British Court Orders Iran’s Mujahedeen Be Removed From Terrorist List

A British court has ordered the government to remove the Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mujahedeen, from its list of terrorist organizations. The group is hailing the decision as a major victory while the British government says it will appeal the ruling. VOA’s Sonja Pace has the story from London. Read more

Police Arrest Man Accused of Taking Hostages At Clinton Campaign Office

A man who apparently took several people hostage in a New Hampshire campaign office of U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has been arrested after a five-and-a-half hour standoff. Read more

Female Mammals May Select Out Competing Sperm

Scientists may have proof that female mammals’ reproductive systems detect the presence of sperm and react by changing conditions in the uterus.

An international team of researchers say this may be the molecular mechanism behind post-copulatory sexual selection, where females who’ve mated with several partners can actually influence which sperm fertilizes the egg.

Learning more about this post-mating “ladies choice” may have important implications for in-vitro fertilization (IVF), cloning and animal breeding, according to study author Alireza Fazeli, of the University of Sheffield in the U.K. It also provides a possible explanation for female promiscuity in certain species.

In this study, Fazeli and colleagues found chemical evidence of a sperm-recognition system in the oviducts of female pigs, who have a reproductive system that’s similar to humans.

“This study clearly shows that the sperm’s arrival in the female reproductive tract triggers a cascade of changes that leads to alteration of protein production in [the] oviduct and a change in oviductal environment. We speculate that this is mainly done to prepare oviduct environment for storing sperm, fertilization and early embryonic development,” Fazeli said in a prepared statement.

This can also be used as a detection and selection system that alerts the female to different kinds of sperm, triggering oviduct mechanisms that control sperm transport, binding and activation for fertilization.

“We know sperm selection exists in nature, especially in promiscuous species, when females mate with several males. Baboons are a good example. During one reproductive cycle, if the female mates with several males, most of the time the offspring belong to one of the males — not a spread between all of them. We are now seeing what can be the molecular basis for this effect,” Fazeli said.

(SOURCE: American Chemical Society, news release, November 2007) Net News Publisher

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White House Unveils “Holiday in the National Parks”

Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “There is nothing so American as our national parks.” and visitors will enjoy exploring America’s national parks this Christmas at the White House. The Bush’s sent out to each of the 391 national parks a big ball and asked them to decorate them, and they did. About 347 came back hand-painted or hand-decorated by an artist. Read more

Israeli High Court Orders Stay on Gaza Power Cuts

Israel’s High Court instructed the state on 30 November not to cut power to the Gaza Strip pending clarification on exactly how electricity reductions would take place and what humanitarian impact they would have on the civilian population in the enclave. Read more

Wounded Chadian Soldiers Crowd Hospitals As Fighting Intensifies

Fighting between the Chadian army and rebels has intensified in the east of the country and hospitals in the eastern regional hub Abeche and in the capital N’djamena are filling up with wounded soldiers. The Chadian military hospital in N’djamena is now full,” an army officer told IRIN. Read more

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