A new type of swine flu that has spread and has already killed up to 81 people in Mexico and more than 1,300 people were being tested for suspected infection. The new flu strain is a mixture of various swine, bird and human viruses. It poses as the biggest risk of a large-scale pandemic since avian flu surfaced in 1997, killing several hundred people.
So far all the deaths so far have been in Mexico, though the flu is spreading in the United States. Eleven cases were confirmed in California, Kansas and Texas, and eight children in New York City caught a type A influenza virus that health officials say is likely to be the swine flu. In Spain and New Zealand a few people who had returned from visiting Mexico reported having flu-like symptoms.
New flu strains can spread quickly because no one has natural immunity to them and a vaccine takes months to develop; therefore the World Health Organization warned that the virus had the potential to become a pandemic and declared the flu a "public health event of international concern”. International experts will convene on Tuesday to advise the WHO whether to declare a pandemic - a global outbreak of serious disease. A global outbreak would be a major blow to the world economy which is already suffering its worst recession in decades.
The flu outbreak has become another major problem for Mexico which already has to deal with a violent drug war and economic slowdown. Mexicans huddled in their homes while U.S. hospitals tracked patients with flu symptoms and other countries imposed health checks at airports Residents of Mexico City. Millions stayed home over the weekend and worshipers were told to follow Sunday church services on television. Some residents abandoned the capital, a rambling, chaotic city. Convenience stores were open as normal on Sunday though the capital's schools were closed for 10 days and bars, restaurants, cinemas and churches shut down.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/story_print.html?id=1535878&sponsor=
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
America increases troops in Afganistan after yet another bombing
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/world/asia/31afghan.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=print
On Monday, a few minutes before noon, on the second floor of a government building outside of Kandahar, a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew himself up. In the attack at least eight people were killed, including five police officers and three civilians, and wounding six others. The attack took place on the southern outskirts of the city of Kandahar in an area where Afghan identification cards are issued. In addition the government building houses a civilian registration office, a police headquarters and a court.
Afghanistan’s police force is seen as a weak link in the country’s security structure. Afghan police officers are frequently the target of Taliban attacks from roadside and suicide bombs. In the eastern Afghan province of Paktia (which borders Pakistan) a roadside bomb exploded Monday while destroying a police vehicle and killing three policemen. Police officers have suffered the brunt of militant attacks, and hundreds have died in bombings and ambushes over the last year. Also, the district police chief was among the wounded in the Kandahar suicide bombing.
Since the amount of Taliban attacks have risen and worsened the last three years, as militants have taken control over large parts of the countryside. President Obama is sending 21,000 more troops to strengthen the 38,000 American soldiers already in the country. In total, NATO and the United States have 70,000 troops in Afghanistan.
In order to improve the Afghan security forces deterring capability, they need to be better trained and equipped. This was announced by President Obama last week as the strategic review of American policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On Monday, a few minutes before noon, on the second floor of a government building outside of Kandahar, a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew himself up. In the attack at least eight people were killed, including five police officers and three civilians, and wounding six others. The attack took place on the southern outskirts of the city of Kandahar in an area where Afghan identification cards are issued. In addition the government building houses a civilian registration office, a police headquarters and a court.
Afghanistan’s police force is seen as a weak link in the country’s security structure. Afghan police officers are frequently the target of Taliban attacks from roadside and suicide bombs. In the eastern Afghan province of Paktia (which borders Pakistan) a roadside bomb exploded Monday while destroying a police vehicle and killing three policemen. Police officers have suffered the brunt of militant attacks, and hundreds have died in bombings and ambushes over the last year. Also, the district police chief was among the wounded in the Kandahar suicide bombing.
Since the amount of Taliban attacks have risen and worsened the last three years, as militants have taken control over large parts of the countryside. President Obama is sending 21,000 more troops to strengthen the 38,000 American soldiers already in the country. In total, NATO and the United States have 70,000 troops in Afghanistan.
In order to improve the Afghan security forces deterring capability, they need to be better trained and equipped. This was announced by President Obama last week as the strategic review of American policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sudanese President mocks the I.C.C and its arrest warrant
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/world/africa/24sudan.html?_r=1&ref=world
Sudan’s President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir travelled to Eritrea on Monday, despite the fact that the I.C.C issued a warrant for his arrest almost three weeks ago on war crimes charges for atrocities committed in Darfur. It was Mr. Bashir’s first trip abroad since the court issued its warrant. Leaving Sudan puts him at greater risk of being arrested because the I.C.C’s guidelines state that the court’s 108 member states are obligated to arrest Mr. Bashir if enters into their countries.
