■ France
Judicial reform push urged
A parliamentary committee was due to approve a report yesterday urging a shakeup of the justice system after a case that saw at least 13 innocent people wrongfully jailed for child sex abuse. One of the worst miscarriages of justice in the country since the end of World War II prompted a rare public apology from President Jacques Chirac and calls for reform of a judicial system whose flaws had been starkly exposed. The case, which arose from reports of child abuse in the town of Outreau in 2000, was seen initially as a major pedophile affair but later proved to be a more limited case of incest in which over a dozen outsiders were wrongly implicated. An appeal court ruled the convictions had been made on the basis of inconsistent evidence in an investigation run by an inexperienced magistrate.
■ United States
Road rage now a disorder
Doctors have a new name for road rage -- intermittent explosive disorder -- and a new study suggests it is far more common than they realized, affecting up to 16 million Americans. By definition, intermittent explosive disorder involves multiple outbursts that are way out of proportion to the situation. The disorder typically first appears in adolescence; in a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the average age of onset was 14. The study was based on a national face-to-face survey of 9,282 US adults who answered diagnostic questionnaires in 2001-2003. About 5 percent to 7 percent of the sample had had the disorder, which would equal up to 16 million people.
■ Saudi Arabia
Food aid offered to Africa
Six countries in the Horn of Africa are to benefit from US$10 million in drought relief Riyadh has pledged to provide through the World Food Program (WFP), the Royal Saudi Embassy in Ethopia said yesterday. The cash donation would be forwarded to the WFP to buy and distribute food to the needy this month in drought-affected parts of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Tanzania.
■ United Kingdom
Testicular cells provide hope
Scientists have been granted permission to investigate whether stem cells found deep inside testicles can be used to repair damaged tissues and organs. Fertility specialist Robert Winston at the Hammersmith Hospital in London and other scientists will pluck cells from testicular tissue to see if they are as versatile as embryonic stem cells, which can potentially grow into any tissue in the body. If the scientists succeed in harvesting the cells and keeping them alive, they could pave the way for powerful new therapies for conditions as diverse as heart disease, Parkinson's and spinal cord injuries. Chris Barratt, scientific director of the Assisted Conception Unit at the Birmingham Women's Hospital, said: "There are a lot of testicles around and you don't need a staggering number to have enough variety to match nearly all of the population."
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