It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Mexico violence: Indigenous musicians killed in ambush in Guerrero
Image copyrightHANDOUTImage captionThe men attacked were part of the Sensación Musical group
Ten indigenous musicians have been shot dead and burned in an ambush in western Mexico believed to have been carried out by a drug cartel, officials say.
The members of the Nahuas indigenous group were returning from a party when they were attacked in the town of Chilapa in Guerrero state.
The victims, all men, were aged between 15 and 42.
The Los Ardillos cartel, which frequently targets indigenous people in the area, was blamed for the attack.
The victims, part of the Sensación Musical group, were returning to their Alcozacán community on Friday after playing the day before, said David Sánchez Luna, co-ordinator of the regional indigenous group known as CRAC-PF.
Gunmen attacked their vehicle at around 14:00 local time (20:00 GMT) in Mexcalcingo, he said.
The Guerrero prosecutor's office said it was investigating the case.
Guerrero is one of Mexico's most violent states, where drug gangs fight for control of trafficking routes to the Pacific and other parts of the country. The Los Ardillos have been linked to dozens of deaths in recent months, including many indigenous people, according to local media.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has opted for a non-confrontational approach to the cartels, focusing, instead, on tackling inequality central to his efforts under a policy dubbed "abrazos, no balazos" - hugs not bullets.
But this policy has come in for criticism after a number of high-profile attacks, including an ambush in which nine members of a Mormon community were killed. The president vowed to create a new National Guard to tackle violence, but few have signed up to the force and amid fear of being killed on the job.
New Chinese virus 'will have infected hundreds'
By James GallagherHealth and science correspondentShare this with FacebookShare this with MessengeShare this with TwiShare this wit
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThere were six coronaviruses known to infect people before the latest discovery
The number of people already infected by the mystery virus emerging in China is far greater than official figures suggest, scientists have told the BBC.
There have been more than 60 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, but UK experts estimate a figure nearer 1,700.
Two people are known to have died from the respiratory illness, which appeared in Wuhan city in December.
"I am substantially more concerned than I was a week ago," disease outbreak scientist Prof Neil Ferguson, said.
The work was conducted by the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London, which advises bodies including the UK government and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Singapore and Hong Kong have been screening air passengers from Wuhan, and US authorities announced similar measures starting on Friday at three major airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.
How were the numbers calculated?
The crucial clue to the scale of the problem lies in the cases being detected in other countries.
While the outbreak is centred on the central Chinese city of Wuhan, there have been two cases in Thailand and one in Japan.
"That caused me to worry," said Prof Ferguson.
He added: "For Wuhan to have exported three cases to other countries would imply there would have to be many more cases than have been reported."
It is impossible to get the precise number, but outbreak modelling, which is based on the virus, the local population and flight data, can give an idea.
Wuhan International Airport serves a population of 19 million people, but only 3,400 a day travel internationally.
The detailed calculations, which have been posted online ahead of publication in a scientific journal, came up with a figure of 1,700 cases.
Size of Wuhan outbreak of a novel #coronavirus estimated from the three cases detected outside China: Likely to be over 1000 cases. @imperialcollege @mrc_outbreaks report released today
Prof Ferguson said it was "too early to be alarmist" but he was "substantially more concerned" than a week ago.
Chinese officials say there have been no cases of the virus spreading from one person to another.
Instead they say the virus has crossed the species barrier and come from infected animals at a seafood and wildlife market in Wuhan.
Prof Ferguson argues: "People should be considering the possibility of substantial human-to-human transmission more seriously than they have so far.
"It would be unlikely in my mind, given what we know about coronaviruses, to have animal exposure, be the principal cause of such a number of human infections."
Understanding how a novel virus is spreading is a crucial part of assessing its threat.
The WHO's China office said the analysis was helpful and would help officials plan the response to the outbreak.
"Much remains to be understood about the new coronavirus," it said. "Not enough is known to draw definitive conclusions about how it is transmitted, the clinical features of the disease, the extent to which it has spread, or its source, which remains unknown."
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThe outbreak occurred in the city of Wuhan, south of Beijing
What is this virus?
Viral samples have been taken from patients and analysed in the laboratory.
At the mild end they cause the common cold, but severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) is a coronavirus that killed 774 of the 8,098 people infected in an outbreak that started in China in 2002.
Analysis of the genetic code of the new virus shows it is more closely related to Sars than any other human coronavirus.
Preliminary analysis of the novel coronavirus (in red) believed to be responsible for an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, China shows it's closely related to SARS CoV. https://t.co/Vf6U2W4oYRpic.twitter.com/3WbFpQ02Pc
The virus has caused pneumonia in some patients and been fatal in two of them.
What do other experts say?
Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome medical research charity, said: "There is more to come from this epidemic.
"Uncertainty and gaps remain, but it's clear that there is some level of person-to-person transmission.
Media captionCoronavirus feared to have infected more than initially thought, according to scientists
"We are starting to hear of more cases in China and other countries and it is likely, as this modelling shows, that there will be many more cases in a number of countries."
Prof Jonathan Ball, from the University of Nottingham, said: "What's really important is until there has been widespread laboratory testing it is very difficult to put a real number on the cases out there.
"But this is a figure we should take seriously until we know otherwise, 41 animal-to-human 'spillovers' is stretching it a bit and there probably is more underlying infection than has been detected so far."
EDMONTON -- On days of extreme cold, when most Edmontonians would choose to stay indoors and snuggle up with a blanket or a hot drink, Leanna and Arthur find a busy intersection.
“It sometimes can be a little dangerous,” Leanna says, describing how vehicles slide on the ice.
She considers it the better option.
“We don’t want to steal, so we stand here with a sign so we don’t have to,” she told CTV News Edmonton.
“We don’t necessarily bother people. They read their sign and they have a choice what they want to do.”
Leanna, in her 50s, has been homeless for a year and a half after having lost her long-time job, kids and home in a series of tough circumstances and depression.
The money others give her goes to food and heat. On Friday, she and her boyfriend were collecting for a new heater for their camp on the north side. It’s a puzzle of tarps, a shed, and camping supplies.
While others in similar situations often head to warming centres and shelters, Leanna says they can be dangerous.
Boyle Street staff said they’ve had no safety issues this week during the cold snap, but that they understand why some choose to find shelter elsewhere.
“Autonomy,” explained Doug Cooke.
“Even going to a shelter, you’re following certain rules, you’re lining to get in at a certain time.”
The trade off is braving the cold.
“It’s absolutely brutal. When we go fly the sign, we can only be out there for 15, 20 minutes. My hands will totally freeze because I’ve already been frostbitten,” Leanna told CTV News Edmonton.
She said she’s grateful that people have been generous this week.
“There’s a lot of good people out there. Lady who brought me this coat yesterday – she went home, brought me back stuff because my coat was destroyed.
HANDOUT
