Friday, February 10, 2012
U.S. official: No evidence North Korean leader is dead
The U.S. intelligence community has found no evidence to suggest North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is dead, a senior U.S. official said Friday following posts on China's version of Twitter that claimed Kim had been assassinated while in Beijing.U.S. intelligence officials have been looking into such rumors for more than a week, according to the official, who has direct knowledge of the latest U.S. analysis.
"With that society you can never be 100% sure, but we just don't see any evidence of it," the official told CNN. "It's a closed society, but at this point we do not believe it's true."
The preliminary analysis of the rumor suggests it is part of a "calculated effort to disrupt the economy of South Korea at a fragile time by suggesting things are going haywire up north," the official said.
Meanwhile, the official added, "there is no evidence of movement of North Korean forces or activity that you would associate with the turmoil of a calculated assassination." more
Note: This article contains a peculiar statement from the US that they've been monitoring these rumours for a week. Why so long? Do they know something the rest of us don't? Is something perhaps going on inside North Korea that we've yet to learn of?
New Faith Chat Page
We have decided to do a trial run with a faith-based chat area for the Coming Crisis, predominantly focused on study of the scriptures. The Coming Crisis is, of course, a fact-based news-orientated website zealously focused on finding out and sharing the truth.
That said, we understand the visitors of many faiths come to visit our website and we appreciate that very much. We decided to open up a special area of the website specifically so that individuals of faith can undertake scientific study of the scriptures and discuss their thoughts and findings in a safe and friendly place. We know that a crisis has many angles of perspective, and feel that no avenue of exploration should ever be closed.
Like our main chat page, the faith chat page will abide by the regular chatting rules, as well as some rules and privileges unique to it alone. We will moderate the area just like we do the rest of the website in order to ensure the safety and enjoyment of our readers.
Thank you all for visiting us, and God bless!
-- Matt & Lynsey
That said, we understand the visitors of many faiths come to visit our website and we appreciate that very much. We decided to open up a special area of the website specifically so that individuals of faith can undertake scientific study of the scriptures and discuss their thoughts and findings in a safe and friendly place. We know that a crisis has many angles of perspective, and feel that no avenue of exploration should ever be closed.
Like our main chat page, the faith chat page will abide by the regular chatting rules, as well as some rules and privileges unique to it alone. We will moderate the area just like we do the rest of the website in order to ensure the safety and enjoyment of our readers.
Thank you all for visiting us, and God bless!
-- Matt & Lynsey
South Korean Military on alert amid shelling sounds across sea border
The South Korean military is closely watching movements of North Korean forces after detecting frequent shelling sounds across the Northern Limit Line, the imaginary inter-Korean sea border in the Yellow Sea.A high-ranking source of the South Korean military said Thursday that frequent artillery shelling sounds were heard and presumed to be coming from the North`s long-range guns and rocket launchers deployed in inland areas near the South`s northwestern frontline islands.
"The North Korean military seems to be briskly conducting winter military drills more than previous years after a hiatus following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il," the source said. "The (South Korean) military is on alert as the North is concentrating on artillery firing drills."
South Korea is said to be closely watching movements by the North Korean artillery troops concentrated in areas near the North`s west coast via a high-performance video surveillance system and the hostile artillery locating system, which were deployed on Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands after the North`s shelling of Yeonpyeong in December 2010. more
Israel says it conducts successful test of anti-missile system
Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israel declared a Friday test of its Arrow weapon system a "major milestone" in the development of a system to defend against medium range missiles that could be fired from countries like Iran.In a statement the Israeli Defense Ministry said the test "provides confidence in operational Israeli capabilities to defeat the developing ballistic missile threat."
The successful test of the joint American and Israeli weapon system was held over the Mediterranean Sea Friday morning and sought to track a simulated incoming ballistic missile via radar and pass the information back to what is known as the battle management controller.
