Obama's swine flu scare after shaking hands
with archaeologist who died 24 hours later
By DAVID GARDNER / 26th April 2009
A man who shook Barack Obama's hand in Mexico died the next day from symptoms similar to those of swine flu. The White House insisted the President's health was not in any danger, but he was said to be taking the threat of an epidemic 'very seriously'.
The President's health advisers were already concerned about his visit south of the border after learning the contagious virus first struck in Mexico City on April 13 - three days before Mr Obama flew in to meet government officials.
Their alarm grew after learning that Felipe Solis, an archaeologist who received Mr Obama at a city museum, had died from pneumonia. Mexican health boss Jose Cordova, however, said Mr Solis was already ill and his death was unrelated to swine flu.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insisted: ‘The president’s trip to Mexico has not put his health in any danger.’ He added: ‘The incubation period is 24 to 48 hours and we have been back from Mexico for nine days now. The doctors say he was not at risk.’
Mr Obama was in Mexico for less than a day before heading to a ‘Summit of the Americas’ in Trinidad and Tobago.
Mr Obama took some flak for playing golf on Sunday, but Mr Gibbs said he was being updated regularly on the outbreak by the State Department and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The virus is said to have infected twelve people in Kansas, California, Ohio and Texas and sickened at least another eight students in New York.
Speaking at a White House briefing last night, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said a ‘stockpile’ of anti-viral drugs was being released to help keep the disease at bay. Announcing a state of emergency, she said border security would be increased with visitors being quizzed over possible swine flu symptoms. Worried about a possible impact on the farming industry, she emphasised: ‘I want to underscore that you can’t get swine flu from eating pork.’
‘The president is very concerned about the recent cases of swine flu,’ added presidential assistant John Brennan. He said Mr Obama was offering his ‘full support’ to Mexico efforts to control the disease. ‘The U.S. government is working to ‘mitigate a broader outbreak in the United States.’
Dr Richard Besser, acting director of the Centre for Disease Control, urged Americans to improve hygiene by washing hands more regularly and staying at home if they fell sick.
‘We expect to see more cases of swine flu,’ he said, adding that work was under way to identify and produce a vaccine. Of the U.S. swine flu patients, only one needed hospital treatment and none of those infected were seriously ill.
www.dailymail.co.uk
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GENEVAE-APR 27-NORWAY-IMMIGRANTS' POLITICAL PARTY
REUTERS OFFER 01 FOR 0330GMT
01
NORWAY IMMIGRANTS' POLITICAL PARTY
ORIGIN: GBRTV
SOURCE: GBRTV
OSLO, NORWAY
APRIL 26, 2009
NATURAL WITH ENGLISH SPEECH
DURATION: 2.30
RESTRICTIONS:
UPDATED SCRIPT AND SHOWS
Norway's newest political party, the Independent Labour
Party, founded by a Pakistani immigrant, is kicking off its
election campaign.
SHOWS: OSLO, NORWAY (APRIL 26, 2009) (ACCESS ALL)
1. EXTERIOR OF NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENT WITH PROTEST IN PROGRESS
2. FOUNDER OF NEW POLITICAL PARTY, INDEPENDENT LABOUR
PARTY, GHUFOOR BUTT WALKING WITH PARTY SPOKESMAN
3. VARIOUS OF BUTT AND SPOKESMAN TALKING
4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF NEW POLITICAL PARTY,
INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY, GHUFOOR BUTT, SAYING:
"I can explain it in the assembly in a better way that
these problems are not that small as you people are
thinking. These problems are really big problems. So we
want to achieve that the immigrants have their problem.
There should be someone, some good spokesman for them, who
can fight for them."
5. SATURDAY MARKET IN THE MOST MULTICULTURAL AREAS OF THE
CAPITAL
6. MEN LOOKING AT GLASSES
7. PEOPLE AT MARKET
8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF NEW POLITICAL PARTY,
INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY, GHUFOOR BUTT, SAYING:
"Someone is going to marry in India, Pakistan, Tunisia,
Somalia, wherever it is, it takes very long time for the
visa. We want to make it shorter. They should be given visa
immediately."
9. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT MARKET
10. CHILDREN WALKING WITH BALLOONS
11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF NEW POLITICAL PARTY,
INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY, GHUFOOR BUTT, SAYING:
"It is very important that it is oil producing country
should go down in the price of oil. That will also help to
finance the families facing a lot of finance crisis."
12. PEOPLE SHOPPING AT FRUIT MARKET
13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF NEW POLITICAL PARTY,
INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY, GHUFOOR BUTT, SAYING:
"It was two questions from that journalist to me. I
answered him for the Islamic. But I am not living in any
Islamic country. Here we have to respect the Norwegian
constitution, Norwegian law and order. In Norway it is
legal. So nor I nor my party do not have any problem with
gays."
14. EXTERIOR OF PARLIAMENT
15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF NEW POLITICAL PARTY,
INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY, GHUFOOR BUTT, SAYING:
"First time in the world it happened that a Pakistani
has launched a political party that is going to play the
role in a European country. So it not only now I launch my
party in Norway, maybe tomorrow in England, maybe the day
after tomorrow in America."
16. LION STATUE OUTSIDE OF PARLIAMENT
17. (SOUNDBITE) (English) AFGHAN LIVING IN NORWAY, MOHAMMAD
SEHAH NORI, SAYING:
"I'm in that situation. I came to here for almost three
years. I didn't get any answer. Always I ask from the
government what's going on with my situation, with my life.
They think that you should wait. Because of that I cannot
decide about my life, about my next week even. Because of
that I am living a stressful life. I have a stressful life."
18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) STATE EMPLOYEE, JOAKIM KARLSEN,
SAYING:
"We have some recent debate on integration in Norway,
so it might be good to have their own independent voice."
18. NORWEGIAN FLAG FLYING
STORY: Norwegian-Pakistani Ghufoor Butt and his new
political party, the Independent Labour Party aims to enter
parliament as a voice for immigrants.
Butt accuses Norwegian politicians of neglecting
immigrant issues and says the country's immigration policy
has failed.
"These problems are really big problems. There should
be someone, some good spokesman for them, who can fight for
them," Butt told Reuters in the capital Oslo on Sunday
(April 26).
The newly founded party has 19 candidates on its list
for the parliamentary elections in September this year. The
candidates have various nationalities, including Norwegian,
Pakistani, Egyptian, Vietnamese and Irananian.
The party is still developing its policies but
improving the rights for immigrants is its main concern.
Butt says Norway has much to learn from the Pakistani
culture, particularly concerning the treatment of elders.
He said families cared for their elders in Pakistan, while
in Norway they are placed in nursing homes where
integration is non-existent. Therefore the Independent
Labour Party has proposed to set up separate nursing homes
for Norwegian nationals and immigrants.
Butt also wants a more open immigration policy, with
visas more readily available for those getting married.
The party has been criticised for lacking environmental
focus and for its views on homosexuality. Norwegian daily,
Dagbladet quoted Butt as saying homosexuality should be
illegal. Openly gay chairman of Oslo's government, Erling
Lae, publicly criticised the statement.
Butt said he was misquoted and said he was not living
in an Islamic country and therefore had to respect the
Norwegian constitution, Norwegian law and order.
"In Norway it is legal. So nor I nor my party do not
have any problem with gays," he said.
The official election campaign will be launched in
Pakistan on Thursday (April 30). Butt, known as a
political journalist and actor before migrating to Norway
in 1974, will launch the campaign on Pakistani TV.
He says it's the first time a Pakistani has launched a
political party that will play a role in a European country
and could just be the beginning.
"Maybe tomorrow in England, maybe the day after
tomorrow in America," he added.
Despite the criticism, people in Norway are positive to
a party founded by an immigrant.
Mohammad Sehah Nori from Afghanistan says he has spent
three years trying get his residency approved.
Norway has recently gone through several debates about
better integration of Islamic customs, including the use of
hijab as part of the police uniform.
