In an interview scheduled to air Friday as part of an MSNBC documentary, Dr. Conrad Murray insists that Michael Jackson “begged and pleaded” to get propofol,louis vuitton tote an anesthetic drug Murray administered to Jackson to help him sleep. “He asked me, ‘Please, please Dr. Conrad ... I need some milk so that I can sleep. If I don't get any sleep today, I cannot perform, I cannot do anything.’” “Michael Jackson and The Doctor,” which premieres on MSNBC Friday at 10 p.m. ET, chronicles the trial from the points of view of Murray and his defense team. Murray,louis vuitton who chose not to take the stand during the trial, talks about the day Jackson died and shares details of his relationship with the pop star. On the morning of the day Jackson died, Murray says that Jackson appeared “hysterical.” “He looked to me like the ‘Thriller’ image,” louis vuitton outletsaid Murray, referring to Jackson’s costume in the 1982 music video. Murray says Jackson considered him his “one friend.” “I think in many ways, there were some mirror images in our lives,” says Murray. “I’ve seen him cry so many times. He lived a life greater than a hundred years of pain of any human.”

According to a news conference held by the Xiamen Public Security Bureau on 1st November,louis vuitton tote Xiamen police have arrested 47 suspects who allegedly took drugs or participated in broadcasting drug use online in a nationwide crackdown on online drug crimes, reports the Strait Metropolis Daily. A total of 16 drug-related video dating sites were cracked in Xiamen in this nationwide raid launched by the Ministry of Public Security, said Xiamen police. One of the video dating websites has more than 10 million registered users and hundreds of thousands of them are online at normal times. The website has more than 3,000 chatrooms,louis vuitton outlet of which more than 10% are drug-related. According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security,louis vuitton a total of 3559 drug-related suspects were held in administrative detention, 1206 drug addicts were forced to attend compulsory isolation rehabilitation programs, 803 were to forced to receive drug treatment in communities, and 3794 were released by the police after education in this nationwide raid. Among them, 65% are less than 35 years old with the youngest only 15 years old. "This uncertainty that is torturing the Greek people must end," said Papoulias ahead of the meeting. "We must find a solution. All of Europe wants us to find a solution." The talks came after Papandreou held his last cabinet meeting as prime minister and Samaras stepped up pressure on his political opponent to stand aside.

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail.louis vuitton tote Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. One senior EU official told the Financial Times that Mr Papandreou had appeared reticent about the components of the bail-out package during talks at last week’s summit of EU presidents and prime ministers but no one was prepared for the referendum announcement that came “like a bolt out of the blue”. “I don’t think anyone expected this,” the official said. “The calculation has to be this is the only way [Papandreou] believes he can get this through.” “With an irresponsible opposition that is promising Greek voters the moon, it is very difficult to see how this referendum could be won,” added Sony Kapoor, head of Re-Define,louis vuitton an economic consultancy. “The decision is good for democracy but is likely to make the euro crisis worse by heightening uncertainty in this very fragile environment.” The announcement exacerbated declines in the euro and equities, as investors feared that angry Greek voters could derail the painstakingly negotiated plan. The euro fell to a session low of $1.3827,louis vuitton outlet down more than 2 per cent on the day and erasing its gains from last week, when the deal was first announced. US stocks accelerated their decline as well, with the S&P 500 index ending the day down 2.5 per cent. It was the index’s worst one-day fall in nearly a month, ending what had been stocks’ best month since 1991, with a gain of 10.7 per cent, on a sour note. An opinion poll published on Sunday showed that more than 60 per cent of Greeks were opposed to the terms of the new bail-out, which would include another 100,000 job losses over the next three years and big cuts in pensions. The vote would probably be held in January, when Greek bondholders were expected to sign up for a voluntary 50 per cent haircut being negotiated with the International Institute of Finance, wrapping up the new bail-out package. One Athens banker said: “This is a worrying decision by the prime minister. It could derail the whole process even before it’s properly started.” The premier also announced that a vote of confidence in his government would be held this week to endorse the referendum proposal. That vote would follow a three-day debate on Greece’s worsening economic and social problems Antonis Samaras, the conservative opposition leader, immediately rejected the proposal, arguing that a referendum was “not the way out”. “The only option is elections and, like Ireland and Portugal, to request the obviously necessary changes in the bail-out agreement,” he added, referring to proposals by leaders of the two other eurozone member states that are implementing EU-IMF programmes.

