This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-south-asia-12062240
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Irish swine flu rises three fold
Cases of H1N1 infection in the Republic of Ireland have more than trebled Cases of swine flu (H1N1) in the Republic of Ireland have increased from 30 to 91 in a week according to the country's Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
The announcement follows the revelation last week by NI's Public Health Agency that the number of cases in Northern Ireland had more than doubled.
The number of people hospitalised for swine flu in the Republic has also continued to increase, with 36 cases as of December 30th 2010.
Five swine flu patients are believed to have been admitted to intensive care.
At-risk groups: Who should get the flu vaccine?
·Anyone aged 65 or over.
·Children and adults who have any of the following medical conditions:
- a chronic chest condition such as asthma;
- a chronic heart condition;
- chronic liver disease;
- chronic kidney disease;
- diabetes;
- lowered immunity due to disease or treatment such as steroids or cancer therapy;
- a chronic neurological condition such as stroke, multiple sclerosis or a condition that affects your nervous system, such as cerebral palsy.
· Pregnant women regardless of their stage of pregnancy.
· Children who have previously been admitted to hospital with a chest infection.
· Anyone living in a residential or nursing home.
· If you are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person.
The HPSC has also reported that swine flu is currently the most prevalent type of flu virus circulating in Ireland.
Northern Ireland's Public Health Agency has advised those eligible for the H1N1 vaccine to see their doctor as soon as possible.
Official data for Northern Ireland shows the number of swine flu cases has increased from 56 in week 50 of 2010 to 129 in week 51.
The Public Health Agency also said it had observed an increase in influenza cases generally, not only those with H1N1.
The symptoms of a typical flu are a sudden fever, headache, muscle aches, a dry cough and sore throat.
The average duration of infection is between 10 and 14 days.
For more information about the flu virus and the vaccine for 2010/2011 visit the HSC Public Health Agency or speak to your GP, nurse or member of staff at the antenatal clinic in your local trust.
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-northern-ireland-12103653
Nintendo 3D child eyesight fears
The eyesight of children under six could be harmed by 3D games played on Nintendo's forthcoming handheld console, the company warns. 
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/technology-12101504
Landlord bailed over Yeates death
Chris Jefferies, 65, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday A man arrested over the murder of landscape architect Jo Yeates has been released on police bail.
Her landlord Chris Jefferies, 65, was being questioned by Avon and Somerset Constabulary after being arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday.
Miss Yeates, 25, was found strangled on Christmas Day, a few miles from her home in Bristol's Clifton area.
Her body was found in Longwood Lane, in Failand, near Bristol, by a couple walking their dogs.
In a statement on its website, the force said: "A 65-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of murder has been released on police bail."
Det Ch Insp Phil Jones issued a renewed appeal to the public for information.
"Firstly I would like to reassure the public that this investigation is very much ongoing," he said.
"We have a team of over 70 police officers and staff working tirelessly to bring the person responsible for Joanna's death to justice.
"I would once again urge anyone who may not have called us to make contact with one of my officers and provide us with any information you may have. You may think your information is insignificant but please let us decide."
Mr Jefferies lives in the flat above the Victorian basement property he rented to Miss Yeates and her 27-year-old boyfriend Greg Reardon.
Det Ch Insp Phil Jones“They may have information that could prove vital”
Forensic science teams have been continuing to remove items for examination from the properties.
Miss Yeates was last seen alive on 17 December. She had been out with work colleagues and is known to have left the Ram pub, on Park Street, at about 2000 GMT.
Police have issued CCTV images of her then visiting a Waitrose store on The Triangle, a Bargain Booze shop, and a Tesco Express near her flat.
She bought a pizza at the Tesco store but while the receipt was found at her flat, no trace has been found of the food or its wrapper.
Mr Reardon reported her missing two days later when he returned home from visiting family in Sheffield.
In a fresh appeal for information Det Ch Insp Jones said all calls to the police would be "treated in confidence".
He added: "We also know that there were large Christmas functions taking place at Long Ashton golf club, Bristol and Clifton golf club and Redwood Lodge.
"I would again urge taxi drivers and those who drove to functions to call us. They may have information that could prove vital."
Miss Yeates's body was found near Long Ashton Golf Club.
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-12103905
Zoos 'have role' protecting bears
Young male Walker arrived at the park from a zoo in Holland A boss at a park keeping the UK's only two polar bears said he would not have considered managing the species in captivity just over 10 years ago.
The Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig is home to Mercedes and Walker.
Collection manager Douglas Richardson said that previously he would not have thought it necessary to keep the bears in conservation terms.
But he said wild populations were now so severely threatened that zoos had a key role in protecting the bears.