The parliamentary elections take place on September 14.
Denuncian abusos institucionales contra latinos pobres en EU
San Diego, 26 Abr (Notimex).- Más de un millón 600 mil latinos pobres, en su mayoría mexicanos y guatemaltecos, son víctimas de abusos sistemáticos e indiferencia oficial sin importar su condición migratoria, denunciaron hoy especialistas en derechos civiles.
Según los expertos, que precisaron que esa comunidad de mexicanos y guatemaltecos radican en seis estados del sur de Estados Unidos, autoridades en Georgia dejaron en libertad a un violador sexual porque su víctima, una niña de 13 años de edad, era indocumentada.
En Tenesí, agregaron, arrestaron y enviaron a la cárcel a una madre de familia latina porque exigió que le pagaran el tiempo que había trabajado en una empacadora de quesos; en Alabama la policía quitó a un migrante los ahorros de su vida en una infracción de tránsito.
Esos son algunos de los ejemplos que el Centro Sureño Legal para la Pobreza presentó esta semana en su reporte 'Estado de sitio, la vida de los latinos pobres en el sur'.
El documento detalla unos 500 casos de abusos en los que las víctimas han sido indistintamente latinos, algunos de ellos ciudadanos estadunidenses, otros residentes legales en el país y los más vulnerables han sido indocumentados.
El director del Centro, Richard Cohen, advirtió que esa región, entre George y Alabama, experimenta el mayor crecimiento de la comunidad latina en el país actualmente, pero los latinos ven violados sistemáticamente sus derechos humanos más elementales.
Una organizadora en la región, Angeles Ortega Moore, confirmó que, en términos generales, para grupos étnicos distintos a los latinos, todas las personas que hablan español, escuchan música latina, visten o se comportan como latinos son ilegales en el país, pero consideran que ser indocumentado es delito criminal.
El 77 por ciento de las mujeres integradas al estudio confirmó que han sido víctimas de acoso y abuso sexual. La violencia contra algunas de esas mujeres inicia desde la misma frontera.
Cuando la madre de 'Elena' murió en México en 2007, la residente en George decidió ir a su funeral. Regresó poco después con un hermano y al cruzar la frontera con un grupo de indocumentados, apareció un grupo armado y enmascarado que secuestró a los indocumentados.
Durante días los secuestradores hicieron caminar al grupo sin darles agua o alimentos. Violaban a algunas mujeres. Elena y su hermano fingieron ser esposos y eso la salvó. Fueron encerrados en una casa junto con otros secuestrados y eran liberados conforme sus familiares en Estados Unidos pagaron rescate por ellos.
Agregó que habían personas que llevaban meses en el lugar, casi sin comer y sin beber agua.
Los familiares de Elena reunieron seis mil dólares para pagar a sus secuestradores. Describió que se trata de grupos bien organizados de secuestradores, en los que cada elemento sabe perfectamente lo que está haciendo y que las víctimas temen ser deportados o sufrir represalias si denuncian.
En un acto separado, un grupo secuestró a la hija de otra mujer mexicana en Georgia, quien ahora tiene 44 años de edad.
El grupo tomó a la menor cuando a los 14 años de edad la secuestró al cruzar la frontera con otras personas. Los secuestradores sólo dejaron ir a su hija después de recibir el dinero que exigían pero hasta que la joven tenía 16 años de edad.
El reporte dice que la mayoría de los latinos en la región vive en un ambiente de hostilidad, discriminación y humillación, en el que constantemente deben probar que son inocentes.
Un 70 por ciento dijo que se les niega o dificulta conseguir vivienda, aún cuando a los arrendatarios les convenga tener las unidades ocupadas.
En Prattville, Alabama, por ejemplo, el cabildo de gobierno aprobó una de las ordenanzas que prohibe rentar a indocumentados, y al aplicarla tampoco aceptó documentos de latinos ciudadanos o residentes legales.
Los latinos incluidos en el reporte informaron en su mayoría que en los seis estados del sur las autoridades redujeron opciones para comunicarse en español, inclusive en las cortes y las escuelas.
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