health: Lincoln Tribune

الخميس، 29 سبتمبر 2011

Lincoln Tribune

Gunmen storm pro-government house in western Iraq, killing 5
Car bomb kills 8 in Russia’s North Caucasus
Two die in suspected murder-suicide at California high school
Saudi King overturns woman driver’s lashing sentence
Illinois’ Solution to Asian Carp Invasion: Eat Them

Gunmen storm pro-government house in western Iraq, killing 5

Posted: 28 Sep 2011 09:08 PM PDT

ANBAR, IRAQ (BNO NEWS) -- Five people were killed on Wednesday when a group of unidentified gunmen attacked a pro-government house in western Iraq, local authorities said on Thursday.

The group of armed men stormed the pro-government al-Sahwa (Awakening) Force house located south of Falluja city in Iraq's western Anbar Province, security sources told the Aswat Al Iraq news agency. Falluja is the largest city of Anbar Province and is 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Ramadi, the center of the province, which is 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Baghdad.

During the attack, which was carried out against the house of an al-Sahwa Force leader in the village of Annaz, five civilians were killed, including two children. In addition, several others suffered injuries.

The name of the al-Sahwa Force leader was not disclosed. However, security forces told the media outlet that he was not at the house at the time of the attack. The group of gunmen subsequently fled to an unknown destination as investigators continue to look into the situation.

On Monday, the Director of the Iraqi Health Ministry, Mohammed Ali al-Safi, was assassinated after a group of unidentified gunmen shot and killed him in the Police Channel area of western Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.

Al-Safi's assassination came only one day after a series of bomb blasts in the city of Karbala killed 10 people and injured 85 others, including 34 security personnel. Officials said a total of four explosions took place in the center of the city.

The first blast, a car bomb, was quickly followed by another as emergency teams, including ambulances and security forces, rushed to the scene. A third and fourth blast later followed as relief efforts were being carried out.

Car bomb kills 8 in Russia’s North Caucasus

Posted: 28 Sep 2011 09:00 PM PDT

DAGESTAN, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least eight people were killed on Wednesday afternoon when a car bomb exploded in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, officials said on Thursday.

The explosion happened on Wednesday afternoon on the Kupa-Gunib highway in the village of Khajalmakhi when several police officers were checking out a suspicious vehicle. A group of civilians was near the vehicle when it exploded.

According to the Russian Investigative Committee, one policeman and seven civilians were killed while six police officers were injured, some of them seriously. Among those killed was an 11-year-old girl.

It was not immediately known who was behind the car bombing but Dagestan has been hit by a series of attacks in recent weeks. Last Thursday, three people were killed and scores of others were injured during a series of attacks in the republic.

The first attack happened at around 00.20 a.m. local time when a car bomb exploded on a residential street in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, several hundred meters (feet) from the republic's Interior Ministry building. It was a fairly small explosion, causing no injuries.

As emergency services rushed to the scene of the blast, about 15 minutes later, a far more powerful car bomb exploded about 40 meters (130 feet) from the scene of the first explosion. One police officer was killed in the second attack, which was apparently intended to target emergency services responding to the first blast. Among the 61 injured, some of whom were treated at the scene, were 44 police officers.

Several hours after the twin car bombing, militants armed with machine guns opened fire at a vehicle transporting Buinaksk district police chief Akhmadnabi Adilkhanov. Although the chief was not injured, two of his guards were killed.

These attacks came just one day after another explosion in Makhachkala which killed three people when a car containing an explosive device, a grenade, and handguns exploded on a street. It is believed the victims were the militants themselves.

Militants in the region continue to carry out attacks against security forces, police, and civilians, more than a decade after a separatist war ended in Chechnya. The volatile region of Dagestan neighbors Chechnya where around 50 percent of all militant attacks in Russia last year took place.

Two die in suspected murder-suicide at California high school

Posted: 28 Sep 2011 08:46 PM PDT

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) -- A high school in southern California was locked down on late Wednesday morning after a suspected murder-suicide left two people killed, officials said.

The shooting happened at around 10.40 a.m. local time at the Patriot High School in Jurupa Valley, a city in Riverside County. Students at the school had just been released for lunch when several shots were heard in the parking lot.

A School Resource Officer who heard the shots immediately notified school officials and ordered a lock down. "He investigated the source of the sound and found two adults in the parking lot who were suffering from obvious gunshot wounds," said Corporal Courtney Donowho, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Sheriff's Office.

One of those shot, an unidentified adult male, was declared deceased at the scene while an injured adult female died shortly after arriving at a local hospital. "The identities of the two decedents will be withheld pending notification of next of kin," Donowho said, adding that no students were involved.

After the shooting, officers from the Jurupa Valley Police Department and Riverside County Sheriff's Department's Special Enforcement Bureau searched every room of the school for any possible gunman. "After the incident command was satisfied that students were no longer in danger, the school lock down was lifted and parents were notified utilizing a reverse phone call system," the spokeswoman said.

