Suspected Ebola virus case in Saudi Arabia

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Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's health ministry announced Tuesday it is testing blood samples of a man who is suspected of being infected with the Ebola virus after a recent trip to Sierra Leone.

The 40-year-old Saudi man showed symptoms of viral haemorrhagic fever Monday night at a hospital in Jeddah. He is in critical condition and has been moved to a care centre with advanced isolation and infection-control capabilities, Xinhua reported citing the ministry.

Preliminary tests in a local laboratory showed negative for dengue virus and additional tests are under way to determine the source of infection, the ministry explained, adding that it would also submit samples for Ebola virus testing to an international reference laboratory at the recommendation of the World Health Organisation.

Some viral hemorrhagic fevers are found in Saudi Arabia but no confirmed case of Ebola virus has been detected in the Gulf nation, the ministry clarified.

Saudi Arabia announced in April that it was not issuing visas for the 2014 Haj and Umrah to pilgrims from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea due to the outbreak of Ebola in these countries. Medical workers are monitoring travellers at airports and seaports across the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has suffered from rampant spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, and a total of 721 cases were registered since 2012, with 298 people dying of the disease.

Infection by the virus reduced drastically because of nationwide efforts as no new cases were registered for almost a month.

The Ebola virus disease, formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe illness with a mortality rate of up to 90 percent.

IANS

Visit visas now go online for expats in Saudi Arabia

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Riyadh: Expatriates in Saudi Arabia will now be able to renew visit visas for their relatives online under a new service announced in the Gulf nation, a media report said Tuesday.

The Saudi Arabian passport department is slated to launch the new service under the interior ministry's Abshir system Aug 11, Arab News reported citing Mohammed Al-Saad, director of public relations.

The new service has been put in place after prior testing, Al-Saad said.

The launch of the new service coincides with the department's campaign to increase awareness on its electronic services.

Al-Saad urged expatriates to make use of its electronic services to save their time and energy and reduce congestion at the passport offices across the country.

Saudi Arabia is home to around 2.8 million expatriate Indians, many of whom are blue-collar workers.

Indians form the largest expatriate community in this Gulf nation.

People can register with Abshir by visiting one of the department's offices (Jawazat) or using interactive machines available at banks, as well as at malls and international airports, the director said.

Meanwhile, expatriates in the Gulf state have appreciated the new electronic services which could cut down on the tedious process of standing in long queues at Jawazat offices.

'The registration of expats with the (Saudi Arabian) interior ministry's electronic system simplified their residency procedures, including issuance of exit and re-entry visas,' the report quoted Omar Abubacker, a business consultant, as saying.

IANS

Baked or broiled fish improves brain health

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New York: Baked or broiled fish once a week is good for your kid's brain, regardless of how much omega-3 fatty acids it contains, says a study.

'Our study shows that people who ate a diet that included baked or broiled, but not fried, fish have larger brain volumes in regions associated with memory and cognition,' said James T. Becker, a professor of psychiatry at University of Pittsburgh's school of medicine.

They found that people who ate baked or broiled fish at least once a week had greater grey matter brain volumes in areas of the brain associated with memory (4.3 percent) and cognition (14 percent).

They were more likely to have a college education than those who did not eat fish regularly.

But no association was found between the brain differences and blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

The lifestyle factors, in this case eating fish, rather than biological factors contribute to structural changes in the brain.

'A confluence of lifestyle factors likely are responsible for better brain health, and this reserve might prevent or delay cognitive problems that can develop later in life,' Becker noted.

Scientists estimate that more than 80 million people will have dementia by 2040 which could become a substantial burden to families and drive up health care costs.

The anti-oxidant effect of omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in high amounts in fish, seeds and nuts and certain oils, also have been associated with improved health, particularly brain health.

The paper appeared in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

IANS

Banglades ferry sinks with 200 passengers aboard

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DHAKA: A ferry with about 200 passengers aboard capsized on Monday in the river Padma, near Munshiganj district, about 30 km (18 miles) southwest of Dhaka, the chief of the district administration told Reuters. Mohammad Saiful Hasan Badal, the Deputy Commissioner of the district, said 44 passengers had been rescued from the vessel, identified as the Pinak-6. No deaths had yet been reported. Teams from the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority and the army were engaged in the rescue operation.

At least 367 dead after quake hits southwest China

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Beijing: A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck southwestern China on Sunday, killing at least 367 people and leaving 1,881 injured in a remote area of Yunnan province, and causing thousands of buildings, including a school, to collapse.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake registered at a shallow depth of less than 1 mile (1.6 km). Chinese state media said it was felt most strongly in Yunnan as well as in the neighbouring provinces of Guizhou and Sichuan.

