Keep thimerosal in vaccines: pediatricians

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A mercury-containing preservative should not be banned as an ingredient in vaccines, U.S. pediatricians said Monday, in a move that may be controversial.

In its statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) endorsed calls from a World Health Organization (WHO) committee that the preservative, thimerosal, not be considered a hazardous source of mercury that could be banned by the United Nations.

Back in 1999, a concern that kids receiving multiple shots containing thimerosal might get too much mercury – and develop autism or other neurodevelopmental problems as a result – led the AAP to call for its removal, despite the lack of hard evidence at the time.

“It was absolutely a matter of precaution because of the absence of more information,” said Dr. Louis Cooper, from Columbia University in New York, who was on the organization’s board of directors at the time.

“Subsequently an awful lot of effort has been put into trying to sort out whether thimerosal causes any harm to kids, and the bottom line is basically, it doesn’t look as if it does,” Cooper, who wrote a commentary published with the AAP’s statement, told Reuters Health.

In a 2004 safety review, for example, the independent U.S. Institute of Medicine concluded there was no evidence thimerosal-containing vaccines could cause autism. A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came to the same conclusion in 2010.

With the exception of some types of flu shots, the compound is not used in vaccines in the United States, which are distributed in single-dose vials.

And nobody is arguing that should change, according to Dr. Walter Orenstein, a member of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases and a researcher at the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta.

But in countries with fewer resources – where many children still die of vaccine-preventable diseases – it’s cheaper and easier to use multi-dose vials of vaccines against diphtheria and tetanus, for example.

Thimerosal prevents the rest of a multi-dose vial from getting contaminated with bacteria or fungi each time a dose is used.

Researchers estimated it could cost anywhere from two to five times as much to manufacture vaccines for developing countries without thimerosal, and both transporting vaccines and keeping them refrigerated would be much harder as well.

“If we had to take the thimerosal out of those multi-dose vials, we’re having a hard time completing the task of getting every kid immunized now, that would add a tremendous burden,” Cooper said – and more children would probably die as a result.

“Children who can now be protected from these life-threatening diseases could become vulnerable,” Orenstein told Reuters Health.

The new statement is published in the AAP’s journal Pediatrics.

Thimerosal contains a type of mercury called ethyl mercury. Toxic effects have been tied to its cousin, methyl mercury, which stays in the body for much longer.

Earlier this year, the WHO said replacing thimerosal with an alternative preservative could affect vaccine safety and might cause some vaccines to become unavailable.

Mercury, however, is still on the list of global health hazards to be banned in a draft treaty from the United Nations Environment Program – which would mean a ban on thimerosal.

Reducing mercury exposure “is a wonderful thing,” Orenstein said.

However, “We need this exception because thimerosal is so vital for protecting children.”

He said keeping thimerosal in vaccines is essential mostly for humanitarian reasons – although preventing childhood diseases in the developing world could also help the U.S. because other countries can serve as reservoirs for illness.

“For American parents, this is more looking at the world and our role and responsibility in protecting the children of the world than it is a direct impact,” Orenstein said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/cxXOG Pediatrics, online December 17, 2012.

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Keep thimerosal in vaccines: pediatricians
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Analysis: Huge mandate for Japan’s LDP may be less than meets the eye

TOKYO (Reuters) – Even Japan‘s next prime minister, Shinzo Abe, realizes that his party’s landslide election victory is not the sweeping mandate that it appears at first blush.

An analysis of the vote as well as Abe’s own comments suggests he would be best served by focusing on what matters most to voters – the economy – and steering clear of divisive issues such as revising Japan’s pacifist constitution.

That said, aggressive moves by China in a territorial row over tiny islands in the East China Sea could act to bolster support for Abe’s tough-talking stance toward its giant rival.

Three years after a crushing defeat, Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) surged back to win 294 seats in Sunday’s vote for the 480-member lower house.

Together with a smaller ally, the New Komeito party, the LDP also took a two-thirds ‘super majority‘ that could help break Japan’s persistent policy deadlock in parliament.

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), in comparison, managed a mere 57 seats – less than a fifth of its showing when it swept into power for the first time in a historic 2009 vote.

Abe himself, however, admitted the victory was more a rejection of the novice Democrats’ messy reign than a vote of confidence for the LDP, which ruled Japan for most of the past half-century before its ouster three years ago.

