By The Associated Press
{TOKYO - Officials in Japan are raising the alarm over what they say its the soaring number of people killing themselves by inhaling toxic fumes from household chemicals.
Japan has long battled a high suicide rate.
But officials say the country is now in the grip of a wave of deaths by people who take their own lives by mixing commonly available household products to form poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas.
The gas can form noxious clouds that also affect those who happen to be nearby, often triggering mass evacuations.
Japanese officials say the number of toxic fume suicides jumped to 876 from January to September, 30 times more than in the same period last year.
Alarmed by the surge, police have launched a crackdown on popular Internet sites that give instructions on how to commit suicide using the method.
Toxic fume suicides are the latest in a string of suicide fads in Japan. Until this year, many suicide cases involved people who found each other on the Internet and committed suicide together, often by sealing themselves in a car and lighting a charcoal-burning brazier.
The number of suicides hit 33,093 in 2007, a 2.9 per cent increase from the previous year and the second-highest annual tally on record, according to the National Police Agency.
To curb the high suicide rate, the government has earmarked $220 million for anti-suicide programs to help those with depression and other mental health problems.
Japan has the eighth-highest suicide rate in the world, according to the World Health Organization.} http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081031/world/japan_suicides
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Monday, 6 October 2008
Downturn stirs Japan suicide fears
{Earlier this year the Japanese government released the results of a survey which suggested that one in five men and women in the country had seriously thought of taking their own life.}
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7651518.stm
Friday, October 31, 2008
Rare, prehistoric-age reptile found nesting in New Zealand
Fri Oct 31, 3:36 AM
By The Associated Press
{WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Officials say a rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years.
Four leathery, white eggs from an indigenous tuatara were found by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington, during routine maintenance work Friday.
Conservation manager Rouen Empson says the nest proves that the animals are breeding and suggests there may be more.
Empson says baby tuatara could be born any time between now and March.
Zoologists say tuatara are dragon-like reptiles that grow to up to 80 centimetres.
They say the reptiles are the last descendants of a species that walked the earth with the dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.
They have unique characteristics, such as two rows of top teeth closing over one row at the bottom. They also have a pronounced parietal eye, a light-sensitive pineal gland on the top of the skull. This white patch of skin - called its "third eye" - slowly disappears as they mature.
A native species to New Zealand, tuatara were nearly extinct on the country's three main islands by the late 1700s due to the introduction of predators such as rats. They still live in the wild on 32 small offshore islands cleared of predators.
A population of 70 tuatara was established at the Karori Sanctuary in 2005. Another 130 were released in the sanctuary in 2007.
The sanctuary was established to breed native birds, insects and other creatures securely behind a predator-proof fence.
Empson said that the four eggs - the size of pingpong balls - were unearthed Friday but that there were likely more because the average nest contains around ten eggs.
The eggs were immediately covered up again to avoid disturbing incubation.}
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081031/science/science_rare_reptile
By The Associated Press
{WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Officials say a rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years.
Four leathery, white eggs from an indigenous tuatara were found by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington, during routine maintenance work Friday.
Conservation manager Rouen Empson says the nest proves that the animals are breeding and suggests there may be more.
Empson says baby tuatara could be born any time between now and March.
Zoologists say tuatara are dragon-like reptiles that grow to up to 80 centimetres.
They say the reptiles are the last descendants of a species that walked the earth with the dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.
They have unique characteristics, such as two rows of top teeth closing over one row at the bottom. They also have a pronounced parietal eye, a light-sensitive pineal gland on the top of the skull. This white patch of skin - called its "third eye" - slowly disappears as they mature.
A native species to New Zealand, tuatara were nearly extinct on the country's three main islands by the late 1700s due to the introduction of predators such as rats. They still live in the wild on 32 small offshore islands cleared of predators.
A population of 70 tuatara was established at the Karori Sanctuary in 2005. Another 130 were released in the sanctuary in 2007.
The sanctuary was established to breed native birds, insects and other creatures securely behind a predator-proof fence.
Empson said that the four eggs - the size of pingpong balls - were unearthed Friday but that there were likely more because the average nest contains around ten eggs.
The eggs were immediately covered up again to avoid disturbing incubation.}
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081031/science/science_rare_reptile
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Zambia, WHO join hunt for S.Africa's deadly mystery illness
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gMUqLStDtjNaZnQN5QHTwZUpZIBg
{JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Zambia along with the World Health Organisation have joined the hunt for a mystery illness that has killed four people in South Africa, Zambia's ambassador said on Tuesday.
Three of the four victims are believed to have died of a viral haemorrhagic fever, but the exact disease has yet be to identified, Melinda Pelsa, spokeswoman for Johannesburg's Morningside Medi-Clinic, told AFP.
A fourth victim appears to have died of a neurological disease, but tests are still under way to determine if they are linked and to identify the disease, provincial health department spokesman Chika Asomugha said.
Health workers have been put on alert for symptoms of the strange illness, he added.
Two of the victims had earlier been identified as Zambians, but the country's ambassador said they were actually South Africans who had been living in the impoverished nation.
