Al Jazeera English news coverage
Created by ajnewmedia on Oct 28, 2010
Last updated: 10/28/10 at 03:03 AM
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Though US drone strikes on Taliban targets in northwest Pakistan have become routine, the group continues to have a presence in the country's south.
Several members of the Pakistani Taliban have been arrested in the southern port city of Karachi.
However, despite the crackdowns, the Taliban continues to use the city as a hub for funding and recruitment.Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reports from Karachi.
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/asia/2010/10/2010102864026766796.html
UN officials have confirmed that nearly 300 people have now died from cholera in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, as investigators from the world body probed a suspected source of the outbreak.With cases confirmed in four out of the country's 10 departments, authorities were fighting on Thursday to stop the disease from taking a firm hold in the capital, Port-au-Prince.But the confirmation of the death toll came amid a UN investigation into samples of a suspected sewage spill leaking behind a Nepalese peacekeeping base in Haiti towards an infected river system.UN officials appeared to take away samples from the site on Wednesday, following accusations that the spill could be the source of the cholera outbreak, Vincenzo Pugliese, a mission spokesman, confirmed on Wednesday that the UN team was testing for cholera - the first public acknowledgement that the 12,000-member force is directly investigating allegations its base played a role in the outbreak, the Associated Press news agency reported.Al Jazeera's Sebastian Walker, reporting from Port-au-Prince said the UN is "categorically denying" that peacekeepers were the cause of the outbreak."But you know, that river, from that base, flows into the town of Mirebalais," he said."In Mirebalais there have been many cases of cholera. There's 50 at the local prison there, there have been cases throughout that department - that's the central department. That river then runs on into the Urbanite, which is the heart of where the cholera has been raging over the past few days."
Suspected Nepal connections
The Nepalese mission strongly denies its base was a cause of the infection. Pugliese said civilian engineers collected samples from the base on Friday which tested negative for cholera and the mission's military force commander ordered the additional tests to confirm. He said no members of the Nepalese battalion have the disease.But local politicians, including a powerful senator and the mayor of Mirebalais, are pointing the finger at the Nepalese peacekeeping base, which is perched above a source of the Meille River, a tributary to the Artibonite River on Haiti's central plateau.
Cholera is endemic to Nepal, which suffered outbreaks this summer. A recent article in the Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases about outbreaks in 2008-09 said the strain found by researchers was "Vibrio cholerae O1 Ogawa biotype El Tor", the same strain found in Haiti.
However, Eric Mintz, an epidemiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Associated Press that the strain is too common to be considered a "smoking gun".
Further spread feared
Meanwhile the epidemic continued to spread, with cases confirmed in two new departments in Haiti's north and northeast, Imogen Wall, a spokeswoman for the UN office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs said.Our correspondent reported that there are 174 suspected cases of cholera infection in a town just an hour outside Port-au-Prince, where the disease has not yet spread. International aid workers and the UN are focusing their efforts on stemming the spread of the outbreak, which was first noted on October 20.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/10/2010102841412141967.html
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Indonesia is preparing to bury the victims of Mount Merapi's violent eruption, most of whom will be laid to rest in a mass grave in central Java.
Volunteers and soldiers were seen preparing a mass grave for about 20 of the victims in the village of Sidorejo, south of the mountain, on Thursday. Others were being laid to rest in private ceremonies.
Most of the volcano's 32 victims died of burns or suffocation as searing ash and clouds of heated gas spewed out of the crater around 6pm [1100 GMT] on Tuesday. Many were found huddled together in their homes.
People across Java were paying their respects to an elder known as Grandfather Marijan, the royally appointed guardian of the mountain who ignored orders to leave and died as he prayed at his home on the volcano's slopes.
"He is the most respected person here," Ani Wijayanti, a local resident, told the AFP news agency.
"He was like a boat captain who would never surrender although he must pay with his life. He didn't want to compromise his principles although thousands of people left this place to safety."
Many more almost certainly would have been killed had the government not issued a maximum red alert warning of an imminent eruption on Monday and ordered people to evacuate a 10km zone around the mountain.
While government volcanologists said Merapi had been relatively quiet since the deadly eruptions, authorities are warning thousands who fled the area not to return. There are fears the volcano's dome could still collapse, which would cause a huge blast of blistering gas and an avalanche of the debris trapped beneath the dome.
