Peter Pan And The Salmonella Outbreak

Days after its Peter Pan peanut butter and its generic counterpart, Great Value, distributed at Wal-Mart stores, was linked to a widespread salmonella outbreak, food giant ConAgra has initiated a voluntary recall.

The company says it is recalling recalled Peter Pan peanut butter jars and Great Value jars with the number 2111 printed on the lid in response to the epidemic.

Previously, the Food and Drug Administration advised consumers to discard the jars of the two brands of peanut butter purchased since March 2006. Hundreds of people have reportedly been sickened by the tainted product.

The FDA says the recalled peanut butter is responsible for salmonella cases starting in August 2006 in at least 39 states. The peanut butter recall notice advises customers who have the peanut butter to discard the product, because it may lead to food poisoning type symptoms due to salmonella.

ConAgra Foods Inc., the Omaha, Nebraska based company behind last week's nationwide recall of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter, said the episode will cost it up to $60 million.

As word of the recall spreads throughout the country, and reports arise of people who think they have may contracted salmonella bacteria through certain containers of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter, sympathy for ConAgra's financial problems are coming in the form of law suites from plaintiffs.

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02/20/07 - 5:30 p.m. Layton mother fears her child may have eaten contaminated peanut butter



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Massive Peanut Butter Recall
The Centers for Disease Control is investigating the detection of salmonella in two brands of peanut butter, sold in 39 states. Hundreds have become sick and health officials are worried there might be more bad peanut butter on store shelves. (Feb. 15)

Bomb Exploded In A McDonald's Restaurant

A shrapnel-filled bomb exploded in a McDonald's restaurant in St Petersburg on Sunday night, injuring six people and wrecking the busy downtown eatery.

Police say the bomb, which was carried in a woman's handbag, went off with the force of 75 grams of TNT, shattering windows and bringing part of the ceiling crashing down.

"A preliminary expert examination revealed that the homemade explosive device was stuffed with preformed fragments," a police source told the official RIA-Novosti agency.

Six people were hospitalised, including a German tourist, with injuries ranging from lacerations to concussion.

McDonald's restaurants have been frequent targets for both terrorist bombers and criminal vendettas in Russia.

A car bombing at a Moscow McDonald's in 2002, attributed to Chechen terrorists, killed one and injured eight. Another St Petersburg McDonald's was hit by a powerful blast while it was under construction in 1998, but no one was in the building at the time.

Eight Die In Shooting Rampage In Two States

Two gunmen went on separate rampages on opposite sides of the US yesterday, shooting and killing eight people and injuring several.

A man dressed in a trench coat randomly murdered five shoppers at a Salt Lake City shopping mall before an off-duty policeman shot him dead.

In Philadelphia, a man opened fire at an office building, killing three people and critically injuring a fourth.

He then turned the gun on himself. Police say the shooting took place after a dispute during a company board meeting.

The two shootings happened within hours of each other.

Police in Salt Lake City said the gunman mowed down five shoppers and injured several more before he was killed in Trolley Square Mall.

Hours later, police were still searching stores for shocked shoppers and staff in hiding.

At least four people were rushed to hospital, three in critical condition.

An off-duty officer ended the drama when he shot the gunman.

The Philadelphia gunman is believed to have got upset at a board meeting for what might have been an investment firm, police said.

Police said the man, who had a semi-automatic handgun, got into an argument about "some issue about money" at a board meeting at the Philadelphia Naval Business Centre.

After shooting the men in the conference room he also shot at police, who returned fire, and then shot himself.


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Six Dead in Mall Shooting Rampage

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Man Kills 3 at Philly Business Meeting

Barack Obama Enters Bid For The White House

A frigid morning in Springfield, Illinois, Barack Obama formally began his bid for the White House by challenging a new generation to mobilize and change the pettiness of American politics.

The first-term U.S. senator stood on a podium in front of Springfield's Old State Capitol, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his landmark anti-slavery speech. Obama faced a throng of admirers with a four-storey American flag to his left and red, white and blue bunting framing his speech from behind.