“Our victory this time does not mean trust in the Liberal Democratic Party has been completely restored. Rather, it was a decision by the public that they should put an end to the political stagnation and confusion over the past three years, caused by the Democratic Party‘s misguided political leadership,” Abe told a news conference on Monday.

“We must move forward and achieve results.”

Japanese voters have been on a roller coaster of hopes and disappointment for the past decade since charismatic leader Junichiro Koizumi took office in 2001 pledging bold reforms.

Lured by Koizumi’s promises, voters handed the LDP a massive victory in 2005 only to kick out the long-ruling party four years later in hopes that the Democrats would do a better job.

In a sign that both enthusiasm and expectations are fading, turnout on Sunday was a record low 59 percent, according to a Kyodo news agency estimate.

Nor did the LDP win a majority of votes from those who did cast their ballots. The main opposition party won about 43 percent of the vote in the single-seat constituencies that supply 300 of the chamber’s seats, but a first-past-the post system and split votes amongst a clutch of new, small parties meant that the party secured 79 percent of those seats.

JULY ELECTION HURDLE

In the proportional representation blocks that provide the other 180 seats, the LDP won about 28 percent of the votes compared to 16 percent for the DPJ, while the new right-leaning Japan Restoration Party took 20 percent, media estimates showed.

“It’s clear that only 30 percent or less of voters solidly support the LDP. Unless Abe is careful, his cabinet support will go down to that level very quickly and even with a two-thirds majority, he would be in trouble,” said Sophia University political science professor Koichi Nakano.

Abe, who quit in 2007 after a troubled year in office, will have to persuade voters quickly that they made the right choice ahead of an election for parliament’s upper chamber in July.

Although the LDP-New Komeito “super majority” will allow the lower house to enact bills rejected by the upper chamber, doing so is a time-consuming and cumbersome process, so the new government will be keen to win a majority in July’s poll.

“He’s preparing for the next election and understands that what he does in the first few months will have a big impact and voters are most interested in the economy,” said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University’s Japan campus.

Abe has vowed to rescue Japan from its fourth recession since 2000, end deflation and tame the strong yen with a recipe of hyper-easy monetary policy and big spending on public works.

Equally central to his agenda, however, is a push to shed the shackles of Japan’s post-war pacifism by revising the U.S.-drafted constitution and rewriting wartime history with a less apologetic tinge.

Changing the charter – never altered since its adoption in 1947 – requires approval by two-thirds of both houses of parliament and a majority of voters in a national referendum.

Straw polls of voters suggest that the economy tops the list of public priorities and LDP ally New Komeito is not keen on revising the constitution’s pacifist Article 9.

But a strong showing by the nationalist Japan Restoration Party in the election also indicates simmering support for a tough stance towards China as well as hope for a decisive leader to restore Japan’s flagging self-respect.

That could grow if Beijing steps up its activities in waters and airspace near the disputed islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

Last week, a Chinese government plane entered what Japan considers its airspace over the islets in the East China Sea, prompting Japanese fighters to scramble and escalating tension in the row between Asia’s two biggest economies.

“This has not been a strong mandate for Abe in foreign policy or security matters,” said Narushige Michishita, an associate professor at the National Institute for Policy Studies. “But if China continues to provoke us as they did several days ago, that might change.”

(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Economy News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Analysis: Huge mandate for Japan’s LDP may be less than meets the eye
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Nigeria governor, 5 others die in helicopter crash

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A navy helicopter crashed Saturday in the country’s oil-rich southern delta, killing a state governor and five other people, in the latest air disaster to hit Africa’s most populous nation, officials said.

Nigeria‘s ruling party said in a statement that the governor of the central Nigerian state of Kaduna, Patrick Yakowa, died in the helicopter crash in Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta. The People’s Democratic Party’s statement described Yakowa’s death as a “colossal loss.”

The statement said the former national security adviser, General Andrew Azazi, also died in the crash. Azazi was fired in June amid growing sectarian violence in Nigeria, but maintained close ties with the government.

Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, said four other bodies had been found, but he could not immediately give their identities.

