[AnNahar] A Chinese zoo has unveiled newborn panda triplets billed as the world's first known surviving trio, in what it hailed as a "miracle" given the animal's famously low reproductive rate.
The pandas eat only a select type of bamboo, are prone to all sorts of ailments, the male pandas can't do their duty without drugs and the female pandas can't conceive without substantial help. I say, let them go extinct...
The mother panda, named Juxiao, meaning "chrysanthemum smile", delivered the triplets at Guangzhou's Chimelong Safari Park in the early hours of July 29, but was too exhausted to take care of them afterwards.
Her cubs were then put into incubators while Juxiao regained her strength, and have now been brought back to their mother for nursing and are being attended to by a round-the-clock team of feeders, the zoo said.
"They were said to be the only panda triplets that have ever survived," the safari park said in a statement released Tuesday.
An official from Sichuan Wolong National Natural Reserve, considered the foremost authority on pandas, said the trio were too young to be officially recognised as "surviving" but that they were the only known panda triplets alive.
"We can only say they are surviving once they reach six months. For now they are indeed the only surviving triplets," said an official from the centre who only gave her name as Ms. Zhao.
"The triplets can be described as a new wonder of the world," Chimelong Safari Park said, describing mortality rates among newborn pandas as "extremely high".
Pictures taken earlier this month of the triplets showed the pink-coloured cubs inside an incubator with their eyes closed and bodies sparsely covered with white fur.
"The mother and babies were in good condition, but the adorable newborns were particularly inspiring," the zoo said.
The gender of the cubs was not disclosed and they would be given their names at a later date.
Pandas, whose natural habitat lies in mountainous southwestern China, have a notoriously low reproductive rate and are under pressure from factors such as habitat loss. China has about 1,600 pandas living in the wild.
#3
San Diego Wild Animal Park (now known as the San Diego Zoo Safari Park) had a wonderful breeding program that brought african rhinos back from about 30 members. Then it turned out the generation of rhinos they so successfully bred turned out to be gay (or at least uninterested in mating).
Sometimes nature chooses a species for extinction.
[Tolo News] On Tuesday a primary court in Kabul issued the death penalty to a man named Mohammad accused of burning alive his brother's wife.
His sister-in-law, along with her unborn infant, was killed immediately.
"I will find a better wife for my brother," Mohammad asserted as he confessed to his crime. "I will sacrifice myself for him."
According to the Kabul Primary Court Attorney, Parwin Noori, the criminal claimed that his brother's wife, Shamila, was attempting to create tensions between him and his brother.
"The criminal claimed that because the woman [Shamila] wanted to start a fight between the brothers, he locked her in a room and immolated her," Noori said.
The court issued the verdict in the presence of the media outlets and defense lawyers.
"Within the premises of our legal authorities and decision of the court panel, we find you [Mohammad] son of Gul Alam guilty in immolating a woman known as Shamila. We sentence you to the death penalty based on the violence against women law and by considering article 402 of the country's criminal laws," Head of the Criminal Department of Kabul Primary Court, Abdul Rahman Hekmat, announced in court.
Additionally, the court issued individual 16 year jail periods to five other men who were involved in armed robberies amounting to $10,000 or 2 kilograms of gold from the house of one of the coworker's aunt. The criminals claimed that the verdict was unjust because they had confessed under pressure.
"Our confessions are false," one of the alleged thieves, Abdul Haseeb, said. "We were forced to confess under torture."
The statements did not convince the court as it maintained its position, proceeding with the verdicts.
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"I will find a better wife for my brother," Mohammad asserted as he confessed to his crime. "I will sacrifice myself for him."
There are so many things wrong with those statements in so many ways. Maybe immolation would be a just death penalty for Mo.
[AnNahar] Guinea-Bissau is closing its border with Guinea, one of the west African countries hardest hit by the deadly Ebola virus, Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira said Tuesday.
"In light of information provided by the health ministry and after a series of consultations, the government of Guinea-Bissau has decided to close its southern and eastern borders" with Guinea "until further notice," Pereira told a presser.
He said that the defense and interior ministries had been charged with "taking the necessary measures" to seal the border, which covers a 300 kilometer (186 mile) stretch between the two countries.
