Proposed change to French constitution likened to Nazi-era policy | The Electronic Intifada

The measure was first proposed by President François Hollande after suspected Islamic State gunmen killed 130 people in Paris on 13 November.“We must be able to strip the French citizenship of any person convicted of attacking the fundamental interests of the nation or of an act of terrorism, even if he is born French,” Hollande told parliament.VichyFrench law already allows citizenship to be stripped from foreign-born naturalized French citizens.But just days ago, Justice Minister Christiane Taubira had predicted – wrongly – that the measure to expand this power to French-born citizens would not be included in the constitutional reform package.According to Taubira, the president’s proposal “poses a major problem with respect to a fundamental principle, the right of the soil” – a legal term referring to the right of anyone born in a state to nationality or citizenship – to which the minister said she was “profoundly attached.”French Prime Minister Manuel Valls “knows that this measure will not discourage a single terrorist, but will produce two classes of French citizens,” Yasser Louati, spokesperson for the anti-Islamophobia group CCIF tweeted.

Source: Proposed change to French constitution likened to Nazi-era policy | The Electronic Intifada

Avian Flu Diary: PAHO ZIka Week 51: And Then There Were 12 Countries in the Americas

Like with Dengue and Chikununguya which arrived before it, Zika is finding the climate and abundance of Aedes mosquitoes highly conducive to spreading, along with a large, virologically naive population. As a result, Brazil alone is estimating more than a half million infections over the past eight months (see Brazil Estimates 500K+ Zika Infections). Up until a few months ago Zika was considered a relatively minor threat, particularly when compared to the far more painful and debilitating Chikungunya and the four (occasionally) deadly strains of Dengue.  Zika infections were generally regarded as relatively mild, and self limiting. That perception began to change, ever so slightly, after an outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013-2014, which saw a concurrent spike in Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) (see  Zika, Dengue & Unusual Rates Of Guillain Barre Syndrome In French Polynesia).

Source: Avian Flu Diary: PAHO ZIka Week 51: And Then There Were 12

CU-Boulder study reveals evolutionary arms race between Ebola virus, bats

{The complete connection of how bats become more vulnerable or the virus stronger is not addressed. Over-population stress of bats from human destruction of its forest ecology may be a significant factor, as well as cyclical large increases in food supply which can trigger increases in bat population. The change in food supply can also be the result of human intervention – creation of single fruit crop plantations- nh}

 

The Ebola virus and fruit bats have been waging a molecular battle for survival that may have started at least 25 million years ago.

Source: CU-Boulder study reveals evolutionary arms race between Ebola virus, bats

Malala Meets up Again with Syrian Schoolgirl Campaigner in Britain | Jakarta Globe

Newcastle upon Tyne. Nearly two years after they met in a dust-blown refugee camp in Jordan, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai welcomed Syrian fellow schoolgirl activist Muzoon Almellehan to her friend’s new home in rainy northern England on Tuesday.Malala, who moved to Britain in 2012 after being shot in the head in Pakistan by the Taliban for refusing to quit school, won acclaim for her advocacy of women’s right to education and becoming the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.Reuniting at a gleaming public library in the northeast English city of Newcastle, 18-year-old Malala and Muzoon, 17, pledged to campaign together for access to education for Syrian refugee children.The setting was a far cry from the sprawling lines of tents comprising the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees in the Jordanian desert, where the pair first met in early 2014.Malala now lives in England’s second city, Birmingham, where she was treated after being shot, and Muzoon is among the first Syrians from refugee camps in the Middle East to have come to Britain.

Source: Malala Meets up Again with Syrian Schoolgirl Campaigner in Britain | Jakarta Globe