■ United States
LouseBuster blasts lice
Head lice were blown away in half an hour by a new blow dryer-like device, University of Utah researchers report. The "LouseBuster," which kills bugs and eggs by drying them out, might one day offer an alternative to the powerful delousing shampoos currently used. The LouseBuster results were reported in this month's issue of Pediatrics. A study of 169 children in the Salt Lake area showed the LouseBuster killed 80 percent of hatched lice and 98 percent of eggs on infested children. Enough bugs were killed to prevent remaining lice from breeding so "virtually all subjects were cured of head lice when examined one week following treatment," the researchers wrote. The LouseBuster could be on the market within two years.
■ United Kingdom
Abuser faces sentencing
A woman in York faced sentencing yesterday for turning her sister-in-law into a slave, forcing her to do housework naked and beating her savagely. Antonia Pearson-Gaballonie, a 35-year-old mother of six, kept Veronica Sandeman, 26, as a slave, stabbed her with scissors and made her beg for food for several years. She was found guilty at York Crown Court in September of making threats to kill, false imprisonment and six counts of assault resulting in bodily harm between 2002 and 2004.
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