Sex workers are returning to work in clear 'biosecurity suits' in an attempt to reduce coronavirus spread

Canela López
Jul 15, 2020

A sex worker wearing protective gear against the spread of the new coronavirus sits on a bed during a demonstration of the safety precautions they will take at their jobs in El Alto, Bolivia, Monday, June 29, 2020. AP Photo/Juan Karita

Bolivian sex workers will begin seeing clients again dressed in face shields, gloves, and "thigh-skimming," see-through raincoats to protect them from the coronavirus.

Brothels will be expected to follow a 30-page set of guidelines to properly sanitize work areas and see clients during the pandemic. 

The raincoats will serve as "biosecurity suits," to be worn during pole dances.
As businesses begin to reopen in Bolivia, the nation's sex workers are preparing to see clients again following instructions from a 30-page set of guidelines: including face shields, gloves, and see-through raincoats serving as "biosecurity suits."

The Organization of Night Workers of Bolivia (OTN) — an organization representing sex workers — created the guidelines to help protect sex workers and their clients from the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

While a "thigh-skimming" raincoat might seem like an odd piece of lingerie, they are meant to be worn during pole dances to protect from germs. They will take the coats off once the client session is taking place.

"The biosecurity suit will allow us to work and protect ourselves," Antonieta, a Bolivian sex worker, told Reuters as she demonstrated how workers will disinfect poles with bleach spray between dances.

Experts say the most important thing to cover up to prevent the coronavirus is your nose, mouth, and eyes.

That hasn't stopped the steady stream of celebrities sporting hazmat suits, coveralls, and other full-body protective gear since the pandemic began.

Luckily, the 30 pages of guidelines also call for face shields and paper masks under the shields, in addition to plenty of hand sanitizer and disinfectant spray.
Brothels are coming up with creative reopening guidelines so sex workers can stop doing risky street work

AP Photo/Juan Karita

Vanessa, a sex worker at the same brotherly and a mother-of-two, told Reuters she does this line of work to provide for her children and make sure they have money to go to school.

"Our clients respect the issue of safety, that we are taking these measures for our security, but also for theirs," she told Reuters.

OTN is pushing these guidelines in order to convince the city of La Paz to allow day-time visits to brothels even if night-time curfews remain in place.

Lily Cortes, a representative of OTN, told Reuters in March that if sex workers are not allowed to legally work in brothels, they might be forced to turn to street work, which can be especially dangerous during the pandemic.

As of July 15, Bolivia had 48,187 confirmed cases and 1,807 deaths according to Reuters.

Texans receiver Kenny Stills one of 87 people arrested after marching to the Kentucky Attorney General's house to demand justice for Breonna Taylor

Kenny Stills. Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills was one of 87 people arrested on charges of intimidating a participant in the legal process, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespassing.

Stills took part in a march in Louisville to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's house to demand justice in the killing of Breonna Taylor.

Stills was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon and scheduled for arraignment at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

Stills was nominated for the Walter Peyton Man of the Year Award in 2018 for his community activism and involvement in social justice reform.

Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills was one of 87 people arrested after a protest march to demand the arrest of the police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor, according to Lucas Aulbach of The Louisville Courier Journal.

Stills was part of a group that marched to the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to call for action against the officers involved in Taylor's killing on March 13. The march included over 100 people and began at Ballard High School in Louisville's East End in Louisville.

According to Aulbach, Stills was charged with intimidating a participant in the legal process, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespassing. Aulbach reported that Stills was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon and entered into the jail's booking log before midnight. His arraignment was scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday morning.

According to Aulbach, the 86 others arrested have the same charges.

A police spokesman told Aulbach that the protesters were given a chance to leave and did not before being arrested.

Stills has been a vocal proponent of racial equality and social justice reform. He has been one of the players to kneel during the national anthem to protest social injustice and police brutality since 2016.

In 2018, Stills was nominated for the Walter Peyton Man of the Year award for his community activism.

North Sea sediment analysis helps scientists reconstruct ancient tsunami

New sedaDNA analysis techniques allowed scientists to reconstruct the tsunami that struck a region known as Doggerland some 8,000 years ago. Photo by Martin Bates/UWTSD

July 16 (UPI) -- By analyzing the sedimentary ancient DNA, sedaDNA, deposited on Doggerland, the landmass that once connected Britain and mainland Europe, researchers were able to reconstruct a tsunami that occurred 8,150 years ago.

