ANSAN, South Korea (AP) — As parents of the dead wept, more than 70 teenagers who survived a ferry sinking that killed hundreds of their schoolmates walked in a somber procession Wednesday to their first classes since the April disaster.

Some of the 73 students, wearing white and black uniforms and carrying book bags, bowed their heads as they cried and walked slowly from a bus to the school entrance. Some stopped to hug the parents of their friends, who caressed their hair and faces. Adults carried banners of encouragement. One read: "I love you." A large placard, which reads "We pray the dead will rest in peace," was hung up on the school entrance gate.

The anger, grief and deep remorse at Danwon High School in Ansan, outside of Seoul, was a reflection of what many South Koreans have felt since the April 16 sinking that left more than 300 people dead or missing. Of the 325 students on a class trip to the southern holiday island of Jeju, 75 were rescued, 245 died and 5 are still missing. Two of those rescued had already returned to school, officials said.

The return to classes of the survivors, who had been staying at a facility in Ansan where they had classes and therapy sessions, comes amid court hearings for the ferry crew and the officials from the company that owned it. Many South Koreans also fault the government, the coast guard and even society for failing the victims.

"We ask for a thorough investigation to find out why our friends and teachers had to become victims and why the rescue efforts didn't proceed properly and led to more victims," one of the surviving students, Shin Young-jin, said in an emotional address. "We hope that you will try to create a safer nation so that such a horrible accident never happens again."

After decades of negligence, many South Koreans are now questioning the country's history of ignoring safety issues as it pursued rapid economic development above all else following the devastation of the Korean War, which began 64 years ago Wednesday with a North Korean invasion.

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FILE - In this April 17, 2014 file photo, South Korean Coast Guard officers search for missing passe …

The government of President Park Geun-hye, whose dictator father ruled during the economic boom in the 1960s and 1970s that was dubbed the "Miracle on the Han," after the river that cuts through Seoul, has been battered by criticism that it should have done more before the sinking on safety and monitoring issues and that its incompetence botched the rescue operations.

The 15 crew members responsible for navigating the Sewol ferry face charges of negligence for failing to perform their duties to rescue passengers. Prosecutors say they abandoned the ship even though they knew passengers would be trapped and killed when the ferry sank. The defense has denied any collusion, saying the crew members were confused, injured and panicked.

Shin, the student, said that many people have tried to console the surviving students, but others have asked "unpleasant" questions that have reminded them of the sinking and made them feel guilty. He said some people were even "burying daggers in our hearts" by saying that the survivors "betrayed" their classmates by coming back alive. "Whenever we heard such things, our hearts tore apart and ached and we shed tears because we felt guilty and sorry for our friends."

"Just as we cannot forget them, we ask that the citizens of this country also never forget them," Shin said of the dead, stopping at one point as tears choked his words. "For the adults who lead us, we ask that you exhaustively search for those responsible for this crime."

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Associated Press writers Foster Klug and Hyung-jin Kim contributed to this story from Seoul.

Grieving ferry survivors return to school

More than 70 rescued teenagers attend their first classes since the April disaster that killed hundreds.
Somber procession

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Crisis in Iraq: Now Syria Is Getting Involved

Three Drugs that Made Big Pharma Millions – Despite Deadly Risks

Stephen: Pharmaceutical drugs are (cunningly?) marketed under different names in different countries, so you may not readily see the familiar name that these drugs are given in your country without a good Google search. Also, it’s unlikely these are the only ones to have been sold to the public despite ‘hidden’ potentially harmful risks. Additionally, I suspect that the global margin on these could actually be in the billions (rather than the millions suggested here). Thanks to Boulder.

By Elizabeth Renter, Natural Society – June 23, 2014 – http://tinyurl.com/lbs85re

If you’re a large pharmaceutical company and you have an inkling that one of your products-in-development could cause serious health risks for patients, what do you do?

Well, if you’re like Astra Zeneca, Eli Lilly, and others, you release your potentially-harmful drugs to the public, and you do it quickly so you can make as much money as possible before the risks are discovered.

A drug is created, the pharmaceutical company gets away with as little testing as possible and then rushes it off to market to make their millions. This is how the industry works. What’s more, only a portion of their trials, many bia, even reach the public – so we’re not even being told the whole truth. They make you think it’s all about your health, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

A few examples:

1. Seroquel, an antipsychotic made by AstraZeneca made over $5 billion in the US in 2010. Patients reported side-effects throughout its run, but it remained on the market. It was marketed to children at such an alarming rate, that the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (who prefers to sedate “troubled” youth) bought more Seroquel than even Advil.

It was also used heavily in veterans for the unapproved treatment of PTSD. Reports of sudden deaths among these veterans led to questions about its safety on the heart’s electrical activity. Despite this, in 2009, it was the number two prescribed drug by the Veteran’s Administration with a total tab of $125.4 million.

