WASHINGTON

MISSILE DEFENSE TEST FAILS

A test of the national ballistic missile defense system failed yesterday when an interceptor missile didn’t get out of its silo, the second failure in as many months.

The failed test came less than a week after North Korea declared it had nuclear weapons, giving new attention to a possible threat from that nation.

An initial test evaluation blamed equipment at a Pacific island site rather than the interceptor itself. If that assessment bears out, it would come as a relief to defense officials because it would mean no new problems had been discovered with the missile. Still, the failure drew new fire from critics who say the technology is too expensive and unproven. It was unclear how the latest failure would affect the experimental interceptor bases in Alaska and California, which are located to defend against missiles launched from North Korea across the Pacific Ocean.

In yesterday’s test, the interceptor missile launched from Kwajalein Island in the Pacific was to target a mock ICBM fired from Kodiak Island, Alaska. The target missile launched at 1:22 a.m. EST without any problems, but the interceptor did not launch, the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.

The previous test, on December 15, failed under similar circumstances. The target missile launched, but the interceptor did not. Military officials later blamed that failure on fault-tolerance software that was oversensitive to small errors in the flow of data between the missile and a flight computer, and shut down the launch.

– Associated Press

WEST

JACKSON TRIAL WITNESS LIST CELEBRITY-LADEN

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Michael Jackson’s attorneys disclosed yesterday that they may call as witnesses two of the pop star’s children and such celebrities as Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross, Kobe Bryant, and Larry King.

Witness lists were revealed to determine whether prospective jurors in the child-molestation case had any connection to the witnesses that defense attorneys and prosecutors need to know about before selecting 12 jurors and eight alternates.

The wide-ranging list offered by defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. read like a Hollywood guest list: Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Jay Leno, actor Chris Tucker, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and his younger brother Aaron, CBS’s Ed Bradley, and relatives of Marlon Brando.

Also named were Mr. Jackson’s children Paris and Prince Michael.

The prosecution list included the mother of those children, Debbie Rowe, former Jackson attorney Mark Geragos, a young man who as a boy was involved in 1993 allegations against Mr. Jackson, and a comedy club owner who introduced Mr. Jackson and his current accuser. Prospective jurors were not told the relevance of the witnesses. Some of the celebrities are friends of Mr. Jackson’s, and others have met his accuser. Mr. Jackson’s supporters claim the accuser’s mother was eager to meet celebrities.

– Associated Press

HEALTH

FLU SHOTS DON’T SAVE LIVES IN ELDERLY, STUDY SUGGESTS

CHICAGO – A new study based on more than three decades of American data suggests that giving flu shots to the elderly has not saved any lives. Led by National Institutes of Health researchers, the study challenges standard government dogma and is bound to confuse senior citizens. During last fall’s flu vaccine shortage, thousands of older Americans, heeding the government’s public health message, stood in long lines to get their shots. “There is a sense that we’re all going to die if we don’t get the flu shot,” said the study’s lead author, Lone Simonsen, a senior epidemiologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md. “Maybe that’s a little much.” The study should influence the nation’s flu-prevention strategy, Ms. Simonsen said, perhaps by expanding vaccination to schoolchildren, the biggest spreaders of the virus. However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta plans no change in its advice on who should get flu shots, saying the NIH research isn’t enough to shift gears. Although the study, published yesterday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, looks at data from the whole American elderly population, it doesn’t directly compare vaccinated versus unvaccinated elderly, Mr. Thompson said. Previous studies making that comparison found the vaccine decreased the rate of winter deaths.

– Associated Press

SOUTHEAST

JURY BEGINS DELIBERATIONS IN ZOLOFT TRIAL

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Jurors began deliberating yesterday in the murder trial of a 15-year-old boy who claims the antidepressant Zoloft drove him to kill his grandparents three years ago. The trial has been billed as the first case involving a youngster who says an antidepressant caused him to kill. The trial also comes at a time of heightened scrutiny over the use of antidepressants among children. Defense attorneys urged the jury yesterday to send a message to the nation by blaming Zoloft for the killings by 15-year-old Christopher Pittman. They said the negative effects of Zoloft are more pronounced in youngsters, and the drug affected the teenager so he did not know right from wrong. But prosecutors called the Zoloft defense a smoke screen, saying the then-12-year-old boy knew exactly what he was doing three years ago when he shot his grandparents, torched their house, and then drove off in their car.

– Associated Press