World News Thread & Breaking News!!

[bd popeye]

More tragedy in China...My deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

The full story is in the link.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

BEIJING (AP) — Sixty-eight people were killed and nearly 200 others injured, most with severe burns, after an explosion Saturday at an automotive parts factory in eastern China that supplies General Motors, officials said.

Saturday morning's explosion occurred when more than 200 workers were on the site of the factory, which is in an industrial zone in the city of Kunshan, officials from the city said at a news conference televised by state broadcaster CCTV. Kunshan, in Jiangsu province, is about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) southeast of Beijing.

CCTV showed footage shot by residents of large plumes of thick, black smoke rising from the plant. Several firefighting trucks were shown in the factory compound. News websites posted photos showing survivors or those who were killed being lifted onto the back of large trucks, their bodies black, presumably from burns or soot.

Some survivors were seen sitting on wooden cargo platforms on the road outside the factory or being carried into ambulances, their clothes apparently burned off and their skin exposed.

The explosion occurred at 7:37 a.m. at a workshop in the factory, which polishes wheel hubs. Rescuers pulled out 44 bodies at the site, while 24 other people died at a hospital, officials said. At least 187 people were injured.

 

[PanAsian]

I am all for researching cures to diseases and looking after our own but are we sure it doesn't pose additional risks flying these Ebola infected people back to the U.S.? Shouldn't there be a travel ban to and from the affected region? Sounds like the beginning of a disaster movie, what if there is an accident with the plane or ambulance en route?

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

wo American medical missionaries diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia could be back in the USA next week for treatment at a special medical isolation unit at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, the U.S. State Department said Friday.

The State Department did not name the two individuals, saying only that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was facilitating their transfer on a non-commercial flight and would "maintain strict isolation upon arrival in the United States."

One is to arrive Monday in a small jet outfitted with a special, portable tent designed for transporting patients with highly infectious diseases. The second is to arrive a few days later, said doctors at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, where they will be treated.

The private aircraft based in Atlanta was dispatched to Liberia where the two Americans — Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol — worked for U.S. missionary groups.

A Department of Defense spokesman said Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga., will be used for the aircraft.

The aircraft is a Gulfstream jet fitted with what essentially is a specialized, collapsible clear tent designed to house a single patient and stop any infectious germs from escaping. It was built to transfer CDC employees exposed to contagious diseases for treatment. The CDC said the private jet can only accommodate one patient at a time.

Brantly and Writebol are in serious condition and were still in Liberia on Friday, according to the North Carolina-based charity Samaritan's Purse, which is paying for their evacuation and medical care.

An Emory emergency medical team arrived in Liberia on the chartered jet and evaluated the patients, and deemed both stable enough for the trip to Atlanta, said Emory's Dr. Bruce Ribner.

Aid worker Brantly, 33, of Fort Worth has been working in Liberia for Samaritan's Purse overseeing an Ebola treatment center. Writebol of Charlotte was working at the center on behalf of the faith group Service in Mission.

Emory Hospital has a specially built isolation unit set up in collaboration with the CDC to treat patients exposed to certain serious infectious diseases.

The facility is separate from other patient areas of the hospital and is equipped to provide an extremely high level of clinical isolation. Emory's facility is one of only four of its type in the nation.

At a news conference Friday, Emory officials said patients with Ebola posed no risk to staff or other patients because of the hospital's strict infection-control procedures.

"We don't believe there is any likelihood at all of secondary cases as a result of these patients coming to the United States," said Ribner, an Emory professor in the infectious disease division. "I have no concerns about my personal health or the health of the other health-care workers who will be working in this unit."

After talking to doctors in Africa, Emory officials decided they could provide better supportive care to the Americans infected with Ebola. There are no effective treatments or vaccines — and the death rate in this outbreak is about 60% — so supportive care to treat patients' symptoms is vital. Emory can provide intensive care and has specialists who could care for the patients if they need to be placed on respirators or need kidney dialysis. Ebola often causes kidney and liver failure.

At a news conference Thursday, President Obama said he is taking the Ebola outbreak in Africa seriously. He says the United States is taking precautions for next week's U.S.-African summit in the nation's capital.

He said the CDC is working with international health organizations to provide assistance to the affected countries, adding that this outbreak is more aggressive than in the past.

The CDC issued a travel warning Thursday about Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone in West Africa.

Samaritan's Purse and SIM say they are working to evacuate all but the most essential personnel by this weekend, though the center will remain open.

Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, said Friday that more than 60 health-care workers have lost their lives in helping to treat Ebola patients.

The WHO says 729 people have died in the latest outbreak of Ebola in the region.

Nancy and Dave Writebol
Nancy Writebol of Charlotte is a medical missionary with Service in Mission. She was working at a medical center in Liberia when she was diagnosed with Ebola. Her husband, David, has been allowed to visit her while wearing a suit to protect against hazardous materials.(Photo: Service in Mission)
Sierra Leone has declared a state of emergency, banning public meetings and sending troops door to door to look for new cases and to quarantine the homes of former patients. Liberia has closed its public schools.

