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Sunday, September 16, 2007

The World Health Organization (WHO), non-governmental aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have sent experts to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to assist local health authorities with a recent outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Kasai Occidental province of DRC. The illness had been unidentified until laboratory test results confirmed the presence of the virus.

DRC President Joseph Kabila described the situation as being contained. “The village of Kampungu has been quarantined to prevent population movement towards Kananga,” Kabila said on Thursday. Kananga is the provincial capital. “The situation is at the moment, I cannot say under control, but at least the problem has been contained very well in the area,” he continued. “There is no risk that the whole country will be affected.”

WHO is working closely with officials from the DRC Ministry of Health and MSF to improve local facilities in order to better contain the virus. A mobile field laboratory is to be established in order to provide rapid sample analysis and, subsequently, diagnosis of patients. There are concurrent outbreaks of other diseases, such as dysentery (Shigellosis), that have been complicating diagnoses and need to be identified as well.

Ebola haemorrhagic fever generates mortality rates in the range of 50 to 90 percent, typically. There is currently no vaccine or effective treatment for Ebola. WHO describes the symptoms of Ebola as being “characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is often followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. Laboratory findings show low counts of white blood cells and platelets as well as elevated liver enzymes.”

MSF, who now have 14 experts in DRC, arranged for eighteen tons of supplies, such as medical and sanitation material, to be delivered to the province of West Kasai. MSF indicated that the transportation of supplies from the airport to the affected areas has been a challenge, due to poor road conditions. It has taken up to three days to travel the 250 km to the outbreak area from the provincial capital city, Kananga.

MSF experts will provide advice on sanitary burial procedures, which would include the use of body bags and spraying. Both the WHO and MSF will disseminate information to the local population regarding the transmission of the virus and measures that could be taken to reduce the spread of the disease.

The MSF emergency team coordinator in Kampungu, Rosa Crestani, described the isolation ward set up at Kampungu’s health centre. “Our isolation centre is basically divided in three parts. One is completely isolated, where the sick patients are; another is where the staff dresses with the complete protection uniform and then undresses after having been in contact with the patients; and the third part is a space for disinfection in between,” said Crestani. “In the coming days, we will decide with the Ministry of Health and the WHO whether we set up isolation structures in other locations of the health zone.”

Neighbouring countries, such as Rwanda and Zambia have issued alerts to their citizens, warning of travel to and from DRC. Zambian Health Minister Brian Chituwo stated that all people coming into Zambia from DRC will be watched for symptoms of Ebola for up to eight hours. Chituwo noted, however that it would be unlikely for an infected person to travel into the country, as the time between onset and death is very rapid and that the symptoms are severe.

There has been a minimum of 395 people affected by haemorrhagic fever, including 160 deaths, in DRC in the past few months. Since arriving in Kampungu in early September, MSF have seen 25 patients admitted with suspected Ebola haemorrhagic fever, of which eight have died.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Roll up displays for use in hand-held gadgets will be available for mass production by March 2007 according to co-developer Philips. Working with US based paper pioneer E-ink, Philips have developed a 13cm wide screen which is just 0.1 millimetres thick and can be rolled up so that it is only 15 millimetres in diameter.

The screen, which Philips hope to license to makers of in-car satellite navigation systems, mobile web browsers and smart phones, uses no back light and displays a monochrome image in four shades of grey as well as black and white. According to Philips the screen is able to give a “paper-like contrast”.

The screen consists of a backing layer of plastic film which contains a matrix of transistors. This is topped off with layer transparent “electronic ink” capsules and a layer of clear plastic. The capsules are approximately 50 micrometres in diameter and contain polarised black and white particles. Using the transistors, a pattern of positive and negative charge can be applied which manipulates the particles to form monochrome images.

Sunday, July 3, 2005

São Paulo, Brazil —On June 30, in Brazil, deputy Roberto Jefferson testified to deputies and senators of a Commission that is investigating the alleged Post Office Service scandal. Jefferson’s testimony along with new evidence supporting his testimony are putting the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a difficult situation.

Roberto Jefferson’s testimony ran from 4 p.m. to close to 2 a.m. (local time). The deputy further explained the alleged corruption scheme involving the Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT).

The testimony of Jefferson was at times very tense, and sometimes discussions between Jefferson and deputies of the Workers Party become heated. In one instance, a Workers’ Party deputy attacked Jefferson’s credibility, calling him a liar on the basis that he supported the former Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello, who suffered impeachment for corruption related to Treasurer Paulo Cesar Farias, who worked on Collor’s campaign. Jefferson answered: “PC Farias is a chick when you see the corruption in PT”, and accused the former governor of Rio Grande do Sul Olivio Dutra (Olivio Dutra is the minister of Lula at the present time) of involvement with the “Jogo do Bicho” (illegal gambling).

