Category Archives: Fail!

Saudis report 8 MERS cases; 2nd US patient released | CIDRAP

Saudi Arabia reported eight more MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases yesterday and today, three of them causing no symptoms, and Florida officials announced today that the second US MERS patient has been released from an Orlando hospital.

The Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) said five earlier MERS patients have died. The new cases and fatalities raised the country’s MERS count to 537 cases and 173 deaths.

via Saudis report 8 MERS cases; 2nd US patient released | CIDRAP.

Army surrounds Tamil daily’s headquarters in Jaffna – Reporters Without Borders

No peace, no reconciliation, just more conquest and ethnic oppression – Members of the intelligence services were seen among the soldiers who continued to block the Kannarthiddin Road and Navalar Road access to the newspaper until this morning. Some of the intelligence officers carried guns while others noted who was entering and leaving the newspaper.

The military operation appeared to be a response to Uthayan’s publication yesterday of a supplement entitled “Mullivaikkal Thuyar Malar – May 18,” consisting of poems and accounts by survivors of the Sri Lankan army’s massacre of thousands of Tamil civilians in 2009, in the final stages of the civil war between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.

via Army surrounds Tamil daily’s headquarters in Jaffna – Reporters Without Borders.

The Monuments Men Recognition Act: H.R. 3658: Monuments Men Recognition Act of 2013 – POPVOX.com

One of the honorees is a woman – so she is going to be given medal recognizing Monuments “Men”?

H.R. 3658: Monuments Men Recognition Act of 2013

Summary: To grant the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the Monuments Men, in recognition of their heroic role in the preservation, protection, and restitution of monuments, works of art, and artifacts of cultural importance during and following World War II.

via The Monuments Men Recognition Act: H.R. 3658: Monuments Men Recognition Act of 2013 – POPVOX.com.

Divide grows between Israeli, Palestinian journalists – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

The situation of Palestinian journalists has created anger toward their Israeli counterparts for a number of reasons. For instance, Israel continues to restrict Palestinian journalists’ movements, while Israeli journalists are freely granted access to Palestinian areas.

While the Palestinian Journalists’ Association has denounced all acts of violence against journalists, including the attacks against the two Israelis in Beitunia, their Israeli counterparts rarely speak out about the travel restrictions on Palestinian journalists and regular Israeli army attacks on Palestinian journalists. Of note, on May 15, Palestinian cameramen Issam Rimawi and Abdul Kareem Mestaif were injured by rubber bullets that Palestinians believe were directed at them specifically because they were carrying cameras. The Foreign Press Association in Israel, currently headed for the first time by a Palestinian, Samer Shalabi, issued a statement that “condemns in the strongest terms” the incident and called on everyone to “respect the right of journalists on assignment to work unharmed to freely and unhindered pursue their profession.”

via Divide grows between Israeli, Palestinian journalists – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

Israeli forces uproot trees, level land near Bethlehem | Maan News Agency

Israeli bulldozers leveled large tracts of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem-area village of Nahalin on Monday, locals said.

Head of the village council, Majid Ghayatha, told Ma’an that Israeli bulldozers uprooted dozens of olive and almond trees in the Wad Salem area.

Several grapevines were also destroyed.

Israeli military forces deployed on hilltops above the village to prevent land owners from accessing their fields.

Locals told Ma’an that they believe Israeli forces are clearing land for a new road connecting the Neve Daniel and Beitar Ilit settlements.

via Israeli forces uproot trees, level land near Bethlehem | Maan News Agency.

Stuffed dead polar bears: Another luxury craze for wealthy Chinese: Shanghaiist

The latest accessory of choice and a “must-have” item that has emerged amongst wealthy Chinese for decorating their homes, offices and clubs is none-other than the cuddly, lovable and endangered polar bear. Stuffed.

Shanghai Daily reports:

Sales of legally imported mounted specimens of polar bears and other animals are booming in a Beijing exhibition hall, reported Beijing Youth Daily.

“Business is going well,” a saleswoman at the hall, outside of the capital’s northern Fifth Ring Road, told the newspaper.

“One company boss came and bought a 3.3-meter-tall stuffed polar bear for 600,000 yuan (US$96,238) without any bargaining,” she added.

For those who can’t actually afford a polar bear (or probably fit one in their house), all other things fuzzy and sourced from a blisteringly cold destination will do, with a stuffed arctic fox fetching a humble 80,000 yuan.

Other furry friends such as elk and lions are also high in demand as well as the heads of elephants, deer and zebras.

But don’t worry. “The animals for sale died of natural causes,” the saleswoman said.

Because with the world’s impeccable record with “exotic” animals and the absolute non-existence of animal poaching in history, we can be sure that with statements such as “Prices reflect their endangered status” (as uttered by the saleswoman) will under no circumstance trigger a spike in the black market.

via Stuffed dead polar bears: Another luxury craze for wealthy Chinese: Shanghaiist.

Auto recalls speed up, are on track to break a record – Los Angeles Times

(Ditlow does not get the point – it’s not so much that they are being more aggressive about identifying defects – they all have been putting out shoddy product for years and have not bothered to notify anyone or just send out letters to owners of newer cars to stop on by for a check up and not that they might die because of a defect.)

“It’s not because automakers are turning out more defective vehicles than ever. Rather, Ditlow said, they are being more aggressive about identifying defects, culling through their records and looking at problems with past models in an effort to avoid being the center of the next crisis.”

via Auto recalls speed up, are on track to break a record – Los Angeles Times.

Erdogan, entourage lose control in Soma – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

The most emotional photograph from the Soma mine disaster was of a rescued miner covered all in black laid on a stretcher. His rescuer wished him good luck, and the miner said, “Should I remove my boots, so they do not dirty the stretcher?” Millions of Turks cried watching this scene. In the midst of tragedy, to see a survivor worrying about “dirtying the stretcher” was a heart-stabbing moment.

via Erdogan, entourage lose control in Soma – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

Boko Haram threat: Leaders vow to wage ‘total war’ on ‘Al Qaeda of West Africa’ – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

West African leaders have agreed to work together to wage “total war” on Boko Haram, saying the Nigerian Islamist group had become a regional Al Qaeda that threatened them all.

Nigeria, its neighbours – Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin – and Western officials met in Paris to flesh out a plan enabling them for the first time to share intelligence, coordinate action and monitor borders.

It comes as a suspected Boko Haram attack was carried out on a Chinese work site in northern Cameroon, killing at least one Cameroonian soldier with 10 others feared kidnapped.

Although Boko Haram has been fighting for five years, carrying out bombings and attacks on civilians and security forces, the kidnapping last month of more than 200 schoolgirls in the north-east has focused world attention on them.

Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan says Boko Haram is no longer a local threat, but has become West Africa’s Al Qaeda.

via Boko Haram threat: Leaders vow to wage ‘total war’ on ‘Al Qaeda of West Africa’ – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

Libyan irregular forces backed by helicopters on Friday clashed with former rebel Islamist groups in the eastern city of Benghazi

Libyan irregular forces backed by helicopters on Friday clashed with former rebel Islamist groups in the eastern city of Benghazi in fighting that left at least 12 people dead and scores wounded.

Troops apparently under the control of retired General Khalifa Hifter shelled bases of the Islamist militia Rafallah al-Sahati and another Islamist militant group known as February 17, officials said.

A spokesman for Hifter told Libyan television station Al-Ahrar that some regular military units joined Hifter’s forces in the attacks, saying they now controlled the two bases. This has not been independently confirmed.

Libya’s army chief of staff Abdessalam Jadallah al-Salihin told state television, however, that he had given no orders for any regular military units to attack bases in Benghazi.

via .