During the mid-holocene, a marine inundation swept away Doggerland, and Britain became separated from the mainland by the North Sea.

To better understand the tsunami that hit Doggerland more than 8,000 years ago, researchers used a variety of breakthrough techniques to study DNA trapped in marine sediment samples collected from the North Sea, researchers said on Thursday.

One of the new analysis methods allowed University of Warwick scientists to -- for the first time -- reconstruct the biomass changes caused by a major event.

RELATED Scientist finds dozens of unknown submarine landslides in Gulf of Mexico

"Exploring Doggerland, the lost landscape underneath the North Sea, is one of the last great archaeological challenges in Europe," study co-author Vince Gaffney said in a news release.

By analyzing the concentration of certain DNA signatures in the ancient sediment samples, scientists were able to estimate the effects of the mid-holocene tsunami on the abundance of trees and their woody mass.

Researchers also developed new techniques for authenticating compromised sedaDNA, like DNA that's been damaged by centuries spent underwater.

RELATED Researchers find new way to predict where ocean trash, seaweed will go

By studying the damages experienced by certain DNA signatures and measuring the movement of biomolecules in the sediment core column, scientists were also able to determine how much sedaDNA had moved since being originally deposited.

"This study represents an exciting milestone for sedimentary ancient DNA studies establishing a number of breakthrough methods to reconstruct an 8,150-year-old environmental catastrophe in the lands that existed before the North Sea flooded them away into history," Warwick life scientist Robin Allaby said in a news release.

Researchers detailed the novel sedaDNA analysis techniques this week in the journal Geoscience.

RELATED Laser topography reveals mudslide risks in Pacific Northwest

"This work demonstrates that an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists and scientists can bring this landscape back to life and even throw new light on one of prehistory's great natural disasters, the Storegga Tsunami," said Gaffney, a researcher at the University of Bradford.

"The events leading up to the Storegga tsunami have many similarities to those of today. Climate is changing and this impacts on many aspects of society, especially in coastal locations," Gaffney said.

Conservation groups file new lawsuit against Keystone XL pipeline

July 14 (UPI) -- A coalition of conservation and landowner groups sued the Trump administration Tuesday challenging its approval for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline through federal lands in Montana.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, the lawsuit by the Bold Alliance, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and others accuses the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service's review of the project of being "riddled" with errors and omissions and their approval of its constriction was made "in reliance of flawed data and outdated spill response plans."

"The Keystone XL project was never in the public interest, yet this administration continues to flaunt key environmental lases in its effort to promote the dirty and dangerous pipeline," Jared Margolis, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. "The project would be devastating for the people and wildlife in its path, and regulators have repeatedly failed to fully address its environmental risks, including oil spills."

According to the lawsuit, the Bureau of Land Management unlawfully granted a right-of-way and temporary use permit for the pipeline on Jan. 20 as it based its decision on environmental review documents that violate the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

The lawsuit also accuses the Bureau of Land Management of violating other statutes when it issued a notice that it would proceed with construction of the pipeline prior to being granted all the permits necessary, several of which still remain outstanding.

"The Trump administration keeps trying to fast-track and rubber-stamp the boondoggle Keystone XL pipeline project, but they keep losing 'bigly' every time we take them to court," Bold Alliance founder Jane Kleeb said in a statement mocking President Donald Trump who used the non-word in a debate while he was running for the country's highest office.

The lawsuit is the latest to bog down construction of the controversial project that upon completion would deliver some 830,000 barrels of crude tar sand oil a day from the Canadian city of Hardisty, Alberta, to Steel City, Neb.

Early last week, the Supreme Court denied the Trump administration's request to allow for construction of the Keystone pipeline to continue, upholding a lower court's decision to cancel a key water crossing permit on environmental grounds.

Many of the plaintiffs in that case filed Tuesday's lawsuit seeking the court to declare the bureau's issuance of permits and its Notice to Proceed to have violated several statures and for those permits to be vacated as well as have an injunction put in place against any further construction of the project or issuance of federal approvals.

"As the courts have found time and time again, the Trump administration has consistently cut corners and skirted the law in order to ram through approval of Keystone Xl," said Sierra Club Senior Attorney Doug Hayes. "This project is stalled because it would be a disaster for clean water, wildlife, the clime and public lands, and there's simply no way to approve it without ignoring bedrock environmental laws."

