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Columbia crew death time ascertained

NEW YORK, July 16 (UPI) -- The Columbia astronauts lived for nearly a minute after their final communication with mission control, a report said Wednesday.

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The talk came well after signs the craft was in serious trouble, according to investigators at NASA and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, the New York Times said.

Investigators are scrutinizing data from an on-board sensor recording system that continued to function far into the breakup of the Columbia for clues about how to improve the survivability of future space vehicles, possibly even the three remaining shuttles.

NASA is planning to disclose more information soon about the fate of the crew, drawing from analysis of debris, information on where the debris was found and data from an on-board data recorder.

Records indicate the crew capsule would have been severely buffeted. The crew was aware of sensor readings indicating major problems.

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Canadian drugs draw U.S. anger

TORONTO, July 16 (UPI) -- A political furor has erupted over Canadian companies selling prescription drugs to U.S. senior citizens.

A bipartisan group of congressmen blasted a lobbying group's radio campaign Wednesday as irresponsible scare tactics by the giant U.S. pharmaceutical industry.

In a bid to defeat legislation that would allow the "reimportation" of U.S.-made drugs from Canada and Europe, a lobbying group calling itself the Seniors Coalition is questioning the safety of Canadian and European prescription drugs.

The Seniors Coalition ads say Americans are now facing a potential stream of drugs into their country for which there can be no assurances of "safety, effectiveness or quality."

U.S. seniors pay the highest prescription prices in the world.

U.S. legislators, ranging from conservative Republicans to liberal Democrats, returned fire Tuesday, banding together to denounce fear-mongering by a group they claim is a front for the pharmaceutical industry, the Toronto Star said.


Gephardt fundraising falls short

WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- Richard Gephardt has fallen short in his presidential fundraising goal of $5 million, USA Today reported Wednesday.

The Missouri Democrat raised $3.9 million in April, May and June. That put him fifth among the six major Democratic contenders. He was fourth in cash on hand, according to reports due today at the Federal Election Commission, and had $6.3 million as of June 30.

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"We are on course," Gephardt told reporters after he spoke at a gay rights forum. "We are raising the amount we set out to raise." He said he was "roughly very close to halfway" to his goal of $20 million for the year. That calculation includes $2.4 million he transferred from his House campaign committee earlier this year.

Donna Brazile, a Democratic Party strategist who was Gephardt's field director in 1988, said he has run a strong campaign this time. But the new figures "should be a wake-up call," she said.


HIV cases in Europe resistant to drugs

PARIS, July 16 (UPI) -- The biggest European study of resistance to AIDS drugs finds about 10 percent of all newly infected patients are suffering from drug-resistant strains.

Dr. Charles Boucher, the virology professor at Utrecht University who led the study, will present the finding at an international AIDS conference in Paris. He called the level of resistance to some anti-AIDS drugs "surprisingly high."

"You're not talking about high-risk inner city San Francisco. This is across Europe," he said.

Other scientists at the conference agreed the findings had worldwide public health implications and made the hunt for new classes of AIDS drugs even more critical, the New York Times reported

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Researchers said the figure suggested many AIDS patients who are in treatment go back to engaging in high-risk sex or needle-sharing.

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