The Defense Ministry described the test as a "target-only tracking exercise," meaning the missile was not intercepted. The ministry said the test demonstrated that the Arrow Weapon System and the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System could successfully work together in what it termed "interoperability." U.S. Missile Defense Agency personnel participated in the test, the ministry said. Read More
Kim Jong Un Shown to be Angry in Nov 2010 but they wait to air this in North Korea 10th Feb 2011
North Korean TV aired Friday footage of its young leader Kim Jong Un getting angry with military commanders in a Nov. 25, 2010, visit to the North Korean People’s Army’s 233 Large Combined Unit, also known as the command of the 4th Corps.In the footage, Kim wields his right arm with a frowned face, suggesting that he was complaining about something. This was the first time for North Korean media to show their new leader angy. He had been mainly shown hugging civilians and soldiers with a big smile on his face.
The footage is apparently intended to bolster his charisma as a strict leader among North Koreans since he has to stand on his own without his late father. Read More
Nelson Mandela Place: Armed Police In Stand-off With Man In Restaurant, Glasgow City
Armed police are dealing with an incident in Glasgow city centre after a man was reported to be "acting suspiciously" in a restaurant.A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said the man is involved in the "incident" at Nelson Mandela Place with trained negotiators at the scene.
Officers evacuated Italian restaurant Amarone and the surrounding buildings as a "precaution" after being called late this afternoon.
The force said in a statement: "The man is currently contained, on his own, within the premises. Police negotiators are also in attendance."
Parts of Buchanan Street and West George Street have also been closed off.
Buchanan Street subway station was closed at the request of the police, with travellers asked to use St Enoch station instead.
More follows...
4.8 Magnitude Earthquake MINDORO, PHILIPPINES - 10th Feb 2012
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake has struck Minoro, Philippines at a depth of 125.9 km (78.2 miles), the quake hit at 16:55:35 UTC Friday 10th February 2012The epicenter was 48 km (29 miles) WNW of Batangas, Luzon, Philippines
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time
Cheryl Tariah, 17, Found Strangled in flat above High Street clothes shop, East London
A teenager has been found strangled in a flat above a shop after neighbours reported hearing a disturbance.Police found Cheryl Tariah's body after being called to the first floor of an east London flat.
A post mortem revealed the 17-year-old had been strangled.
An 18-year-old man is being held on suspicion of murder and a 21-year-old man was arrested but released without charge.
The Met's Homicide and Serious Crime Command is investigating the death. Read More
North Korea's Kim Jong Un "May be Dead or on the Run" as Coup Rumours Swirl; "Unusual activity" now taking place outside NK Beijing Embassy
The Coming Crisis is not yet able to verify this situation.Chinese and foreign media sites are alight with comments regarding this developing story, and Russian and American news outlets are beginning to report the rumours, possibility that a coup in North Korea may indeed be underway.
Chinese journalist Joe Xu reported the unusual activity outside of the NK embassy in Beijing.
Again: we are not 100% sure that this is indeed happening, but will follow the story closely and bring you information as it arrives.
State TV claims children died in 'terrorist' blasts... but rebels say president's troops planted bombs... Who is winning the Propoganda WAR
Bomb blasts hit security compounds in the Syrian city of Aleppo today - sparking a propaganda war between the regime and rebels.State media blamed the 'terrorist' opposition for killing 25 people, including several children, and wounding 175 in the explosions.
But rebels claim the blasts, in a city which has so far remained largely loyal to President Bashar Assad, were planted by government forces in a bid to disrupt their movement. Read More
Note So we have the Rebels claiming this attack was by the Military......Why would the Military Blow up their own Military Security Branch?
Anti-poaching campaigners accidentally kill rhino they were using in game reserve demo
Animal rights campaigners accidentally killed the rhino they were using in a demonstration to raise awareness of the threat to the endangered species from poachers, it was revealed today.The anti-poaching activists invited journalists along to view the rhino in a South Africa reserve being sedated today so vets could treat its horn with dye and insecticide as well as insert tracking and identification devices.
