Beyond The Hedges

10/7/10 7:00pm

National

U.S. apologizes for experiments

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized to Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom last Friday about a recently uncovered medical experiment carried out by American doctors on Guatemalan prisoners, soldiers and mental patients. The doctors infected their subjects with syphilis by having them sleep with infected prostitutes, or if that failed, by pouring bacteria on scrapes on their bodies or even injecting bacteria into their spinal cords. Clinton also apologized to the survivors and descendants of the subjects of the experiment, which took place from 1946-1948.

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Source: The New York TimesEmanuel leaves, Rouse steps up

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel resigned last Friday in order to run in the upcoming Chicago mayoral elections. President Obama has temporarily replaced him with Pete Rouse, though this may become permanent. The two men have been contrasted for their differing personalities - while Emanuel was known as a combative manager, Rouse is considered quiet - and Obama mentioned Rouse's media-shyness during Emanuel's farewell ceremony Friday.

Source: Chicago Tribune

Shahzad given life sentence for bomb

Faisal Shahzad, the man responsible for the failed May 1 Times Square car bombing, was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison after pleading guilty in June to weapons and terrorism charges. Shahzad, born in Pakistan, became a U.S. citizen in 2009. Although the explosives Shahzad prepared failed to detonate properly, prosecutors said that a successful detonation would have devastated the surrounding area. Shahzad said that he rejected the court's authority because he, as a Muslim, did not have to abide by human laws.

Source: BBC

International

Hungarian sludge reaches Danube

Toxic industrial sludge which spilled from a reservoir in Hungary on Monday has reached the Danube River via the Marcal River, where its high alkaline levels had already killed all of the fish. Hungarian authorities have been pouring clay and acid into the Danube and its tributary, the Raba, to try to reduce the pH. Hungarian officials said that alkaline solution and heavy metal levels in the Danube and Raba are below the toxic level for humans. The spill has killed four people so far, who are believed to have drowned in the sludge.

Source: BBC

U.S. apologizes for NATO strike

The United States offered an apology Wednesday to the Pakistani government for the NATO helicopter strike on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan that killed three Pakistani soldiers. Following the strike, Pakistani closed a nearby border crossing to NATO supply convoys bringing supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan. The backed-up convoys have been attacked multiple times by militant groups since the border crossing was closed. American officials said they expect the crossing to reopen soon.

Source: The New York Times

Four Nobel winners announced

Four of the six 2010 Nobel Prizes have been announced, and the winners of the peace and economics prizes will be announced today and Monday, respectively. Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki won the prize in chemistry for palladium-catalyzed cross coupling, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov won the prize in physics for their experiments with graphene, Mario Vargas Llosa won the prize in literature for his depictions of power and individual resistance and Robert Edwards won the prize in medicine for the development of in vitro fertilization.

Source: Nobel Foundation

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