Despite being approved for use in 1997 and trouble following it throughout the years, the FDA didn’t issue new warnings on the drug until 2011, one year before the patent ran out.

2. Zyprexa was designed by Eli Lilly to be a famously effective followup to the anti-depressant Prozac. But this drug came with effects that weren’t so popular. Namely, an estimated 30% of patients on Zyprexa gained 22 pounds and some gained as much as 100. As early as 1995, it was linked to unmanageable weight gain and diabetes.

The company illegally marketed Zyprexa for the treatment of dementia and was charged with doling out a drug that had negative effects on blood sugar levels and diabetes risk. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, they spent millions marketing the drug to the poor, making it one of the top Medicaid drugs, bringing in $1.3 billion tax dollars in 2005. After the drug-maker made their billions, the patent on this dangerous drug ran out in 2012.

3. Topamax, another drug, made Johnson & Johnson billions of dollars. But a year before Topamax went off patent, it was revealed that the drug was linked to suicide and birth defects such as cleft lip and cleft palate in babies of mothers who take the drug. It even gained the nickname “Stupamax” for the way it slowed reaction times and impaired motor skills, attention and memory.

Drugs like Singulair, Levaquin, and many others share similar stories, where drug makers made billions while patients suffered the consequences.

So when will the consumers of these Big Pharma solutions wise up to the game and recognize that these giant corporations would sacrifice the health of patients for the almighty dollar, and hide it all in the process?

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham is threatening to take control of Balad Airbase, Iraq’s largest airfield and one of America’s most important military outposts during its occupation of the country.

Today, Balad still has plenty of vehicles and aircraft on the base that any terrorist group would covet, including Russian-made transport helicopters, surveillance planes, and a fleet of pickup trucks fitted with heavy machine guns.

Now, that airbase is coming under fire—and is in danger of falling into the hands of ISIS, according to U.S. intelligence officers, internal reports from Balad, and outside analysts. Reuters reported Wednesday that the base was now surrounded on three sides by insurgents and taking heavy mortar fire.

“We assess the group continues to threaten the air base and Iraqi Security Force control of the air base as it moves south towards Baghdad,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told reporters Tuesday.

Of course, even if ISIS were to gain control of Balad, there is no guarantee its fighters would know how to operate or maintain the aircraft that are stored there. But an ISIS takeover of Balad would be significant nonetheless. As NBC News reported Tuesday, Iraqi officers say without air support they are on an equal footing with ISIS fighters.

Jessica Lewis—the research director for the Institute for the Study of War and a former U.S. Army intelligence officer who served in Iraq—told The Daily Beast, “It would mean that ISIS can beat the best that the Iraqi Army can muster, not just the northern units that have been ignored. It would mean strategic defeat for the Iraqi Army.”

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Members of the Iraqi security forces take their positions during an intensive security deployment we …

Lewis estimates that Balad and neighboring Taji base are likely some of the next targets of the ISIS campaign. “Both of these bases are critical military sites for the Iraqi Army. Neutralizing one or both would demonstrate that ISIS can beat the Iraqi Army strategically.”

This is in part because a defeat for Iraq’s army at Balad would also deprive Iraq’s military of the air assets it already has—and is set to acquire. In December, Russia began to deliver Mi-35 attack and transport helicopters. The first of 36 American F-16 fighters were scheduled to be delivered to Balad in September 2014.

Some attacks on Balad already began this month. The last American contractors at Balad—many of whom were working to modernize the base to be ready it for the F-16s—were flown by the Iraqi Air Force to Baghdad on June 13 in a dramatic airlift operation reminiscent of the fall of the U.S. embassy in Saigon.

A June 11 situation report produced by one of the military contractors at Balad said some ISIS fighters were warning local Iraqis in a nearby district to remain indoors and that the fighters had intended to attack Balad. The report said the fighters were possibly an advance force and warned that intermittent probing attacks—small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades—“should be considered imminent on the base.” One military contractor working at Balad who spoke to The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity confirmed that there were some probing attacks on the base before the airlift on June 13.

If ISIS were to gain access to Balad, they would be able to acquire a significant arsenal to add to their already impressive stock of vehicles, weapons and equipment. James Codling, who served as a contractor and senior engineer on the base between 2008 and 2012, told The Daily Beast that when the U.S. forces left in 2011, they left at least 1,000 trucks and vehicles, some of them armored, along with 500 to 600 portable power generators. He also said the base housed Russian-made Mi-8 transport helicopters, small surveillance planes, military tactical vehicles, Humvees and a fleet of pickup trucks with machine guns mounted in the truck beds.