Donowho said detectives from the Jurupa Valley Police Department and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department's Central Homicide Unit are investigating the shooting, but it is believed the deceased man was the shooter. "There are no outstanding suspects or persons of interest at this time but the investigation is ongoing," Donowho said.

Saudi King overturns woman driver’s lashing sentence

Posted: 28 Sep 2011 07:22 PM PDT

RIYADH (BNO NEWS) -- Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Wednesday overturned a court ruling sentencing a woman to ten lashes for defying the country's controversial ban on women driving, reports said.

The woman, identified only as Shaima, was sentenced to ten lashes on Tuesday after being found guilty of driving in July. She allegedly committed the crime in Jeddah, a city in western Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, Saudi Princess Ameerah - who is a fierce supporter of women's rights - said King Abdullah had overturned the sentence. "Thanks to our beloved King," she wrote on her Twitter account. "I'm sure all Saudi women will be so happy, I know I am."

Ameerah later added in another tweet: "In tough times we stand together, in good times we celebrate together. I'm proud to be Saudi. To all active Saudi women, thank you for your efforts."

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, Ameerah's husband and one of the richest persons in the world, later told Forbes that he had encouraged the King to overturn the sentence. "I lobbied the government and the King all the way," Al-Waleed told Forbes in a text message. "The reform path moves on, regardless of some voices here and there."

Princess Ameerah said she and Al-Waleed spoke to Shaima after the King overturned the sentence. "She was happy and she said: 'the King's orders washed the fears I lived with after this unjust sentence,'" Ameerah quoted her as saying.

The sentencing earlier this week led to international outrage. "Flogging is a cruel punishment in all circumstances but it beggars belief that the authorities in Saudi Arabia have imposed lashes on a woman apparently for merely driving a car," Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Illinois’ Solution to Asian Carp Invasion: Eat Them

Posted: 28 Sep 2011 06:09 PM PDT

The Asian carp, a species of fish brought from China to the U.S. several decades ago, is a growing concern in the midwest state of Illinois. The number of Asian carp in the state's waterways has soared in recent years, choking out many native fish species. But state officials hope to solve the problem, and also strike a blow against local hunger, by changing public attitudes about the much-maligned fish.

Asian carp found in the Illinois River are large, much too plentiful, and, says Travis Loyd, deputy director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "It's ugly. The fish is predominantly not a pretty fish," he said.

But Louisiana chef Philippe Parola strongly disagrees. "This fish is just as good-looking as a salmon or a lake trout or any others. So quit calling it ugly because it's not ugly," he said.

No matter how the fish looks, Parola and fellow chef Tim Creehan are teaming up with Illinois state officials in a campaign to whet the public's appetite for the Asian carp. "It's very palatable and very pleasing when you taste it," he said.

"We've got to show people that this fish tastes good. It can be worked with preparation wise, and this fish can be very servable and very edible in every capacity," said Loyd.

Asian carp is widely consumed in China, but most fish-eaters in the United States avoid it because they confuse it with native carp. These fish are bottom-feeders that many people believe are contaminated by toxic pollutants, including mercury. But Asian carp, which are not really carp at all, feed on plankton and algae near the surface of rivers and lakes. That is why they're often seen jumping out of the water.

Travis Loyd says Asian carp is a clean fish, with low levels of mercury, that's safe to eat. "We've tested it - the levels are in most cases nil, and it is the safest fish," he said.

Another reason many Americans avoid eating Asian carp is that it is bony, difficult to fillet and hard to sell in fresh fish markets. But Chef Creehan says when the fish is cooked, the bones come out easily, enabling food processors to package it as a ready-to-serve product.

Better still, says Creehan: Asian carp is cheap. "The average price per pound of ocean fish is $6 a pound (or about $13 per kilogram) whole. This is looking at 12 to 20 cents (per pound, or about 26 to 40 cents per kilogram). So this is so affordable," he said.

Travis Loyd hopes greater interest in Asian carp as a food product will cause it to be more heavily fished out of lakes and streams. He says that would not only reduce pressure on native fish species and the fragile Great Lakes ecosystem, but would also provide an economic boost at a time when unemployment in Illinois is high. "We recognize this could create a lot of jobs. It could bring back commercial fishing in Illinois. It could absolutely help our food insecurity if we could come up with a product viable (enough) to go through the food bank system, and possibly into the diets of school systems, prison systems, things of that nature," he said.

It could take some time before consumers see Asian carp on the menu in restaurants or in grocery store freezers. In fact, they may not see "Asian carp" at all, if Chef Parola is successful. He has licensed the term "silverfin" and hopes the name catches on in the campaign to give this invasive fish a new image.

health

الخميس، 29 سبتمبر 2011

Lincoln Tribune

Lincoln Tribune

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