The head of Quebec's anti-corruption squad is calling for "urgent action" to tackle collusion in the construction sector. Jacques Duchesneau appeared Tuesday at an administrative legislature committee, to flesh out his squad's findings after a year-long investigation. After meeting with more than 500 people through the course of the investigation, it became clear that money laundering, bid-rigging, political kickbacks and organized crime are an inherent part of Quebec's construction sector,burberry outlet said Duchesneau. But the industry can be rehabilitated, he said - ultimately through a full-scale inquiry behind closed doors. Only a full-scale inquiry can restore public faith in the system, Duchesneau said. But it has to be held behind closed doors, Duchesneau insisted, to ensure anonymity for people who risk speaking out. Construction industry 'not normal' on many levels During his appearance, Duchesneau revisited the squad's findings first published in a report leaked to media earlier this month. "It's not the report" that is devastating, he said - "it's the reality it reflects." In his half-hour introductory declaration, he used the phrase "not normal" repeatedly when describing aspects of the province's construction industry. He accused Quebec's Transport Ministry of acting as a "subcontracting master" that grants too much supervisory power to engineering firms that oversee contracts. The ministry also suffers from "critical" management problems, he said. Duchesneau's report said groups like the Mafia and bikers not only use construction companies to launder money, but also act as enforcers for favoured firms. Calling organized crime leaders "vultures," Duchesneau said they are also endemic in the world of political fundraising, and no party is immune. Duchesneau fielded several questions from committee members on his squad's methodology, mandate and evidence. He was tight-lipped about threats directed at him during the investigation. He refused to name names, calling the incidents "intimidation" and said he didn't file a formal complaint.

About one-quarter of the people who participated in a protest against the oilsands industry on Parliament Hill Monday were arrested, but none were charged with criminal offences, police said. A statement from the Ottawa police and RCMP said there were 117 arrests during the protest, which involved about 400 people, but the demonstration overall was "peaceful throughout." Police said the people who were arrested were obstructing police, and were charged with trespassing under the Ontario Trespassing Act, fined $65 and released. Greenpeace Canada said, among those arrested, was Council of Canadians chairwoman Maude Barlow, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada president David Coles, Polaris Institute executive director Tony Clarke, Greenpeace campaigner Keith Stewart and former Mikisew Cree chief George Poitras. "(Monday's) protest was a turning point when people in Canada from coast to coast to coast stood together against the tarsands and for a clean energy future that promotes climate justice," Stewart said in a statement. Dr. Heidi Oetter, air yeezy 2011 registrar of the college, said Tuesday that she has launched an investigation into the conduct of the four unnamed doctors and if disciplinary action results, the public will be notified. "The college fully understands the need for public confidence in ensuring the skill and competence of the physicians practising in the province - not just when a license is initially granted but throughout the physician's professional work life. "These unfortunate events have provided an opportunity for us to review and strengthen our internal processes, including the way information is exchanged between the College and the Health Authorities - and to make quality improvements where necessary," she said. Oetter said in an interview the radiologist who is still working in B.C. is employed by the Vancouver Island Health Authority. "He has returned to practice, but with restrictions on his licence." Two others are not working anywhere in Canada and a fourth has moved back to work in Ontario where authorities have been made aware of the concerns.