The crash occurred at about 3:30 p.m. after the navy helicopter took off from the village of Okoroba in Bayelsa state where officials had gathered to attend the burial of the father of a presidential aide, said Commodore Kabir Aliyu. He said that the helicopter was headed for Nigeria’s oil capital of Port Harcourt when it crashed in the Nembe area of Bayelsa state.

Aviation disasters remain common in Nigeria, despite efforts in recent years to improve air safety.

In October, a plane made a crash landing in central Nigeria. A state governor and five others sustained injuries but survived.

In June, a Dana Air MD-83 passenger plane crashed into a neighborhood in the commercial capital of Lagos, killing 153 people onboard and at least 10 people on the ground. It was Nigeria’s worst air crash in nearly two decades.

In March, a police helicopter carrying a high-ranking police official crashed in the central Nigerian city of Jos, killing four people.

Africa News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

U.S. gun website sued for alleged ties to slayings

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A prominent U.S. gun control group on Wednesday sued a gun auction website it says is linked to a mass shooting at a Wisconsin spa in October and the stalker slaying of a woman near Chicago in 2011.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence alleges that the design of armslist.com facilitates illegal online sales to unlawful gun buyers with no background checks, and enables users to evade laws that permit private sellers to sell guns only to residents of their own state.

“We as a nation are better than an anonymous Internet gun market where killers and criminals can easily get guns,” said Jonathan Lowy, the Brady Center’s Legal Action Project Director, in a statement.

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of the family of Jitka Vesel, 36, an immigrant from the Czech Republic who was shot and killed last year by Demetry Smirnov, a stalker.

The suit, which the Brady Center says is the first of its kind, alleges that Smirnov illegally bought the gun from a private seller he located through armslist.com.

Vesel was killed in the parking lot of the Chicago-area Czechoslovak Heritage Museum, where she was a volunteer preparing for a celebration in memory of Czech-American Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak.

Cermak was slain with a handgun during an attempted assassination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.

A representative for website owner Armslist, LLC was not immediately available for comment. The company is based in Noble, Oklahoma, according to public records.

The website includes a “terms of use” page on which users must promise they are age 18 or older and will not use the site for illegal purposes.

The Brady Center said that the case does not infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms, noting that 74 percent of National Rifle Association members believe that no guns should be sold without a criminal background check.

A representative for the NRA was not immediately available for comment.

Radcliffe Haughton, who killed his estranged wife and two other women and wounded four others before killing himself in a shooting in a Milwaukee suburb on October 21, also got his weapon through armslist.com, according to Wisconsin officials.

Haughton, who was under a restraining order for domestic violence, avoided a background check through a “lethal loophole” by buying a gun through the website, according to a letter to Armslist sent by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Wisconsin U.S. Representative Gwen Moore on October 26.

Sales conducted over the Internet also have been linked to mass killings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University. In 1999 eBay announced it was prohibiting online gun sales, according to the Brady Center lawsuit.

Craigslist did the same in 2007. Amazon.com and Google AdWords also prohibits the listing of firearms for sale, the suit says.

An undercover investigation of online gun sales by New York City last year found that 62 percent of private gun sellers agreed to sell a firearm to a buyer who said he probably could not pass a background check.

(Reporting By Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Greg McCune and Xavier Briand)

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

A children’s choir opens ‘SNL’ with ‘Silent Night’

NEW YORK (AP) — “Saturday Night Live” made a rare departure from its comedic opening to pay tribute to the children and adults killed at a Connecticut elementary school.

Not known for treating anything seriously or tenderly, the show made a fitting exception during the first moments of its show Saturday. Rather than the usual comedic sketch, a children’s choir appeared on camera and angelically sang “Silent Night,” with the touching refrain, “Sleep in heavenly peace.”

Then the members of the New York City Children’s Chorus shouted out the NBC show’s time-honored introduction: “Live from New York, it’s ‘Saturday Night!’”

It was the night’s sole reference to the tragedy and struck just the right tone.

Later, the chorus returned to join musical guest Paul McCartney in a rendition of his “Wonderful Christmas Time.”

Appearing in a sketch in an unbilled cameo, actor Samuel L. Jackson made a distinctive contribution of his own.

Pretending to be miffed at getting interrupted as a guest on the mock talk show “What Up with That?” Jackson said what sounded very much like an F-bomb, followed by the term sometimes shortened to “B.S.”

