There will be a zillion stories on the significance of a vacancy occurring in the nation’s highest court at this complicated political moment, and we’ll link to the best Must Reads. But, for the moment, if you hadn’t heard already, we thought you’d want to know. WLA vehemently opposed Justice Scalia on many issues, and […]
Monthly Archives: February 2016
150,000 penguins killed after giant iceberg renders colony landlocked
Penguins of Cape Denison in Antarctica have been effectively trapped by an iceberg the size of Rome and face 120km round trip to feed
An estimated 150,000 Adelie penguins living in Antarctica have died after an iceberg the size of Rome became grounded near their colony, forcing them to trek 60km to the sea for food.
The penguins of Cape Denison in Commonwealth Bay used to live close to a large body of open water. However, in 2010 a colossal iceberg measuring 2900sq km became trapped in the bay, rendering the colony effectively landlocked.
Zika virus: more than 5,000 pregnant women infected in Colombia
Total of more than 31,500 cases places country second only to Brazil in severity of outbreak
More than 5,000 pregnant Colombian women have been infected with the Zika virus, the country’s health authority has said, as the outbreak continues to spread across the Americas.
An epidemiology bulletin from Colombia’s national health institute said there were 31,555 cases of the mosquito-borne virus in the country, including 5,013 pregnant women. The virus is believed to be linked to a neurological birth defect known as microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and suffer incomplete brain development.
Poland plans to punish use of the phrase ‘Polish death camps’
Justice minister says Poles ‘are blasphemed’ by phrase that suggests country was responsible for Nazi atrocities on its soil
Poland is drawing up new regulations to punish use of the phrase “Polish death camps” in reference to wartime Nazi concentration camps on Polish soil, the justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, has said.
Poland has long sought to eliminate the misleading phrase from historical and newspaper accounts since it suggests the country, which was occupied by Nazi Germany during the second world war, was responsible for concentration camps on its territory.
Myanmar army chief to get five year extension as talks with Suu Kyi continue-media
Latest Slashing Victim: “I Am Grateful To Be Alive”
The 20-year-old woman who was brutally slashed while walking on a Bronx street yesterday is discussing the attack. Victim Paula Delos Santos said, “I was terrified, very frantic, hysterical. I had blood all over me. I thought it was because he kicked me in the face.” [ more › ]
Zika forest: birthplace of virus that has spread fear across the world | Global development | The Guardian
Zika was first identified in this spot near Entebbe. Now scientists must find out how a relatively mild virus spread so far, with such horrific effects…
But Uganda, the world capital of viruses, mostly shrugged – after all, malaria-carrying mosquitoes cause the deaths of 100,000 people in the country every year, most of them under five. Earlier this month it was reported that a malaria epidemic was raging in the north of the country, with over a million cases and 658 deaths since July. Meanwhile, 1.5 million Ugandans are infected with another virus, HIV, thousands have Hepatitis B, and there have been outbreaks of Ebola and Marburg.
“Say a million people suffered and 650 people died in one epidemic in a few months in Europe or the US,” said Kampala businessman Sudhir Otada. “What would be the reaction? Is it because we are poor?”
Mukwaya says he was astonished to hear of what was in Uganda a pretty harmless disease evolving into a potential global monster almost overnight on another continent. “I was very surprised by what has happened in Brazil,” he said. “Here it causes only a mild fever. I did not expect it to be that dangerous. It would be extraordinary if it really could spread from mosquito to human to human.”
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Air pollution is ‘leading environmental risk factor’
Air pollution is one of the major causes of premature death in the world, scientists have told a major conference. Two countries account for more than half of the several million fatalities each year, they say.
Australia doctors refuse to discharge refugee baby for detention on Nauru
Doctors in Brisbane have declined to hand over a refugee baby for fear she will be deported to Nauru. The case has highlighted the plight of migrants kept in Australia’s offshore immigration detention centers.

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