For years each September 11 brought warnings of heightened terrorist threats on the grim anniversary. But, thankfully, not this year. US Attorney General Eric Holder said yesterday that there have been no credible threats of terrorism against the US for next week, reports Reuters . “We don’t have any credible, specific…
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The ban on blood donation by gay men was put in place in the 1980s as a response to the spread of Aids and HIV Gay men will be able to give blood when government restrictions are lifted later this year, the Department of Health has said. A lifetime ban on blood donation by men who have had sex with another man was put in place in the UK in the 1980s as a response to the spread of Aids and HIV. But following a review by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (Sabto), men who have not had homosexual sex within a year will be able to donate if they meet certain other criteria. The recommendation has been accepted by the health ministers in England, Scotland and Wales, and the ban will be lifted on 7 November. Men who have had anal or oral sex with another man in the past 12 months, with or without a condom, will still not be eligible to donate blood, the DoH said. Sabto’s advisory panel, comprising leading experts and patient groups carried out its review based on the latest available evidence and found it could no longer support the permanent exclusion of men who have had sex with men. They considered the risk of infection being transmitted in blood, attitudes of potential donors in complying with the selection criteria and improvements in testing of donated blood. The change means the criteria for men who have had sex with men will be in line with other groups who are deferred from giving blood for 12 months due to infection risks associated with sexual behaviours. These include women who have slept with a man who has had sex with another man, people who have slept with prostitutes and those who have had sex with anyone who has injected themselves with drugs. Current guidelines say people can never give blood if they have had syphilis, HTVL (Human T-lymphotropic virus), hepatitis B or C, and a lifetime ban is also in place for people who have ever worked as a prostitute or anyone who has injected themselves with drugs. The announcement was welcomed by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, but he said it fell short of lifting the ban on gay men who always use condoms. He said: “Although the new policy is a big improvement on the existing discriminatory rules, a 12-month ban is still excessive and unjustified.” The activist who launched the first campaign against the lifetime ban on gay and bisexual blood donors in 1991 added: “Most gay and bisexual men do not have HIV and will never have HIV. If they always have safe sex with a condom, have only one partner and test HIV negative, their blood is safe to donate. “They can and should be allowed to help save lives by becoming donors.” Public health minister Anne Milton said: “Blood donations are a lifeline, and many of us would not have loved ones with us today if it was not for the selfless act of others. “Our blood service is carefully managed to maintain a safe and sufficient supply of blood for transfusions. “Appropriate checks based on robust science must be in place to maintain this safety record and the committee’s recommendation reflects this. “It is important that people comply with all donor selection criteria, which are in place to protect the health of both donors and transfusion recipients.” The change will be implemented by both NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in England and North Wales and the Blood Services of Scotland and Wales. Health policy Gay rights Health Public services policy guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The ban on blood donation by gay men was put in place in the 1980s as a response to the spread of Aids and HIV Gay men will be able to give blood when government restrictions are lifted later this year, the Department of Health has said. A lifetime ban on blood donation by men who have had sex with another man was put in place in the UK in the 1980s as a response to the spread of Aids and HIV. But following a review by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (Sabto), men who have not had homosexual sex within a year will be able to donate if they meet certain other criteria. The recommendation has been accepted by the health ministers in England, Scotland and Wales, and the ban will be lifted on 7 November. Men who have had anal or oral sex with another man in the past 12 months, with or without a condom, will still not be eligible to donate blood, the DoH said. Sabto’s advisory panel, comprising leading experts and patient groups carried out its review based on the latest available evidence and found it could no longer support the permanent exclusion of men who have had sex with men. They considered the risk of infection being transmitted in blood, attitudes of potential donors in complying with the selection criteria and improvements in testing of donated blood. The change means the criteria for men who have had sex with men will be in line with other groups who are deferred from giving blood for 12 months due to infection risks associated with sexual behaviours. These include women who have slept with a man who has had sex with another man, people who have slept with prostitutes and those who have had sex with anyone who has injected themselves with drugs. Current guidelines say people can never give blood if they have had syphilis, HTVL (Human T-lymphotropic virus), hepatitis B or C, and a lifetime ban is also in place for people who have ever worked as a prostitute or anyone who has injected themselves with drugs. The announcement was welcomed by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, but he said it fell short of lifting the ban on gay men who always use condoms. He said: “Although the new policy is a big improvement on the existing discriminatory rules, a 12-month ban is still excessive and unjustified.” The activist who launched the first campaign against the lifetime ban on gay and bisexual blood donors in 1991 added: “Most gay and bisexual men do not have HIV and will never have HIV. If they always have safe sex with a condom, have only one partner and test HIV negative, their blood is safe to donate. “They can and should be allowed to help save lives by becoming donors.” Public health minister Anne Milton said: “Blood donations are a lifeline, and many of us would not have