 An election that began with change in the air may be heading for an about-turn. Are Ontario's voters changing their mind about change? The Tories kicked off their campaign with a "Change ahead" slogan echoing their Changebook platform. The New Democrats countered with "Change that puts people first." The Liberals came up with "Forward. Together" as their way of shedding the status quo. Now, with global economic upheaval looming, Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty is being rebranded: The UnChange. An unchanging, sacs louis vuitton steady hand at a time of tumult. Or more precisely, a through-train that offers continuity instead of a sharp turn left or right. The polls have changed dramatically since the campaign began three weeks ago - from a possible Tory majority, to a dead heat (with the NDP holding the balance of power), to a trend line that suggests the Liberals may be pulling ahead. The most dramatic change may come after Tuesday night's televised debate, when the three major party leaders face off against each other for the only time in the campaign. Stay tuned for a lecture from McGuinty about the "strong, steady, experienced hand on the tiller," a line he uses on me during an interview in the premier's office he has occupied for two terms - and hopes to retain after Oct. 6. "These are perilous times, they call for strong and steady leadership," he continues, warming up to the theme we will hear in the homestretch. "I think as we move towards the end of the campaign, more and more Ontarians will be focused on the economy because of the tremendous uncertainty that prevails globally." Riffing off shaky global markets paid dividends last May for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, another unloved incumbent who campaigned successfully for a third term. The difference is that McGuinty is offering continuity with a twist: Not so much the status quo, but an activist government that has some experience at changing with the times. He not only projects Buddha-like calm but must now reincarnate himself as an activist premier confronting two fresh faces in the debate. Both of them promising - and personifying - change. Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak defines change primarily as rolling back the McGuinty legacy of environmental activism, green jobs, high hydro rates and new taxes - while retaining much else, notably Liberal education reforms. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, while surfing the federal orange wave that Jack Layton rode to Ottawa, is also focusing on affordability by vying with Hudak for the title of tax fighter (while promising to raise corporate taxes). Both Hudak and Horwath will be making their debuts in leaders' debates. McGuinty's experience gives him a clear advantage after three previous election performances. Yet he is still not an especially nimble debater compared to the stern, prosecutorial style favoured by Hudak. Horwath will likely try to rise above the din of the male politicians squabbling in the sandbox, casting herself as a new kind of female leader who eschews gotcha politics. But the real surprise of the debate may be the Liberal leader. Despite the baggage weighing him down after eight years in power, he seems a newly matured McGuinty, far more sure-footed and engaging than the stiff politician whom Ontarians first got to know 15 years ago, when he took over the leadership of a battered party. At 56, he seems neither grey nor jaded, brimming with an intensity and drive that usually ebb from other long-serving politicians. Throughout his career McGuinty has been underestimated. Against all odds, he is pressing hard for a majority, refusing to pull his punches with Horwath even though he may need to partner with her to retain power after Oct. 6. The Liberal campaign is locked in a struggle with the NDP to capture the progressive vote, touting McGuinty's environmental activism and social reforms. "Yes - absolutely convinced that we can win a majority," he says defiantly, dressed in jeans and casual open-necked shirt as he hunches over his desk on a Sunday morning. Is he apprehensive about his debate performance, knowing the stakes are so high? After all, he has faltered before - famously in the 1999 debate against a more practiced Mike Harris. "I wouldn't say I get nervous, but I get ready," he replies, sitting back in his chair, finally relaxing. "It's like if you play a sport . . . you pump a little bit of adrenaline." Let the games begin. UnChange could be ahead.

 Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government blasted critics of its environmental record as "extremists" on Monday as the oil and gas industry launched a new public relations campaign which coincided with civil disobedience on Parliament Hill over a controversial U.S. pipeline expansion project. If approved this year by the Obama administration, the multi-billion dollar Keystone XL project, proposed by Alberta-based TransCanada, would provide a new 3,100-kilometre route for about 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta to 15 refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas.Alberta and federal government officials have touted the project for its economic benefits, air yeezy 2011 including thousands of new jobs in both countries, but environmental groups have turned the project into a debate over expansion in the oilsands sector - which requires large amounts of water, land and energy to extract synthetic oil from Alberta and Saskatchewan's northern bitumen deposits. While First Nations leaders and environmentalists criticized the industry for damaging natural ecosystems from expansion and recent accidents on some pipeline routes from various companies, the government dismissed questions from the opposition about the absence of regulations to crack down on rising emissions. "I certainly take the view that the NDP should stop taking the side of extremists who want to kill Canadian jobs," Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said in an interview. "I'm not saying everyone who's protesting is (an extremist). And everyone who's protesting has a democratic right to get out there and express their view in the public square. This is Canada. I don't have any quarrel with that at all." Oliver made the comments after about 100 protesters from First Nations communities and environmental groups crossed a police barricade on the Parliament Hill lawn and peacefully allowed the RCMP to arrest them for the action. The protesters who were arrested included Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, an advocacy group promoting social justice issues. Many of the protesters chanted for "justice" and to "stop the tarsands," with NDP MP Dennis Bevington and Green party leader Elizabeth May in attendance. Jackie Thomas, the chief of Saik'uz First Nation, a member of the Yinka Dene Alliance, blasted industry executives for trying to buy support through agreements with Aboriginal communities for development projects that would go through their land. "We've seen that routine in Canadian history and we say no," she told the crowd, which also included hundreds who did not cross the barricade. "We say no to the destruction of our land, water and people." While TransCanada officials have said the pipeline will have leading safety standards and efficiency, the main lobby group representing the oil and gas companies began a new marketing offensive in partnership with a former environmentalist, Patrick Moore, who has worked as a paid consultant for industry groups since the 1990s. In the campaign, launched by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Moore, who describes himself as a co-founder of Greenpeace, praised oilsands producers for efforts to reclaim or restore land and ecosystems disturbed by open-pit mining and tailings ponds. According to the Pembina Institute, an environmental research group that also does consulting work for oil companies, the province of Alberta has only certified 0.15 per cent of land disturbed by oilsands mining as fully-reclaimed sites. The oilsands sector has seen its greenhouse gas emissions grow by nearly 300 per cent since 1990. It now produces more pollution per year than all of the cars on Canadian roads and roughly the same amount of pollution as light-duty trucks. It has reduced the average amount of emissions for each barrel by about 30 per cent since 1990, but the most recent statistics released by Environment Canada show that it is no longer making those gains. But Oliver noted that the industry represents 0.1 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions - equivalent to the pollution from coal-fired power plants in the state of Wisconsin. "You wouldn't know that listening to some of the rhetoric, but those are the facts," Oliver said. "I've been repeating those facts for weeks now. Nobody has said that those facts are wrong. I haven't heard a single person say that I'm wrong on those facts and I didn't generate them myself."

