Facebook can be a double-edged sword, a Canadian woman learned when an insurance company cut her health benefits, claiming she was healthy after seeing pictures of her smiling in bikini at the beach.
Nathalie Blanchard, 29, took long-term sick leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Quebec, more than a year ago for severe depression. She was receiving monthly benefits from her insurance company, Manulife.
When Blanchard called Manulife to inquire why the payments dried up, the insurance company said that "I'm available to work, because of Facebook," she told CBC television.
Michel Chossudovsky Global Research Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:51 EST
"It is a serious thing [vaccine] that has the potential to kill" according to Dr. Neil Rau, an infectious disease expert, in a CTV interview, but do not worry: "leading experts insist, the benefits of the H1N1 vaccine vastly outweigh the risks" (Swine Flu Support Center, emphasis added)
A new development in the H1N1 Vaccine Saga is unfolding in Canada.
Whereas health officials are pushing for an acceleration of the vaccination program, there is evidence of so-called "unusual adverse reactions" including three recently recorded deaths directly resulting from the vaccine.
In the meantime, health authorities have called for the withdrawal of 170,000 (higher risk) doses of the vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline. The initiative, of which the importance is being downplayed, is said to have come from the manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, which expressed concern on higher than normal adverse reactions to the vaccine.
Ethnic clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo have forced more than 30,000 people to flee their homes, humanitarian groups say.
The clashes are ongoing between two tribes, which are fighting over control of a lake rich in fish in DR Congo's Equateur province.
The Doctors of Arica (Medecins d'Afrique) office said on Friday that such clashes throughout DR Congo have forced 30,600 people to become refugees.
"There's been a massive influx in the past few days because the fighting has become far more intense," said Rufin Mafouta, the head of the Doctors of Africa.
Nearly nine million under-fives die each year in developing countries
A failure of political will worldwide is contributing to the unnecessary deaths of more than six million children a year, according to a new report by World Vision.
Nearly nine million children die each year before their fifth birthday in the developing world; the overwhelming majority from preventable conditions such as pneumonia, diarrhea and neonatal complications.
At least two-thirds of these children could be saved, if governments make child health a priority and refocus health spending on prevention in the community and not just cures at the clinic, says World Vision.
Janice Tibbetts Canwest Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:22 EST
A lesbian soldier, who says she deserted the U.S. military because she was constantly harassed and threatened with death, won a reprieve from deportation Friday in a Federal Court ruling that ordered the Immigration and Refugee Board to reconsider her failed asylum claim.
Pte. Bethany Smith, who adopted the name Skyler James upon fleeing to Canada two years ago, contends she was denied a discharge from the army because her superiors wanted to send her to Afghanistan.
She took her case to Federal Court after being rejected as a refugee by the Immigration and Refugee Board.
Daniel Tencer Raw Story Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:03 EST
The Pakistani arm of the Taliban has denied responsibility for a recent series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan, instead pointing the finger at Xe Services, the security contractor formerly known as Blackwater, as well as the country's own security services.
"The Tehreek-e-Taliban are not responsible for the bombings, but Blackwater and Pakistan's spy agency are behind them," said Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq, according to a translation from Al-Jazeera English.
''The dirty Pakistani intelligence agencies, for the sake of creating mistrust and hatred among people against the Taliban, are carrying out blasts at places like the Islamic university, Islamabad, and the Khyber bazaar, Peshawar,'' the Associated Press quoted Tariq as saying.
At least four people were shot dead and six South Korean visitors wounded when a gunman fired into a crowd of tourists on the resort island of Saipan, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
The gunman appeared to have taken his own life after the shooting spree, a ministry official said, adding that there were no further details immediately available.
A US unmanned drone aircraft has fired several missiles into a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing at least ten people and injuring several others.
The strike took place in the restive North Waziristan tribal district on Friday.
The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured were said to be in critical condition. The attack took place in an area where people do not have access to urgent medical assistance.
The US alleges the air strikes, which are common in Pakistan, target pro-Taliban militants in the tribal belt.
The European Commission has signed a $1bn (£602m) development pact with Nigeria, aimed at tackling corruption and promoting peace.
A substantial amount of the funding will be spent on resolving conflict in the oil-rich and crime-plagued Niger Delta, the EU's development chief said.
The money will also target electoral reform and improving human rights.
But correspondents say many Nigerians will doubt the money will get to its intended targets.
Thirteen killed and 30 wounded including children after suicide bomber detonated explosives in crowded square in city of Farah
A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle killed 13 people, including a police officer, and wounded 30 others today in a busy city square in western Afghanistan.
Several children were among those wounded in the morning explosion, said a doctor at the hospital in the city of Farah, Shir Agh Asas.
Afghan police shouted "Stop! Stop!" at the motorcyclist before he detonated the explosives, provincial police chief General Mohammad Faqir Askar said.
The provincial governor, Rohul Amin, said the deadly blast occurred about 50 metres from his compound in a crowded square in Farah.
"These days Taliban are causing high casualties because the foreign forces and Afghan forces have been conducting operations against the insurgency in the region," Askar said.
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"The free press is the mother of all our liberties and of our progress under liberty" Adlai E. Stevenson
"There is no more important struggle for American democracy than ensuring a diverse, independent and free media. Free Press is at the heart of that struggle." Bill Moyers
"This is, in theory, still a free country, but our politically correct, censorious times are such that many of us tremble to give vent to perfectly acceptable views for fear of condemnation. Freedom of speech is thereby imperiled, big questions go undebated, and great lies become accepted, unequivocally as great truths." Simon Heffer in The Daily Mail, 7 June 2000
"The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure." Thomas Jefferson to Lafayette, 1823
"A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press, must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the right of the people to know.": Murray I. Gurfein
One of the shrewdest ways for human predators to conquer their stronger victims is to steadily convince them with propaganda that they're still free. N.A. Scott
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