UPI has contacted the Bureau of Land Management for comment.

WAR IS ECO DISASTER 

U.N. warns of spill '4 times the size of Exxon Valdez' from disabled Yemeni tanker

A Yemeni child waits to get his family's food rations in Sana'a, Yemen, on Thursday. U.N. officials said a possible oil leak from a disabled tanker moored off the country's coast could worsen conditions for Yemen's famine-stricken population. Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA-EFE

July 16 (UPI) -- A top United Nations official has warned that unless a disabled oil tanker moored off the coast of Yemen can be boarded and repaired quickly, a disastrous spill affecting 1.6 million Yemenis could result.

Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock told the U.N. Security Council Wednesday that 1.1 million barrels could spill out of the rusting supertanker FSO Safer -- an amount four times greater than that discharged during the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off the coast of Alaska.
"If a spill were to occur in the next two months, experts project that 1.6 million Yemenis would be directly affected," he said. "Essentially every fishing community along Yemen's west coast would see their livelihoods collapse and would suffer substantial economic losses.

"About 90 percent of people in these communities already need humanitarian assistance."

The plea came as the United Nations reported that the Yemeni economy is already "in tatters" and its institutions are facing "near-collapse" after more than five years of conflict. Famine conditions have resulted in 2 million Yemeni children suffering from acute malnutrition, Secretary-General António Guterres said this month.

The Safer, a 44-year-old supertanker owned by the Saudi-backed Yemen government, was seized by Houthi insurgents in 2015 off the coast of rebel-held territory while carrying more than 1 million gallons of light crude oil. It has remained moored at the spot near the port of Hudaydah since then.

The vessel sprung a leak in late May, flooding its engine room with seawater and threatening to spill its cargo. Though the leak was relatively small, divers dispatched by the ship's builder needed five days of round-the-clock underwater efforts to contain it.

RELATED State of emergecy called in Arctic after Russian fuel spill

Lowcock and U.N. Environment Program chief Inger Andersen each urged the international community to urgently work out a deal with Houthi rebels allowing a full team of U.N. technicians to board the rusting ship and assess risk of a spill.

"Despite the difficult operational context, no effort should be spared to first conduct a technical assessment and initial light repairs," Andersen told the Security Council. "In the longer term, she added, the best option will be to offload the oil from the ship and then tow it to a safe location for inspection and dismantling."

The rebels have stated they want to allow an international team to board the Safer, but have also set preconditions linking access to the ship with other issues related to the conflict, Lowcock said.

TODAY IS THE BIRTH-DAY OF THE ATOMIC AGE

75 years ago, 'Trinity' test ushered in nuclear age, changed the world

1954 THE FIRST NUCLEAR SUB THE USS NAUTILUS YEAR LONG VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD UNDER THE SEA, ENDING WITH A TRIP UNDER THE ARCTIC ICE PACK.

IN 1957 SPUTNIK INTRODUCED THE SPACE AGE.

U.S. officials conduct the Trinity nuclear test in central New Mexico on July 16, 1945. This is the only color image in existence that shows the explosion, and was taken by Jack Aeby from a camp about 10 miles away. Photo courtesy Los Alamos National Laboratory

July 16 (UPI) -- The world entered the nuclear age 75 years ago Thursday at a location in the central New Mexico desert where the U.S. government carried out the "Trinity" test, setting off a 105-pound, plutonium-based bomb.

The test was conducted by the U.S. War Department and designed by the newly created Los Alamos National Laboratory as the closing salvo of the "Manhattan Project" -- a directive from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to develop a nuclear weapon.

The explosion early on the morning of July 16, 1945 produced a blast equal to that of about 44 million pounds of TNT and proved, after years of theorizing, that an atomic chain reaction could be weaponized.

Three weeks later, U.S. armed forces dropped two nuclear bombs -- including one identical to the "Gadget" tested in New Mexico -- over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands instantly and tens of thousands more later from the toxic radiation.

This 100-foot steel tower  held the "Gadget" explosive device for the Trinity test near Las Cruces, N.M., on July 16, 1945. Photo courtesy Los Alamos National Laboratory

One month after the Trinity test, Japan announced its unconditional surrender and helped bring victory to U.S. and Allied forces in the Pacific Theater of World War II. By that point, nearly 112,000 U.S. soldiers had died in the war and more than a quarter-million were injured.