Devastation
Inside the danger zone on Thursday, the landscape was a picture of devastation as rescuers continued to search for survivors. Houses were left flattened and burnt, leaves and branches were burnt off trees and thick grey ash covered everything.
Step Vassen, Al Jazeera's correspondent close to Mount Merapi, said that thousands of people had run away from the volcano.
"They are trying to find a safer place. They are going to the refugee centres that have been set up by the government," she said.
Vassen said residents were reluctant to leave the area for fear of leaving homes and livestock unattended for a false alarm.
The 2,914-metre Mount Merapi is the most active of the 69 volcanoes with histories of eruptions in Indonesia. It last erupted in June 2006, killing two people.
Indonesia straddles a region where the meeting of continental plates causes high seismic activity. It has the world's largest number of active volcanoes and is shaken by thousands of earthquakes every year.
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake last year in Padang killed about 1,100 people, while the 2004 Asian tsunami, triggered by a 9.3-magnitude quake along the same fault line, killed at least 168,000 people in Indonesia alone.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/10/201010286050424424.html
The death toll from Indonesia's tsunami has soared to at least 337 with 370 others missing, as questions mount over whether an elaborate tsunami warning system off the country's western coast had failed.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's president, headed on Thursday to the disaster zone, where fears were growing for hundreds still missing following Monday's tsunami.Three-metre high waves triggered by a powerful earthquake hit the Mentawais, a small group of islands 280km to the northwest of Sumatra, on Monday.
Disaster response officials said bodies were still being found on beaches and coastal areas in the Mentawais, which took the full force of the tsunami as it washed away entire villages.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said on its website that 4,000 people had been displaced.
Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Sikakap on South Pagai island, said official government death toll figures are slightly lower that what local media are reporting.
Broken alarm system
As the magnitude of the disaster became clear, many began asking whether an expensive warning system - established after the massive 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed at least 168,000 people in Indonesia alone - had failed.
Tsunami survivors have said they had almost no warning that the wall of water was bearing down on them, despite a sophisticated network of alarm buoys off the Sumatran coast.While an official tsunami warning was apparently issued just after the 7.7-magnitude quake, it either came too late or did not reach the communities in most danger.
"There are suggestions that in fact the [early warning system] has never worked properly since 2004," our correspondent said.One survivor, Borinte, a 32-year-old farmer, said the wave slammed into his community on North Pagai island only 10 minutes after residents had felt the quake.
"About 10 minutes after the quake we heard a loud, thunderous sound. We went outside and saw the wave coming. We tried to run away to higher ground but the wave was much quicker than us," he told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.
He said he managed to stay alive by clasping to a piece of wood. His wife and three children were killed.
Dealing with disaster
The United States and several of Indonesia's neighbours have pledged help for a nation which often finds itself battling calamity, although Jakarta said it did not see a need for foreign assistance.
Barack Obama, the US president, lived in Indonesia as a boy and is due to return there on an Asian tour next month. Obama voiced his sadness over the deaths and pledged US help.
The Vatican also made appeals for international aid.
Meanwhile, Indonesian vice-president Boediono visited Munte Baru-Baru village, the hardest hit village on Pagai Island, where 88 bodies have been recovered.
Indonesia straddles a region where the meeting of continental plates causes high seismic activity. It has the world's largest number of active volcanoes and is shaken by thousands of earthquakes every year.
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake last year in Padang killed about 1,100 people, triggered by a 9.3-magnitude quake along the same fault line that caused the 2004 Asian tsunami.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/10/2010102843636591256.html
Yemen security tight ahead of top sporting event
Yemen is preparing to host the Gulf's largest football tournament. But separatists in the country's south are threatening to target the event. Five people were killed last week after a bomb attack at one of the tournament's stadiums. A force of 30 000 troops will be deployed around the cities hosting the event to preempt any al-Qaeda infiltration from the neighbouring province. Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reports from the city of Abyan.
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Karachi grapples with Taliban recruitment
While drone strikes focus on Taliban targets in the country's northwest, the group continues to have a presence in southern Pakistan. Several members of the Pakistani Taliban have been arrested in the south, in the city of Karachi. Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reports.
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News Bulletin - 4:35 GMT update
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UN investigates cholera spread in Haiti
The Nepalese UN mission in Haiti could be the source of the cholera deadly outbreak there. Al Jazeera's Sebastian Walker reports from Haiti.
