Briefly

JERUSALEM

Israel moving barrier, but it will still jut into West Bank

Israel is rerouting its West Bank barrier to move it closer to the 1967 pre-war boundary, but it will still jut into the occupied territory to encircle major Jewish settlements, a Defense Ministry official said Thursday.

The disclosure by Nezah Mashiah, head of the barrier project in the Defense Ministry, was a sign that recent international and domestic challenges would not deter Israel from keeping Jewish settlement blocs on the “Israeli side” of the barrier.

The barrier is an integral part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan of “unilateral disengagement” from the Palestinians. The plan envisions an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements by late next year.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Synthetic protein created to further mad cow research

California scientists say they have created the first synthetic version of a rogue protein called a prion and used it to give mice a brain-destroying infection, evidence important to settling any lingering doubt these mysterious substances alone cause mad cow disease and similar illnesses.

The report, published Thursday, won’t end the scientific controversy, as skeptics already are criticizing the research.

But if the work ultimately is validated it could have far-reaching implications, such as helping to create diagnostic tests for mad cow disease. It also could help explain why normal brain proteins suddenly go bad and sicken some people who’ve never eaten mad cow-tainted food.

UNITED NATIONS

U.S. alters Sudan resolution but still threatens action

Bowing to opposition on the U.N. Security Council, the United States dropped the word “sanctions” from a draft resolution on Sudan on Thursday, but kept a threat of economic action if Khartoum fails to disarm Arab militias blamed for widespread atrocities in the western region of Darfur.

The Security Council was to vote Friday on the resolution, which was revised four times in a week as the United States sought to overcome objections to the threat of sanctions, stressing the need to act urgently.

Meanwhile, violence continued in Darfur, where at least 30,000 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced as pro-government militias known as Janjaweed staged a brutal campaign to drive out black African farmers in a 17-month conflict over dwindling resources.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

FDA approves new drug to treat alcohol abuse

The government approved the first new drug to treat alcohol abuse in a decade on Thursday, a medicine called Campral that promises to help ward off relapses.

Campral, known chemically as acamprosate, isn’t for patients who are actively drinking at the start of treatment or who abuse other substances in addition to alcohol, the Food and Drug Administration warned.

Exactly how Campral works isn’t fully understood. But it is thought to somehow ease alcoholism withdrawal symptoms by normalizing abnormalities in two brain chemical systems.