In a meeting with the presidents of the three West African countries, Chan said the Ebola outbreak "is moving faster than our efforts to control it."

If the situation continues to deteriorate, Chan said, "the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives, but also severe socioeconomic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries."

Liberia Ebola
An employee of Monrovia City mixes disinfectant before spraying it on the streets in a bid to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia on Aug. 1.(Photo: Abbas Dulleh, AP)
A U.S. citizen, Patrick Sawyer, died last week after arriving in Lagos, Nigeria, on a flight from Liberia aboard the regional airline Asky. Sawyer, 40, a consultant with the Liberian Ministry of Finance, is survived by a wife and three children in Coon Rapids, Minn.

CDC Director Thomas Frieden said he doubted Ebola could spread in the USA. "That is not in the cards," he said Thursday.

Contributing: Liz Szabo, Associated Press

Following Doug Stanglin on Twitter: @dstanglin

 

[joshuatree]

I am all for researching cures to diseases and looking after our own but are we sure it doesn't pose additional risks flying these Ebola infected people back to the U.S.? Shouldn't there be a travel ban to and from the affected region? Sounds like the beginning of a disaster movie, what if there is an accident with the plane or ambulance en route?

A calculated risk. Aside from looking after our own, they don't have the state of the art facilities there to maximize recovery chances of the two infected as well as maximize the research for cure.

 

[no_name]

More tragedy in China...My deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

The full story is in the link.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Kushan hospital blood banks are now full from blood donations from public and people have been turned away. As always good to see.

 

[no_name]

I am wondering, given there seems to be increase in Islamic extremist activities in parts of Africa, the likelihood and implication of terrorists getting on a sample of ebola virus and use it for terrorism. Maybe even using self infected suicide carriers?

There should be travel consideration and careful screenings in place in outbreak areas.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

Ebola burns fast. to fast to weaponize. that's why Suicide Attacks with it have no happened. by the Time you try and move your attacker into place he's dead. As to sampling that might be a option but the people who would be needed to control and reproduce it are specialists. and as Specialists any group would need them alive so it becomes complicated.

 

[PanAsian]

Gotta say I agree with this sensible travel ban proposal.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The dreaded Ebola virus has spread from the jungle into major cities in West Africa, and at least one American congressman believes it’s time to ban citizens of the three hardest-hit countries, as well as foreigners who recently visited them, from entering the U.S.

Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., requested the travel ban in a Tuesday letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Secretary of State John Kerry.

Citizens of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone should be barred from entry, Grayson wrote, as should any foreign national who visited one of the countries 90 days before their intended visit to the U.S. He wants the proposed ban to remain in effect for the duration of the outbreak and to be expanded to any other country where Ebola takes hold.

“I urge you to consider the enhanced danger Ebola now presents to the American public, and therefore request that appropriate travel restrictions be implemented immediately,” he wrote.

[RELATED: Top Ebola Doctor Dies, Airline Suspends Flights]

Ebola has an incubation period of up to three weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and kills up to 90 percent of people infected. Most victims contract the virus by touching the bodily secretions or corpses of infected people, or from contaminated needles.

CDC officials said Monday it’s unlikely the virus will spread to the U.S., but that American doctors should be on the lookout. Stephan Monroe, deputy director of the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, compared spread of the virus to a forest fire.

“Outbreaks can be reseeded, much like a forest fire with sparks,” he told reporters on a conference call, NBC News reports.

Liberian-born U.S. citizen Patrick Sawyer was quarantined in Lagos, Nigeria, and died Friday after becoming ill with Ebola. His widow said he was en route to the United States, meaning he might have become “patient zero” for a North American outbreak.

Ebola Outbreak, One of the Deadliest Diseases
Ebola Outbreak, One of the Deadliest Diseases


“I don't want any other families to go through this. Ebola has to stop,” Decontee Sawyer told the Pioneer Press. "Patrick was coming here [to Minnesota]. What if he still wasn't displaying symptoms yet and came? He could have brought Ebola here."

Grayson wrote that the Sawyer case was "particularly troubling."

In addition to Sawyer, two American medical personnel caring for the sick became infected this month and are currently quarantined in Africa. Dr. Kent Brantly's wife and two children returned from Liberia days before he became sick and were interviewed by Texas health professionals. They are not being isolated from the public because they likely did not come in contact with an infected person, CBS News reports.

Ebola epidemics historically burn out because of the high mortality rate. The current outbreak began in February in a remote corner of Guinea and is the first to strike West Africa. Unlike previous episodes in central Africa, this outbreak has spread to major urban centers. Its fatality rate also appears lower.

[OFFICIALS: Little Risk of Ebola Outbreak in U.S.]

