"MOSCOW (Reuters) - Dozens of partygoers at an outdoor rave near Moscow last week have lost partial vision after a laser light show burned their retinas, Russian health officials said on Monday.

Moscow city health department officials confirmed 12 cases of laser-blindness at the Central Ophthalmological Clinic, and daily newspaper Kommersant said another 17 were registered at City Hospital 32 in the centre of the capital.

Attendees at the July 5 Aquamarine Open Air Festival in Kirzhach, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Moscow, began seeking medical help days after the show, complaining of eye and vision problems, health officials told Reuters.

"They all have retinal burns, scarring is visible on them. Loss of vision in individual cases is as high as 80 percent, and regaining it is already impossible," Kommersant quoted a treating ophthalmologist as saying."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080714/od_nm/russia_rave_dc

"Demand for land to grow food, fuel crops and wood is set to outstrip supply, leading to the probable destruction of forests, a report warns.

The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) says only half of the extra land needed by 2030 is available without eating into tropical forested areas.

A companion report documents poor progress in reforming land ownership and governance in developing countries. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7503304.stm

"Iran's oil minister confirmed on Saturday that French energy giant Total has dropped out of a multi-billion-dollar gas investment in the Islamic republic, the state broadcaster reported."

"The French firm's chief Christophe de Margerie said in an interview published on Thursday that it was too politically risky to invest in Iran at present."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ix6V_kJ6x-4_NL4flXDgAnSxcCuA

"Nicotine-based drugs may help delay the moment a person with dementia has to enter a care home, say researchers.

Nicotine has toxic effects, and carries a strong risk of addiction, but scientists have shown it can also boost learning, memory and attention. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7497037.stm

"Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

Waiters and waitresses should "patiently" suggest other options to diners who order dog, it said, quoting city tourism bureau Vice Director Xiong Yumei."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080711/ap_on_re_as/ching_dog_meat

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1750553/

Buenos Aires, Jul 10, 2008 "At least 12 babies who were part of a clinical study to test the effectiveness of a vaccine against pneumonia have died over the past year in Argentina, the local press reported Thursday.

The study was sponsored by global drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and uses children from poor families, who are "pressured and forced into signing consent forms," the Argentine Federation of Health Professionals, or Fesprosa, said."

"There is no military justification for US plans to deploy missile defences in eastern Europe because Tehran's rockets cannot travel that far, Russia said today.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said the results of recent Iranian missile tests proved that US plans for a defence shield in Europe were unnecessary.

"The tests in Iran have only confirmed that Iran at the moment has rockets with a range of up to 2,000 km (1,243 miles). That confirms what we have said before," he said."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/11/russia.iran

>>	Junior Field Reporter 08/07/12(Sat)07:53 No.7391   File: 1215874435417.jpg -(61196 B, 600x412) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size.

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/canada_net_censorship.html

"A net-neutrality activist group has uncovered plans for the demise of the free Internet by 2010 in Canada. By 2012, the group says, the trend will be global.

"Bell Canada and TELUS, Canada’s two largest Internet service providers (ISPs), will begin charging per-site fees on most Internet sites, reports anonymous sources within TELUS.

“It’s beyond censorship, it is killing the biggest ecosystem of free expression and freedom of speech that has ever existed,” I Power spokesperson Reese Leysen said. I Power was the first group to report on the possible changes.

Bell Canada has not returned calls or emails."

"A survey suggests British women often judge the character of prospective mates based on their text messaging abilities.

The "Text Appeal" poll of 2,000 adults by inquiry service 118118, found 76 percent of female respondents said they judge potential dates by analyzing their texting style, The Scotsman reported Friday.

Forty-one percent of women polled said they are turned off by poor spelling and grammar -- including popular text shorthand such as using the letter "c" in place of "see" -- and 67 percent said they would be more likely to be impressed by a man who sends longer texts that include wit, humor and flirtatious undertones."

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2008/07/11/Poll_British_women_prefer_good_texters/UPI-58601215820001/

"A French court has denied citizenship to a Muslim woman from Morocco, ruling that her practice of "radical" Islam is not compatible with French values.

The 32-year-old woman, known as Faiza M, has lived in France since 2000 with her husband - a French national - and their three French-born children.

Social services reports said the burqa-wearing Faiza M lived in "total submission to her male relatives". "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7503757.stm