The official Xinhua news agency said the epicentre was in Longtoushan town in Yunnan's mountainous Ludian county.

Paramilitary policemen carrying an injured woman after an earthquake hit Ludian county of Zhaotong, Yunnan province in China

Communications have been seriously affected and rescuers have begun arriving on the scene, the report said.

Pictures posted online by state media showed troops stretchering people away and cars damaged by fallen bricks.

Many people rushed out of buildings onto the street after the quake hit, electricity supplies were cut and at least one school collapsed, Xinhua added, with more than 12,000 houses having collapsed and 30,000 sustaining damage.

Ludian resident Ma Liya told Xinhua the streets were like a 'battlefield after bombardment'.

The government is sending 2,000 tents, 3,000 folding beds, 3,000 quilts and 3,000 coats to the disaster zone, where heavy rain forecast for the coming days will add to the misery, the report said.

Ludian is home to some 265,900 people, Xinhua added.

This region of China is frequently struck by quakes, with one killing more than 1,400 in the same part of Yunnan in 1974.

A quake in Sichuan in 2008 killed almost 70,000 people.

REUTERS

Six-year-old slips into borewell in Karnataka

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Bagalkot: A six-year-old boy Sunday slipped into a dry borewell and got stuck about 100 ft-deep in Bagalkot district of Karnataka.

The incident happened in a village near Badami, about 550 km from state capital Bangalore.

'The boy (Thimanna) suddenly fell into the borewell while playing with his brother and friends in the village. The borewell was dug in June and left unattended, as there were no rains then,' S.R. Patil, district in-charge minister, told reporters at the accident spot.

The district authorities launched rescue operations with the help of police and experts from irrigation and public works departments to dig a parallel hole to rescue the trapped boy out from the dark pit.

'Oxygen is being supplied to the boy through a pipe. View of the boy through a closed circuit television camera, which was lowered to 60-80 feet underground showed his one hand and leg folded with some movement,' Patil said.

The rescue team has pressed one earth moving machine and one drilling machine to dig the hole a few feet away from the dry borewell to rescue the boy.

Keralite killed in Libya

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Pandalam: A Keralite was killed in mortar shell attack in the war-torn Libya on Sunday.

Sources said Solomon Daniel, hailing from Mattapally in Nooranad, had been working as turner at J&B Company in Tripoli for the last 10 years. The accident happened around 11 am on Sunday.

Solomon had visited his family two months ago.

The tragedy struck Solomon as he was planning to return to India in the wake of ongoing conflict in Libya. He is survived by wife Jessie and children Shyni, Shyji and Shaiju. 

No benefits for public from KSRTC, better wind it up: HC

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Kochi: It is better to wind up the operations of KSRTC since it is not offering any benefits to the public, opined the Kerala High Court.

The HC added that by providing assistance to the corporation, the taxpayers' money is being wasted.

A High Court single bench made this observation while hearing a batch of 35 petitions on non-payment of pension and other benefits to employees. 

'The arrears of the employees should be settled by selling off the assets belonging to the corporation. Even if the KSRTC wind up its operations, nothing will happen except for a minister losing his post,' it said.

The standing council, on behalf of the government, argued that the KSRTC fails to clear the arrears on time as it is running at a monthly loss of Rs 60 crore. 

This is the second time the HC is making such a statement.

First molecular map to detect vision loss created

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Washington: An Indian-origin researcher-led team has created the most detailed map to date of a region of the human eye, long associated with blinding diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration.

By seeing differences in protein abundance in this eye region, researchers can figure out which proteins may be the critical actors in vision loss and eye disease.

Understanding eye diseases is tricky enough. Knowing what causes them at the molecular level is even more confounding.

The high-resolution molecular map catalogues thousands of proteins in the choroid that supplies blood and oxygen to the outer retina, itself critical in vision.

'This molecular map now gives us clues why certain areas of the choroid are more sensitive to certain diseases, as well as where to target therapies and why,' said Vinit Mahajan, assistant professor in ophthalmology at University of Iowa.

What vision specialists know is many eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), are caused by inflammation that damages the choroid and the accompanying cellular network known as the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).

Mahajan and Jessica Skeie, post-doctoral researcher in ophthalmology at University of Iowa, created a map that catalogues more than 4,000 unique proteins in each of the three areas of the choroid-RPE - the fovea, macula and the periphery.