Playing the host of “What Up with That?” Kenan Thompson looked startled by Jackson’s vulgarities but kept going.

“C’mon, Sam. That costs money!” he quipped, cracking up the studio audience.

Moments after the show ended, Jackson tried to explain in a Twitter posting.

“I only said FUH,” he insisted, adding that Thompson was supposed to cut him off with his second eruption, but “blew it!!”

Jackson’s tweet was accompanied by a photo of himself looking mortified.

Besides Jackson, some of the stars dropping by for this special Christmas “SNL” included Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Kristen Wiig, Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey. The guest host was Martin Short.

___

Online: www.nbc.com

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Experts: No link between Asperger’s, violence

NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger’s syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.

Asperger‘s is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

“There really is no clear association between Asperger’s and violent behavior,” said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger’s.

High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger’s, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger’s, but has no knowledge of Lanza’s case.

Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.

“But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown,” he said in an email.

“These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles,” he added.

Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger’s generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger’s can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger’s does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.

Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“I think it’s far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger’s,” Laugeson said.

She said those with Asperger’s tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.

“There’s something more to this,” she said. “We just don’t know what that is yet.”

After much debate, the term Asperger’s is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation’s psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger’s will be incorporated under the umbrella term “autism spectrum disorder” for all the ranges of autism.

__

AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Asperger’s information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

NKorea rocket launch shows young leader as gambler

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — A triumphant North Korea staged a mass rally of soldiers and civilians Friday to glorify the country’s young ruler, who took a big gamble this week in sending a satellite into orbit in defiance of international warnings.

Wednesday’s rocket launch came just eight months after a similar attempt ended in an embarrassing public failure, and just under a year after Kim Jong Un inherited power following his father’s death.

The surprising success of the launch may have earned Kim global condemnation, but at home the gamble paid off, at least in the short term. To his people, it made the 20-something Kim appear powerful, capable and determined in the face of foreign adversaries.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans, packed into snowy Kim Il Sung Square, clenched their fists in a unified show of resolve as a military band tooted horns and pounded on drums.

Huge red banners positioned in the square called on North Koreans to defend Kim Jong Un with their lives. They also paid homage to Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, and his grandfather, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.

Pyongyang says the rocket put a crop and weather monitoring satellite into orbit. Much of the rest of the world sees it as a thinly disguised test of banned long-range missile technology. It could bring a fresh round of U.N. sanctions that would increase his country’s international isolation. At the same time, the success of the launch could strengthen North Korea’s military, the only entity that poses a potential threat to Kim’s rule.

The launch’s success, 14 years after North Korea’s first attempt, shows more than a little of the gambling spirit in the third Kim to rule North Korea since it became a country in 1948.

“North Korean officials will long be touting Kim Jong Un as a gutsy leader” who commanded the rocket launch despite being new to the job and young, said Kim Byung-ro, a North Korea specialist at Seoul National University in South Korea.

The propaganda machinery churned into action early Friday, with state media detailing how Kim Jong Un issued the order to fire off the rocket just days after scientists fretted over technical issues, ignoring the chorus of warnings from Washington to Moscow against a move likely to invite more sanctions.

Top officials followed Kim in shrugging off international condemnation.

Workers’ Party Secretary Kim Ki Nam told the crowd, bundled up against a winter chill in the heart of the capital, that “hostile forces” had dubbed the launch a missile test. He rejected the claim and called on North Koreans to stand their ground against the “cunning” critics.

North Korea called the satellite a gift to Kim Jong Il, who is said to have set the lofty goal of getting a satellite into space and then tapped his son to see it into fruition. The satellite, which North Korean scientists say is designed to send back data about crops and weather, was named Kwangmyongsong, or “Lode Star” — the nickname legendarily given to the elder Kim at birth.

Kim Jong Il died on Dec. 17, 2011, so to North Koreans, the successful launch is a tribute. State TV have been replaying video of the launch to “Song of Gen. Kim Jong Il.”

But it is the son who will bask in the glory, and face the international censure that may follow.

Even while he was being groomed to succeed his father, Kim Jong Un had been portrayed as championing science and technology as a way to lift North Korea out of decades of economic hardship.