 Libya's new rulers said Sunday that investigators had found the site of a mass grave believed to contain human remains from what many here regard as one of Moammar Kadafi's signature crimes - the 1996 massacre of some 1,200 inmates at Tripoli's notorious Abu Salim prison. Street demonstrations in the eastern city of Benghazi by relatives of those who died in the massacre provided a catalyst for the nationwide protest movement that erupted in February. The protests evolved into an armed insurrection that eventually toppled Kadafi after more than 40 years of authoritarian rule. For years, kin of those who disappeared had been pressing the government to disclose what happened to the prisoners. On Sunday, juicy couture a military spokesman for Libya's provisional government told reporters here that the burial site appears to have been discovered - a desert tract scattered with bone fragments outside of the prison complex. Rumors had long circulated that the bodies had been interred near the prison. The site was identified through information obtained from witnesses and former prison security guards captured after Kadafi fled Tripoli, officials said. Transitional government officials say they plan to seek international assistance to help excavate the site and identify the remains via DNA analysis. Libya's new rulers are keen to clarify what exactly happened at Abu Salim. The provisional government has said it wants to capture Kadafi and his associates and put them on trial for crimes committed during his rule, including killings at Abu Salim. A trial could determine whether Kadafi himself ordered the killings or was even aware of them at the time. Witnesses have said Kadafi's security chief, Abdullah Senussi, who is also Kadafi's brother-in-law, appeared at the prison the day before the killings of most inmates and probably ordered the executions. Witnesses have said that most of those killed were shot in courtyards at the prison on the morning of June 29. The day before, prisoners protesting conditions had taken several guards hostage and clashes had occurred within the prison's walls. Abu Salim was long a lockup and interrogation center for political dissidents, especially Islamists bent on ending Kadafi's autocratic rule. In recent years, the government had acknowledged that excess force had been used, and had even notified some families of the deaths of their loves ones. In 2004, Kadafi conceded that killings had occurred at the prison and opined that the victims' loved ones' had a right to know what had happened to their sons and husbands, noted Human Rights Watch, the New York-based group that has studied the issue. Kadafi's son, Seif Islam, has also acknowledged that mistakes were made and was said to have favored some form of compensation for families of the massacre victims.

