In the World
British doctors to dress down
LONDON - British hospitals are banning neckties, long sleeves, and jewelry for doctors, as well as their traditional white coats, in an effort to stop the spread of deadly hospital-borne infections, according to new rules published yesterday.
"Ties are rarely laundered but worn daily," the Department of Health said in a statement. "They perform no beneficial function in patient care and have been shown to be colonized by pathogens."
The new regulations taking effect next year mean an end to doctors' traditional long-sleeve white coats, said Health Secretary Alan Johnson said. He said the "bare below the elbows" dress code would help prevent the spread of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, the deadly bacteria resistant to nearly every available antibiotic.
- AP
Poisoning suspect is a candidate
MOSCOW - Russia's nationalist Liberal Democratic Party yesterday named the prime suspect in the poisoning death of an ex-KGB agent to a top slot on its list for parliamentary candidates.
Andrei Lugovoi was chosen at a party congress to be second on its candidate list for the Dec. 2 elections to the lower house of parliament. If elected, he would also be eligible for immunity from criminal prosecution.
Lugovoi has been named by Britain as its chief suspect in last year's poisoning in London of Alexander Litvinenko, a Kremlin critic who died of poisoning by a rare radioactive isotope. Russia has refused Britain's demand that Lugovoi be extradited to face trial in the murder, saying that its constitution prevents the move.
- AP
Israel to propose women in combat
JERUSALEM - An Israeli army committee is recommending all combat jobs be opened to women, security officials said yesterday, a change that, if adopted, would dramatically remake the front-line infantry, tank and special forces units that are the military's last male bastions.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the committee had not formally presented its report, something they said was expected to happen next week.
Israel's army has drafted both men and women since 1948, when some women fought alongside men in irregular units during the war with Arab countries that tried to block the formation of the Jewish state.
Since the 1948 war, most women in the Israeli military have been relegated to desk jobs, and female combat deaths became extremely rare.
- AP
Elsewhere:
Ukrainian officials signed a $505 million contract with a French-led consortium to build a new, sturdier shelter for the Chernobyl reactor, the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, in 1986.
A man was arrested after allegedly pushing people onto subway tracks in Vienna, injuring four. Police said the suspect hit an elderly man and broke his glasses. When people came to help, he pushed three of them off the platform.
Colombian police said they dismantled the private army of a paramilitary warlord awaiting extradition to the United States by arresting 147 people believed to be protecting a large cocaine-smuggling ring.