Thursday, November 7, 2013

Trans Fats: What They Are, and Why the FDA Is Finally Banning Them

Trans Fats: What They Are, and Why the FDA Is Finally Banning Them

Today, just over 100 years after the advent of trans fats, the FDA has announced that it's taking the first steps toward banning them outright, removing them from the "Generally Recognized As Safe" list and out of the American food supply. It's about time.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_Ibtlhtg92I/trans-fats-what-they-are-and-why-the-fda-is-finally-b-1460251061
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Microsoft Office Web Apps takes great leap toward Office equality



What are the most striking features of the new version of Office Web Apps? The ones that aren't there.


It isn't the fact that the Save button has been nixed (shades of Google Docs!) or that multiple users can edit the same document in real time and not stomp all over each other's work. It's how little -- as opposed to how much -- variation there is between OWA and its desktop counterparts.


That small margin makes a big difference.


Better collaborative editing than the desktop
Tony Bradley at PCWorld covers in detail all the new goodies in OWA, which still consists only of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The biggest is simultaneous co-authoring: Many users can log into OWA, open the same document, and work on it simultaneously. Flags within the document tell you where each user is.


One particularly smart touch here is how Microsoft has set different levels of editing granularity for each document type. For Word, it's a paragraph; for Excel, it's a cell; for PowerPoint, it's a slide. They're good commonsense defaults, and in my conversation with Microsoft's people, they hinted at the possibility that it could be made even more fine-grained.


From a practical standpoint, it's unlikely two people will attempt to edit the same sentence at once. But if Microsoft can nudge the line of thinking a smidge further in that direction, it's a sign of how completely Web apps could be able to eclipse their desktop cousins. For one, the desktop versions of these apps don't have anything like the simultaneous-editing features found in OWA -- a case where the Web app actually sports a feature superior to the desktop app.


This brings up the first of two big questions about OWA. Do Web apps need to displace their desktop counterparts?


The answer may be different depending on whether you're asking Microsoft or end-users. End-users may enjoy the convenience of OWA, but there comes a point where OWA simply can't deliver. The longer and more complex the document, the greater the odds OWA -- or your browser -- will simply gag.


There's little question that Microsoft needs to create a product portfolio off the desktop that's as valuable and rich as the one the company has created on it. But I doubt it can move people off desktop editions of Office and into OWA anytime soon, and not just because OWA's feature set is lacking.


Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/office-software/microsoft-office-web-apps-takes-great-leap-toward-office-equality-230424?source=rss_infoworld_blogs
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NASA satellites see Super-Typhoon Haiyan lashing the Philippines

NASA satellites see Super-Typhoon Haiyan lashing the Philippines


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7-Nov-2013



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Contact: Rob Gutro
robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center






Super-Typhoon Haiyan was lashing the central and southern Philippines on Nov. 7 bringing maximum sustained winds of a Category 5 hurricane. NASA is providing visible, infrared and microwave satellite data to forecasters and warnings are in effect for the Philippines and Micronesia as Haiyan moves west.


Brian McNoldy, a Senior Research Associate at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, Fla. noted that on the morning (EST) of Nov. 7, "Haiyan has achieved tropical cyclone perfection. It is now estimated at 165kts (190mph), with an 8.0 on the Dvorak scale... the highest possible value."


Warnings in the Philippines have been raise throughout much of the country. In Luzon:


Signal #1 is in effect for : Camarines Norte & Sur, Catanduanes, Mindoro Provinces, Marinduque, Northern Palawan, Calamian Group of Islands, and Southern Quezon.


Signal #2 is in effect for: Romblon, Sorsogon, Albay, Ticao and Burias island.


In Visayas, Signal #1 is in effect for Squijor, and Signal #2 is in effect for: Bohol, Negros Occidental and Oriental, Aklan, Capiz, Antique, rest of Cebu, Iloilo and Guimara. Signal #3 is in effect for: Northern Samar, Masbate, northern Cebu, Cebu City and Bantayan island, and Signal #4 is in effect for: Eastern Samar, Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte and Biliran island.