But the demonstration took a disastrous turn when campaigners couldn't revive the male rhino, in his mid to late 20s, after the procedure had been completed.
Lorinda Hern, spokeswoman for the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve, said: 'It's sad for us; it's the loss of another animal. It's a death that I still chalk up to poaching.'
The private reserve near the South African capital, Pretoria, began treating horns to make them unattractive to poachers after losing a pregnant rhino and her calf to poachers in 2010. Read More
Riot police firebombed by striking Greeks as Athens marches against 325million euros austerity package
Rioters armed with petrol bombs and sledgehammers clashed with police in Athens today as unions launched a two-day general strike against a fresh wave of austerity measures.Scores of youths, in hoods and gas masks, smashed up marble paving stones in the Greek capital's main Syntagma Square before hurling the rubble at riot police, who responded with tear gas.
Some officers were set alight as demonstrators attacked them with petrol bombs.
Up to 7,000 demonstrators took to the streets the day after the Greek Coalition agreed to make further job and spending cuts in return for a 130billion euro bailout. Read More
French Nuclear reactor down as cold snap drives power demand
A French nuclear reactor has gone into an unscheduled shutdown, state energy giant EDF said on Friday, placing fresh pressure on a national power grid already strained by freezing temperatures.The company said the shutdown, on the number two reactor at the Cattenom plant in the northeast of the country, was caused by a broken alternator in a non-nuclear part of the reactor and posed no threat to public safety.
But the fault will take several days to repair and the reactor will remain offline at a time of high demand. EDF said it thought household consumption had peaked on Wednesday and would fall as the weather warms up.
Another French reactor, at the Tricastin plant in the Rhone valley, stopped on Thursday, but was due to go back into service on Friday. France has 58 reactors in all, and 75 percent of its power is nuclear-generated. Read More
4.5 Magnitude Earthquake MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES - 10th Feb 2012
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake has struck Mindanao, Philippines at a depth of 62.2 km (38.7 miles), the quake hit at 17:36:35 UTC Friday 10th February 2012The epicenter was 67 km (41 miles) ENE of Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time
4.7 Magnitude Earthquake GUAM REGION - 10th Feb 2012
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake has struck the Guam Region at a depth of 121.7 km (75.6 miles), the quake hit at 16:29:39 UTC Friday 10th February 2012The epicenter was 27 km (16 miles) Northeast of HAGATNA, Guam
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time
Argentina to formally accuse Britain of introducing nuclear weapons to the Falklands
Argentine president Cristina Kirchner last night accused Britain of introducing nuclear weapons into the Falklands.She revealed her Foreign Minister would make the sensational claim when he lodges a protest at the UN against the UK's 'militarisation' of the seas around the disputed islands.
Hector Timerman left Buenos Aires for New York last night to make his official protest later today to the presidents of the UN Security Council and General Assembly.
Speaking yesterday at the Pink House, the Argentine equivalent of 10 Downing Street, she said: 'At 9.30pm today our Foreign Minister leaves for New York to make a presentation to the United Nations on the militarisation and also the introduction of nuclear weapons in the area around the Falklands.
'He’s going to make his presentation on Friday.' Kirchner's claims were immediately picked up by the Argentine press. Read More
The Pope will die within a year: Vatican 'assassination fears' revealed
The Pope will die within the next 12 months, a senior Vatican figure has reportedly claimed amid fears of an assassination plot.The sensational prediction was allegedly made by Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the archbishop of Palermo in Sicily, on a recent visit to China.
Cardinal Romeo reportedly made the startling prediction of the Pope's death during a trip to China in November 2011.
He seemed so sure of the fact that the people he spoke with, including Italian businessmen and Chinese representatives of the Catholic Church, were convinced that he was talking about an assassination attempt.
They were so alarmed by his remarks that they reported them back to the Vatican.