On the test's 75th anniversary, experts say that although time may have softened the rationale behind pursuing nuclear weapons, their importance remains undiminished.

"I'm not sure if as many people care about it now as much as they did during World War II, but one of the many reasons why Trinity remains significant is that it was the birth of an entirely new era in human existence," Alan Carr, the official historian at Los Alamos National Laboratory, told UPI in a phone interview. "It's a really big deal looking at it historically.

RELATED U.S. House committee rejects low-yield nukes in defense bill

Carr noted that Trinity ranks among the most significant events in humankind -- as a means of ending a disastrous worldwide conflagration and as one of the most significant experiments in modern science.

For three years leading up to the bomb test, a team of 6,000 scientists led by Los Alamos lab director J. Robert Oppenheimer had worked feverishly on the Manhattan Project to perfect a workable way to channel a nuclear chain reaction.

The campaign was rooted in the fear that Nazi Germany was likely developing an atomic weapon -- and that, uncontested, Adolf Hitler's regime might ultimately conquer or destroy the world.

The fireball rises and a mushroom cloud expands 8 seconds after the "Gadget" test device was set off near Las Cruces, N.M., on July 16, 1945. This image was recorded from a bunker 10,000 yards from the blast. Photo courtesy Los Alamos National Laboratory

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One proposed method involved shooting an amount of uranium into more uranium through a tube at high speeds, propelled by explosives.

This "gun-style" uranium fission bomb ultimately became "Little Boy," the weapon dropped on Hiroshima. For this type of bomb, scientists were confident enough that a test was deemed unnecessary.

That was not the case, however, with another, more sophisticated and powerful bomb

The novel design of the second bomb used about 5,000 pounds of high explosives to instantly implode a sphere of plutonium about the size of a softball into something closer to a golf ball -- compression that should set off a substantial chain reaction.

That conclusion, however, was entirely academic. Scientists and engineers needed to test their theory.

Officials set the Trinity test for the predawn hours of July 16 and placed "ground zero" near the northern edge of a desolate bombing range about 115 miles north of Las Cruces, N.M., which just days earlier had been established as the White Sands Proving Ground.

At the test site, about 35 miles west of Socorro, the "Gadget" device was placed atop a 100-foot steel tower and scientists pressed the button. At that moment, the United States and the world began the nuclear age. The steel tower that held the weapon was instantly incinerated in the 22-kiloton blast.

The blast from the Trinity test explosion is seen about 0.016 of a second after detonation, near Las Cruces, N.M., on July 16, 1945. The hemisphere's highest point in this image is about 200 meters high. File Photo by Los Alamos National Laboratory/UPI


Following the successful test, military officials produced an identical device code-named "Fat Man" and dropped it on Nagasaki on Aug. 9. Officials estimated that as many as 80,000 people died there.

One of the foremost experts on the Trinity test says the passage of 75 years has changed how the historical event is perceived.

Jim Eckles, author of The History Of An Atomic Bomb National Historic Landmark and a former public affairs officer at White Sands Missile Base, has led tours of the Trinity site for decades. In 1975, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.

"Memories of the actual event are diminishing," Eckles told UPI. "We're losing the details, and the people who actually did it are mostly dead now, so we don't have any firsthand witnesses remaining.

"All we have left is what is recorded in books and photos."

However, concern for the nuclear era that Trinity started, he added, is not what it used to be -- and probably not what it should be.

"With that, I think, we're losing the 'edge' to it," Eckles said. "When I see the visitors to the Trinity site today -- and it's amazing they keep coming by the thousands -- they don't seem to have that same kind of worry that these nuclear weapons are still out there."

In an era when concern for nuclear war has largely faded into the background, Thursday's historic anniversary can be a reminder of how powerful nuclear weapons are.

"Trinity's legacy is complex and multifaceted, which is how a lot of history is," Carr said.

For scientists at Los Alamos, the true significance is clear after 75 years.

"That test was arguably the greatest single scientific experiment ever conducted," Carr said.

"When you look at how it changed the world in so many fundamental ways, it greatly increased our understanding of how the universe works.

