Indonesia Hotel Bombings

Police officers stand guard outside J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, July 17, 2009.


An armed police officer stands guard outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel after an explosion went off in Jakarta, Indonesia.


A member of police bomb squad inspects the damage at Ritz-Carlton hotel after an explosion went off.

Security guards stand outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Hotel employees gather outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Employees gather outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel after an explosion went off.

In this photo released by Indonesian State Secretariat, the interior of a restaurant at Ritz-Carlton is damaged after an explosion.

In this photo released by Indonesian State Secretariat, a member of police forensic inspects the damage inside the Ritz-Carlton hotel after an explosion.

Police officers inspect the damage.

Police officers stand guard outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel after an explosion went off in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, July 17, 2009. Bombs exploded at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, ripping the facade off the Ritz, police said.

An SA security guard inspects the damage.

Police officers escort hotel guests as they leave the Ritz-Carlton hotel after an explosion.

In this image taken from a footage shot by METRO TV and distributed via APTN, police inspect the damage after an explosion went off at the Marriott hotel in Jakarta.

In this image taken from a footage shot by METRO TV and distributed via APTN, a troop of police arrive at the site of explosion in Jakarta.

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Bali Bombers Executed

The Bali bombers (L-R) Imam Samudera, Mukhlas and Amrozi smile after attending a mass prayer on Eid Al Fitr at Nusakambangan prison in 2006.

They were convicted of involvement in the devastation at the bombed-out site of the Sari nightclub in Kuta on Indonesia’s Bali island on October 13, 2002.

The three Muslim militants were executed simultaneously by a firing squad in Indonesia.

Supporters of the bombers take a moment of silence at Al Islam boarding school in Tenggulun to hear the news.

An Indonesia hardliner Muslim shouts "God is great" as the bodies of Amrozi and Muklas, alias Ali Gufron, arrive at Amrozi mother’s house.

Supporters of Amrozi and Mukhlas stand next to pictures of the three convicted bombers.

A supporter cries as the bodies are brought for the burial ceremony in Tenggulun, the home village of Amrozi and Ali Ghufron.

There were so many people at the funerals that some stood on platforms in order to get a better view.

Chairul Anwar, an older brother of Bali bomber Imam Samudra, prays in front of the grave for his brother in Serang.

Lulu Jamaluddin (in white shirt), the brother of Imam Samudra, carries his body through the streets between his neighbourhood mosque and graveyard.

Umar, the 12-year-old son of Bali bomber Imam Samudra, during the funeral procession of his father in Serang.

Thousands of people, including some hardliners, gathered for the funerals, sparking clashes with the police.

Tree Man 'Who Grew Roots' (Part 2)

Tree Man 'Who Grew Roots' (Part 1)

http://pictzz.blogspot.com/2008/08/tree-man-who-grew-roots.html

Tree Man 'Who Grew Roots'

An Indonesian fisherman who feared that he would be killed by tree-like growths covering his body has been given hope of recovery by an American doctor - and Vitamin A. Dede, now 35, baffled medical experts when warty "roots" began growing out of his arms and feet after he cut his knee in a teenage accident.Tree man 'who grew roots'

The welts spread across his body unchecked and soon he was left unable to carry out everyday household tasks. Sacked from his job and deserted by his wife, Dede has been raising his two children - now in their late teens - in poverty, resigned to the fact that local doctors had no cure for his condition.To make ends meet he even joined a local "freak show", parading in front of a paying audience alongsidevictims of other peculiar diseases.

Although supported by his extended family, he was often a target of abuseand ridicule in his rural fishing village. But now an American dermatology expert who flew out to Dede's home village south of the capital Jakarta claims to have identified his condition, and proposed a treatment that could transform his life.

After testing samples of the lesions and Dede's blood, Dr Anthony Gaspari of the University of Maryland concluded that his affliction is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a fairly common infection that usually causes small warts to develop on sufferers. Dede's problem is that he has a rare genetic fault that impedes his immune system, meaning his body is unable to contain the warts.

The virus was therefore able to "hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells", ordering them to produce massive amounts of the substance that caused the tree-like growths known as "cutaneous horns" on his hands and feet. Dede's counts of a key type of white blood cell are so low that Dr Gaspari initially suspected he may have the Aids virus. But tests showed he did not, and it became clear that Dede's immune condition was something far rarer and more mysterious.

Warts aside, he had enjoyed remarkable good health throughout his life - which would not be expected of someone with a suppressed immune system - and neither his parents nor his siblings have shown signs of developing lesions. "The likelihood of having his deficiency is less than one in a million," said Dr Gaspari.

Dr Gaspari, believes thatDede's condition can be largely cleared up by a daily doses of a synthetic form of Vitamin A, which has been shown to arrest the growth of warts in severe cases of HPV."He won't have a perfectly normal body but the warts should reduce in size to the point where he coulduse his hands," Dr Gaspari said."

Over the course of three to six months the warts should be come smaller and fewer in number. He willbe living a more normal life."The most resilient warts could then be frozen off and the growths on his hands and feet surgically removed.

Dr Gaspari hopes to get the necessary drugs free of charge from pharmaceutical firms. They would then be administered by Indonesian doctors under his supervision. Still curious by the origins of Dede's peculiar immune condition, the doctor would like to fly him to the United States for further examination, but fears the financial and bureaucratic barriers would prove too difficult to overcome."I would like to bring him to the US to run tests on where his immune condition has come from, but I would need funding and to get him a visa as well as someone to cover the costs of the tests," he said. "I've never seen anything like this in my entire career."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1569156/Tree-man-'who-grew-roots'-may-be-cured.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2007/12/03/hmax103.xml