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Ebola infects Spanish nurse, a first in West
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HK protests at crossroads as traffic, frustration pile up
stepping on ‘vampire’: A woman steps on a portrait of Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying depicted as a vampire on a road blocked by barricades in Hong Kong. AFP
Syrian town about to fall as IS moves in: Turkey
Smoke rises after an airstrike in Kobani as fighting intensified between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State. AFP Obama ‘most popular’ among Indian-Americans Anti-Hindu hate crimes: US announces $21,000 reward Pak protests ‘unprovoked’ firing, accuses India of constant violations Osama’s body dropped into sea with 300 pounds of iron chains: CIA ex-chief
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Ebola infects Spanish nurse, a first in West
Madrid, October 7 The nurse, who tested positive for the virus on Monday, her husband, who is showing no symptoms of the disease, and two other people are being closely monitored in hospital, health officials told a news conference in Madrid. One of those hospitalised is a health worker who has diarrhoea but no fever. The other is a Spaniard who travelled from Nigeria, said Rafael Perez-Santamaria, head of the Carlos III Hospital where the infected nurse treated two Spanish missionaries who contracted the disease in Africa. With concerns growing around the world of the Ebola pandemic spreading beyond West Africa, the Spanish officials sought to reassure the public that they were tackling the threat. Twenty-two persons who came into contact with the nurse are being monitored, Perez-Santamaria said. They have not been isolated but they are having their temperature taken twice a day to check for signs of infection. Officials said they were still investigating how the nurse was infected. The nurse contracted the illness while treating a Spanish missionary who was infected in Sierra Leone and flown to Madrid's Carlos III hospital, where he died on Sept. 25, Spain's Health Ministry said. The priest, Manuel García Viejo, died three days after being flown back to Spain, and the nurse entered his room only twice, including once after his death. She began feeling ill on September 30 and was diagnosed with Ebola on Monday. "This has taken us by surprise," said Perez-Santamaria. "We are revising our protocols, improving them." A spokesman for the European Commission said the case would be discussed at an EU Health Security Committee meeting on Wednesday. "The priority remains to find out what actually happened," he said. Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at Britain's University of Nottingham, said the nurse should not have contracted the deadly disease if appropriate containment and control measures had been taken. "It will be crucial to find out what went wrong in this case so necessary measures can be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again," he told Reuters. The nurse is being treated with antibodies from previous infected patients, Perez-Santamaria said. — Reuters Fight against Ebola top national security priority, says President Obama
Ebola killing robot developed
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HK protests at crossroads as traffic, frustration pile up
Hong Kong, October 7 Hundreds of protesters in the second week of their campaign for greater democracy were camped out on the road leading into Hong Kong's main government and business districts, the last holdouts after days of rallies that attracted tens of thousands at their peak. The student-led protesters began lifting their controls of government offices and retail areas on Monday as preliminary, behind-the-scenes talks meant to lead to formal negotiations showed modest signs of progress. "Now we just have to wait and see about the meetings," said Ronald Chan, a recent university graduate who was one of several protesters manning a barricade in the Central business district, but allowing delivery vans and garbage trucks in and out. He said several passersby had thanked them for allowing deliveries and he estimated that more than half supported them. "We know we have caused some inconvenience but we have our reasons," he said. "We hope that other people understand." The 'Occupy Central' protests, an idea conceived over a year ago referring to the Central business district, have presented Beijing with one of its biggest political challenges since it crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in and around Tiananmen Square in the Chinese capital in 1989. Over the past week, the protesters have demanded that Leung quit and that China allow Hong Kong people the right to vote for a leader of their choice in 2017 elections. China wants to select candidates for the election. — Reuters
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Syrian town about to fall as IS moves in: Turkey
Mursitpinar (Turkey), Oct 7 The prospect that the town on the Turkish border could be captured by the militants has increased pressure on Turkey, with the strongest army in the region, to join an international coalition to fight against Islamic State. Islamic State wants to take Kobani in order to strengthen its grip on the border area and consolidate the territorial gains it has made in Iraq and Syria in recent months. US-led air strikes have so far failed to prevent its advance on Kobani. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said bombing was not enough to defeat Islamic State and Turkey had made clear that additional measures would be needed. "The problem of ISIS (Islamic State) ... cannot be solved via air bombardment. Right now ... Kobani is about to fall," he said during a visit to a camp for Syrian refugees. He said Turkey would intervene if there were threats to Turkish soldiers guarding a historic site in Syria that Ankara regards as its territory. But so far Turkey has made no move to get involved in the fighting across the border. From across the Turkish border, two Islamic State flags could be seen flying over the eastern side of Kobani. Two air strikes hit the area and sporadic gunfire could be heard. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said it had also documented 412 deaths of civilians and fighters during the three-week battle for Kobani. — Reuters