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US officials have arrested a man have arrested a Pakistani-American man for plotting a series of bomb attacks on Washington's subway system with people he believed were tied to al-Qaeda.According to the US justice department, 34-year-old Farooque Ahmed of Ashburn, Virginia was arrested on Wednesday morning after a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment on Tuesday against the naturalised US citizen who was born in Pakistan.
Undercover investigation
Federal authorities have been monitoring Ahmed's activities since April 2010 and they have said that the public was never in danger during the investigation.
Earlier this month, both the United States and Britain warned of an increased threat of terror attacks across Europe.
However, a US official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Reuters news agency that there was "no connection between recent reports of the terrorism threats in Europe and this arrest".
He also said that the undercover individuals posing as al-Qaeda operatives "worked on behalf of the government in this matter".
During the six-month undercover investigation, Farooque Ahmed filmed northern Virginia subway stations, suggested using rolling suitcases instead of backpacks to kill as many people as possible and offered to donate money to al-Qaeda's cause overseas.
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said that President Barack Obama was aware of the investigation before Ahmed's arrest.
David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security, said the case "demonstrates how the government can neutralise such threats before they come to fruition".But Andrew Ames, a spokesman for the FBI Washington field office, declined to comment on how authorities learned about Ahmed.
Charges against Ahmed
He has been accused of attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organisation, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility, and attempting to provide material support to carry out multiple bombings to cause mass casualties.
During a brief court appearance in federal court, Ahmed did not enter a plea and was held in custody.
He told the judge that he could not afford a lawyer.
Neil MacBride, an attorney, said that it was "chilling that a man from Ashburn is accused of casing rail stations with the goal of killing as many Metro (subway) riders as possible through simultaneous bomb attacks".
Ahmed faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted.
The indictment said that between April 2010 and October 2010, Ahmed allegedly conducted surveillance, videotaped, photographed, and drew diagrams of the Arlington Cemetery, Courthouse, Crystal City and Pentagon City Metrorail stations.
He also offered suggestions about where to place explosives, and that between 4pm and 5pm would be the best time for an attack to cause the maximum number of casualties in simultaneous attacks planned for 2011.
A LinkedIn page that was created for Farooque Ahmed identifies him as a network planning engineer with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the City College of New York in 2003.
Recent terror sentences
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, US authorities have been concerned about the threat of another attack on US soil.
Last week, a Jordanian national was sentenced to 24 years in prison for attempting to blow up a Dallas skyscraper.
Earlier this month, Pakistani-born American Faisal Shahzad was sentenced to life in prison for trying to set off a car bomb in Times Square, New York.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/20101027232325482185.html
News Bulletin - 00:35 GMT update
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The US has blacklisted 37 shipping companies in Germany, Malta and Cyprus that Washington says are linked to Iran's nuclear programme.
The Treasury Department said the "front companies" were facilitating Iran's use of its national maritime carrier to advance its illicit programme for developing weapons of mass destruction and for transporting military cargo.
Wednesday's Treasury action prohibits the designated 37 companies, as well as five Iranian individuals, from doing business with the US and is designed to discourage other countries from doing business with them.
"We will continue to expose the elaborate structures and tactics Iran uses to shield its shipping line from international scrutiny so that it can continue to facilitate illicit commerce," said Stuart Levey, the State Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
"This pattern of obfuscation is leading the private sector around the world to refuse business with Iran rather than risk becoming involved in its nuclear and missile programs."
The blacklisting is the latest in a series of actions by the United Nations and the United States and other countries to punish Iran for its disputed nuclear programme.
The latest action identified the 37 "front companies" as based in the ports of Hamburg, Germany; Sliema, Malta; and Limassol, Cyprus. The five Iranians were managers or directors of the firms.
The Iranian shipping company initially had been designated for sanctions in 2008. To date, nearly 70 IRISL front companies and affiliates have been targeted, the department said.
Experts generally have agreed the sanctions are taking a toll on Iran, but many doubt the pressure will compel Tehran to cede to international demands to give up its nuclear ambitions.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/2010102823319253108.html
Guinea's state television has confirmed that the presidential election run-off will be postponed from October 31 to November 7.
Siaka Sangare, the newly appointed head of the election commission said on state television on Wednesday that "after wide consultation with the different parties in the transition, the date of November 7, 2010 has been set for the second round of the presidential election."