loved ones with us today if it was not for the selfless act of others. “Our blood service is carefully managed to maintain a safe and sufficient supply of blood for transfusions. “Appropriate checks based on robust science must be in place to maintain this safety record and the committee’s recommendation reflects this. “It is important that people comply with all donor selection criteria, which are in place to protect the health of both donors and transfusion recipients.” The change will be implemented by both NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in England and North Wales and the Blood Services of Scotland and Wales. Health policy Gay rights Health Public services policy guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The ban on blood donation by gay men was put in place in the 1980s as a response to the spread of Aids and HIV Gay men will be able to give blood when government restrictions are lifted later this year, the Department of Health has said. A lifetime ban on blood donation by men who have had sex with another man was put in place in the UK in the 1980s as a response to the spread of Aids and HIV. But following a review by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (Sabto), men who have not had homosexual sex within a year will be able to donate if they meet certain other criteria. The recommendation has been accepted by the health ministers in England, Scotland and Wales, and the ban will be lifted on 7 November. Men who have had anal or oral sex with another man in the past 12 months, with or without a condom, will still not be eligible to donate blood, the DoH said. Sabto’s advisory panel, comprising leading experts and patient groups carried out its review based on the latest available evidence and found it could no longer support the permanent exclusion of men who have had sex with men. They considered the risk of infection being transmitted in blood, attitudes of potential donors in complying with the selection criteria and improvements in testing of donated blood. The change means the criteria for men who have had sex with men will be in line with other groups who are deferred from giving blood for 12 months due to infection risks associated with sexual behaviours. These include women who have slept with a man who has had sex with another man, people who have slept with prostitutes and those who have had sex with anyone who has injected themselves with drugs. Current guidelines say people can never give blood if they have had syphilis, HTVL (Human T-lymphotropic virus), hepatitis B or C, and a lifetime ban is also in place for people who have ever worked as a prostitute or anyone who has injected themselves with drugs. The announcement was welcomed by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, but he said it fell short of lifting the ban on gay men who always use condoms. He said: “Although the new policy is a big improvement on the existing discriminatory rules, a 12-month ban is still excessive and unjustified.” The activist who launched the first campaign against the lifetime ban on gay and bisexual blood donors in 1991 added: “Most gay and bisexual men do not have HIV and will never have HIV. If they always have safe sex with a condom, have only one partner and test HIV negative, their blood is safe to donate. “They can and should be allowed to help save lives by becoming donors.” Public health minister Anne Milton said: “Blood donations are a lifeline, and many of us would not have loved ones with us today if it was not for the selfless act of others. “Our blood service is carefully managed to maintain a safe and sufficient supply of blood for transfusions. “Appropriate checks based on robust science must be in place to maintain this safety record and the committee’s recommendation reflects this. “It is important that people comply with all donor selection criteria, which are in place to protect the health of both donors and transfusion recipients.” The change will be implemented by both NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in England and North Wales and the Blood Services of Scotland and Wales. Health policy Gay rights Health Public services policy guardian.co.uk
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The ban on blood donation by gay men was put in place in the 1980s as a response to the spread of Aids and HIV Gay men will be able to give blood when government restrictions are lifted later this year, the Department of Health has said. A lifetime ban on blood donation by men who have had sex with another man was put in place in the UK in the 1980s as a response to the spread of Aids and HIV. But following a review by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (Sabto), men who have not had homosexual sex within a year will be able to donate if they meet certain other criteria. The recommendation has been accepted by the health ministers in England, Scotland and Wales, and the ban will be lifted on 7 November. Men who have had anal or oral sex with another man in the past 12 months, with or without a condom, will still not be eligible to donate blood, the DoH said. Sabto’s advisory panel, comprising leading experts and patient groups carried out its review based on the latest available evidence and found it could no longer support the permanent exclusion of men who have had sex with men. They considered the risk of infection being transmitted in blood, attitudes of potential donors in complying with the selection criteria and improvements in testing of donated blood. The change means the criteria for men who have had sex with men will be in line with other groups who are deferred from giving blood for 12 months due to infection risks associated with sexual behaviours. These include women who have slept with a man who has had sex with another man, people who have slept with prostitutes and those who have had sex with anyone who has injected themselves with drugs. Current guidelines say people can never give blood if they have had syphilis, HTVL (Human T-lymphotropic virus), hepatitis B or C, and a lifetime ban is also in place for people who have ever worked as a prostitute or anyone who has injected themselves with drugs. The announcement was welcomed by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, but he said it fell short of lifting the ban on gay men who always use condoms. He said: “Although the new policy is a big improvement on the existing discriminatory rules, a 12-month ban is still excessive and unjustified.” The activist who launched the first campaign against the lifetime ban on gay and bisexual