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Obama ‘most popular’ among Indian-Americans A majority of Indian Americans have a favorable opinion of US President Barack Obama and a negative opinion of the Republican Party to which fellow Indian-Americans Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley belong, according to a national poll of Asian-American voters. The Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote & Asian Americans Advancing Justice voter survey polled more than 1,300 Asian-American registered voters from the Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese and Korean communities across the US. The survey finds that Obama has a strong support from most sections of the Asian-American community, with the strongest endorsement coming from the Indian-American community in which 70 per cent of the respondents had a favorable opinion of the President and 63 per cent approve of the job that he is doing. At least 68 per cent Indian Americans have a favorable opinion of Obama's Democratic Party, but only 30 per cent have a favourable opinion of the Republican Party. Vietnamese Americans had the lowest levels of favourability of Obama (40 per cent) and the Democratic Party (34 per cent). Korean Americans and Vietnamese Americans reported the highest levels of support (52 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively) for the Republican Party. Indian Americans have shown a "strong tilt" towards the Democratic Party for many years now and this support has only grown stronger over time, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, director of AAPIData, who conducted the survey research and analysis. The factors behind Indian-American support for the Democrats include the community's experiences with discrimination and religious identity. "Indian Americans are least likely to be Christian and to the extent that the religion plays a role in politics in the US, just as Jewish Americans are likely to be strong Democrats the same also holds true for Indian Americans," said Ramakrishnan. Ramakrishnan credits former President Bill Clinton's outreach to and fundraising in the Asian American community during the 1990s for growing support for the Democratic Party among Asians in the US. The racial profiling that followed the 9/11 attacks on the US under a Republican administration and the conservative rhetoric on immigration resulted in Indian Americans turning less sympathetic to the Republican Party. Yet two Indian-American Republicans - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley - are the highest Indian-American elected officials in the US today. "It is a divergence between who the most prominent Indian-American elected officials are, who are Republicans, and where Indian-American voters are, which is pretty strongly Democrat," said Ramakrishnan. He attributes Jindal's and Haley's rise to their religion. Both are Christian. "The extent to which Indian Americans feel a connection to the two is limited by religion and their conservative positions," he said. National poll of Asian-American voters
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Anti-Hindu hate crimes: US announces $21,000 reward Washington, October 7 According to local authorities in Virginia, since July 2014, there have been 17 reported cases of anti-Hindu graffiti and vandalism in Ashburn - near the Dallas International Airport - which over the last few years has seen a significant rise in Indian-American population, which is mainly attributed to the emergence of the IT corridor in Washington. “A majority of the graffiti has been written in black marker on exercise stations, park benches, a pedestrian tunnel and community signs,” the Loudon County Police said. Graffiti such as ‘No Hindus allowed’ and ‘No Hindus, by order of Mosby’s Rangers’ written in black have appeared in the community. Indian-Americans living in the area said such notices have made them feel insecure. “I find it very disturbing that there are individuals who are willing to destroy private property and spew hate against our Hindu neighbors,” Virginia Delegate David Ramadan said on Friday after 200 Indian-Americans gathered at a community center to meet local officials and elected representatives. “There is no room for such hate in our community,” Ramadan said. The Brambleton Community Association, which is the most affected by the increase in hate crimes, recently announced that they were offering a USD 1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of those responsible. Loudoun County and several leaders of the Indian-American community stepped up at the meeting with an additional USD 20,000, bringing the total available reward to USD 21,000. “I’ve been in this country for 14 years, and never once have I seen something like this or been exposed to something like this,” Vidya Nair was quoted as saying by The Washington Post. “Loudoun is so diverse. You don’t expect to see it here,” she said. — PTI Indians feel insecure
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Pak protests ‘unprovoked’ firing, accuses India of constant violations A woman was killed while two people were injured as Indian troops resorted to ‘unprovoked firing’ in the Charwa sector near the Sialkot working boundary, Pakistan’s military spokesman said on Tuesday. Sector Commander Chenab Rangers Wasim Zafar has said that India has violated the working boundary 21 times this year. He said: “India does not want peace at the working boundary and has always targeted the civil population.” Pakistan has lodged a strong protest with the Government of India through diplomatic channels and called upon India to restrain from “constant violation of ceasefire”. Pakistan has also protested against the firing and shelling by the Indian side to the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) , a press release by Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR), said. The military spokesman alleged that ‘unprovoked firing’ by the Indian army continues in the Harpal sector. Urging Pakistan and India to resolve the issue via dialogue, the US has expressed concern over violence along the Line of Control, Radio Pakistan reported. When asked to comment on the growing tensions between Pakistan and India, US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said the US encourages the two governments to engage in dialogue to address these issues. On October 6, Indian firing in Charwa sector had destroyed 10 houses while attacks in Harpal sector had killed 13 domestic animals, the press release said. ISPR said there was firing from Indian side in Nakial, Karela, Kot Kettera, Hot Spring and Jandrot sectors but no casualty was reported.
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Osama’s body dropped into sea with 300 pounds of iron chains: CIA ex-chief Washington, October 7 After Osama was shot dead, Panetta said, as planned the body of the world’s most wanted terrorist was transported by marines flying an Osprey to waiting aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson for his burial by sea. “Bin Laden’s body was prepared for burial according to Muslim traditions, draped in a white shroud, given final prayers in Arabic, and then placed inside a heavy black bag,” Panetta wrote in his latest book “Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace” which hit the book stores on Tuesday. “Three hundred pounds of iron chains were put inside as well, to ensure that the body would sink,” he wrote. “The bagged body was placed on a white table at the rail of the ship; the table was tipped over to drop the body into the sea. It was so heavy that it dragged the table in with it. As the body sank quickly out of sight, the table bobbed on the surface,” Panetta said, without identifying the location. The then Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani asked the US to inform the world about the killing of Osama. — PTI
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Admiral Zakaullah takes charge as Pak Navy chief Indian jailed for 14 months in Little India riots Myanmar frees 3,000 prisoners 6.6 magnitude quake jolts Chinese city 12 killed in Ukraine as fighting rages despite truce UK ‘losing out’ on Indian postgraduate students
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Hong Kong, October 7
Mursitpinar (Turkey), Oct 7