In Mindanao, Signal #1 was posted for: Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Sur; Signal #2 for: Camiguin, Surigao del Norte & Sur and Agusan del Norte and Signal #3 is in effect for: Siargao Island and Dinagat province.


In Micronesia, a Typhoon Warning is in effect for Kayangel and Koror in the Republic of Palau and Ngulu in Yap State.


Early on Nov. 7, NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Super Typhoon Haiyan as it was approaching the Philippines. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard captured a visible image on Nov. 7, 2013 at 04:25 UTC/Nov. 6 at 11:25 p.m. EDT that showed the thick bands of powerful thunderstorms that surrounded the eye. The MODIS image also revealed a powerful, wide band of thunderstorms in the western quadrant that was affecting the Philippines in the early morning hours (Eastern Daylight Time/U.S.) on Nov. 7.


At the same time, another instrument aboard Aqua captured infrared data on the storm using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument, providing cloud top temperatures and sea surface temperatures. The infrared data revealed a sharply defined eye with multiple concentric rings of thunderstorms and a deep convective eyewall. The infrared data showed cloud top temperatures as cold as 210 degrees kelvin/-81.67F/-63.15C/ in the thick band of thunderstorms around the center. Those cold temperatures indicate very high, powerful thunderstorms with very heavy rain potential.


On Nov. 7 at 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EDT, Super-Typhoon Haiyan's maximum sustained winds were near 165 knots/189.9 mph/305.6 kph. Haiyan is a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated that gusts are as strong as 200 knots/ 230.2 mph/370.4 kph.


The U.S. National Hurricane Center website indicates that a Category 5 hurricane/typhoon would cause catastrophic damage: A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.


Haiyan was located near 10.4 north latitude and 128.1 east longitude, about 543 nautical miles east-southeast of Manila, Philippines. It is moving west-northwest at 22 knots/25.3 mph/40.7 kph and generating extremely rough seas with wave heights to 50 feet/15.2 meters.


The Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that extremely favorable environmental conditions such as the warm waters ahead of the system will help to maintain its strength at super typhoon intensity through landfall in the central Philippines and up to 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EDT on Nov. 8. According to forecast track, Manila is now expected to be impacted by the northeastern quadrant, the strongest side of the storm.


After passing through the Philippines, Haiyan is expected to move through the South China Sea as it heads for landfall in Vietnam.


###


Text credit: Rob Gutro

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center




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NASA satellites see Super-Typhoon Haiyan lashing the Philippines


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-Nov-2013



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Contact: Rob Gutro
robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center






Super-Typhoon Haiyan was lashing the central and southern Philippines on Nov. 7 bringing maximum sustained winds of a Category 5 hurricane. NASA is providing visible, infrared and microwave satellite data to forecasters and warnings are in effect for the Philippines and Micronesia as Haiyan moves west.


Brian McNoldy, a Senior Research Associate at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, Fla. noted that on the morning (EST) of Nov. 7, "Haiyan has achieved tropical cyclone perfection. It is now estimated at 165kts (190mph), with an 8.0 on the Dvorak scale... the highest possible value."


Warnings in the Philippines have been raise throughout much of the country. In Luzon:


Signal #1 is in effect for : Camarines Norte & Sur, Catanduanes, Mindoro Provinces, Marinduque, Northern Palawan, Calamian Group of Islands, and Southern Quezon.


Signal #2 is in effect for: Romblon, Sorsogon, Albay, Ticao and Burias island.


In Visayas, Signal #1 is in effect for Squijor, and Signal #2 is in effect for: Bohol, Negros Occidental and Oriental, Aklan, Capiz, Antique, rest of Cebu, Iloilo and Guimara. Signal #3 is in effect for: Northern Samar, Masbate, northern Cebu, Cebu City and Bantayan island, and Signal #4 is in effect for: Eastern Samar, Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte and Biliran island.



In Mindanao, Signal #1 was posted for: Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Sur; Signal #2 for: Camiguin, Surigao del Norte & Sur and Agusan del Norte and Signal #3 is in effect for: Siargao Island and Dinagat province.