"It is a date that has been agreed upon, cannot be changed, and, dare I say it, I think will be the last one set for this election that the Guinean people are waiting for so much."
Sangare said the poll had been delayed to allow political parties to restore calm among their respective supporters.
Political and ethnic tensions
The second round of Guinea's first ever democratic elections has already been postponed three times since the first round of voting in June went off peacefully.
However accusations of fraud and mutual mistrust have led to violent clashes amid rising political and ethnic tensions.
Cellou Dallein Diallo, the leading candidate from the first round in June secured 43.69 per cent, while Alpha Conde, his main rival bagged 18.25 per cent of the votes in the the initial round.
The run-off vote was postponed as rival parties accused each other of inciting violence and disrupting election preparations.
State television also reported that the two candidates in the runoff, Diallo and Conde, would visit the violence-hit regions on Thursday.
Conde had raised no objection to elections taking place on the previously announced date of Sunday, 31 October.
"The priority is to go to elections and then proceed to the desired national reconciliation. The country is deadlocked, its economy paralysed, and we have received no help since sanctions were imposed after the 2008 coup," he said.
However, Diallo warned on Tuesday that the proposed date was "too soon" and that clashes led to massive displacement of people who would be unable to vote on Sunday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/10/201010281127186594.html
Thousands affected in Benin floods
West African nation of Benin struggles to cope with worst floods in 50 years that have hit two thirds of the country.
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At least 13 people have been killed when a group of armed men opened fire on a car wash in western Mexican state of Nayarit , an official has said.
It was the third massacre in Mexico in less than a week, and Wednesday's attack was typical of recent assaults in the country's brutal drugs war as rival cartels fight for control of the drug trade.The gunmen drove up to the car wash in the city of Tepic and opened fire without provocation, the official with the attorney general's office of Nayarit state, told the AFP news agency.Between 13 and 15 people were killed and at least two were injured, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The motive was not immediately clear. Most of the victims were employed by the car wash, and were also recovering drug addicts, local media said. More than 28,000 people have died in the conflict since Felipe Calderon, Mexico's president, came to power in December 2006.Series of attacks The latest incident came after a string of killings across Mexico. Thirteen recovering drug addicts were killed at a rehab centre in Tijuana late on Sunday. Near the resort city of Acapulco, six men were found executed and three other bodies were found bound on Monday. Drug violence has claimed more than 7,000 lives nationwide in 2010, making it the deadliest year since Calderon launched a war on drug cartels in 2006, dispatching more than 50,000 troops. Mexico's border regions have witnessed much of the drug conflict as cartels battle over lucrative trafficking routes into the United States.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/20101027191031575292.html
News Bulletin - 19:35 GMT update
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Nestor Kirchner, the former president of Argentina and husband of the incumbent Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner, has died.
Kirchner, who was the secretary-general of the regional grouping Unasur (the Union of South American Nations), died of a heart attack at a clinic in the city of El Calafate, southern Argentina, on Wednesday.
He was taken to the clinic after suffering chest pains. He had undergone treatment for a heart problems earlier this year, including two major operations. In September 2010 he suffered a heart attack.
His family was reportedly with him when he died.
Mass gathering
Kirchner, 60, was expected to run for the presidency in 2011 to replace his wife.
The Brazilian government declared three days of official mourning following Kirchner's death. Luiz Lula de Silva, Brazil's president, said that Kirchner had been "a big ally and fraternal friend".
"His role was important in the economic, social and political reconstruction of his country. And his will for the fight for South American integration."
Barack Obama, the US president, also offered his condolences in a statement.
Argentine's were massing outside the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace in the capital, with a mass gathering planned for Wednesday night.
"There will be a demonstration to honor Kirchner and to show Cristina that we're with her, supporting her," Emilio Persico, the leader of the Evita Movement, said.
"In these days we'll be demonstrating in the streets that we are millions who will replace Kirchner."
Kirchner was also serving as a National Deputy of Argentina - a congressman - for Buenos Aires province at the time of his death.
He was Governor of Santa Cruz - the province where El Calafate is located and where the Kirchners own a ranch - from 1991 until 2003.
He then served as president from 2003 to 2007, and is widely credited with pulling the country out of economic catastrophe after it committed the biggest ever default on World Bank and international loans.