While no cases of Ebola have been recorded in Guinea-Bissau during the latest outbreak, Guinea has been one of the most severely hit countries, with 373 deaths from the tropical disease.
Bissau also unveiled a series of drastic measures to prevent the virus from taking hold in the country, such as banning group gatherings at weddings, funerals and baptisms.
The country has also launched an emergency helpline, opened field hospitals, and set in place a procedure that would see any suspected cases evacuated to certain health centers.
Ebola -- which is caught by close contact with an infected person through bodily fluids such as sweat, blood and tissue -- has swept through the region since the start of the year, killing more than 1,000 people, according to the World Health Organization.
[Dhaka Tribune] Despite repeated announcements of waging vigorous anti-government movements after Eid-ul-Fitr, the BNP has apparently backtracked from its stance as the party is not prepared to do so right now.
Before Eid, the BNP had tried to establish the idea that it was going to launch a tough anti-government movement. But the reality is that the party has not made any preparations whatsoever towards that end.
Even if there are issues, it has not been able to create an environment for a strong movement over the past few months.
One reason behind this is that the process to reorganise the party is taking much longer than expected. As a result, the party has not been able to come up with a comprehensive plan. Therefore, after the Eid vacations, it resumed activities by pegging the international issue of the Israeli offensive in Gazoo instead of trying to push any national issue.
BNP Chairperson the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... and her senior party colleagues warned of a so-called tough movement after Eid if the government did not discuss the issue of letting a non-partisan government oversee future national elections with them.
Khaleda said on several occasions that her party would first finish the reorganization process and then go for a tough movement.
People witnessed violent street protests before the January 5 election when the capital remained virtually isolated from the rest of the country for about a month.
The BNP-led 20-party alliance yesterday announced a 13-day programme, including a black flag procession, demonstrations and district tours starting August 16.
The alliance will kick off its programmes with a black-flag procession protesting Israel's recent attacks on Gazoo.
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08/13/2014 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam yesterday called BNP a platform of extremely evil forces.
''BNP is not a political party. It is a platform of extremely evil forces. All the evil forces and miscreants of society have joined this platform. The freedom and illusory sovereignty of Bangladesh will be not secure unless these forces are stopped,'' he said.
Ashraf, general secretary of the Awami League (AL), was speaking at the start of a mourning procession organised by Jubo League ... the youth wing of the Bangla Awami League... , an AL youth front, at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital.
"the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... celebrates August 15, the day when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were killed in 1975, as her birthday. That means she does not accept Bangladesh and will never do so in the future," he said.
''Were it her real birthday, she should celebrate it on August 16 or 17 as we requested, but she would not do it,'' he said angrily. He also called the birthday celebration a facet of western culture.
''There is no scope for holding any talks with those who celebrate the mourning day by cutting cakes and expressing utter hatred towards the Father of the Nation,'' he vowed.
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Vladimir continues to re-assemble the old Soviet Union...
Russia will allocate $500 million assistance to support Kyrgyz economy, 24 kg. reported. These funds will allow Kyrgyzstan to prepare its economy for joining the Eurasian Economic Union, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following the meeting of Russian and Kyrgyz presidents in Sochi Aug. 11.
$500 million buys some love in the Caucasus...
"This is Russia's contribution in the support of the Kyrgyz economy in order to make its joining to the Eurasian economic integration processes as comfortable as possible," Sergey Lavrov said.
I didn't realize that the Kyrgyz economy was in trouble. Too bad we don't have an American foreign policy that can step up when influence needs to be purchased...
He also said that the two countries confirmed their plans in the sphere of military-technical cooperation as a part of allied relations within the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
The two presidents also confirmed the agreements on the implementation of major projects in the energy sector such as Kambarata and Upper Naryn cascade hydropower plants.
"Additional orders were agreed in order to speed up the resolution of the issues necessary for the implementation of these large hydropower projects," Sergei Lavrov said.
Kyrgyzstan plans to join the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus by the end of 2014, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev said within the meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Aug. 11.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2014 00:00 ||
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Here's $.5 billion and a list of our preferred vendors.
[IRISHTIMES] Russia insisted it has permission from Kiev to drive 287 trucks of humanitarian aid to the strongholds of pro-Kremlin rebels in eastern Ukraine, despite international fears over Moscow's intentions.