IRAQ GAINS GROUND IN FIGHT AGAINST ISISPlay Video

“When the United States left Balad, they essentially left everything in place. What I observed, I was pretty upset about this,” he said. Codling did acknowledge that the most sensitive pieces of U.S. equipment, such as surveillance and attack drones, were flown out of Balad before the last U.S. troops left the country.

For ISIS, however, the lower-tech equipment will likely prove most useful—in part, because they are easier to operate and maintain. The group posted photos on its social media accounts this week showing a parade of its fighters in Mosul driving Iraqi Humvees and even a vehicle towing mobile artillery. The senior U.S. intelligence official who briefed reporters Tuesday said the military capabilities for ISIS have “dramatically improved” because of the weapons and equipment it has obtained from the Iraqi and Syrian bases the group has overrun.

Administration officials held a classified briefing for all senators on Iraq late Tuesday afternoon in the Capitol. Briefers included Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Elissa Slotkin, and Vice Adm. Frank Pandolfe, director for Strategic Plans and Policy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Several senators emerged from the briefing still unclear on what the administration plans to do to address what was described to them as a dire situation inside Iraq that was getting worse.

“The situation in Iraq is a growing counterterrorism emergency. This is not about saving the government of Iraq… this is an urgent counterterrorism situation that our country faces,” said Sen. Marco Rubio. “It grows more dire by the moment. Our options become more limited by the moment. And I hope if receives the attention it deserves over the next few hours… This is a rapidly deteriorating situation.”

Rubio said there was a risk of the violence spreading into Jordan and other neighboring countries. He is arguing the U.S. needs to target ISIS supply lines in Iraq and ISIS command and control facilities inside Syria.

The president has all the authority he needs to strike, Rubio said. He did not indicate whether administration officials said if any decision on strikes had been made.

“Right now we don’t know what the president’s intentions are,” said Senate Armed Services Committee ranking Republican James Inhofe. As for whether Obama should come to Congress for authorization before striking Iraq, Inhofe said: “Whether or not he has to, he ought to.”

Sen. John McCain told The Daily Beast said if the administration wanted to strike, there are clearly identifiable ISIS targets that could be hit with maximum effectiveness and minimum risk to civilians.

“We know where these columns are, particularly in the desert, where you wouldn’t have to attack them in the cities,” said McCain.

But McCain doubts that President Obama will ultimately decide to use American military force inside Iraq. “I’m absolutely convinced they don’t want to do it.”

Nigeria's government on Wednesday denied claims that Boko Haram militants abducted 60 women and children from the country's restive northeast, saying there was no evidence despite eyewitness testimony.

Government spokesman Mike Omeri told a news conference in Abuja that there was "nothing on the ground to prove any act of abduction, as reported".

A local government official in the Damboa district of Borno, a vigilante leader and an area senator on Monday all said the women and girls, some as young as three, were taken during a raid on Kummabza village in the last week.

Nigeria's military initially did not confirm or deny the abduction and Borno governor Kashim Shettima on Monday ordered an urgent probe, highlighting a recent reported abduction of at least 20 nomadic women from the same area.

Shettima said he was cautious because of subsequent counter-claims that the women had in fact moved elsewhere in the state as part of migration patterns among ethnic Fulani cattle breeders.

Omeri claimed that Shettima had established "that there were no sufficient facts on the alleged abduction", adding: "We hereby wish to state that based on available facts before us there was no abduction of 60 persons in Borno state."

Extremists Abduct 91 More People In NigeriaPlay Video

Residents from Kummabza and the surrounding villages attacked over three days from last Thursday, however, said they could not understand the denial.

"This is happening. I can't understand why they would say that. It has been confirmed," one man, who asked for his name to be withheld, told AFP.

Establishing facts on the ground is notoriously difficult in northeast Nigeria, which has been hard hit by five years of violence at the hands of the heavily armed militant group.

Mobile phone networks have been downed and there are few functioning landlines, while travel between towns and villages is fraught with the danger of attack. Often news of attacks takes days to emerge.

Independent corroboration of claims is also hard to come by, with the police and security services also unable to move freely because of dangerous conditions.

KIDNAPPINGS NOW ALMOST NORMAL IN NIGERIAPlay Video

Nigeria's government was heavily criticised for its slow response to the mass abduction by Boko Haram militants of more than 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok, also in Borno, on April 14, that triggered global outrage.

The military claimed in the days after the kidnapping that most of the girls had escaped, while President Goodluck Jonathan's wife, Patience, alleged that the abduction was a fabrication by her husband's political rivals to smear him.

The military's claim was soon retracted.

Police in Borno said that 276 girls were kidnapped and that 53 escaped in the days following the attack. On May 28, the authorities said that four more girls than previously thought had escaped, leaving 219 still held hostage.

The figures were confirmed in a report submitted to the government by a presidential fact-finding committee this week.