The extraordinary comments were written up in a top-secret report, dated Dec 30, 2011, and delivered to the Pope by a senior cardinal, Dario Castrillon Hoyos, a Colombian, in January. more
Lebanon army boosts presence along Syria border
The Lebanese army late Thursday reinforced its presence in the northern region of Wadi Khaled, which borders Syria and is close to the flashpoint province of Homs, officials and local residents said."An army unit was seen deploying at a base in Wadi Khaled and then it began patrols inside villages and towns in the region," a local official in Muqaybleh told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another official in Kneysseh, located in the same region, said troops were seen deploying in three villages along the border -- Kneysseh, Hnayder and Qarha.
Several local residents said the army was also searching cars and checking identification at the main checkpoint located at the entrance of Wadi Khaled, an impoverished region at the northern tip of Lebanon. more
Smoke from dump fire blankets Jamaica capital
Acrid smoke from a fire at a sprawling trash dump blanketed swaths of Jamaica's capital Thursday, and officials warned people to stay indoors to avoid exposure to potentially dangerous pollutants.Jamaica's emergency management office said it would likely take three more days to bring the fire under control and five days after that before the foul-smelling smoke stopped billowing from the Riverton City solid waste dump.
Firefighters have struggled to extinguish the blaze at the seaside dump since it erupted Monday night. On Thursday, the waste management authority appealed for help to people with water trucks and heavy-duty equipment.
Officials in the control tower at Norman Manley International Airport on the outskirts of Kingston said no flights had been delayed or rerouted, but air traffic controllers and pilots struggled in the hazy conditions.
Shantytowns ring the open-air landfill, and government housing complexes and middle class neighborhoods have been built nearby. Smoke also hung over the southern city of Portmore, just west of Kingston and downwind from the dump. more
Hose streets? Our streets! Belgian firefighters soak police in protest
Several hundred Belgian firefighters have broken through police lines in Brussels and hosed down the prime minister's office in protest at the government's tougher retirement plans.The firefighters want to keep their early retirement age at 58, arguing their arduous job does not allow them to work into their 60s.
Such demands run counter to government plans to have the overwhelming majority of people work two years beyond 65 so it can afford an ever-increasing pension bill as Belgium's population ages. more
Syria Bloodshed: DANNY: 'Why Isn't World Helping Us?'
A Syrian-British activist has pleaded for the UN and US to stop the bloodshed in Syria as people in his neighbourhood prepare to die.
Blogger Danny, 22, has made a series of dramatic videos apparently shot in the Baba Amr region of Homs - a city struck by heavy shelling by government forces this week and where the
army is believed to be preparing for a ground assault.Explosions shake the streets as Danny walks around the area. It is a zone where Sky News' Stuart Ramsay has said people are getting ready to be killed in the fighting.
In one video in a hospital, Danny shows a two-year-old child who he says was killed after his home came under attack. Read More
Note: While all the main Channels are reporting these attacks by the Military which for months included the Sentence "these images or facts cannot be verified", there are as many reporting of terrorist attacks on their own people, which are not shown in our media. Are all these people lying? Who is Controlling the Propaganda and which is telling the truth.
Here is a little boy being interviewed in Syria, his little brother was killed by the bomb, would we still call these people that planted the bomb Protesters? does a uprising justify the killing of a child?
Full Translation
Ali Kabahwar, My Uncle came to bring me home, than a bomb exploded
interviewer, who was with you?
Ali Kabahwar,I, my uncle, another kid and my brother
interviewer, your brother Qusai...
Ali, Yes
interviewer, what happend to you and your brother?
Ali, I told my brother to stand up, but he couln't... and than they brought him to the hospital
interviewer, What did Qusai told you?
Ali, He said, I can't stand up
Ali, and than I wen't to my aunt and told her that they took my Uncle and my brother to the hospital
interviewer, And where is Qusai know?