Ukraine's government and its western allies fear Moscow may use the convoy for stealthy intervention in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, where Kiev's forces are gaining the upper hand over separatist gunnies who want the regions to join Russia.
United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... agencies say more than 700,000 people have fled Ukraine for Russia in recent months, and more than 100,000 have been displaced in Ukraine during fighting that has killed some 1,500 people.
Russia is demanding the provision of urgent aid to Donetsk and Luhansk, and its convoy is expected to arrive today at the border crossing of Shebekino, from where it will pass into a government-controlled area of eastern Ukraine.
Moscow's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said everything had been agreed with Kiev, the International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC), UN and 57-state Organisation for Security for Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Posted by: Fred ||
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May just be a propaganda exercise by Russia, or they may be engineering an excuse to go kinetic.
[Hurriyet Daily News] U.S. President Barack Obama Jedi mind meld... has called Turkey's president-elect, Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... , and "congratulated" him for his latest poll victory.
Obama called Erdogan in the evening of Aug. 12 as a first in recent months. Erdogan had earlier complained on a television programme that he couldn't speak to Obama "for a long time."
While a White House front man said further details of the call would be provided later, a statement from Turkish Prime Minister's office said that Obama congratulated Erdogan and wished him success as Turkey's President.
"Obama told that he appreciated the speech Erdogan made on Sunday night and noted that he now has a historic opportunity to move Turkey forward as the country's first President elected by popular vote," the statement said, while adding that the two leaders also discussed regional issues, including Iraq, Syria and Gazoo.
The White House had announced Aug. 10 that Obama was expected to speak with Erdogan in the coming days.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Gah -- what kind of A-Hole congratulates a pinstripe Jihadist like Erdogan? Why, a First Class A-hole, of course. Thank you very much, I will see myself out.
Posted by: regular joe ||
08/13/2014 13:58 Comments ||
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[DAWN] LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday granted bail to Shahid Aziz alias Gullu Butt, an infamous character of Model Town incident wherein at least 11 people were killed.
Gullu Butt was caught red-handed by cameramen of news channels while smashing vehicles parked outside Minhajul Koran Secretariat.
However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... counsel for the suspect argued before the court that the vehicles did not belong to workers of the Pakistain Awami Tehrik or Idara Minhajul Koran. He said the suspect had no past criminal record.
The counsel said the offense allegedly committed by the suspect was bailable and police with a mala fide intension added provisions of anti-terrorism law in the FIR.
When asked by the court, Faisal Town police investigating officer said the owners of smashed cars did not attend the investigation.
The counsel said his client was innocent and had no such bad intention but the police jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! him and started the paperwork but haven't done much else against him. He asked the court to release his client on bail. The bench heard the arguments and released Butt on bail against furnishing of surety bonds of Rs200,000.
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[DAWN] The number of this year's nationwide polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... cases has reached 115 with the confirmation of seven new cases by the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad.
The institute on Tuesday tested positive for polio seven more children — one-year-old Sofia (daughter of Kabul Khan from Birmal, South Wazoo), 18-month-old Munib Rehman (son of Hafiz Rehman from Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , North Waziristan), 18-month-old Abdul Rauf (son of Mohammad Ayaz from Meri Khel village in Bara, Khyber Agency), 12-month-old Hazeena (daughter of Saddam from Shaa Dal village in Bara, Khyber Agency), 30-month-old Mihadullah (son of Haider Gul from Rasool Khan Khwar Speen Qabar village in Bara, Khyber Agency), 18-month-old Masood (son of Hamid from Khushali Wazir village in Razmak, North Waziristan) and 18-month-old Fida Rehman (son of Adeel Rehman from Tal village in Miranshah, North Waziristan).
According to sources in NIH, last year 39 polio cases had been registered by this time.
Of 115 polio cases registered this year so far 84 are from Fata, 19 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , 10 from Sindh and one each from Punjab and Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... .
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[AnNahar] Guinea-Bissau is closing its border with Guinea, one of the west African countries hardest hit by the deadly Ebola virus, Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira said Tuesday.
[DAWN] LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday granted bail to Shahid Aziz alias Gullu Butt, an infamous character of Model Town incident wherein at least 11 people were killed.