In Micronesia, a Typhoon Warning is in effect for Kayangel and Koror in the Republic of Palau and Ngulu in Yap State.


Early on Nov. 7, NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Super Typhoon Haiyan as it was approaching the Philippines. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard captured a visible image on Nov. 7, 2013 at 04:25 UTC/Nov. 6 at 11:25 p.m. EDT that showed the thick bands of powerful thunderstorms that surrounded the eye. The MODIS image also revealed a powerful, wide band of thunderstorms in the western quadrant that was affecting the Philippines in the early morning hours (Eastern Daylight Time/U.S.) on Nov. 7.


At the same time, another instrument aboard Aqua captured infrared data on the storm using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument, providing cloud top temperatures and sea surface temperatures. The infrared data revealed a sharply defined eye with multiple concentric rings of thunderstorms and a deep convective eyewall. The infrared data showed cloud top temperatures as cold as 210 degrees kelvin/-81.67F/-63.15C/ in the thick band of thunderstorms around the center. Those cold temperatures indicate very high, powerful thunderstorms with very heavy rain potential.


On Nov. 7 at 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EDT, Super-Typhoon Haiyan's maximum sustained winds were near 165 knots/189.9 mph/305.6 kph. Haiyan is a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated that gusts are as strong as 200 knots/ 230.2 mph/370.4 kph.


The U.S. National Hurricane Center website indicates that a Category 5 hurricane/typhoon would cause catastrophic damage: A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.


Haiyan was located near 10.4 north latitude and 128.1 east longitude, about 543 nautical miles east-southeast of Manila, Philippines. It is moving west-northwest at 22 knots/25.3 mph/40.7 kph and generating extremely rough seas with wave heights to 50 feet/15.2 meters.


The Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that extremely favorable environmental conditions such as the warm waters ahead of the system will help to maintain its strength at super typhoon intensity through landfall in the central Philippines and up to 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EDT on Nov. 8. According to forecast track, Manila is now expected to be impacted by the northeastern quadrant, the strongest side of the storm.


After passing through the Philippines, Haiyan is expected to move through the South China Sea as it heads for landfall in Vietnam.


###


Text credit: Rob Gutro

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center




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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-11/nsfc-nss110713.php
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Mercy! Check out all the sweet gear you could win at Expand NY


Mercy! Check out all the sweet gear you could win at Expand NY


On the off chance an incredible list of sponsors, an action-packed conference and all the other things we've already told you about aren't enough to get you out to the Javits Center for Expand NY this weekend, we thought you might want to take a look at all the great stuff you could win, too.


We were right, weren't we?


But before we do, we'd like to give a big shout out to our massively generous sponsors!


Read on to find out what you could win at Expand NY...


  • Lenovo: Two 10-inch Yoga tablets and two 8-inch Yoga tablets

  • AMD: Four VIZIO Tablet PCs

  • Phone Halo: 100 Wallet TrackRs

  • Gogo: Four Chromebooks and four Gogo Goodie Bags

  • BRAVEN: Three 710 speakers

  • SoftKinetic: Two Creative Senz 3D cameras

  • Sling Media: One Slingbox 500 and one Slingbox 350

  • Mad Catz: Five TRITTON Kunai universal headsets

  • myIDkey: One myIDkey voice-search, secure Bluetooth, USB password management drive

  • Grain Audio: One PWS speaker and two pairs of in-ear headphones (IEHPs)

  • PivotHead: Three pairs of Air Sync Wearable Imaging glasses

  • Boogie Board: One Sync 9.7 eWriter and eighteen Jot 4.5 eWriters

  • SparkFun: One Inventors Kit and one Learn to Solder Simon Says Kit

  • Karma: Two Karma 1GB WiFi Hotspots

  • Verizon: Two Leap Motion Gesture Controllers and $200 in GameStop Gift Certificates

  • WD: Two WD TV Live Hubs

  • Misfit Wearables: Five Shine personal activity monitors

  • Voltaic Systems: One OffGrid solar backpack

Plus a couple things we can't mention yet because they're launching at the show!


Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/07/expand-ny-giveaway/?ncid=rss_truncated
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Strongest typhoon of the year slams Philippines

This Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013 satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Typhoon Haiyan over the Philippines, at 22:30 UTC (5:30 p.m. EST). Haiyan, the world's strongest typhoon of the year, slammed into the Philippines early Friday. It had been poised to be the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded at landfall, a weather expert said. (AP Photo/NOAA)







This Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013 satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Typhoon Haiyan over the Philippines, at 22:30 UTC (5:30 p.m. EST). Haiyan, the world's strongest typhoon of the year, slammed into the Philippines early Friday. It had been poised to be the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded at landfall, a weather expert said. (AP Photo/NOAA)







This early Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013 satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the eye, right, of Typhoon Haiyan, off the coast of the Philippines, at approximately 05:25 UTC (12:25 a.m. EST). Haiyan, the world's strongest typhoon of the year slammed into the Philippines early Friday. It had been poised to be the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded at landfall, a weather expert said. (AP Photo/NOAA)







This image provided by the U.S. Naval Research Lab shows Typhoon Haiyan taken by the NEXSAT satellite Thursday Nov. 7, 2013 at 2:30 a.m. EDT. Gorvernment forecasters said Thursday that Typhoon Haiyan was packing sustained winds of 215 kilometers (134 miles) per hour and ferocious gusts of 250 kph (155 mph) and could pick up strength over the Pacific Ocean before it slams into the eastern Philippine province of Eastern Samar on Friday. (AP Photo/US Naval Research Lab)







Philippine Coast Guard Chief Rear Adm. Rodolfo Isorena checks newly-acquired rubber boats following blessing ceremony Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013 in Manila, Philippines. Isorena said the new single-hull aluminum boats and rubber boats will be deployed to central Philippines in preparation for the onslaught of super typhoon "Haiyan" which is expected to make a landfall in central Philippines this weekend. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)







Filipino workers bring down a giant billboard along a busy highway as they prepare for the possible effects of powerful Typhoon Haiyan in suburban Makati, south of Manila, Philippines Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Philippine officials say thousands of villagers, including those from a central province devastated recently by an earthquake, are being evacuated ahead of the arrival of one of Asia's most powerful typhoons this year. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)







(AP) — One of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded slammed into the Philippines early Friday, and one weather expert warned, "There will be catastrophic damage."

The U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center shortly before Typhoon Haiyan's landfall said its maximum sustained winds were 314 kilometers per hour (195 mph), with gusts up to 379 kilometers per hour (235 mph).

"195-mile-per-hour winds, there aren't too many buildings constructed that can withstand that kind of wind," said Jeff Masters, a former hurricane meteorologist who is meteorology director at the private firm Weather Underground.

Masters said the storm had been poised to be the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded at landfall. He warned of catastrophic damage.

Local authorities reported having troubles reaching colleagues in the landfall area.

The local weather bureau had a lower reading on the storm's power, saying its speed at landfall in Eastern Samar province's Guiuan township had sustained winds at 235 kilometers (147 miles) per hour, with gusts of 275 kph (170 mph). The bureau takes measures based on longer periods of time.

Authorities in Guiuan could not immediately be reached for word of any deaths or damage, regional civil defense chief Rey Gozon told DZBB radio. Forecaster Mario Palafox with the national weather bureau said it had lost contact with its staff in the landfall area.

The storm was not expected to directly hit the flood-prone capital, Manila, further north.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said more than 125,000 people had been evacuated from towns and villages in the typhoon's path.

Typhoon Haiyan's wind strength at landfall had been expected to beat out Hurricane Camille, which was 305 kilometers per hour (190 mph) at landfall in the United States 1969, Masters said.

The only tiny bright side is that it's a fast-moving storm, so flooding from heavy rain — which usually causes the most deaths from typhoons in the Philippines — may not be as bad, Masters said.

