SALE'S Philippe Saint-Andre can't wait for the day he can have a full squad to pick from. The Sharks' director of rugby has been waiting over a year now to be able to name his strongest team, but injuries and international call-ups have recently stood in his way. All that looked set to change as the Edgeley Park side's World Cup stars headed home from France with a clean bill of health - until the injury curse that plagued Sharks last season reared its ugly head once more. On the plus side, Saint-Andre was delighted to be able to name Sebastien Chabal, Andrew Sheridan and Lobbe brothers Ignacio and Juan Martin in Friday night's EDF-Energy clash against Bath. But he was unable to call upon the services of Magnus Lund, Chris Jones and Jason White, all with knee injuries, as well as Mark Cueto (calf), Rory Lamont and Dean Schofield, who both have ankle injuries.

GE Healthcare Acquires Image Diagnost International GMBH

GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), announced it has acquired Image Diagnost International GmbH, a provider of information technology (IT) systems used in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Image Diagnost's software offering will expand GE Healthcare's capabilities in breast cancer detection, offering clinicians and national screening services one of the most comprehensive ranges of systems available.

Image Diagnost develops integrated software solutions for mammography workflow and image processing. Digital mammography, first commercialized by GE Healthcare in 1999, brings significant benefits to the diagnosis of breast cancer such as improved cancer detection rates for women with dense breast tissue and ease of use. As the number of hospitals, clinics and screening services using digital mammography increases, there is a significant and growing demand for integrated software solutions to facilitate reporting, storage, sharing and transmission of mammography data.

NHS privatisation: the ‘sicko’ firms who are after your GP surgery

Multinational firms have got their eyes on your local doctors surgery.

Atos Healthcare is a subsidiary of a French-based computer firm with only a limited experience of healthcare, much of which has been gained helping institutions "manage absenteeism".

Law firms: Even generalists get very specific

Few local firms specialized in patent law when C. Earl Hovey and Roy Hamilton opened their practice downtown in 1929, only four weeks before the stock market crash.</p><p>More than 75 years later, <strong>Hovey Williams </strong>is still handling patents, copyrights and other cases in the expanding field of intellectual property law.</p><p>Many of the area's largest firms engage in general law practice, with staff attorneys who develop expertise in corporate finance, health care, employment and other specialties.</p><p>Kansas City-based <strong>Stinson Morrison Hecker </strong>recently created a climate change practice group to address increasing interest at the state and federal levels on climate change legislation.</p><p>Other practices focus on specific industries, such as banking or construction, and provide services for both corporations and individuals.</p><p>But only a handful of greater Kansas City's larger firms concentrate in only one area of legal practice.</p><p><strong>Gilmore & Bell </strong>in Kansas City focuses exclusively on public finance, serving as counsel for municipal transactions and economic development projects.</p><p><strong>Franke Schultz & Mullen </strong>in Kansas City limits its practice to civil litigation, primarily defending cases for large insurers, including <strong>AIG</strong>, <strong>Mutual Doctors Mutual </strong>and <strong>Lloyd's of London</strong>.</p><p>The field is virtually recession-proof, because when people are injured they're going to file claims and lawsuits for money regardless of the economy, said John Schultz, a founder and partner.</p><p>An increasing number of law firms are adding intellectual property as a specialty.</p><p>The field continues to grow because companies are seeking more patents for new inventions, especially in the high-tech areas of electronics, chemistry and biology.</p><p>Hovey attorneys have to understand a variety of technical subspecialties to converse effectively with their inventor clients, which include <strong>Garmin</strong><strong>International </strong>and <strong>Bushnell Outdoor Products</strong>, said Tom Luebbering, a partner at Hovey.</p><p>“We're able to focus on this work only and offer some expertise that a client may not find elsewhere,” he said.

Snohomish County voters start to tune in to the campaign

As voters in nearly half the country cast their ballots for the next president Tuesday, Snohomish County residents watched with a mixture of interest and indifference, waiting for their turn to vote.

John McCain surged ahead in the Republican contest, with Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama splitting wins in several key states.

"I've been glued to it," said Stacey Dunn, scrolling through Super Tuesday coverage on her laptop and listening to results on TV inside the "parent lounge" at the Jonas Brothers concert in Everett on Tuesday night. "This is the biggest election in our country in the last 25 years."

Down the street, at The Flying Pig bar, apathy ruled. A television was tuned to early returns, but only one man was watching.

"I'm just kind of spacing on it," said Dave Olson of Granite Falls.

Asylum: 50 families a week told they can stay in Scotland

To avoid a repeat of the problems, the government last year introduced a streamlined system for dealing with the 2,000 asylum seekers who arrive in the UK each month. It set tough new deadlines for dealing with applications, and officials are now expected to reach a decision within one month of an application being lodged. However, that has triggered fears that many more cases will be mishandled, with applicants not being given enough time to gather the documents, witnesses and other evidence they may need to argue their claim.One asylum seeker, who asked not to be named, described the moment when she was finally given permission to build a new life in Scotland. She was relaxing at home when, at 3.50pm, on 8 October last year, her prayers were answered.The phone call that confirmed she had been granted indefinite leave to remain in Scotland – ending seven years of anguish after fleeing her North African homeland – could not have been more timely.