'This has helped explain why certain genes are associated with macular degeneration and helps point us to new treatment targets,' Skeie concluded in a paper published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.

IANS

56 suspects arrested for Myanmar's riots

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Yangon: Myanmar authorities have arrested 56 suspects for their involvement in a sectarian riot in Mandalay, police officials said Sunday.

Action is being taken against them on charges of murder, arson and illegal possession of weapons, Xinhua reported.

The police forces are investigating 36 other suspects.

The police have already punished 1,400 people who allegedly broke the curfew order.

In the riot that broke out in Mandalay July 1 over a rape case, two people were killed and 17 injured.

Following the riot, all seven townships in Mandalay have been placed under a dusk-to-dawn curfew since July 3.

As security situation in the areas has improved, the authorities have gradually reduced the curfew hours and as of July 28, the curfew was cut to be only effective from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.

IANS

India grants residential visa to Taslima Nasreen

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New Delhi: Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on Saturday was granted residential visa by India following her meeting with Union home minister Rajnath Singh seeking long-term extension of her residence permit earlier in the day.

'I met Singh today (Saturday) and he assured me that my stay in India will be extended. I gave him my book 'Wo Andhere Din' (Those Dark Days) and in return he said my dark days are over,' Nasreen told IANS.

Earlier, Nasreen had expressed her anguish after the government on Wednesday refused her a one-year visa giving instead a temporary permission to stay in India for two months.

Following her outburst on a social networking site, support for her has been pouring from various quarters with Press Council of India Chairperson and former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju demanding permanent visa for the 52-year-old who has been living in exile since 1994.

Nasreen, however, expressed her surprise over intellectuals from Kolkata — her 'home' remaining silent on the issue.

'I am surely surprised that people in Kolkata known for their righteous stand have chosen to remain silent. But at the same time I must admit I have gotten used to this. There were not many voices to come out when I was thrown of my home — Kolkata,' she said.

Exiled from Bangladesh in 1994 for 'hurting religious sentiments' with her novel 'Lajja', Nasreen took refuge in the city in 2004. But after violent protests in the city November 2007, the erstwhile Left Front government whisked her away to New Delhi where she has been living since then.

Eager to come back to Kolkata, Nasreen said so long as the Mamata Banerjee government in the state continues to accede to the whims of religious fanatics, her return to the city is not possible.

'By banning my tele-serial Dusahobas, this government denied me a slice of livelihood. I have been repeatedly writing to Mamata Banerjee expressing my wish to come back to Kolkata, but so long as she continues to listen to the fanatics my return will never be possible,a she added.

She said 'Dusahobas' a story of three sisters and their triumph over the injustices meted out by the patriarchal society, would have been a source of inspiration at a time when crime against women was on the rise in the state.

Following protests by minority religious groups, the TV serial was refused telecast.

IANS

1,700 Palestinians killed in Gaza offensive

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Gaza: The Palestinian health ministry said Sunday that at least 1,712 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive in the Gaza Strip against Hamas July 8.

This number included 398 children, 207 women and 74 old people, the ministry said in a statement, adding that 9,080 people have been injured so far, including 2,744 children and 1,750 women, Xinhua reported.

Israel has confirmed that 61 soldiers have died in combat, while Palestinian shelling has also killed three civilians in Israel.

As cross-border violence in Gaza between Hamas and Israeli troops continued, both sides have vowed to keep fighting until their goals are achieved.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Saturday night that Israel's military campaign in Gaza will continue 'with full power' as long as necessary to restore the country's security.

Hamas, the Islamist movement that dominates the Gaza Strip, said Netanyahu's remarks reflect that his army is in trouble in Gaza, pledging that the movement will not put its guns aside until its goals, mainly ending a seven-year blockade of Gaza, are achieved.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian official said that a comprehensive national delegation that includes the majority of Palestinian factions headed to Egypt's capital Saturday to negotiate a long-term Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire.

Since the violence erupted, regional and international powers have exerted unremitting efforts to end the ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestinian factions.

However, a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire collapsed only hours after it came into force in the early hours of Friday as Israeli military said two of its soldiers were killed and a third went missing in an ambush.

IANS

Children brought to offset shortage of orphans in orphanage'

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Kochi: The Crime Branch Thursday informed the High Court that the main purpose children were brought from other states to Kerala was to overcome shortage of orphans and destitute children in the orphanage at Mukkam at Kozhikode.

The case pertains to the recent bringing of 588 children from Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal to the state.