A ceremony is expected to be held in Rio Gallegos, the capital of Santa Cruz and Kirchner's birthplace, before his body is brought to Buenos Aires, the national capital, on Thursday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/2010102713264244362.html
Yemen landmines claiming more victims
An increasing number of people have fallen victim to landmines in Yemen, where many are facing years of treatment and rehabilitation. Doctors are struggling to help the injured, who have to rely on locally-made prosthetic limbs. Meanwhile mine clearance teams are being hampered by the continuing unrest in both the north and south of the country. Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reports from the capital, Sana'a. (Oct 27, 2010)
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Two-year-old Gavin Tillman of Pass Christian, Mississippi, has been diagnosed with severe upper respiratory, sinus, and viral infections. His temperature has reached more than 39 degrees since September 15, yet his sicknesses continue to worsen.
His parents, some doctors, and environmental consultants believe the child's ailments are linked to exposure to chemicals spilt by BP during its Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.
Gavin's father, mother, and cousin, Shayleigh, are also facing serious health problems. Their symptoms are being experienced by many others living along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Widely banned toxic dispersants
Injected with at least 4.9 million barrels of oil during the BP oil disaster of last summer, the Gulf has suffered the largest accidental marine oil spill in history. Compounding the problem, BP has admitted to using at least 1.9 million gallons of widely banned toxic dispersants, which according to chemist Bob Naman, create an even more toxic substance when mixed with crude oil. And dispersed, weathered oil continues to flow ashore daily.
Naman, who works at the Analytical Chemical Testing Lab in Mobile, Alabama, has been carrying out studies to search for the chemical markers of the dispersants BP used to both sink and break up its oil.
According to Naman, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from this toxic mix are making people sick. PAHs contain compounds that have been identified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic.
Fisherman across the four states most heavily affected by the oil disaster - Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida - have reported seeing BP spray dispersants from aircraft and boats offshore.
"The dispersants are being added to the water and are causing chemical compounds to become water soluble, which is then given off into the air, so it is coming down as rain, in addition to being in the water and beaches of these areas of the Gulf," Naman added.
"I’m scared of what I'm finding. These cyclic compounds intermingle with the Corexit [dispersants] and generate other cyclic compounds that aren’t good. Many have double bonds, and many are on the EPA's danger list. This is an unprecedented environmental catastrophe."
Commercial fisherman Donny Matsler also lives in Alabama.
"I was with my friend Albert, and we were both slammed with exposure," Matsler explained of his experience on August 5, referring to toxic chemicals he inhaled that he believes are associated with BP's dispersants. "We both saw the clumps of white bubbles on the surface that we know come from the dispersed oil."
Gruesome symptoms
"I started to vomit brown, and my pee was brown also," Matsler, a Vietnam veteran who lives in Dauphin Island, said. "I kept that up all day. Then I had a night of sweating and non-stop diarrhea unlike anything I’ve ever experienced."
He was also suffering from skin rashes, nausea, and a sore throat.
At roughly the same time Matsler was exposed, local television station WKRG News 5 took a water sample from his area to test for dispersants. The sample literally exploded when it was mixed with an organic solvent separating the oil from the water.
Naman, the chemist who analyzed the sample, said: "We think that it most likely happened due to the presence of either methanol or methane gas or the presence of the dispersant Corexit."
"I'm still feeling terrible," Matsler told Al Jazeera recently. "I'm about to go to the doctor again right now. I'm short of breath, the diarrhea has been real bad, I still have discoloration in my urine, and the day before yesterday, I was coughing up white foam with brown spots in it."
As for Matsler's physical reaction to his exposure, Hugh Kaufman, an EPA whistleblower and analyst, has reported this of the effects of the toxic dispersants:
"We have dolphins that are hemorrhaging. People who work near it are hemorrhaging internally. And that’s what dispersants are supposed to do..."
By the middle of last summer, the Alabama Department of Public Health said that 56 people in Mobile and Baldwin counties had sought treatment for what they believed were oil disaster-related illnesses.
"The dispersants used in BP's draconian experiment contain solvents such as petroleum distillates and 2-butoxyethanol," Dr. Riki Ott, a toxicologist, marine biologist, and Exxon Valdez survivor, told Al Jazeera. "Solvents dissolve oil, grease, and rubber," she continued, "Spill responders have told me that the hard rubber impellors in their engines and the soft rubber bushings on their outboard motor pumps are falling apart and need frequent replacement."