“It makes me happy that our satellite is flying in space,” Pyongyang citizen Jong Sun Hui said as Friday’s ceremony came to a close and tens of thousands rushed into the streets, many linking arms as they went.

“The satellite launch demonstrated our strong power and the might of our science and technology once again,” she told The Associated Press. “And it also clearly testifies that a thriving nation is in our near future.”

Aside from winning him support from the people, the success of the launch helps his image as he works to consolidate power over a government crammed with elderly, old-school lieutenants of his father and grandfather, foreign analysts said.

Experts say that what is unclear, however, is whether Kim will continue to smoothly solidify power, steering clear of friction with the powerful military while dealing with the strong possibility of more crushing sanctions. The United Nations says North Korea already has a serious hunger problem.

“Certainly in the short run, this is an enormous boost to his prestige,” according to Marcus Noland, a North Korea analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

Noland, however, also mentioned the “Machiavellian argument” that this could cause future problems for Kim by significantly boosting the power of the military — “the only real threat to his rule.”

Successfully firing a rocket was so politically crucial for Kim at the onset of his rule that he allowed an April launch to go through even though it resulted in the collapse of a nascent food-aid-for-nuclear-freeze deal with the United States, said North Korea analyst Kim Yeon-su of Korea National Defense University in Seoul.

The launch success consolidates his image as heir to his father’s legacy. But it could end up deepening North Korea’s political and economic isolation, he said.

On Friday, the section at the rally reserved for foreign diplomats was noticeably sparse. U.N. officials and some European envoys stayed away from the celebration, as they did in April after the last launch.

Despite the success, experts say North Korea is years from even having a shot at developing reliable missiles that could bombard the American mainland and other distant targets.

North Korea will need larger and more dependable missiles, and more advanced nuclear weapons, to threaten U.S. shores, though it already poses a shorter-range missile threat to its neighbors.

The next big question is how the outside world will punish Pyongyang — and try to steer North Korea from what could come next: a nuclear test. In 2009, the North conducted an atomic explosion just weeks after a rocket launch.

Scott Snyder, a Korea specialist for the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote recently that North Korea‘s nuclear ambitions should inspire the U.S., China, South Korea and Japan to put aside their issues and focus on dealing with Pyongyang.

If there is a common threat that should galvanize regional cooperation, “it most certainly should be the prospect of a 30-year-old leader of a terrorized population with his finger on a nuclear trigger,” Snyder said.

____

Jon Chol Jin in Pyongyang, and Foster Klug and Sam Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report. Follow Jean H. Lee on Twitter: (at)newsjean.

Asia News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Games top App Store revenue in 2012

Read More..

One Direction, Rihanna, Adele lead Billboard 2012 charts

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Newcomer British boy band One Direction joined R&B diva Rihanna and British singer Adele to top Billboard‘s year-end music charts, released on Friday.

One Direction, who topped the Billboard 200 album chart twice this year with their debut, “Up All Night” in March and their sophomore album “Take Me Home” in November, were named Billboard‘s top new artist/group, rounding off a stellar year of U.S. success for the band.

Adele, 24, who became the first woman top score No. 1 single, album and artist on Billboard’s 2011 year-end charts, continued her reign in 2012, when her Grammy-winning record “21″ was the top-selling album in the U.S. and she was once again named artist of the year.

“21″ has sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. since its release in February 2011, becoming a fixture on the Billboard 200, especially after Adele’s six wins at the Grammy Awards earlier this year.

She is the only act to be named both top artist and have the top album in Billboard’s charts for two years in a row.

Adele was also named the No. 1 female artist while R&B rapper-singer Drake was named No. 1 male artist and pop-rock band Maroon 5 were named No. 1 group.

Rihanna, also 24, was named the top Hot 100 artist after a year of chart-topping hit singles such as “We Found Love” and “Diamonds” on the Hot 100 chart, which measures top-selling singles each week.

But Australia’s Gotye picked up the Hot 100 single of the year, with his heartbreak hit “Somebody That I Used To Know.”

Billboard compile their end-of-year lists based on chart performances between December 3 2011 and November 24 2012, tallying data including album sales and streaming figures.