Ali, Qusai is now in the Paradise... He is In Paradise
Father, in Paradise
Bradie Simpson: "Possessed mother" found in forest with own baby, who was covered in blood with a slashed throat
A mother allegedly slashed her nine-month-old baby’s throat just months after telling a pastor she could be possessed and might hurt the girl.Bradie Simpson, 39, of Camdenton, Missouri, was found in woods 225ft from her home as she held the baby covered in blood with a neck wound.
It comes months after the body of her ex-boyfriend, the baby’s father, was found in the same woods last September, reported ABC affiliate KSPR. more
NATO airstrike killed eight children: Karzai
A NATO airstrike killed eight children in Afghanistan's Kapisa province northeast of the capital Kabul, President Hamid Karzai said Thursday.The president "strongly condemned the aerial bombing by foreign troops that killed a number of children in Nejrab district" on Wednesday, said a statement from his office.
"Based on information by (the) provincial governor, as a result of an air strike conducted on February 8... eight children were killed," the statement said.
Karzai had assigned a delegation "to launch an all-out probe into the NATO bombing in the province of Kapisa", it added.
A NATO spokesman said he could "confirm there has been a situation. A joint assessment team went there to identify the situation". more
4.7 Magnitude Earthquake NORTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA - 10th Feb 2012
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake has struck Northern Xinjiang, China at a depth of just 1 km (0.6 miles), the quake hit at 16:19:42 UTC Friday 10th February 2012The epicenter was 112 km (69.4 miles) Southeast of Druzhba, Xinjiang, China
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time
Muslim fanatics who called for execution of gays and wanted to set up a 'medieval state' under Sharia law in Derby are jailed
Three Muslim extremists who handed out leaflets calling for homosexuals to be hanged, stoned and burned to death have been jailed.The group handed out the material in the street as well as posting it through letterboxes in a hate-filled campaign calling for the execution of gay people who they claimed were at the root of society’s problems.
Ihjaz Ali, Kabir Ahmed and Razwan Javed are the first to be prosecuted under new laws against inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. Ali was jailed for two years and Ahmed and Javed for 15 months each.
Sentencing the men today, Judge John Burgess, Recorder of Derby, told them: 'You have been convicted of intending to stir up hatred.
'It follows that your intention was to do great harm in a peaceful community.' Read More
4.9 Magnitude Earthquake KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND - 10th Feb 2012
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake has struck the Kermadec Islands, New Zealand at a depth of 72.2 km (44.9 miles), the quake hit at 15:49:50 UTC Friday 10th February 2012The epicenter was 136 km (84 miles) SSE from Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time
Brazil is first country to use Twitter's new censorship policy to silence its citizens
Brazil could become the first country to take Twitter up on its plan to censor Tweets at government request.The move has sparked alarm among privacy groups, who fear governments will use the same policy to silence dissenting voices.
The Brazilian government has requested an injunction to stop Twitter users from alerting drivers to police road blocks, speed traps and drunk-driving checkpoints.
Free-speech groups say it appears to be the first use of Twitter's controversial new censorship policy.
Twitter unveiled plans last month that would allow governments to censor Tweets, making 'illegal' Tweets completely invisible in their native countries.
The move sparked alarm among free-speech activists, and Twitter has been closely watched to see which countries will use the facility to 'silence' people within their country.
Previously, Tweets worked on a global level - if someone Tweeted in one country, it was visible everywhere.
‘As far as we know this is the first time that a country has attempted to take Twitter up on their country-by-country take down,’ said Eva Galperin of the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation said. Read More
Damilola Killer Ricky Preddie Back In Jail just 16 Days After being Released
The father of Damilola Taylor has called for a public inquiry after one of his son's killers was returned to prison for a second time – just 16 days after being released.
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed Ricky Preddie was back in jail because of a breach of his "licence conditions", the second time he has broken the agreement a prisoner makes with the Parole Board if he is to be released early.