The criminal court charged him with crimes against humanity for playing an essential role in the murder, rape and displacement of vast numbers of civilians in Darfur. Over than 2.5 million Darfur residents have been chased from their homes and as many as 300,000 have died in a conflict between the Arab-dominated government who fought against the non-Arab rebels. Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem, Sudan’s permanent representative to the United Nations said that Mr. Bashir would not change his international travel schedule. Mr. Bashir has scheduled another foreign visit, a trip next week to Qatar for an Arab League summit meeting. Mr. Bashir was offered an out by a senior panel of Sudanese religious scholars, though Sudan promised that he will attend.
The I.C.C is intended as a court of last resort, investigating and prosecuting only where national courts have failed. It deals with“the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole”. Therefore the war crimes Mr. Bashir is accused of are a serious matter and the enitire international community should concider these war crimes as such. Any country that Mr. Bashir sets foot on their soil should arrest him if given the chance.
Sudan’s President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir travelled to Eritrea on Monday, despite the fact that the I.C.C issued a warrant for his arrest almost three weeks ago on war crimes charges for atrocities committed in Darfur. It was Mr. Bashir’s first trip abroad since the court issued its warrant. Leaving Sudan puts him at greater risk of being arrested because the I.C.C’s guidelines state that the court’s 108 member states are obligated to arrest Mr. Bashir if enters into their countries.
The criminal court charged him with crimes against humanity for playing an essential role in the murder, rape and displacement of vast numbers of civilians in Darfur. Over than 2.5 million Darfur residents have been chased from their homes and as many as 300,000 have died in a conflict between the Arab-dominated government who fought against the non-Arab rebels. Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem, Sudan’s permanent representative to the United Nations said that Mr. Bashir would not change his international travel schedule. Mr. Bashir has scheduled another foreign visit, a trip next week to Qatar for an Arab League summit meeting. Mr. Bashir was offered an out by a senior panel of Sudanese religious scholars, though Sudan promised that he will attend.
The I.C.C is intended as a court of last resort, investigating and prosecuting only where national courts have failed. It deals with“the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole”. Therefore the war crimes Mr. Bashir is accused of are a serious matter and the enitire international community should concider these war crimes as such. Any country that Mr. Bashir sets foot on their soil should arrest him if given the chance.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
El-Salvador elections
Mauricio Funes won the presidency for the leftist party, El Salvador's former leftist guerrillas, while Funes defeating his Arena opponent, Rodrigo Ávila, a former national police chief. Mr. Funes’s party, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front is led by many of the same commanders who laid down their weapons with the 1992 peace agreement and entered politics, although the presidency has eluded it until now. Funes will be El Salvador’s first leftist president.
With their party’s victory, El Salvador joins a few Latin American countries that have elected leftist governments this decade, as a response to the failure of free-market policies The right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance, known as Arena, beforehand won four successive presidential elections since 1989. Arena pushed for a hard line against the guerrillas during the civil war. Mr. Funes stated he won’t judge his party’s enemies from the country’s civil war. Funes is a former television journalist but wasn't in the guerrilla.
Funes has pledged to govern as a moderate though he will face pressure from inside his party to move to the left. Simultaneously, he will have to negotiate with the right.
Funes intends to continue El Salvador’s close relationship with the United States.
Hopefully he will meet his supporters high expectations
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/world/americas/17salvador.html?ref=world
Mauricio Funes won the presidency for the leftist party, El Salvador's former leftist guerrillas, while Funes defeating his Arena opponent, Rodrigo Ávila, a former national police chief. Mr. Funes’s party, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front is led by many of the same commanders who laid down their weapons with the 1992 peace agreement and entered politics, although the presidency has eluded it until now. Funes will be El Salvador’s first leftist president.
With their party’s victory, El Salvador joins a few Latin American countries that have elected leftist governments this decade, as a response to the failure of free-market policies The right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance, known as Arena, beforehand won four successive presidential elections since 1989. Arena pushed for a hard line against the guerrillas during the civil war. Mr. Funes stated he won’t judge his party’s enemies from the country’s civil war. Funes is a former television journalist but wasn't in the guerrilla.
Funes has pledged to govern as a moderate though he will face pressure from inside his party to move to the left. Simultaneously, he will have to negotiate with the right.
Funes intends to continue El Salvador’s close relationship with the United States.
Hopefully he will meet his supporters high expectations
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/world/americas/17salvador.html?ref=world
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