"Given this evidence, it should be no surprise that solvents are also notoriously toxic to people, something the medical community has long known," Dr. Ott added.
"In 'Generations at Risk', medical doctor Ted Schettler and others warn that solvents can rapidly enter the human body. They evaporate in air and are easily inhaled, they penetrate skin easily, and they cross the placenta into fetuses. For example, 2- butoxyethanol (in Corexit) is a human health hazard substance; it is a fetal toxin and it breaks down blood cells, causing blood and kidney disorders."
Pathways of exposure to the dispersants are inhalation, ingestion, skin, and eye contact. Health impacts include headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pains, chest pains, respiratory system damage, skin sensitization, hypertension, central nervous system depression, neurotoxic effects, genetic mutations, cardiac arrhythmia, and cardiovascular damage.
Even the federal government has taken precautions for its employees. US military officials decided to reroute training flights in the Gulf region in order to avoid oil and dispersant tainted-areas.
Growing number of cases
And Al Jazeera is finding a growing number of illnesses across the Gulf Coast.
Denise Rednour of Long Beach, Mississippi, has been taking walks on Long Beach nearly every day since the disaster began on April 20, and she is dealing with constant health issues.
"I've had health problems since the middle of July," she said. "At the end of August, I came home from walking on the beach and for four days had bloody, mucus-filled diarrhea, dry heaves, and blood running out of my ear."
Karen Hopkins, in Grand Isle, Louisiana, has been sick since the middle of May. "I started feeling exhausted, disoriented, dizzy, nauseous, and my chest was burning and I can’t breath well at times," she said.
Dean Blanchard, who runs a seafood distribution business in Grand Isle, is Hopkins' boss. He too is experiencing similar symptoms.
"They [BP] are using us like lab rats," he explained, "I'm thinking of moving to Costa Rica. When I leave here I feel better. When I come back I feel bad again. Feeling tired, coughing, sore throat, burning eyes, headaches, just like everyone around here feels."
Lorrie Williams of Ocean Springs says her son's asthma has "gotten exponentially worse since BP released all their oil and dispersants into the Gulf."
"A plane flew over our house recently and sprayed what I believe are dispersants. A fine mist covered everything, and it smelled like pool chemicals. Noah is waking up unable to breath, and my husband has head and chest congestion and burning eyes," Williams said.
Like others, when Lorrie's family left the area for a vacation, they immediately felt better. But upon coming home, their symptoms returned.
Wilma Subra, a chemist in New Iberia, Louisiana, recently tested the blood of eight BP cleanup workers and residents in Alabama and Florida. "Ethylbenzene, m,p-Xylene and Hexane are volatile organic chemicals that are present in the BP Crude Oil," Subra said,
"The blood of all three females and five males had chemicals that are found in the BP Crude Oil. The acute impacts of these chemicals include nose and throat irritation, coughing, wheezing, lung irritation, dizziness, light-headedness, nausea and vomiting."
Indications of exposure
Subra explained that there has been long enough exposure so as to create chronic impacts, that include "liver damage, kidney damage, and damage to the nervous system. So the presence of these chemicals in the blood indicates exposure."
Testing by Subra has also revealed PAHs present "in coastal soil sediment, wetlands, and in crab, oyster and mussel tissues."
Trisha Springstead, is a registered nurse of 36 years who lives and works in Brooksville, Florida.
"What I'm seeing are toxified people who have been chemically poisoned," she said, "They have sore throats, respiratory problems, neurological problems, lesions, sores, and ulcers. These people have been poisoned and they are dying. Drugs aren’t going to help these people. They need to be detoxed."
Chemist Bob Naman described the brownish, rubbery tar balls that are a product of BP's dispersed oil that continue to wash up on beaches across the Gulf:
"Those are the ones kids are picking up and playing with and breathing the fumes that come off them when you crush them in your hand. These will affect anyone who comes into contact with it. You could have an open wound and this goes straight in. Women have a lot more open mucus membranes and they are getting sicker than men. They are bleeding from their vagina and anus. Small kids are bleeding from their ears. This stuff is busting red blood cells."
Dr Ott said: "People are already dying from this… I’m dealing with three autopsy’s right now. I don’t think we’ll have to wait years to see the effects like we did in Alaska, people are dropping dead now. I know two people who are down to 4.75 per cent of their lung capacity, their heart has enlarged to make up for that, and their esophagus is disintegrating, and one of them is a 16-year-old boy who went swimming in the Gulf."
