All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

TV journalist accused of attacking police in Guatemala – Reporters Without Borders

But Cabrera rejected this option, resulting in a postponement until 24 June, when she will be required to demonstrate her innocence and the prosecution will not be required to prove her guilt.

“This procedure poses a very disturbing risk of a large fine or even detention for Cabrera, who is accused of carrying out the very attack of which she was the victim,” said Camille Soulier, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Americas desk.

“The case is all the more worrying because the burden of proof has been reversed and she does not benefit from the presumption of innocence. The policemen involved in this case should be thoroughly investigated without delay, in order to shed light on this apparent abuse of authority.”

The attack on Cabrera is symptomatic of the violence that journalists face in Guatemala. The creation of a proper mechanism for protecting journalists is one of the main recommendations of the April 2014 report on Guatemala by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

via TV journalist accused of attacking police in Guatemala – Reporters Without Borders.

Jeremy Clarkson and Ukip are not mavericks, but the bullying face of the establishment | Suzanne Moore | Comment is free | The Guardian

What is asked of Clarkson and his posse is no more than we ask of primary-school pupils. Don’t name-call. Respect difference. I don’t pretend all sorts of stuff doesn’t happen outside the classroom, but it is not a bad ideal. Even small children know which discourses are legitimised by the grownups.

Clarkson and the grownup schoolboys know also that every shocking remark is shrapnel. It scatters and wounds multiple targets. If you can say nasty stuff about gay people, then why not about black people? Once you voice the idea that women ask for rape and can’t have careers, the next stage is to get rid of naggy old human rights because women don’t count as human anyway.

We have not been conned by Europe, feminism, political correctness or even bloody wind farms. The biggest con of all is that this coalition of “mavericks” is not seen for what it is. The establishment: in bullying, red-faced self-pitying mode. This is the rich and powerful deriding the powerless while pretending to be heroic victims. It is a revolting, sweaty lie. Let them slap each other’s back into oblivion. Decent blokes do not monetise their ability to pick on those weaker than them, never mind make entire careers out if it.

via Jeremy Clarkson and Ukip are not mavericks, but the bullying face of the establishment | Suzanne Moore | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Lebanese women ‘run forward’ for their rights in Beirut marathon | WNN – Women News Network

This is the second year the women’s marathon has taken place in Beirut. Image: Al Arabiya

Crowds lined the streets of Beirut as a women’s marathon snaked its way through the city this week.

Women from all walks of life – the handicapped, the young and the elderly – participated in the event aimed at empowering women through sports and geared towards reminding women that health is vital.

A number of men also joined in the campaign which ran under the slogan “Run forward, there is no going back” . . .

via Lebanese women ‘run forward’ for their rights in Beirut marathon | WNN – Women News Network.

Researchers determine MERS virus transmission from animals to humans | Vaccine News Daily

{Stop nose to nose contact with camels and no more kissing your camel’s nose?

Could well be that both camels and people are being infected by bats who infect the camels and people – similar to the influenza connection between poultry, pigs, and people in live markets?}

The virologists found that virus levels were very high in the camel’s nasal mucosa and conjunctiva, which they said points to transmission pathways from to humans from those sites.

via Researchers determine MERS virus transmission from animals to humans | Vaccine News Daily.

Conservative Women Argue Sexual Assault Numbers Are Overblown – The Wire

Now, some female conservative pundits are questioning the facts that the White House based its recommendations on — namely, that one in five women will be sexually assaulted by the time they leave college.

via Conservative Women Argue Sexual Assault Numbers Are Overblown – The Wire.

Now can anyone explain why this would be a liberal v. conservative or GOP v. Democrat issue? Are conservatives and GOP so hyper-anti-female rights that they will try and discount seriousness of problem of rape?

Migrant workers should avoid live bird markets: WHO official – ANTARA News

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – An Official from the World Health Organization (WHO) said Indonesian migrant workers should avoid live bird markets in foreign countries, particularly in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“I think it is important for tourists or migrant workers to avoid live bird markets. I think it is particularly important currently in China, but also in live bird markets in general that have avian influenza scattered around,” the chief of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Professor Anne Kelso, told ANTARA here on Tuesday.

Anne said it is better for people who are in foreign countries to avoid live bird markets, especially when a dangerous virus arises. Anne added that the location can be the source of the greatest risk for a virus infection.

The latest virus of avian influenza that had infected several birds and people in the area are of the H7N9 type, Anne said.

via Migrant workers should avoid live bird markets: WHO official – ANTARA News.

Moroccan desert spider flees predators in 6.6 ft back flips | Green Prophet

Ever seen a spider do back flips? If you have arachnophobia, you might not want to, but for everyone else, the spinning Cebrennus rechenbergi desert spider in Morocco is quite a sight.

When it feels especially threatened and unable to resolve that threat by any other means, the recently discovered spider from Morocco’s Erg Chebbi desert will flee from its predator in soaring flipping motions.

via Moroccan desert spider flees predators in 6.6 ft back flips | Green Prophet.

Saudi hospital head sacked as MERS death toll hits 117 | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

Saudi Arabia’s acting health minister has announced the sacking of the head of a Jeddah hospital where a spike in MERS infections among medical staff sparked panic among the public.

The move, which Adel Fakieh published on Twitter late Tuesday, came after he inspected King Fahd Hospital’s emergency department in the Red Sea city.

Hours after the news, health officials announced two more deaths from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, bringing the toll to 117.

The victims were a 68-year-old woman in Jeddah, the kingdom’s commercial capital, and a 60-year-old man died in Medina.

The Jeddah hospital was temporarily shut last month after several medics were infected by MERS.

And panic at the Red Sea city’s main hospital prompted at least four doctors to resign in mid-April after they refused to treat MERS patients for fear of infection.

via Saudi hospital head sacked as MERS death toll hits 117 | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

Israel spying on US at ‘alarming level’ | Maan News Agency

“No other country close to the United States continues to cross the line on espionage like the Israelis do,” said a former congressional staffer who attended another classified briefing in late 2013, according to Newsweek.

It said that briefing was one of several in recent months given by the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the FBI and the National Counterintelligence Directorate.

The former congressional staffer said the intelligence agencies did not give specifics, but cited “industrial espionage—folks coming over here on trade missions or with Israeli companies working in collaboration with American companies, (or) intelligence operatives being run directly by the government, which I assume meant out of the (Israeli) Embassy.”

Israel’s espionage activities in America are unrivaled and go far beyond activities by other close allies, such as Germany, France, Britain and Japan, counter-intelligence agents told members of the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees, Newsweek said.

via Israel spying on US at ‘alarming level’ | Maan News Agency.