"We have investigated all our institutions, we have involved the WHO and the Centres for Disease Control, as well as Zambian medical teams and administrators in the investigations," Ambassador Leslie Mbula said on South African radio.
The first victim came to South Africa on September 12 and died two days later after being treated for what was believed to be tick-bite fever. The medic who accompanied her from Zambia died two days later with flu-like symptoms.
A nurse and a cleaner at the hospital have also died with strange symptoms.}
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/081007/world/safrica_zambia_health_disease_who
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How does one really ever know if something naturally starts up or is actually created in a lab?
Who draws the line where movies end & the reality begins?
http://jf-themultiverse.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-post_03.html
{JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Zambia along with the World Health Organisation have joined the hunt for a mystery illness that has killed four people in South Africa, Zambia's ambassador said on Tuesday.
Three of the four victims are believed to have died of a viral haemorrhagic fever, but the exact disease has yet be to identified, Melinda Pelsa, spokeswoman for Johannesburg's Morningside Medi-Clinic, told AFP.
A fourth victim appears to have died of a neurological disease, but tests are still under way to determine if they are linked and to identify the disease, provincial health department spokesman Chika Asomugha said.
Health workers have been put on alert for symptoms of the strange illness, he added.
Two of the victims had earlier been identified as Zambians, but the country's ambassador said they were actually South Africans who had been living in the impoverished nation.
"We have investigated all our institutions, we have involved the WHO and the Centres for Disease Control, as well as Zambian medical teams and administrators in the investigations," Ambassador Leslie Mbula said on South African radio.
The first victim came to South Africa on September 12 and died two days later after being treated for what was believed to be tick-bite fever. The medic who accompanied her from Zambia died two days later with flu-like symptoms.
A nurse and a cleaner at the hospital have also died with strange symptoms.}
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/081007/world/safrica_zambia_health_disease_who
-
How does one really ever know if something naturally starts up or is actually created in a lab?
Who draws the line where movies end & the reality begins?
http://jf-themultiverse.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-post_03.html
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Euro falls to 13-month low against dollar
{TOKYO (AFP) - The euro sank to a 13-month low against the dollar in Asian trade Monday, hit by signs of escalating financial turmoil in Europe, dealers said.
They said that after the US Congress finally passed a Wall Street bailout bill, traders were turning their attention to the problems among European banks.
The euro fell to as low as 1.3610 dollars in early Asian trade. It was at 1.3647 by late morning in Tokyo, down from 1.3781 in New York late Friday.
The euro slipped to 142.50 yen from 145.16. The dollar dropped to 104.42 yen from 105.27.
The US Congressional approval Friday of a 700-billion-dollar Wall Street rescue package prompted markets "to change their focus from the financial turmoil in the US to Europe," according to Barclays Capital analysts.
"The euro is expected to continue to extend its losses against major currencies," they predicted.
Germany's fourth biggest bank, Hypo Real Estate, had to be rescued Sunday as problems in the European financial sector deepened.
Worries over whether the Europeans can contain the turmoil grew after the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain vowed Saturday to protect fragile banks but did not discuss a continent-wide financial rescue package.
Given the various economic conditions in each of the eurozone member countries, "it looks difficult for authorities to take dramatic and quick action like the US," the Barclays analysts wrote in a note to clients.
"As financial turmoil is showing signs of spreading in Europe, currency markets will test the tenacity of European authorities," they added.
Markets were looking ahead to a meeting Friday of finance chiefs from the Group of Seven rich nations, waiting for any announcements on coordinated action such as liquidity injections or interest rate cuts, dealers said.
A speech Tuesday by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will also be closely watched for any clues on the possibility of a US interest rate cut.}
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/081006/business/forex_asia
They said that after the US Congress finally passed a Wall Street bailout bill, traders were turning their attention to the problems among European banks.
The euro fell to as low as 1.3610 dollars in early Asian trade. It was at 1.3647 by late morning in Tokyo, down from 1.3781 in New York late Friday.
The euro slipped to 142.50 yen from 145.16. The dollar dropped to 104.42 yen from 105.27.
The US Congressional approval Friday of a 700-billion-dollar Wall Street rescue package prompted markets "to change their focus from the financial turmoil in the US to Europe," according to Barclays Capital analysts.
"The euro is expected to continue to extend its losses against major currencies," they predicted.
Germany's fourth biggest bank, Hypo Real Estate, had to be rescued Sunday as problems in the European financial sector deepened.
Worries over whether the Europeans can contain the turmoil grew after the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain vowed Saturday to protect fragile banks but did not discuss a continent-wide financial rescue package.
Given the various economic conditions in each of the eurozone member countries, "it looks difficult for authorities to take dramatic and quick action like the US," the Barclays analysts wrote in a note to clients.
"As financial turmoil is showing signs of spreading in Europe, currency markets will test the tenacity of European authorities," they added.
Markets were looking ahead to a meeting Friday of finance chiefs from the Group of Seven rich nations, waiting for any announcements on coordinated action such as liquidity injections or interest rate cuts, dealers said.
A speech Tuesday by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will also be closely watched for any clues on the possibility of a US interest rate cut.}
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/081006/business/forex_asia
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