The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- China says new bird flu cases found in central China
- Earthquake strikes off Papua New Guinea
- Pro-Chavez Venezuelans mark coup anniversary on eve of election
| China says new bird flu cases found in central China Posted: 13 Apr 2013 08:05 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Two people in the central Chinese province of Henan have been infected by a new strain of avian influenza, the first cases found in the region and bringing the total number nationwide to 51, Xinhua state news agency said on Sunday. One of the victims, a 34-year old man in the city of Kaifeng, is now critically ill in hospital, while the other, a 65-year old farmer from Zhoukou, is stable. The two cases do not appear to be connected.
Three cases have now been reported outside the original clusters in eastern China, including one in the capital Beijing, but there is nothing out of the ordinary so far, the China representative of the World Health Organisation said. "There's no way to predict how it'll spread but it's not surprising if we have new cases in different places like we do in Beijing," Michael O'Leary told reporters. A total of 19 people in close contact with the two new victims were under observation but had shown no signs of infection, Xinhua said. On Saturday, the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that a seven year-old child in the capital of Beijing had been infected by the H7N9 bird flu virus, the first case to be reported outside of eastern China, where the new strain emerged last month. The child's parents work in the poultry trade. Investigators are trying to ascertain the source amid fears that it could cause a deadly pandemic similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, which killed about one in 10 of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide. China has been anxious to avoid a repeat of the panic of 2003 by promising total transparency, and O'Leary said his organisation has been "very pleased" about the way information was being shared. Authorities say there is still no indication of human-to-human transmission of the virus, which has already killed 11 people in Shanghai and the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui. "That's a key factor in this situation," said O'Leary. "As far as we know, all the cases are individually infected in a sporadic and not connected way." The husband of a H7N9 victim in Shanghai was recently infected, but O'Leary said there was no cause for alarm. "If there's only very rare cases ... That's different from the ease of transmission from person to person. It's that ease of transmission that we are concerned about, and there's no evidence of that yet." (Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee and David Stanway; Editing by Nick Macfie) Copyright © 2013 Reuters | ||
| Earthquake strikes off Papua New Guinea Posted: 13 Apr 2013 06:53 PM PDT SINGAPORE (Reuters) - An earthquake of 6.7 magnitude struck 46 miles west of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of tsunami warnings or damage. (Editing by Nick Macfie) Copyright © 2013 Reuters | ||
| Pro-Chavez Venezuelans mark coup anniversary on eve of election Posted: 13 Apr 2013 05:09 PM PDT CARACAS (Reuters) - Hugo Chavez loyalists celebrated on Saturday a milestone in the late leader's socialist revolution ahead of Venezuela's presidential election, irking the opposition that complained of a campaign tipped in favour of the government.
Saturday marked the 11th anniversary of Chavez's dramatic return to power after a two-day coup tacitly backed by the United States. The event galvanized support for the former paratrooper and prompted him to push ahead with increasingly radical policies that further polarized Venezuela. Venezuelan state television broadcast a barrage of programs glorifying Chavez and portrayed the opposition candidate in Sunday's election, Henrique Capriles, as the political heir of a "right-wing oligarchy" that orchestrated the 2002 coup. Pro-Chavez militias also gathered in commemoration at the Caracas military museum where the president's coffin is on display. That event ended up giving government candidate Nicolas Maduro more valuable air time despite a ban on formal campaigning in the final two days before the vote. One by one, the acting president decorated each member of the so-called Bolivarian militias, armed civilian groups that Chavez created in 2009 to help defend his self-proclaimed revolution and prevent a repeat of the 2002 coup. To shouts of "Chavez lives," a sombre Maduro said: "Let's honour his memory, his legacy." Frustrated by what it sees as an unfair use of state funds to buoy Maduro's candidacy, the opposition lodged a formal complaint with the electoral authority alleging that state TV channel Venezolana de Television (VTV) was violating election laws by broadcasting "biased political content." "It is unacceptable that an official channel breaks the rules," Capriles' campaign team said in a statement that called on election authorities to take immediate action against VTV. In its complaint, the opposition also alleged that Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona had flouted Venezuelan election laws by publicly endorsing Maduro, who is favoured to win on Sunday. Maradona, who is well-known for his leftist politics and was close to Chavez, flew in on Thursday to join Maduro in his final campaign rally and spent much of Friday by his side. A representative from Venezuela's Election Council said it had not commented on the opposition complaint. Meanwhile, VTV broadcast live footage of Foreign Minister Elias Jaua touring an apparently abandoned construction site of an athletic complex in Miranda, the state that the sports-loving Capriles governs, warning viewers that only a Maduro victory could ensure prosperity for all Venezuelans. "This is another white elephant," said Jaua, who ran for governor of Miranda last December but lost to Capriles. "Tomorrow is a historical day in which we'll vote to strengthen democracy and our revolution." BITTER CAMPAIGN After formal campaigning came to a close on Thursday night, the 40-year-old Capriles relaxed the next day by playing basketball in Petare, the largest slum in Caracas. He has campaigned on an image of youth and energy, almost always sporting a Venezuela baseball cap. The campaign to succeed Chavez, who died on March 5 after a two-year battle with cancer, has been especially acrimonious, with both sides spouting harsh language and personal insults. At stake is control of the world's largest oil reserves, economic aid to a host of left-leaning governments in Latin America, and the future of what Chavez called "21st century socialism," a mix of hard-left politics, generous government spending on the poor and state control over the economy. The Maduro camp has relentlessly accused Capriles of being a spoiled rich kid who plans to dismantle the oil-funded social welfare programs that made Chavez a hero to the poor, a claim the opposition has repeatedly denied. For his part, Capriles has described Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver, as a "poor imitation" of Chavez and a political novice without a plan to address problems such as rampant violent crime, high inflation and a slowing economy. To be sure, both candidates have offered few specifics on the policies they would adopt as president, leaving many Venezuelans to lament the lack of a serious political debate. "We haven't talked seriously about the grave problems in our economy. We don't really know how we are going to solve the crime problem. We haven't discussed the militia, education, or our crumbling infrastructure," wrote Juan Nagel, a contributor to the Caracas Chronicles, a prominent political blog that sympathizes with the opposition. Polls open on Sunday at 6 a.m. (1030 GMT) and voting will run until 6 p.m. (2230 GMT), though it could drag on later if there are still lines. Results are expected on Sunday night. (Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Xavier Briand) Copyright © 2013 Reuters |
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