According to Jefferson, the President of the Worker’s Party José Genuino, former Minister José Dirceu, Secretary-General Sílvio Pereira, and Treasurer Delúbio Soares, head a widespread national corruption scheme which involves the Workers Party, members of the Government, the Brazilian Agency of Intelligence, and both government and private enterprises. Jefferson said the President was unaware of this scheme. Some members of parliament from the opposition see this claim as strange.

During his last testimony, Jefferson said that entrepreneur Marcos Valério was responsible for finacing the payment of deputies of the alleged Votes-for-cash scandal. This week, investigations by the police showed that Marcos Valério withdrew, in cash, large sums of money from Rural Bank. According to Jefferson, this money was used to pay deputies. Valério said that he used the money to buy cattle and that farmers don’t like to receive cheques, just “real money”. His explanation was considered suspect and his former secretary said she does not know of any farms owned by Valerio.

Marcos Valério is part-owner of SMPB and DNA. Documents from the Agrarian Reform Institute (INCRA) showed that Valério’s enterprises owned 10 big farms. According to an article published by the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo on July 1, at least two of these farms do not exist. The Brazilian Federal Police said that there is evidence sufficient to indict Valério. The accusations against Valério are tax evasion and money laundering.

According to Internal Revenue Service, Marcos Valério’s fortune was R$ 230,000 (97,676.27 USD – Live mid-market rates as of July 3, 2005, 12:47:43 UTC.) in 1997 and R$ 14,000,000 (5,945,511.97 USD) in 2004, a growth of 6086%. The enterprises of Valério, SMPB and DNA, have contracts with five Ministeries and eight big public enterprises, including the Post Office Service.

Before his testimony to the Commission, Jefferson said that Furnas, an energy company in Brazil, was involved in a corruption scheme. According to Jefferson, money from the enterprise was moved to the Workers’ Party of Minas Gerais, to the treasurer Delúbio Soares, to be used to buy deputies. Furnas denied this. Presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that the allegations should be investigated. Under pressure the Furnas’ directors resigned.

On July 2, newspapers reported that according to Brazilian Central Bank’s documents, in February 17, 2004, the Workers’ Party borrowed R$ 2.4 millions (1,019,230.62 USD) from Marcos Valério. In addition, the documents named José Genoíno (the President of the Workers’ Party) and Delúbio Soares (the treasurer). After initially denying that the magazine had taken out this loan, the President of the Workers’ Party acknowledged it to journalists on Saturday, July 2.

Delúbio Soares cried during his speech last week and said that the accusations are not true and that the “right” is trying to impeach President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on false charges.

The testimony of Jefferson is at the center of discussions in Brazil. According to the PMDB leader, Senator Ney Suassuna, the denunciations are “nitroglycerine which are thrown into the arteries of the Republic every minute”. Leader of the PSDB, Arthur Virgílio Neto, said that the government lives in darkness. Senator Peter Simon (PMDB-RS) appealed to President Lula to do an ethical turn-around, and respect the imperatives of morality and seriousness in government. According to Simon: “Today society is still saying that president Lula is a man of good. However, shortly, nobody is going to say that anymore”.

On July 1, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the celebration of the 15th Anniversary of the Foro de São Paulo, in São Paulo. At 7:30 p.m. the forum was opened and, according to the Workers’ Party, the participants expressed support for the government of President Lula. Lula spoke during the encounter with the semblance of a tired and worried man affected by the crisis.

It is expected that the government will began a Ministerial reformulation next week.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Yesterday, UK singer Ed Sheeran won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for his song Thinking Out Loud from his album × ahead of Kendrick Lamar’s Alright; Wiz Khalifa’s, featuring Charlie Puth, See You Again; Little Big Town’s Girl Crush; and Taylor Swift’s Blank Space. Girl Crush won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song.

Welsh singer Amy Wadge co-wrote the song. Sheeran during the ceremony said they wrote the song on a couch in his house. In remarks to the Western Mail, Wadge said the album was already complete when they wrote the song.

Thinking out Loud remained #2 on Billboard Hot 100 for almost two months, and topped the UK rankings last year. Its video song has 969 Million YouTube views and has more than four million likes. The song also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance.

US singer Stevie Wonder announced the winner for the Song of the Year, and the envelope was written in Braille script. He joked about it saying “You can’t read it, you can’t read Braille!”

Along with Ed Sheeran’s first Grammy, Canadians The Weeknd and Justin Bieber won Grammy awards for the first time.