Gary Trowsdale, the managing director of the Damilola Taylor Trust, warned that there was no evidence Preddie, 24, had been reformed when he was released last month.
He said: "The Taylor family, society at large, and also the boys themselves have been failed by the system and the academics that run it.
"Now we are demanding answers and believe a public inquiry is the only way of
getting them. Read More
4.4 Magnitude Earthquake VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION - 10th Feb 2012
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake has struck the Virgin Islands Region at a depth of 18.7 km (11.6 miles), the quake hit at 15:10:43 UTC Friday 10th February 2012The epicenter was 81 km (50 miles) Northwest from Settlement, Anegada, British Virgin Islands
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time
Vietnam reports another bird flu death
The Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) announced Wednesday a confirmed case and death of a 26-year-old pregnant female from H5N1 avian influenza. Health officials reported a bird flu death in Vietnam last month when a 18-year-old duck farmer perished from the deadly virus.Avian influenza was confirmed in a sample last week by the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City. Samples from the newborn infant of the fatal case tested negative for H5N1.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the woman from Soc Trang province developed symptoms on 23 January 2012, and was admitted to hospital on 25 January. She was treated with Oseltamivir on 27 January, she died on 28 January.
The MoH said she slaughtered and ate sick chickens. Close contacts of the victim have received prophylaxis and are being monitored; to date all remain well. Read More
Bird flu outbreak detected in Ha Nam, Vietnam
HA NOI — The People's Committee of northern Ha Nam province yesterday announced the first outbreak of bird flu in Nhat Tan Commune, Kim Bang District, while many other localities reported high risk of the disease.More than 2,500 poultry, including young ducks and muscovy ducks, raised by two local households in Ha Nam, died on Tuesday.
Later test on four samples of the deceased poultry confirmed they were positive for the bird flu virus or H5N1, according to the provincial animal health department.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Department of Animal Health sterilised the affected areas, set up five quarantine stations in the commune and culled all poultry raised by the affected households.
However, according to a Vietnam News Agency correspondent, some local residents threw dead poultry into canals, and many of duck carcuses were decomposing in the open air.
The ministry's latest statistics showed that bird flu had been reported in four communes in Quang Tri, Thanh Hoa and Soc Trang provinces over the past month, affecting nearly 1,700 poultry and forcing the culling of more than 4,000 domestic fowl. Read More
Dolphins strand in Barnstable Harbor
Eleven common dolphins were sighted yesterday [Feb. 9] in the mouth of Barnstable Harbor off Bone Hill Road. As rescuers arrived, four dolphins were swimming and two were freeing themselves in the rising tide. Five were dead, and being covered rapidly by tidal waters, according to Michael Booth, communications officer for the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouthport.
Katie Moore, manager of IFAW’s Marine Mammal Stranding Network’s rescue and research and Brian Sharp, stranding coordinator, were set to return as the tide lowered again in the afternoon to put numbered red tags on the dorsal fins of any dead dolphins.
Of a total of 152 confirmed strandings by common dolphins on Cape Cod since Jan. 12, 97 were found dead.
Of 55 living animals, 35 have been successfully released to deeper waters off of the Cape’s tip. The other 25 either did not survive, or were euthanized if assessed to be unable to be returned to the wild without undue suffering. Most of the dolphins have beached between Wellfleet and Dennis. The Barnstable stranding is the first one this far west. Read More
Indonesia’s Mount Lokon erupts
MANADO, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Indonesia's Mount Lokon erupted again on Friday after showing increased activity since the previous day, local officials told an Indonesian news agency.
Mount Lokon, which is located on the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi, erupted at around 8:20 p.m. local time, spewing ashes up to 2,000 meters (6,561 feet) into the air, Warno, the Mount Lokon and Mahawu volcano observation post staff, told the Antara news agency.