"The wind damage should be the most extreme in Phillipines history," he said.

The storm later will be a threat to both Vietnam and Laos and is likely to be among the top five natural disasters for those two countries, Masters said. The storm is forecast to barrel through the Philippines' central region Friday and Saturday before blowing toward the South China Sea over the weekend, heading toward Vietnam.

President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday warned people to leave high-risk areas, including 100 coastal communities where forecasters said the storm surge could reach up to 7 meters (23 feet). He urged seafarers to stay in port.

Aquino ordered officials to aim for zero casualties, a goal often not met in an archipelago lashed by about 20 tropical storms each year, most of them deadly and destructive. Haiyan is the 24th such storm to hit the Philippines this year.

The president also assured the public of war-like preparations: three C-130 air force cargo planes and 32 military helicopters and planes on standby, along with 20 navy ships.

"No typhoon can bring Filipinos to their knees if we'll be united," he said in a televised address.

___

Associated Press writers Oliver Teves and Teresa Cerojano in the Philippines and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-11-07-Philippines-Typhoon/id-1055471afa544444a018aba35d3a5373
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Report: Apple Supplier Flextronics Used Indentured Employees

Report: Apple Supplier Flextronics Used Indentured Employees

Bloomberg Businessweek has an in-depth report today alleging that electronics supplier Flextronics used recruiters who charged workers exorbitant fees to place them in Malaysian plants, confiscating their passports and deserting them in employee housing without food when production idled.

Read more...


    






Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/UZScfm9-PBU/report-apple-supplier-flextronics-used-indentured-empl-1460209733
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Arafat's mysterious death becomes a whodunit

FILE - In this May 31, 2002 file photo, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat pauses during the weekly Muslim Friday prayers in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Al-Jazeera is reporting that a team of Swiss scientists has found moderate evidence that longtime Palestinian leader Arafat died of poisoning. The Arab satellite channel published a copy of what it said was the scientists' report on its website on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)







FILE - In this May 31, 2002 file photo, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat pauses during the weekly Muslim Friday prayers in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Al-Jazeera is reporting that a team of Swiss scientists has found moderate evidence that longtime Palestinian leader Arafat died of poisoning. The Arab satellite channel published a copy of what it said was the scientists' report on its website on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)







Swiss professor Francois Bochud, left, director of the Chuv Radiophysics Institute, IRA, and Swiss professor Patrice Mangin, right, director of the University Center of Legal Medicine in Lausanne, CURML, speak on a forensics report concerning the late President Yasser Arafat during a press conference at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, CHUV, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thurday, Nov. 7, 2013. Swiss, French and Russian teams took samples of the remains after exhuming Arafat's body in Ramallah, and submitted results to the Palestinian Authority on Nov. 5. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)







Swiss professor Francois Bochud, left, director of the Chuv Radiophysics Institute, IRA, and Swiss professor Patrice Mangin, right, director of the University Center of Legal Medicine in Lausanne, CURML, pose with a forensics report concerning the late President Yasser Arafat during a press conference on of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, CHUV, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thurday, Nov. 7, 2013. Swiss, French and Russian teams took samples of the remains after exhuming Arafat's body in Ramallah, and submitted results to the Palestinian Authority on Nov. 5. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)







A forensics report concerning the late President Yasser Arafat is presented during a press conference of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, CHUV, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thurday, Nov. 7, 2013. Swiss, French and Russian teams took samples of the remains after exhuming Arafat's body in Ramallah, and submitted results to the Palestinian Authority on Nov. 5. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)







Palestinian Hanadi Kharma, paints a mural depicting the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Nablus, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Swiss scientists have found evidence suggesting Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with a radioactive substance, a TV station reported on Wednesday, prompting new allegations by his widow that the Palestinian leader was the victim of a "shocking" crime. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)







(AP) — Yasser Arafat's mysterious 2004 death turned into a whodunit Thursday after Swiss scientists who examined his remains said the Palestinian leader was probably poisoned with radioactive polonium.