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/10/20101027132136220370.html
Ex-president of Argentina Nestor Kirchner dies
The ex-president of Argentina, Nestor Nirchner, has died at the age of 60 of a heart attack. Kirchner led Argentina following a period of economic crisis at the start of the noughties and was later suceeded by his wife Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner. He was expected to run for president again in 2011. Al Jazeera's Teresa Bo reports on his political life.
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Only black US senate member to leave
With just one week to go before the US midterm elections - the Senate's only African-American member is preparing to leave his post. No black person is expected to replace him. So, how is it that a nation in which blacks make up 13 per cent of the population can have none in its upper legislative chamber? Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan reports from Chicago.
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Interview: Dahr Jamail
An explosion on April 20 aboard the Deepwater Horizon, a drilling rig working on a well for the oil company BP 1.6km below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, led to the largest oil spill in history. After a series of failed efforts to plug the leak, BP said on July 15 that it had capped what it had named the Macondo well, marking the first time in 86 days that oil was not gushing into the gulf. Nearly five million barrels of oil had gushed from BP's well, according to official estimates. Despite the capping, the impact of the spill continues. An investigation by an Al Jazeera online correspondent has found a growing number of toxic illnesses linked to BP oil dispersants along the Gulf coast. Dahr Jamail, author of the special report, told Al Jazeera why BP took such measures. For details of our online correspondent's findings, including interviews with the victims of the BP oil spill, go to: english.aljazeera.net
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Democrats eye Latino vote
The US Democratic party are pushing to energise Hispanic-Americans who have traditionally voted for them. This is because in at least half a dozen US states, their votes could be the difference in the Democratic party's bid to preserve its control of the Congress. Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman reports.
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News Bulletin - 14:05 GMT update
The main headlines on Al Jazeera English, featuring the latest news and reports from around the world.
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Al Jazeera interviews Tristan McConnell
Al Jazeera speaks to Tristan McConnell, an East Africa correspondent for the London's Times newspaper, about Somalia's new prime minister. [October 27, 2010
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Inside Story - Global corruption
Is corruption a local issue or has it become a global disease? And can there be a global mechanism to fight it?
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Tokyo's green buzz
Japan will provide two billion dollars over three years to help developing countries save their ecosystems, the country's prime minister has announced. Naoto Kan made the pledge at a UN biodiversity summit in the central Japanese city of Nagoya on Wednesday. It comes while there is a growing environmentalist movement in the country. Steve Chao reports from Tokyo on efforts to make the city green through a large-scale beekeeping project. [October 27, 2010]
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Riz Khan - Somalia in shambles
We look at Somalia's stability and security situation and discuss what can be done to help the fractured nation recover.
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Lights up on the Doha Tribeca Film Festival
The annual Doha Tribeca Film Festival has launched its second edition in Qatar's capital. The Qatari version of the renowned New York-based event showcases movies with Middle Eastern themes, including the Algerian struggle for independence and the fight for a Palestinian homeland. It aims to highlight talent in the region and bring the best of world cinema to the Gulf nation. Dorsa Jabbari reports from the film festival's red carpet in Doha. [October 27, 2010]
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Gazans missing out on school
In Gaza, 40000 students have been unable to start school this year because there are not enough buildings to accomodate them. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency says the Palestinian territory needs at least 100 new schools but there is simply not enough construction material available because of Israel's blockade of the territory. Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba reports from Gaza. [October 27, 2010]
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News Bulletin - 00:35 GMT update
The main headlines on Al Jazeera English, featuring the latest news and reports from around the world.
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News Bulletin - 19:35 GMT update
The main headlines on Al Jazeera English, featuring the latest news and reports from around the world.
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Kenyan campaign against corruption
Nairobi's mayor is just the latest of a string of prominent politicans in Kenya to face charges of corruption. Godfrey Majiwa is pleading not guilty to three counts of conspiring to defraud the tax payer 3.7 million dollars. Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi reports.
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Dramatic rise for female tennis stars
The world's top eight ranked women will play for total purse of nearly 4 and a half million dollars at this year's season ending WTA championships. But, as Al Jazeera's Andy Richardson reports from Doha, that wasn't always the case with the women's game.
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News Bulletin - 14:05 GMT update
The main headlines on Al Jazeera English, featuring the latest news and reports from around the world.
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