07.04.2005 By Honor Mahony

Italy became the first major EU country to ratify the European
Constitution following a parliamentary vote on Wednesday.

A vote by the upper house saw 217 vote in favour and 16 against the new
EU charter - the lower house had voted in favour in January.

The European Commission welcomed the news saying it was "pleased about
this ratification" and noted that Italy is the first of the six founding
members of the EU to ratify.

This brings the number of countries that have ratified the document to
four. Hungary, Lithuania and Slovenia also gave the green light to the
EU charter via their parliaments while Spanish citizens voted on it in a
referendum in February - but the parliament is also expected to
rubberstamp it.

http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=18805

*Tuesday, April 5, 2005 5:12 p.m. EDT**
*

On one of Pope John Paul II's last major trips four years ago, he stood
in the ancient Omayyad Mosque in Syria and appealed for Christians and
Muslims to seek common ground rather than confrontation.

"May the hearts of Christians and Muslims turn to one another with
feelings of brotherhood and friendship," urged the pontiff, the first
pope to enter a Muslim place of worship.
http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/4/5/171353.shtml

April 6, 2005 -- Lancaster General Hospital in Pennsylvania is using an
RFID-based tracking system from PeriOptimum and Radianse to track
patients in its new orthopedic center.

The solution combines PeriOptimum's PathFinder software for tracking
patients, equipment and processes, and Radianse's active RFID location
technology.

The 119,500 square-foot, three-story orthopedic center houses 10
operating rooms and 42 inpatient beds dedicated to pre- and
post-operative care, and a post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). The new
center processes between 30 and 40 orthopedic patients a day, and is
expected to perform 9,000 such procedures this year.

http://www.frontlinetoday.com/frontline/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=154562