 C ombining two drugs from Novartis and Pfizer to treat post-menopausal women with a certain type of advanced breast cancer more than doubled the time they lived without their disease getting worse, study data showed on Monday. Investigators conducting a clinical trial found that women treated with a combination of Novartis' Afinitor or everolimus, and Pfizer's oestrogen-blocker Aromasin, known generically as xemestane, had progression-free survival (PFS) of as much as seven months more than women treated with the Pfizer drug alone. "This is a highly significant improvement in the time to disease progression. longchamp outlet It's quite remarkable," said Jose Baselga of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who led the trial and presented the data at the European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (EMCC) in Stockholm. He said side effects were consistent with those previously reported in trials of Afinitor and did not lead to a worse quality of life for patients on the drug. Baselga's analysis of the data showed that PFS for women in the Afinitor group was 6.9 months versus 2.8 months for those not taking the Novartis drug -- a 57 percent improvement. The trial was stopped early after a separate independent analysis by a central review committee showed that Afinitor extended PFS to 10.6 months compared to 4.1 months -- a 64 percent improvement. "These results are impressive and, potentially, could represent a new therapeutic option," Baselga said. Afinitor targets mTOR, a protein that acts as an important regulator of tumor cell division, blood vessel growth and cell metabolism. Novartis says there are around 220,000 newly diagnosed cases worldwide each year of the type of advanced breast cancer that could benefit from Afinitor. Novartis has been upbeat about the prospects for the drug, which is already approved for other types of cancer, such as kidney and a rare type of pancreatic cancer. The Swiss firm's CEO Joe Jimenez told Reuters in a recent interview it could generate an extra $1 billion or more in annual sales from its new use in breast cancer. [ID:nL5E7K227N] Herve Hoppenot, president of Novartis's oncology division, said the magnitude of benefit seen in this trial showed that Afinitor is "a potential important new treatment approach". The Swiss drugmaker is planning to file for regulatory approval of Afinitor in breast cancer by the end of this year. Novartis reported Afinitor sales for cancer of $243 million in 2010 but analysts expect that number to balloon if the drug is licensed in breast cancer. Thomson Reuters Pharma data show analysts on average forecast sales of $1.53 billion by 2016. The hormone oestrogen promotes the growth of about two thirds of breast cancers, and hormonal therapies such as Aromasin which block the effect of oestrogen or reduce its levels are used to treat these so-called hormone receptor-positive breast cancers. But many breast cancer patients, and nearly all those with advanced forms of the disease where it has spread to other parts of the body, become resistant to hormonal therapy. "When patients stop responding to hormonal therapy, the benefits from any secondary therapy are limited," Baselga said. The Phase III clinical trial, known as BOLERO 2, was designed to test the efficacy of Afinitor in patients resistant to aromatase inhibitors - drugs that cut the amount of oestrogen produced and help to slow or reverse the growth of the cancer. It was as conducted in 24 countries in 724 patients with an average age of 62. All patients had already been treated with the aromatase inhibitors anastrozole, sold by AstraZeneca as Arimidex, or the generic drug letrozole. Some had also been treated with tamoxifen, fulvestrant and chemotherapy.

The Quartet - the EU, UN, US, Russia - acted after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas submitted his bid to the UN for the recognition of a Palestinian state. Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled in September 2010. The Palestinians walked out in protest of the building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN the core of the conflict was not settlements but the refusal of the Palestinians to recognise Israel as a Jewish state. "Within a month there will be a preparatory meeting between the parties to agree an agenda and method of proceeding in the negotiation," juicy couture outlet a Quartet statement said. "At that meeting there will be a commitment by both sides that the objective of any negotiation is to reach an agreement within a timeframe agreed to by the parties but not longer than the end of 2012." The Quartet said that both Israel and the Palestinians should then produce "comprehensive proposals within three months on territory and security," and "substantial progress" should be achieved within six months. An international conference to fine-tune all outstanding issues would be held in Moscow "at an appropriate time," the Middle East negotiators added. They said that Israeli and Palestinian leaders were now studying the Quartet proposals. EU foreign policy chief Baroness (Catherine) Ashton said she hoped both sides would react positively to the plan. "If ever there was a time to resolve this conflict, it is now," Lady Ashton said. "It is now because Israel worries about its security, because the people of Palestine have waited long for their country." The Quartet unveiled its proposals shortly after Mr Abbas formally submitted the request for a Palestinian state to become a full member of the UN. Addressing the General Assembly in New York, he urged the Security Council to back a state with pre-1967 borders. "I call upon the distinguished members of the Security Council to vote in favour of our full membership," Mr Abbas told the General Assembly, in what was for him an unusually impassioned speech. "I also appeal to the states that have not yet recognised the State of Palestine to do so," Mr Abbas said. "The time has come for my courageous and proud people, after decades of displacement and colonial occupation and ceaseless suffering, to live like other peoples of the earth, free in a sovereign and independent homeland," he said. He added that he hoped for swift backing. Many delegates gave him a standing ovation, and some were clapping and even whistling in support.