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Letter to the editor

Cloned meat, milk is safe, fda concludes

By Times Wires
Published January 15, 2008

WASHINGTON

A long-awaited final report from the Food and Drug Administration concludes that foods from healthy cloned animals and their offspring are as safe as those from ordinary animals, effectively removing the last U.S. regulatory barrier to the marketing of meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs and goats. The 968-page "final risk assessment," obtained by the Washington Post, finds no evidence to support opponents' concerns that food from clones may harbor hidden risks. In practice, it will be years before foods from clones make their way to store shelves in appreciable quantities, in part because the clones are too valuable to slaughter or milk.

SAN FRANCISCO, Cal.

2 jets collide as they leave gates

Two planes collided Sunday night at San Francisco International Airport as they were being pushed away from adjacent gates, and federal investigators were studying evidence on Monday to try to determine why it happened. No one was injured in the accident, but the slow-moving collision of the two airplanes, a nearly empty United Airlines Boeing 757 and a Skywest commuter jet carrying 54 passengers, caused heavy damage to the tails of both aircraft. The collision occurred between two gates as the planes were being pushed back from their gates by tow tugs under the direction of an air traffic controller. "We don't know how it happened yet," said Robin Urbanski, a spokeswoman for United Airlines, the operator of both the 757 and the Skywest plane.

MIAMI, Fla.

Cocaine seizures decline in 2007

U.S.-directed seizures and disruptions of cocaine shipments from Latin America dropped sharply in 2007 from the year before, reflecting in part a successful shift in tactics by drug traffickers to avoid detection at sea, senior U.S. officials said Monday. Navy Adm. Jim Stavridis, commander of U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the region, said seizures fell from 262 metric tons in 2006 to about 210 tons.

NEW HAVEN, Conn.

Yale joins colleges increasing aid

Yale University said Monday that it is joining an expanding group of elite colleges making education more affordable to middle- and upper-middle-class families, under pressure from parents, lawmakers and alumni. The Ivy League school announced what it called the largest increase in financial aid spending in its history, boosting contributions from its endowment by more than $24-million to more than $80-million annually. The move will cut the average cost more than in half for families with financial need, Yale officials said. About 43 percent of Yale's 5,300 undergraduates qualify for financial aid. Tuition, room and board total about $45,000 a year.

Elsewhere

A new view: Douglas Hoffman, resident of an upscale retirement community south of Las Vegas, was sentenced to up to five years in prison for killing more than 500 trees that were blocking his backyard view of the Strip.

Search goes on: Rescuers searched through the remnants of a deadly avalanche in northwestern Montana, unsure whether more backcountry skiers had been caught up after two skiers were killed Sunday.

Times wires

[Last modified January 14, 2008, 23:43:39]