Tag: Open Thread

Weekend News Digest

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Poland buries president as world leaders cancel

by Mary Sibierski, AFP

1 hr 33 mins ago

KRAKOW, Poland (AFP) – Around 150,000 grieving Poles thronged Krakow Sunday as President Lech Kaczynski and his wife were buried beside ancient kings, but Europe’s air travel chaos kept many world leaders away.

US President Barack Obama and dozens of other dignitaries failed to come to the elaborate state funeral because of a cloud of volcanic ash covering the region but Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived to show solidarity.

Medvedev called for the two nations, at loggerheads for decades, to unite in sorrow after the April 10 plane crash in Russia that killed the couple and 94 others, most of them figures from Poland’s military and political elite.

Weekend News Digest

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Burqa bombers kill 41 at Pakistan camp

by Lehaz Ali, AFP

Sat Apr 17, 10:24 am ET

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – Two suicide bombers dressed in burqas struck a crowd of displaced people collecting aid handouts, killing at least 41 and wounding more than 60 on Saturday at a camp in northwest Pakistan.

The bombers struck minutes apart in the Kacha Pukha camp on the outskirts of the garrison city of Kohat, a registration centre for people fleeing Taliban violence and Pakistani army operations close to the Afghan border.

The attacks underscored the grave threat posed by extremists despite stepped-up Pakistani offensives and a significant increase in US drone attacks targeting Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked commanders in the nearby tribal belt.

This Week in Health and Fitness

Welcome to this week’s Health and Fitness. This is an Open Thread.

Eruption may hurt people with breathing problems: WHO

Iceland Volcano


Smoke billows from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokull April 16, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Ingolfur Juliusson

(Reuters) – The eruption of an Icelandic volcanic that has paralyzed air traffic in much of Europe could also harm people with breathing problems, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

The U.N. health agency said the fine particles in the ash cloud were not harmful so long as they remained in the upper atmosphere, but could be more problematic if they fell to earth.

About a quarter of the ash particles were believed to be less than 10 microns in size, the most dangerous because they could penetrate deeper in the lungs, the WHO said in a statement.

Health Officials and the WHO are advising that patients with chronic lung diseases and cardiovascular disease listen to local news reports about air pollution level and take appropriate precautions such as staying indoors. Even though there are no warnings here in the US, large volcanic eruptions have in the past affected the air quality around the world.

As is now custom, I’ll try to include the more interesting and pertinent articles that will help the community awareness of their health and bodies. This essay will not be posted anywhere else due to constraints on my time. Please feel free to make suggestions for improvement and ask questions, I’ll answer as best I can.  

Standing There On Freedom’s Shore

Waiting For The Sun



Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Goldman Sachs charged with fraud by SEC

By Jonathan Stempel and Steve Eder, Reuters

22 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc was charged with fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its marketing of a debt product tied to subprime mortgages that was designed to fail.

The lawsuit is the biggest crisis in years for Goldman, which emerged from the global financial crisis as Wall Street’s most influential bank.

It is also a huge test for Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, who has faced a firestorm of criticism over the bank’s pay and business practices. It comes as lawmakers in Washington debate sweeping reform of financial industry regulation.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Pope urges Catholic penance over priest scandal

AFP

2 hrs 12 mins ago

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday urged Catholics to “do penance” and a top cardinal called for a mass rally by clergy to support the pontiff under fire over widespread paedophile priest scandals.

“Now under the attacks of the world which talk to us about our sins, let us see that we can do penance,” the pope said at a mass at the Vatican.

“I have to say that we Christians, even lately, have often avoided the word ‘penance’ that seemed to us too hard,” the pope said, speaking for the first time since he was directly named in allegations of helping to protect priests who have abused children.

Because, of course, it is the average Catholic who is guilty of systematically covering up raping children for decades, and NOT Joseph Ratzinger former Nazi and God’s annointed messenger on Earth.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

Early Edition.  Now with 36 Top Stories.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Condemnation builds over Vatican prelate’s gay slur

AFP

2 hrs 55 mins ago

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Condemnation from gay groups and the French government forced the Vatican into damage control Wednesday over remarks by the pope’s right-hand man linking paedophilia to homosexuality.

The Vatican issued what spokesman Federico Lombardi called a “clarification” of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s assertion Monday that homosexuality — not celibacy — is the “problem” that causes Catholic priests to molest children.

In the highly unusual statement, the Vatican said Roman Catholic Church officials were not “competent” to speak on psychological issues concerning general society.

Wednesday Morning Science Supplement

Wednesday Morning Science Supplement is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Science

1 Illegal trade in whale meat points to Japan: DNA study

AFP

Tue Apr 13, 7:08 pm ET

PARIS (AFP) – Whale meat sold secretly at a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles and another in Seoul can be linked to Japanese whaling, a trade that would breach global rules on protected species, scientists said Wednesday.

Japan carries out whaling under what it says is a programme of scientific research, although it does not hide the fact that the meat is later sold in Japanese shops and restaurants.

But trading this meat is not allowed with countries that have signed provisions protecting whales under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Late Night Open Thread: Heaven Have mercy

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

Late Edition.  Now with 46 Top Stories.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Ousted Kyrgyz president sets terms for resignation

by Matt Siegel, AFP

42 mins ago

TEYIT, Kyrgyzstan (AFP) – Kyrgyzstan’s toppled president Kurmanbek Bakiyev Tuesday offered to resign for the first time since he was ousted in protests, but only if he received security guarantees from his foes.

His offer came after the interim authorities warned Bakiyev that the country’s special forces would arrest him if he failed to surrender and carried on holding rallies in his southern stronghold where he fled after the uprising.

But with still no compromise in sight and the interim government seeking to assert its authority in the capital after the protests that left 83 dead, the strategic Central Asian country, home to a key US airbase, remained dangerously on the edge.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Poland crash pilots had been warned: investigators

by Anna Malpas, AFP

1 hr 50 mins ago

MOSCOW (AFP) – The pilots of a plane that crashed and killed Poland’s president had received explicit weather warnings before they attempted to land at a fog-bound Russian airport, investigators said on Monday.

Russian officials said flight data showed traffic controllers recommended the crew divert to another airport while Polish prosecutors said there was no indication they were pressured by those onboard to override the advice.

As crews battled to retrieve bodies from the wreckage of a crash that killed 96 people, including much of Poland’s elite, experts also struggled to identify mutilated remains.

Late Night Open Thread: Storm

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