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WHO-led vaccine initiatives garner support from 75 countries, but not the U.S.
A WHO-led vaccine initiative has received financial commitments from 75 countries, officials said. Photo by marcolohpsoares/Pixabay

July 15 (UPI) -- Up to 75 countries have committed to helping poorer counterparts vaccinate their populations against COVID-19, World Health Organization officials announced Wednesday.

Taken together, the multi-national partnership, which does not include the United States, will increase funding to COVAX, the new coronavirus vaccine development platform overseen by the WHO and other organizations, the WHO officials said.

Should an effective vaccine be developed within the program, it will be available to the 165 countries that have agreed to participate, meaning more than 60 percent of the world's population could be inoculated against SARS-CoV-2, the officials said.

"COVAX is the only truly global solution to the COVID-19 pandemic," Dr. Seth Berkley, the GAVI chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Participating nations will "avoid being pushed to the back of the queue as we saw during the H1N1 pandemic a decade ago," Berkley said.

Though an effective vaccine for H1N1 was developed, it was not available in time for the winter flu season in the Southern Hemisphere, and less than 900 billion doses were manufactured, according to WHO reports.

In addition, even though the United States initially pledged to donate 10 percent of its vaccine doses in September of that year, it later indicated it would not do so until all at-risk Americans had access, as production problems created supply shortages.

RELATED Study indicates COVID-19 antibodies may fade after months

"Even for those countries that are able to secure their own agreements with vaccine manufacturers, this mechanism represents ... a means of reducing the risks associated with individual candidates failing to show efficacy," Berkley said.

Countries that have expressed interest in participating in the partnership include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, WHO officials said.

With the funding commitment, the COVAX initiative has raised $600 million toward its $2 billion goal, according to WHO.

RELATED TB vaccine may protect against COVID-19 infection, studies say

COVAX was created by the WHO, the global vaccine alliance GAVI and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI, to "accelerate the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines," the WHO said.

Countries involved "share the risks associated with vaccine development" and invest in manufacturing upfront so shots can be deployed at scale as soon as they are proven effective, WHO officials said.

They added that the group should be able to to pool "procurement and purchasing power" to deliver 2 billion doses globally and approach the goal of ending the COVID-19 pandemic by 2021.

RELATED FDA fast tracks possible COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, BioNTech

"Through COVAX, our aspiration is to be able to vaccinate the most vulnerable 20 percent of the population of every country that participates, regardless of income level, by the end of 2021," Dr. Richard Hatchett, the CEPI chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"Ensuring fair access is not only a matter of equity. It is the fastest way to end this pandemic," he said.

All vaccines produced through COVAX will have to receive regulatory approval or WHO prequalification before to distribution. They will be delivered equally to all participating countries, proportional to individual populations, with healthcare workers receiving priority initially, WHO officials said.

Once 20 percent of the population of all participating countries has been vaccinated against the new coronavirus, additional doses will be made available based on a country's needs, vulnerability and the COVID-19 threat, the officials said.

COVAX also will maintain a buffer of doses for emergency and humanitarian use, they said.

To date, significant progress has already been made through the COVAX initiative, with seven of the nine candidate vaccines already in clinical trials, according to WHO.

The initiative also has signed a memorandum of understanding with drugmaker AstraZeneca to supply 300 million doses of any COVID-19 vaccines deemed safe and effective, WHO officials said.

"A lot of vaccine candidates are in development," William Hanage, associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday.

Hanage was speaking generally and not specifically about the COVAX initiative.

"While we don't know if any [of the vaccine candidates] will work out well, we're seeing positive data for some of them," he said.
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Black Lives Matter sculpture of Jen Reid that replaced toppled Edward Colston statue in Bristol is removed

The Evening Standard

The statue was removed from the plinth and loaded into a recycling and skip hire lorry on Thursday morning ( PA )

The sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protester which replaced the statue of slave trader Edward Colston has been removed.

Pictures from the scene appeared to show workers at the site in Bristol at around 5.20am on Thursday.



Bristol City Council said it was removed at their request and that it would be held at a museum for the artist to collect.

The statue, by artist Marc Quinn, was put up in the early hours of Wednesday.

Edward Colston statue in Bristol replaced with Black Lives Matter activist Jen Reid

Quinn's life-size black resin and steel piece of Jen Reid was inspired after seeing a photo of her standing on the empty plinth following the toppling of the Colston statue.