blood donors in 1991 added: “Most gay and bisexual men do not have HIV and will never have HIV. If they always have safe sex with a condom, have only one partner and test HIV negative, their blood is safe to donate. “They can and should be allowed to help save lives by becoming donors.” Public health minister Anne Milton said: “Blood donations are a lifeline, and many of us would not have loved ones with us today if it was not for the selfless act of others. “Our blood service is carefully managed to maintain a safe and sufficient supply of blood for transfusions. “Appropriate checks based on robust science must be in place to maintain this safety record and the committee’s recommendation reflects this. “It is important that people comply with all donor selection criteria, which are in place to protect the health of both donors and transfusion recipients.” The change will be implemented by both NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in England and North Wales and the Blood Services of Scotland and Wales. Health policy Gay rights Health Public services policy guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …One thing Rick Perry doesn’t lose sleep over are the executions in his state. Asked last night if he ever worried that Texas has put an innocent man to death, he answered confidently: “No, sir. I’ve never struggled with that at all.” He praised the state’s “thoughtful, very clear process…
Continue reading …Reese Witherspoon suffered minor injuries today when she was struck by a car as she jogged along a Santa Monica road. The car was traveling 20 mph when it struck the 35-year-old actress, who was rushed to a local hospital, police told Radar. She was released later in the day…
Continue reading …Amanda Knox can almost see daylight. Court developments in her murder trial appeal are all falling her way, strongly indicating that she could soon be released. Even the once-confident prosecution is prepared for the case to go either way, reports ABC News . “The judge and his assistant are clearly against…
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Fashion designer given suspended fine of €6,000 by Paris court The British designer John Galliano has been given a suspended fine of €6,000 (£5,200) by a Paris court for two racist and antisemitic rants at people in a Paris bar. The former star-couturier was found guilty of making “public insults” based on origin, religion, race or ethnicity after two incidents in February 2011 and October 2010. He does not have to pay the fine. In the February incident, a French couple having a beer outside La Perle bar in Paris’s Marais district said he repeatedly insulted them with lines including “Dirty Jewish face”, “Fucking ugly Jewish bitch” and “Fucking Asian bastard”. Geraldine Bloch, 35, said he first asked her to shut up, then criticised her clothes, hair, thighs, eyebrows and make-up. He made 30 anti-Jewish insults in the space of 45 minutes, she said. Another woman said he made similar insults to her in the same bar in October. At Galliano’s trial in June, the state prosecutor had requested judges fine Galliano saying that although he was not not a “theoretician” of race hatred or antisemitism, this was “everyday antisemitism and racism” which she said was “pitiful and dreadful”. It is doubtful whether Galliano – who told his trial he couldn’t remember the incident because of a “triple addiction” to alcohol, sleeping tablets and Valium – will ever be able to redeem himself at the top of the fashion world. He has undergone treatment for his addiction in the US and also in Switzerland. He appeared frail and weak at his trial in June but was not present on Thursday for the verdict. He was sacked from his post as creative director of the French fashion house Dior when was arrested in a drunken state in after the February incident. Speculation is rife over who will replace him at the luxury label. At his trial Galliano described the stress of fashion industry and the success of Dior and how he couldn’t cope without alcohol or drugs. “I started having panic attacks, I couldn’t go to work unless I had taken some Valium.” He started drinking “in a cyclical way” in 2007. “After every creative high I would crash and the drink would help me to escape.” He said the financial crash meant he had to branch out into a bewildering array of new lines including beachwear and perfumes, described a manic schedule of working through the night then going directly to early morning starts on shoots, meetings and endless haute-couture fittings. Work pressure was so much that when his father died and then his design assistant and closest friend, he went straight back to work hours after each funeral. Galliano said his body became so used to prescription pills, he upped his intake. “I actually can’t remember how many I was taking.” He said he needed sleeping pills to sleep but also took them during the day. During June trial, he told the three-judge panel he was sorry “for the sadness that this whole affair has caused”. Asked in court about a separate video in which he insulted a bar client and said “I love Hitler”, Galliano said: “These are not views that I hold or believe in… I see someone who needs help, who’s vulnerable. It’s the shell of John Galliano. I see someone who’s been pushed to the edge.” Several French anti-racist associations had lodged civil complaints against the designer as well as the people who claim he insulted them. Born in Gibraltar, the son of a British plumber and a Spanish mother, Galliano said mixed roots defined his work and that he was not racist. In a statement earlier this year, Galliano accepted the accusations had “greatly shocked and upset people” but denied the claims made against him. But he added: “I must take responsibility for the circumstances in which I found myself and for allowing myself to be seen to be behaving in the worst possible light. I only have myself to blame and I know that I must face up to my own failures and that I must work hard to gain people’s understanding and compassion.” He added: “Antisemitism and racism have no part in our society. I unreservedly apologise for my behaviour in causing any offence.” France John Galliano Europe Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits rose slightly last week, to 414,000, from 412,00 the previous week, the Labor Department said. The figure has hovered around 400,000 for months now. At that level, it’s all but impossible for the overall unemployment rate, currently at 9.1 percent, to decline significantly. President Obama
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