Whooping cough outbreak kills ten infants in California
Ten infants have died and nearly 6,000 others have been infected in California, United States with whooping cough, or pertussis, since the beginning of this year. Health officials are referring to the event as the worst outbreak of the cough in 60 years. A spokesman from the California Department of Public Health, Michael Sicilia, says all of the deaths occurred […]
Mexico's Lerma River is Dying
By Andrea Arzaba The Lerma Santiago River (commonly known as “Rio Lerma”) is Mexico’s second longest river. At the same time, it used to be a source of drinking water for the capital and the central part of the country. During the 17th and 18th centuries, large haciendas were established along this river. Unfortunately, today...
Swedish man uses webcam to broadcast suicide live on internet
A 21-year-old Swedish man killed himself and broadcast it over the internet via his webcam feed Monday, after posting to a message board that he had swallowed some painkillers and was going to hang himself. At 11:51 a.m. Central European Summer Time (0951 UTC), Marcus Jannes, a student from Järna, Stockholm, posted to the Mental Health Problems forum of Sweden’s Flashback message boards […]
Charlie the smoking chimpanzee dies aged 52
Charlie, a Chimpanzee in a South African zoo who became addicted to cigarettes, has died at the age of 52, exceeding the average lifespan of a captive chimpanzee by twelve years. After a video of Charlie puffing on cigarettes discarded by visitors appeared on the Internet, the animal and the zoo gained international attention...
The Commonwealth Games 2010 begin in India
Amidst heightened security precautions the 2010 Commonwealth Games officially begins today in New Delhi, India. The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport event which is held every four years since 1930 between the athletes of members of the Commonwealth of Nations. For the first time this event ...
U.S. Soldier describes shooting Afghan civilians contested tapes
One of five soldiers accused by the Army of involvement in the premeditated killings of Afghan civilians is scheduled to appear before a military judge today — on the same day ABC News aired tapes that show his confession to investigators about his own involvement and the involvement of several other soldiers in the slayings. In...
Bhutan at the UN: happiness should be a millennium development goal
By Sonam Ongmo in Global VoicesStarting Monday, world leaders descended on New York to attend the annual General Assembly.But shy of 5 years from the deadline of achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals it was sad to see countries still mired in differences and using the platform to make jabs at each other...
New Democrats vote to fix gun registry
New Democrats said tonight's defeat of bill C-391 must be followed by a genuine attempt to fix the registry and unite rural, northern and urban Canadians. “I have spoken with many of my constituents in communities across my riding and heard the opinions of those on both sides of the issue," said Alex Atamanenko, M.P. for B.C....
China: Yihuang self-immolation incident and the power of microblogging
By Oiwon LamChinese online public opinion has once again changed the course of an event, this time regarding a forced demolition and consequent self-immolation protest in Yihuang county, Jiangxi.On September 10, the Zhong family were confronted by 40 local police officers and urban administrators seeking to carry out the...
IFJ Condemns Deadly Attack on Journalists in Mexico
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the shooting attack on two young Mexican journalists in the city of Ciudad Juárez in which photojournalist Luis Carlos Santiago was killed and his colleague Carlos Sanchez seriously wounded. The two Journalists worked for the local newspaper, the Diario de...