Saturday, May 7, 2005

Testing began on a chemical reactor at the Newport Chemical Depot near Terre Haute, Indiana on Friday morning. If successful, the reactor will be put to use destroying the large VX nerve gas stockpiles stored at the facility over the course of the next two years. After the disposal project experienced several delays, the facility announced it would begin pumping VX into a completed disposal unit for testing. The unit consists of a chemical reactor in which the VX will be mixed with water and sodium hydroxide, heated to 194°F while mixed with paddles. The resulting chemical, called hydrolysate, is chemically similar to commercial drain cleaners and has similar properties. If the test is successfully completed , the unit will continue processing the VX until the entire stockpile has been neutralized, a process projected to take two years. Administrators expect to complete testing on May 10, 2005.

According to the controversial plan, the finished waste product would be shipped to New Jersey for final reprocessing. The inert chemical would then be emptied into the Delaware River where natural attenuation would occur.

Residents near the proposed river disposal site in New Jersey oppose this idea. The contractor for the final component of this disposal would be the DuPont Corporation.

NCD is a bulk chemical storage and destruction facility in west central Indiana, thirty miles north of Terre Haute. Originally founded during World War II to produce RDX, a conventional explosive, it later became a site for chemical weapons manufacturing during the Cold War. It is now used to securely store and gradually neutralize part of the US stockpile of VX.

VX was manufactured by the U.S. in the 1950s and 60’s as a deterrent to possible Soviet Union use. It was never deployed, and the manufacture was halted in 1969 after an order signed by then-president Richard Nixon.

In 1999, the Army announced it awarded a disposal contract to Parsons Infrastructure & Technology, Inc., a business unit of Parsons Corporation. Some 220 civilian Parsons employees work at the facility, which is supervised by an Army officer reporting to the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency, and a board of civilian government overseers called the Indiana Citizens’ Advisory Commission, some of whose members are appointed by the state governor.

Security at the facility is controversial. A private security service, supplemented by a complement of Indiana National Guard soldiers, guarded the facility until April 14, 2005, when the soldiers were withdrawn. An Indianapolis television station has questioned security measures in some of its special reports.

Friday, January 27, 2006

On January 26, 2006, a massive boycott of dairy produce from Arla Foods started in Saudi Arabia over what is perceived as a Danish attack on Muslim values. The Saudi ambassador to Denmark has been recalled for consultations.

The Danish/Swedish dairy company Arla is facing a massive loss after a spreading boycott of its produce in Saudi Arabia. Four Saudi retail chains have already removed Arla products from the shelves. One retail chain has placed yellow warning tape (common fare for accidents and crime scenes) over Arla products. There have been cases reported of Arla delivery trucks being attacked by stones thrown from bystanders. Marianne Castenskiold, a senior consultant for Dansk Industri, expressed a fear that the boycott will spread to other countries in the region and have detrimental effects on other Danish products. Denmark is one of the leading exporters of agriculture in northern Europe, whose economy is heavily dependent on foreign trade and investment.

The boycott has been announced at Friday prayer services in Saudi mosques since January 20, 2006, obviously helping to foment popular support of the nation’s response to Denmark’s alleged ignorance of Muslim values. On at least one occasion, a delivery truck has been greeted by thrown stones.

The boycott is a response to the publication of an article in a major Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten. In its September 30, 2005 issue, the paper printed 12 drawings of the Muslim prophet Muhammed, as a response to previous news reports that the publisher of a forthcoming childrens’ book about the prophet had had difficulty in finding an illustrator, due to fear of extremist reactions; drawings of the prophet are prohibited by Islamic Law (see aniconism). In an attempt to start a debate over freedom of speech in Denmark, the newspaper printed 12 drawings of the prophet. Four of these were of a satirical nature, with one showing the prophet with a turban hiding a lit bomb.

The immediate reactions to the publication of the drawings included ambassadors from 12 Muslim countries demanding that the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, denounce the newspaper. Rasmussen rejected this demand, stating that “Danish freedom of speech does not allow the government to control what newspapers print”. He further noted that the only possible legal action against the newspaper would be one under the charge of blasphemy.

A debate ensued over the following months about freedom of speech and its value in relation to avoiding religious taboos. In mid-December 2005, a delegation from several Danish Muslim organizations went on a tour in several Middle-Eastern and Arabic countries, reportedly to gain sympathy for their point of view. Several reports state that during the tour the difficulties faced by Muslims in Denmark were grossly overstated.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

A suicide bomber has killed at least seven people in an attack on a restaurant situated in south-eastern Afghanistan. Twenty people are seriously injured in the attack.

The attack took place in the Urgun district of Paktika province, which shares its border with that of Pakistan.

Governor Mohammed Akram Akhpelwak said that most of those killed are civilians. He added that intention of the attack could have been to target a senior provincial official and an Afghan special forces commander.