According to World Health Organization data released Monday, through July 23 there were 1,201 suspected cases of Ebola – and 672 deaths – in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Of the suspected cases, 814 were confirmed as Ebola.

Ebola outbreaks are deemed over after two consecutive 21-day periods pass without a new case. The current outbreak is the largest in history.

Spokespeople for the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the proposed travel ban.

Grayson's letter:

 

[Equation]

Wowzer that was a close one! Sorry Sweeden and thank you.

Washington (CNN) -- The Cold War aerial games of chicken portrayed in the movie "Top Gun" are happening in real life again nearly 30 years later.
A U.S. Air Force spy plane evaded an encounter with the Russian military on July 18, just a day after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed by a suspected surface-to-air missile that Ukraine and the West allege was fired by pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine.
The RC-135 Rivet Joint fled into nearby Swedish airspace without that country's permission, a U.S. military official told CNN. The airplane may have gone through other countries' airspace as well, though it's not clear if it had permission to do so.
The U.S. plane had been flying in international airspace, conducting an electronic eavesdropping mission on the Russian military, when the Russians took the unusual action of beginning to track it with land-based radar.
The Russians then sent at least one fighter jet into the sky to intercept the aircraft, the U.S. official said Saturday.
The spy plane crew felt so concerned about the radar tracking that it wanted to get out of the area as quickly as possible, the official said. The quickest route away from the Russians took them into Swedish airspace. The U.S. official acknowledged that was done without Swedish military approval.
As a result of this incident, the United States is discussing the matter with Sweden and letting officials know there may be further occurrences where American jets have to divert so quickly they may not be able to wait for permission.
"We acknowledge a U.S. aircraft veered into Swedish airspace and will take active steps to ensure we have properly communicated with Swedish authorities in advance to prevent similar issues before they arise," the U.S. State Department said.
The incident was first reported by the Swedish media group DN.se. Russian officials did not provide any immediate reaction about the encounter.
This was at least the second potentially-dangerous encounter between a U.S. plane and Russia over the past few months. On April 23, a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet buzzed within 100 feet of the nose of a U.S. Air Force RC-135U reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Okhotsk between Russia and Japan, a Defense Department official said.
Russian fighter jet nearly collided with U.S. military plane in April
Russian and U.S. aircraft often encounter each other, both in Northern Europe as well as the area between the Russian Far East and Alaska. But the official said the land radar activity by the Russians in this instance was unusual.
The ongoing civil unrest in Ukraine and the downing of MH 17 over eastern Ukraine on July 17, which killed all 298 people aboard, have heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was brought down by a suspected missile.
Pro-Russia rebels have denied allegations from Ukraine and the West that they shot down the Malaysian airliner, or that Russia supplied equipment used to shoot it down.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[delft]

Wowzer that was a close one! Sorry Sweeden and thank you.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Russian and earlier Soviet aircraft were routinely intercepted in international airspace and until the advent of AWACS after being seen by groundbased radar, unless there was a shipborne radar involved. So why was the crew of this aircraft so panicky?

I notice that CNN noticed that wrt MH17 there have only been allegations against the federalists. Even now no evidence has been presented.

 

[Equation]

A sad day had struck China, this time an earthquake.

A strong earthquake in southern China's Yunnan province toppled thousands of homes on Sunday, killing at least 175 people and injuring more than 1,400.

About 12,000 homes collapsed in Ludian, a densely populated county of 429,000 people located around 366 kilometers (277 miles) northeast of Yunnan province's capital, Kunming, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The magnitude-6.1 quake struck at 4:30 p.m. at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Its epicenter was in Longtoushan township, 23 kilometers (14 miles) southwest of the city of Zhaotong, the Ludian county seat.

Ma Liya, a resident of Zhaotong, told Xinhua that the streets there were like a "battlefield after bombardment." She added that her neighbor's house, a new two-story building, had toppled.

Xinhua said at least 175 people were killed in the quake, with 181 missing and 1,402 injured.

At least 122 of the dead were in Ludian, with another 1,300 people injured there, Xinhua reported. It said another 49 people died, one was missing and 102 were injured in Qiaojia county, which has a population of 580,000.

Paramilitary policemen carry an injured woman with a stretcher after an earthquake hit Ludian county …
News reports said rescuers were still trying to reach victims in more remote towns Sunday night.

Photos on the Chinese social media site Weibo showed rescuers searching through flattened buildings and people injured amid toppled bricks.

The mountainous region abutting Sichuan province is largely agricultural, with farming and mining the top industries.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the quake was the strongest to hit Yunnan in 14 years. It reported that the quake loosened rocks that blocked a road near the city of Zhaotong and broadcast an image of a car apparently damaged by debris from the temblor.

In 1970, a magnitude-7.7 earthquake in Yunnan killed at least 15,000 people, and a magnitude-7.1 quake in the province killed more than 1,400 in 1974. In September 2012, 81 people died and 821 were injured in a series of quakes in the Yunnan region.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!