For more on Billboard’s year-end charts, visit http://www.billboard.com/news/the-best-of-2012-the-year-in-music-1008045682.story#

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and Andrew Hay)

Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Venezuela furious at Obama’s comments on ailing Chavez

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela‘s government reacted with fury on Friday to U.S. President Barack Obama‘s criticism of ailing Hugo Chavez‘s “authoritarian” government at a time of national anxiety over his battle to recover from cancer surgery.

In an interview with U.S. network Univision, Obama declined to speculate on the 58-year-old socialist president’s health in Cuba, where he is in a delicate state after his fourth operation since mid-2011 for cancer in his pelvic region.

But he did say U.S. policy was aimed at ensuring “freedom” in Venezuela. “The most important thing is to remember that the future of Venezuela should be in the hands of the Venezuelan people. We’ve seen from Chavez in the past authoritarian policies, suppression of dissent,” Obama said.

Those remarks went down badly with officials in Caracas where emotions are running high over the future of Chavez and his self-styled revolution in the South American OPEC nation.

In power since 1999, Chavez is due to start a new six-year term on January 10 after winning re-election just weeks before Obama did. His health crisis has thrown that into doubt, and Chavez has named a successor in case he is incapacitated.

“With these despicable comments at such a delicate moment for Venezuela, the U.S. president is responsible for a major deterioration in bilateral relations, proving the continuity of his policy of aggression and disrespect towards our country,” the Venezuelan government said in a statement.

‘SLOW’ RECOVERY, BUT SPEAKING

During his tumultuous rule, Chavez has gleefully assumed former Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s mantle as Washington’s main irritant in the region – though oil has continued to flow freely north to the benefit of both nations’ economies.

Adored by poor supporters for his charismatic style and channeling of oil revenue into a wide array of welfare projects, Chavez is regarded as a dictator by opponents who point to his often harsh treatment of political foes.

Officials said doctors had to use “corrective measures” on Chavez to stop unexpected bleeding caused during Tuesday’s six-hour operation, but that his condition had since improved.

“The patient is fulfilling his post-operation protocol satisfactorily, given the complexity of the surgery,” the latest Venezuelan government statement on his condition said. “Recovery has been slow but progressive,” it added, saying Chavez had communicated with relatives and sent greetings to Venezuelans.

Amid rumors Chavez had been unconscious since his operation, presidential press officer Teresa Maniglia indicated he had spoken for the first time on Friday. “‘How are my people?’ was the first thing Chavez said today when he spoke with his family for the first time,” she said via Twitter.

Chavez’s situation is being closely tracked around the region, especially among fellow leftist-run nations from Cuba to Bolivia which depend on his generous oil subsidies and other aid for their fragile economies.

“The president is battling hard – this time for his life, before it was for the Latin American fatherland,” said President Evo Morales of Bolivia, a Chavez friend and ally who announced he was flying to Havana overnight for an “emergency” visit.

“This is very painful for us.”

SPECULATION

Venezuela’s leader has not divulged details of the cancer that was first diagnosed in June 2011, sparking endless speculation among the country’s 29 million people and criticism from opposition leaders for lack of transparency.

“They’re hiding something, I think,” said 57-year-old housewife Alicia Marquina. “I’m not convinced by the announcements they’re making. I’m not a ‘chavista’, but neither am I cruel. I hope he does not suffer much and finds peace.”

If Chavez has to leave office, new elections must be held within 30 days. Chavez has named his vice president, Nicolas Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver and union leader, as his heir apparent.

Opposition flagbearer Henrique Capriles, who lost the presidential race against Chavez in October, is the favorite to face Maduro should a new vote be held, though first the governor of Miranda state must retain his post in local elections on Sunday.

“The regime change is already occurring,” Jefferies’ & Co. managing director Siobhan Morden said in one of numerous Wall Street analyses of events in Venezuela. “The question is whether the alternative is Chavista-light or the opposition.”

Even if he dies, Chavez is likely to cast a long shadow over Venezuela’s political landscape for years – not unlike Argentine leader Juan Peron, whose 1950s populism is still the ideological foundation of the country’s dominant political party.

There are parallels with the situation in Cuba too, where Chavez’s close friend and mentor, Fidel Castro, suffered a health downturn, underwent various operations in secret, then eventually handed over power to his brother Raul Castro.

(Additional reporting by Mario Naranjo and Eyanir Chinea in Caracas, Carlos Quiroga in La Paz; Editing by Paul Simao)

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..