The eruption produced a loud thumping noise, Warno said, adding that the volcano's activity had been increasing since Thursday with both deep and shallow volcanic earthquakes that eventually caused the eruption.
Nearby residents gathered on the streets in urban villages located not far from the volcano's crater, including in the villages of Kinilow I, Kinilow, and Kakaskasen. There were no reports of casualties. Read More
Nine persons have tested positive for 'Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), India
Shimoga, Feb 10 (PTI): Nine persons have tested positive for 'Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), known as Monkey disease in Theerthahlli taluk in the past 15 days a top district official said here today. Kyasanur Forest Disease is a tick-borne viral hemorrhagic fever endemic to South Asia. The disease is caused by a virus belonging to the family flaviviridae, which also includes yellow fever and dengue fever. "Nine of the 89 samples sent to virus testing laboratory in Bangalore tested positive," Shimoga Zilla Parishad CEO Sanjay Bijjur told reporters after a review meeting with health officials here today.
He said he has directed all medical staff to complete the innoculation of KFD vaccine to all villagers before February 14 in all three Primary health divisions covering Konandur, Hombuja and Rippenpet in the taluks.
Bijjur said there is sufficient quantity of vaccine and vehicles with paramedics, doctors and health staff are visiting all areas to provide immediate relief to people. Source
HEAVY RAINS KILLS 14 INJURING 24 IN PERU’S AMAZON PROVINCE
LIMA, Feb 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Fourteen people were killed while 29 others were injured and about 44,000 more affected in Peru the past two days by heavy rains and ensuing flooding and landslides.Nonstop downpours are pounding 80 percent of the country and at least 4,861 people have been left homeless, according to a statement by the National Civil Defense Institute (Indeci).
The San Martin province, located in the central part of the Peruvian Amazon, has been hit hardest by the rains with 18,030 people affected and 202 left homeless.
The territorial rains have caused numerous rivers to overflow as at least 669 homes, schools, medical centers were destroyed and croplands of thousands of small farmers were damaged.
Almost 19 kilometers of highways were severely damaged while another 783 kilometers suffered lesser damage. Four bridges collapsed and another 13 damaged. Read More
New Mutation of swine flu detected in Vietnam
VietNamNet Bridge – The Heath Ministry has quoted sources from the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute confirming that a new kind of porcine flu virus, A/H3N1, has appeared, apparently a combination of the pig-related A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 flu viruses.The medical sector has monitored 10 patients infected with the A/H3N2 virus with porcine origin, and found that three of them had not had direct contact with any diseased pigs.
Therefore, the sector has not ruled out the possibility of a mutation in the A/H3N2 strain which could lead to transmission between humans, instead of strictly from pigs to humans as previously.
However, the situation has not reached an alarming level because the virus has not changed much; it has low toxicity and has shown no sign of drug resistance.
Flu vaccines are able to cope with small changes in this kind of virus, said Le Hoang San, Vice Director of the HCMC Pasteur Institute.
* Bird flu found in two more provinces
The avian flu epidemic has recurred in the southern province of Bac Lieu and the northern province of Ha Nam.
The Bac Lieu Animal Health Department has found hundreds of fowls dead without apparent reason since early February. These fowls included more than 200 ducks in Nha Mat ward, Bac Lieu city, and another 250 ducks in Hong Dan district.
Samples taken from the dead ducks tested positive for the A/H5N1 flu virus. Read More
India sends special envoy to Maldives as crisis deepens
NEW DELHI: As Maldives plunged into a deeper crisis, India today established contact with top political leaders of the island nation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sending his special envoy and favouring resolution of the problem through dialogue. Singh despatched as his special envoy M Ganapathi, secretary (West) in the external affairs ministry, to listen to all voices and assess the situation in Maldives after the ouster of Mohammad Nasheed as Presidentearlier this week.
Singh said it was his sincere hope that the matter can be resolved through peaceful dialogue.
"It will be our effort to use our influence in that direction," the Prime Minister said. Read More