In the statement filed by R Sudhakaran Pillai, CB-CID, Deputy Superintendent of Police, it was also pointed out that the main reason behind transportation of children to the state was to prevent the 'division fall' due to shortage of students in the school run by orphanage.

Police also said shortage of inmates in the orphanage had adversely affected collection of funds as contributions are government grants aids, from local sources and outside.

The Crime Branch also ruled out the possibilities of sexual abuse, organ trade and child labour, they claimed that investigation was proper and a special team was appointed.

However, it was found that the documents relating to the children brought from Jharkhand were forged, it was stated.

Over 580 children from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, meant to be brought to two orphanages in Kerala, were detained by police at a railway station in Palakkad early in June after it was found many did not have any proper documents.

The issue had snowballed into a major row in the state with IUML, the key partner in UDF, taking objection to treating the incident as a case of child trafficking.

Taking serious note of the incident, Kerala State Child Rights Protection Commission had directed the state government to take necessary steps to send the children back home.

The children are now kept at state-run juvenile homes of the Child Welfare Society in Palakkad, Malappuram and Thrissur.

Petrol price cut by Rs.1.09 a litre, diesel hiked 50 paise

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New Delhi: Petrol price was Thursday lowered by Rs.1.09 per litre, the second reduction in three-and-half-months, while diesel rates were hiked by 50 paise a litre.

The revisions will be effective midnight Thursday, Indian Oil Corp said.

'During the past fortnight, petrol prices have shown a downward trend while the INR-USD exchange rate has slightly depreciated,' IOC said in a release.

Allowing for local taxes, petrol per litre will cost Rs.72.51 in Delhi, Rs.80.30 in Kolkata, Rs.80.60 in Mumbai and Rs.75.78 in Chennai.

KSEB becomes a company, deal signed

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Thiruvananthapuram: KSEB has become a single company with the signing of the tripartite deal between the government, the Electricity Board and the various employees associations. INTUC and CIT also signed the deal but the CPI backed outfit AITUC did not enter into the deal. Majority of the associations backed the agreement.

The deal was inked smoothly with the govt deciding to form a special pension fund to meet existing and future pension liabilities.. The terms and conditions of service will continue. With KSEB becoming a company, appointments would be through PS

10 killed in Baghdad blast: police

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BAGHDAD: At least 10 people were killed and 29 wounded Friday in bomb blasts that struck two districts of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.

The deadliest was a car bomb in the northern Shia neighbourhood of Sadr City, which has been frequently targeted and where security is usually heightened ahead of Friday prayers. At least seven people were killed and 21 wounded in the explosion that rocked one of the large neighbourhood´s main streets, a police colonel and hospital sources said.

Three roadside bombs also went off almost simultaneously near a Shia mosque close to the central Kholani square, killing three people and wounding eight, two police officers said.

Jihadist group the Islamic State seized large parts of Iraq´s west and north in June, before stopping its offensive a few dozen kilometres from Baghdad. But it has continued to wreak havoc in the capital, mainly with suicide attacks, car bombs and improvised explosive devices targeting security forces.

 

Saudi king labels Israeli offensive in Gaza a war crime

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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah broke his silence on Friday over the three-week-old conflict in Gaza, condemning what he saw as international silence over Israel´s offensive and describing this as a war crime and "state-sponsored terrorism".

"We see the blood of our brothers in Palestine shed in collective massacres that did not exclude anyone, and war crimes against humanity without scruples, humanity or morality," Abdullah said in a brief speech read out on his behalf on state

television.

"This (international) community, which has observed silently what is happening in the whole region, has been indifferent to what is happening, as if what is happening is not its concern. Silence that has no justification." (Reuters)

 

Powerful Taiwan gas explosions kill 20, injure 270

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TAIPEI: Gas leaks triggered a series of powerful explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung, killing at least 20 people and injuring up to 270, officials said Friday, warning that the toll is expected to rise.

The explosions sparked a massive inferno that ripped through the city´s Cianjhen district, sending terrified residents fleeing a huge ball of flames.

The blasts late Thursday killed at least 20 people and left 270 others injured," the National Fire Agency said, adding that the injured were being rushed to various hospitals in the port city.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing dead bodies littered on the streets.The explosions, believed to have been triggered by gas leaks, were powerful enough to upturn cars and rip open paved roads.

"The explosions were like thunder and the road in front of my shop ripped open. It felt like an earthquake," Taiwan´s Central News Agency quoted an eyewitness as saying.

The exact cause of the gas leaks that triggered the explosions is still unclear.