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The sculpture, entitled A Surge of Power (Jen Reid), was installed without the knowledge or consent of the local authority in the early hours of Wednesday .

On Wednesday, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees tweeted: "I understand people want expression, but the statue has been put up without permission.

"Anything put on the plinth outside of the process we've put in place will have to be removed."

marcquinnart

Verified

Today, Bristol resident Jen Reid and I have unveiled a new temporary, public installation, ‘A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020’, on top of Edward Colston’s empty plinth in Bristol, England. This life-sized sculpture is based on an image I saw on Instagram of local resident Jen Reid standing on the vacant plinth with her fist raised in a Black Power salute, a spontaneous moment following a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020. During the protest, a statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston was toppled from this spot. Cast in black resin, this new sculpture ‘A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020’ takes its place - no formal consent has been sought for the installation. Read the full statement - link in bio. #blacklivesmatter #marcquinnart #5thplinth

British sculpture of slave trader replaced by statue of social activist
Activist Jen Reid poses with a raised fist in front of a new statue that appeared in Bristol, Britain, on Wednesday. A sculpture of former British lawmaker and known slave trader Edward Colston previously stood at the location. Photo by Neil Hall/EPA-EFE

July 15 (UPI) -- A statue of a 17th-century lawmaker and slave trader in Britain was secretly replaced Wednesday with one honoring a social activist.

Demonstrators in Bristol toppled a statue of Edward Colston last month amid global outcry that followed the death of George Floyd in the United States. Wednesday, a new sculpture of Black Lives Matter activist Jen Reid stood in its place.

Bristol is located about 100 miles west of downtown London.

The statue of Reid was created by British artist Marco Quinn, who said he was inspired by an image of the activist with a raised fist.

Quinn, who called the image "A Surge of Power," said he hopes his sculpture will be a permanent fixture.

"It is such a powerful image, of a moment I felt had to be materialized forever," he said. "I contacted Jen via social media to discuss the idea of the sculpture and she told me she wanted to collaborate."

It's unclear whether the new statue of Reid will remain in the location since it was placed there without approval from Bristol city councilors.

Colston was a Conservative Party British lawmaker in the 1600s who was known for trading slaves from West Africa. His statue was retrieved from a nearby harbor, but its unknown what will be done with it.

Man on rafting trip rescues coyote pup from drowning

July 14 (UPI) -- A man on a multiday rafting trip in Saskatchewan rescued a drowning coyote pup and brought the animal along for the last 10 days of his trip.

The Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Saskatchewan said a man identified as Justin was on a rafting trip down the Red Deer and South Saskatchewan rivers when he spotted the small coyote struggling to swim.


Justin reached out to pluck the coyote out of the water, but fell off his raft. He was able to grab the pup and his raft before it floated away.

The pup did not appear to be breathing when Justin got it out of the water, but he revived it by pushing on its stomach in a modified CPR technique.

The rescue group said the pup accompanied Justin on the next 10 days of his trip.

"The little pup would eat with Justin, cuddle in his jacket, and sleep in his backpack while they rafted down the river," the WRSOS said.
Justin eventually got a phone signal and called his wife, who helped him contact various animal rescue organizations. The Swift Current SPCA put Justin in touch with the WRSOS.

The pup, which Justin dubbed YipYip, will be cared for by a WRSOS rehab expert until it is old enough to be released back into the wild, the group said.

Tiger fleeing flooding takes shelter in villager's goat shed

A sub adult tiger has entered inside a goat shed in Kandolimari Village (Agartoli Range) to escape flood. Committee is constituted to monitor the situation on regular basis. Utmost care is being taken to ensure safety of both people and Tiger. @ParimalSuklaba1 @GolaghatPolice pic.twitter.com/kBV7uvtK57— Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve (@kaziranga_) July 13, 2020

July 13 (UPI) -- A tiger seeking refuge from flooding wandered into an Indian town and found shelter inside a resident's goat shed.

The Kaziranga National Park in Assam said the tiger was spotted Monday taking shelter from floodwaters in Kandolimari Village, located on the edge of the park.

Park officials said a team was dispatched to the village and found the tiger, a sub-adult male, sheltering inside a goat shed. The officials said the situation was being monitored while experts worked on a plan to return the big cat to the park.

About 118 Bengal tigers are believed to be living inside the boundaries of the park.