His formal entry into the Democratic race is a major step in a political history that has unfolded at a rapid pace, catapulting a man who was an obscure Illinois legislator only three years ago onto a track that could make him this nation's first African American president.

"I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness – a certain audacity – to this announcement," he said.

"I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change."

Obama made it clear his campaign will emphasize his status as a relative outsider in the political process, his youth, his determination to end the Iraq war he opposed from the beginning and his promise to provide universal health care and better educations for America's youth.

A champion of bipartisanship, he never mentioned the name of his party and used the word "Republican" but once in a 20-minute speech.


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Obama Makes 2008 Run Official

Iran Vows To Stand Tall If Attacked

U.S. vs Iran - If the United States were to attack Iran, the country would respond by striking US interests all over the world, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday.

Speaking to a gathering of Iranian air force commanders, Khamenei said: "The enemy knows well that any invasion would be followed by a comprehensive reaction to the invaders and their interests all over the world."

Iranian leaders are very vocal when it comes to a response to any attack from the U.S. Forces. While the remarks are seen as propaganda to drum up national support, Iran's position on Iraq and its nuclear program have provoked more than usual international pressure in recent months.

President Bush has ordered American troops to act against Iranians suspected of being involved in the Iraqi insurgency and has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf area as a warning to Iran. The UN Security Council has imposed sanctions because of Iran's refusal to cease uranium enrichment.

"Some people say that the U.S. president is not prone to calculating the consequences of his actions," Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state television, "but it is possible to bring this kind of person to wisdom.

"U.S. policymakers and analysts know that the Iranian nation would not let an invasion go without a response," Khamenei added.

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Iran-Washington Tensions Escalate Over Iraq

Astronaut Lisa Nowak Arrested On Several Counts

Astronaut Lisa Nowak drove 950 miles and donned a diaper and disguise to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, police said.

She was arrested Monday and charged with attempted kidnapping and murder along with other counts.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. Bail was set at $25,000.

Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport to confront Colleen Shipman.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.

Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Police officers recovered a love letter to Oefelein in her car.

NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said that, as of Monday, Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged.

"What will happen beyond that, I will not speculate," he said.

Hartsfield said he couldn't recall the last time an astronaut was arrested and said there were no rules against fraternizing among astronauts. "Houston we have a problem."

When she found out that Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Nowak decided to confront her, according to the arrest affidavit. Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate, authorities said.

No big deal, astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry, they're use to it.

Dressed in a wig and a trench coat, Nowak boarded an airport bus that Shipman took to her car in an airport parking lot. Shipman told police she noticed someone following her, hurried inside the car and locked the doors, according to the arrest affidavit.

Nowak rapped on the window, tried to open the car door and asked for a ride. Shipman refused but rolled down the car window a few inches when Nowak started crying. Nowak then sprayed a chemical into Shipman's car, the affidavit said.

Shipman drove to the parking lot booth, and the police were called.

During a check of the parking lot, an officer followed Nowak and watched her throw away a bag containing the wig and BB gun. They also found a steel mallet, a 4-inch folding knife, rubber tubing, $600 and garbage bags inside a bag Nowak was carrying when she was arrested, authorities said

Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities uncovered a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Shipman and Oefelein. They also found a letter "that indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein," an opened package for a buck knife, Shipman's home address and hand written directions to the address, the arrest affidavit said.

Police said Nowak told them that she only wanted to scare Shipman into talking to her about her relationship with Oefelein and didn't want to harm her physically.

"If you were just going to talk to someone, I don't know that you would need a wig, a trench coat, an air cartridge BB gun and pepper spray," said Sgt. Barbara Jones, a spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department. "It's just really a very sad case. Now she ends up finding herself on the other side of the law with some very serious charges."

If convicted of attempted kidnapping, Nowak could face a maximum of life in prison.

According to NASA's official biography, Nowak is married with three children. During her 13-day mission in July she operated the robotic arm during three spacewalks.

Oefelein is unmarried. He piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. He has two children, according to a NASA biography.

Nowak and Oefelein were both first-time fliers during their shuttle missions last year. They trained together but never flew together.

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Astronaut Now Faces Attempted Murder Charge