May 2001

Genes Confirm Origin of India's Castes
Posted: Friday, May 18, 2001

(HealthScoutNews) New genetic research supports the historical theory that the Hindu caste system of India was more the invention of Europeans than of Indians.

Those born into higher castes in India may be more related to Europeans, while lower castes may be more similar to Asians, the research finds.

"We've been working in India, asking questions about the origins of the caste system and tribal populations," says Dr. Michael Bamshad, an assistant professor at the University of Utah's Eccles Institute of Human Genetics in Salt Lake City. "We were also interested in the effects of social forces on biological variations." [More]

Putin, Venezuela's Chavez Plan Anti-U.S. Alliance
Posted: Tuesday, May 15, 2001

MOSCOW (UPI) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared Monday that they would form a strategic alliance against U.S. dominance as the world's only superpower.
Putin and Chavez, who had extensive talks, discovered that they had much in common. Chavez declared to the media that they were now "good friends."

The two have somewhat similar backgrounds. Putin, 47, is a former KGB officer and ex-leader of the FSB secret service who is busy restoring federal control over independent-minded Russian regions and is widely seen as a much more authoritarian ruler than predecessor Boris Yeltsin. The 46-year-old Chavez is a former paratrooper who led a failed coup before being elected president and has threatened to rule Venezuela by decree under a proposed state of emergency.

Putin praised the Venezuelan as "a young and energetic leader of the new generation of politicians who understand the national interests of their countries and pay great attention to the development of" bilateral relations. MORE

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