Yet hard proof remains elusive, and nine years on, tracking down anyone who might have slipped minuscule amounts of the lethal substance into Arafat's food or drink could be difficult.

A new investigation could also prove embarrassing — and not just for Israel, which the Palestinians have long accused of poisoning their leader and which has denied any role.

The Palestinians themselves could come under renewed scrutiny, since Arafat was holed up in his Israeli-besieged West Bank compound in the months before his death, surrounded by advisers, staff and bodyguards.

Arafat died at a French military hospital on Nov. 11, 2004, at age 75, a month after suddenly falling violently ill at his compound. At the time, French doctors said he died of a stroke and had a blood-clotting problem, but records were inconclusive about what caused that condition.

The Swiss scientists said that they found elevated traces of polonium-210 and lead in Arafat's remains that could not have occurred naturally, and that the timeframe of Arafat's illness and death was consistent with poisoning from ingesting polonium.

"Our results reasonably support the poisoning theory," Francois Bochud, director of Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics, which carried out the investigation, said at a news conference.

Bochud and Patrice Mangin, director of the Lausanne University Hospital's forensics center, said they tested and ruled out innocent explanations, such as accidental poisoning.

"I think we can eliminate this possibility because, as you can imagine, you cannot find polonium everywhere. It's a very rare toxic substance," Mangin told The Associated Press.

Palestinian officials, including Arafat's successor, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, had no comment on the substance of the report but promised a continued investigation.

The findings are certain to revive Palestinian allegations against Israel, a nuclear power. Polonium can be a byproduct of the chemical processing of uranium, but usually is made artificially in a nuclear reactor or a particle accelerator.

Arafat's widow, Suha, called on the Palestinian leadership to seek justice for her husband, saying, "It's clear this is a crime."

Speaking by phone from the Qatari capital Doha, she did not mention Israel but argued that only countries with nuclear capabilities have access to polonium.

Israel has repeatedly denied a role in Arafat's death and did so again Thursday. Paul Hirschson, a Foreign Ministry official, dismissed the claim as "hogwash."

"We couldn't be bothered to" kill him, Hirschson said. "If anyone remembers the political reality at the time, Arafat was completely isolated. His own people were barely speaking to him. There's no logical reason for Israel to have wanted to do something like this."

In his final years, Arafat was being accused by Israel and the U.S. of condoning and even encouraging Palestinian attacks against Israelis instead of working for a peace deal. In late 2004, Israeli tanks no longer surrounded his compound, but Arafat was afraid to leave for fear of not being allowed to return.

Shortly after his death, the Palestinians launched their own investigation, questioning dozens of people in Arafat's compound, including staff, bodyguards and officials, but no suspects emerged.

Security around Arafat was easily breached toward the end of his life. Aides have described him as impulsive, unable to resist tasting gifts of chocolate or trying out medicines brought by visitors from abroad.

The investigation was dormant until the satellite TV station Al-Jazeera persuaded Arafat's widow last year to hand over a bag with her husband's underwear, headscarves and other belongings. After finding traces of polonium in biological stains on the clothing, investigators dug up his grave in his Ramallah compound earlier this year to take bone and soil samples.

Investigators noted Thursday that they could not account for the chain of custody of the items that were in the bag, leaving open the possibility of tampering.

However, the latest findings are largely based on Arafat's remains and burial soil, and in this case, tampering appears highly improbable, Bochud said.

"I think this can really be ruled out because it was really difficult to access the body," he said. "When we opened the tomb, we were all together."

Polonium-210 is the same substance that killed KGB agent-turned-Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

"It's quite difficult to understand why (Arafat) might have had any polonium, if he was just in his headquarters in Ramallah," said Alastair Hay, a professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds who was not involved in the investigation.

"He wasn't somebody who was moving in and out of atomic energy plants or dealing with radioactive isotopes."

___

John Heilprin reported from Lausanne, Switzerland. Associated Press writers Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem and Lori Hinnant in Paris and AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-11-07-Arafat's%20Death/id-b9f661e6e8964bfdaa3e6520d9adf400
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