old man and 23-year-old woman were booked under IPC Section 294 (obscene act) with maximum imprisonment of three months and Section 34 (act done by more than one person in furtherance of common intention).
“The gesture of the Delhi Police in offering to write a letter of apology to each of the petitioners, which it is expected would be done immediately, will doubtless earn goodwill for them”, the judge said.
The judge went on to quash the FIR after a fresh vigilance enquiry ordered by the court exonerated the couple. The police said they had no objection to the quashing of the FIR.
Eight months down the line, it turns out that it is the police who have been left deeply embarrassed by the criminal proceedings against the couple.
So much so that Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal has informed the Delhi High Court that he is ready to write a letter of apology to the couple for “the hardship they were subjected to”.
The Delhi Police had earned severe criticism from the Delhi High Court for “over-reacting” after the couple filed a plea seeking dropping of the charges. An angry judge even ordered an enquiry against the policemen involved. This was after the couple told the court that the policemen sought Rs 20,000 for setting them free or for booking them for a lesser offence.
Questioning how an expression of love by a married couple at a public place amounts to obscenity, Justice S Muralidhar quashed the FIR against them. He also asked the state to pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 each to the man and woman.
The 28-year-old man and 23-year-old woman were booked under IPC Section 294 (obscene act) with maximum imprisonment of three months and Section 34 (act done by more than one person in furtherance of common intention).
“The gesture of the Delhi Police in offering to write a letter of apology to each of the petitioners, which it is expected would be done immediately, will doubtless earn goodwill for them”, the judge said.
The judge went on to quash the FIR after a fresh vigilance enquiry ordered by the court exonerated the couple. The police said they had no objection to the quashing of the FIR.
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