Two-year-old Walker arrived from Rhenen Zoo in Holland in November this year and is expected to be part of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's (RZSS) polar bear breeding plans in the future.
Mercedes, who is about 30 years old and shares an area with the young male, is not included in the proposals.
Mr Richardson said: "Over the next 18 months to two years we will be building a second, larger polar bear enclosure where Walker will reside permanently as our future breeding male.
Douglas Richardson Animal collection manager“They have become the poster child for climate change”
"A new female will be brought in after Mercedes dies and the bears will be brought together purely just for breeding.
"We will be keeping them separate for most of the time, which is how they would exist in the wild."
But Mr Richardson said: "If you went back 10 plus years ago and asked me should we be maintaining polar bears in captivity, I probably would have said 'no'.
"There wasn't really any conservation need, but now they have become the poster child for climate change."
Recent studies have suggested problems affecting the bears could be linked to a changing climate.
Scientists led by Prof Cino Pertoldi, of the Polish Academy of Science, said in 2009 their research indicated that polar bears had shrunk in size.
The team compared bear skulls from the early 20th Century with those from the latter half of the century.
Their study described changes in size and shape that could be linked to an increase in pollution and the reduction in sea ice.
This summer, an Arctic expedition confirmed fears that polar bears were preying on the eggs of barnacle geese who migrate to the Solway Firth each winter.
Scientists said the bears on the island of Svalbard had turned to the eggs after being stranded on land in the summer months as a result of diminishing ice.
The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) said it was concerned bird numbers could be devastated if the situation continued.
Two hundred polar bears are kept in zoos worldwide In November this year, the US designated a "critical habitat" for polar bears living on Alaska's disappearing sea ice.
The area - twice the size of the United Kingdom - has been set aside to help stave off the danger of extinction, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said.
According to the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) the latest available figures on polar bears in the wild is as of 2008.
It said scientists estimated then that there might be 20,000 to 25,000 bears.
WAZA said there were 200 polar bears registered in zoos worldwide.
The Highland Wildlife Park's breeding programme plans have drawn criticism from animal protection charities.
OneKind said any polar bear captive breeding programmes were "inherently flawed".
The Born Free Foundation said in 2009 that Mercedes' relocation from Edinburgh to a larger enclosure was welcome but RZSS was "way off the mark" with plans to bring in more bears.
Mr Richardson said the park has been reassured by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) polar bear specialist group that bears well managed in good zoos have a positive role to play in conserving wild populations.
He said: "Mercedes comes from the population near Churchill on the west Hudson Bay.
"Because of climate change that will be the first population of polar bear to disappear and that could happen over the next 20 years.
"A healthy gene pool in captivity could be used to augment the wild population in the future."
He added: "Not for one minute would I suggest re-introducing polar bears is going to be a simple prospect, but if we don't have a well managed captive population we will lose a potentially very important option."
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11788127
Plea for Iranian woman facing stoning
The son of an Iranian woman convicted of adultery and helping her lover murder her husband asks the authorities to spare her life. 
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/12104023
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Jailed Khodorkovsky lodges appeal
Khodorkovsky has been serving time at a remote prison in Siberia A lawyer for Mikhail Khodorkovsky has lodged an appeal against the new jail term handed down to the former Russian oil tycoon.
The lawyer, Karina Moskalenko, said there had been procedural violations at the trial.
She is also defending Khodorkovsky's business partner Platon Lebedev. On Thursday they were both told that they would have to stay in jail until 2017.
The former Yukos oil bosses were jailed for embezzlement and money-laundering.
The two men had been nearing the end of a separate eight-year sentence for tax evasion.
The US and European countries have criticised the court's verdict, voicing suspicions about politicisation of the judiciary.
The sentence means Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, will not return to society until well after the next Russian presidential election.
He was once seen as a threat to former President Vladimir Putin. As the current prime minister, Mr Putin could become the Kremlin-backed candidate again in 2012.
Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were found guilty of stealing billions of dollars from their own oil firm, Yukos, and laundering the proceeds.
They were first arrested in 2003 and sentenced in 2005 for fraud and tax evasion.
The US said the new sentence seemed to be an abuse of Russia's legal system.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hit back on Friday, describing the judiciary as "independent of both the Russian and the foreign authorities".
Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "disappointed" by the sentence. "The impression remains that political motives played a role in the trial," she said.
And UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was deeply concerned and urged Russia "to respect the principles of justice and apply the rule of law in a non-discriminatory and proportional way".
"In the absence of this the UK and much of the international community will regard such a trial as a retrograde step," Mr Hague added.
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-europe-12099286
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