Non-IT News Thread
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Coronavirus: Death toll rises as virus spreads to every Chinese region
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to 170, and a confirmed case in Tibet means it has reached every region in mainland China.
Chinese health authorities said there were 7,711 confirmed cases in the country as of 29 January. Infections have also spread to at least 15 other countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) will meet on Thursday to again consider whether the virus constitutes a global health emergency. "In the last few days the progress of the virus, especially in some countries, especially human-to-human transmission, worries us," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. He named Germany, Vietnam and Japan, where there have been cases of people catching the virus from others who have been to China. "Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak," the WHO chief said. More people have now been infected in China than during the Sars outbreak in the early 2000s, but the death toll remains far lower. Sars, also a coronavirus, caused acute respiratory illness. -
Coronavirus Wuhan diary: Living alone in a city gone quiet
Guo Jing lives in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the heart of the outbreak of a new virus which has got the world worried.
Wuhan has been under lockdown since 23 January, to try to contain the infection. Transport is shut down, most shops and businesses closed, and people are being advised to stay at home. Jing is a 29-year-old social worker and rights activist who lives on her own. For the past week, she has kept a diary, which she shares here with the BBC. I didn't know what to do when I woke up and learned about the lockdown. I don't know what it means, how long it will last and what kind of preparations I should make. There are a lot of infuriating comments [on social media]: that many patients cannot be hospitalised after diagnosis [because of a lack of places], that patients with fever are not properly treated. Many more people are wearing masks. Friends have told me to stock up on supplies. Rice and noodles have almost sold out. -
Coronavirus: Worldwide cases overtake 2003 Sars outbreak
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has overtaken that of the Sars epidemic, which spread to more than two dozen countries in 2003.
There were around 8,100 cases of Sars - severe acute respiratory syndrome - reported during the eight-month outbreak. But nearly 10,000 cases of the new virus have been confirmed, most in China, since it emerged in December. More than 100 cases have been reported outside China, in 22 countries. The number of deaths so far stands at 213 - all in China. In total, 774 people were killed by Sars. On Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency over the new outbreak. -
UK has left the EU
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@black3dynamite said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
UK has left the EU
What does that mean now?
I didn't even notice.
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@black3dynamite said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
UK has left the EU
What does that mean now?
11 months of changing how we move to and from Europe, we won't send them money and they won't send/invest in the UK. Plus other stuff.
But one for me is working out trading tax on imports and exports, which may effect my job as I work for a agriculture company. Some farmers may stop farming which means drop in trade.
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@black3dynamite said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
UK has left the EU
What does that mean now?
No one knows how to do business with the UK or if we even can.
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@hobbit666 said in Non-IT News Thread:
But one for me is working out trading tax on imports and exports, which may effect my job as I work for a agriculture company. Some farmers may stop farming which means drop in trade.
Because they don't have as large of an export market?
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@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
Because they don't have as large of an export market?
More on the tariffs they might impose on exporting to Europe. If it's too high some simply won't carry on farming.
I don't know the whole story as not sure what "freedom" they have now. But just if export/import tax isn't a good deal, could be bad news for some farmers.
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Big-ticket tipple: $27,000 Yamazaki 55-yr whisky to go on sale in Japan
TOKYO -- How much do you like whisky? If you're willing to shell out 3 million yen (about $27,500), plus tax, for a top-notch tipple, then Suntory Spirits Ltd. has just the bottle of amber joy for you: a 55-year-old single malt Yamazaki, announced by the distiller on Jan. 30.
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Coronavirus outbreak not yet pandemic - World Health Organization
The deadly coronavirus outbreak that has spread from China does not yet constitute a "pandemic", the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
On Tuesday, three more Asian countries - Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand - confirmed infections among citizens who had not travelled to China. The death toll now stands at 427 with more than 20,000 confirmed cases around the world - most of them in China. Officials say 425 people have died in China and one in Hong Kong. One death has also been confirmed in the Philippines. The new coronavirus causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms usually start with a fever, followed by a dry cough. On Monday, China's top leadership admitted "shortcomings and deficiencies" in the country's response to the outbreak, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, Hubei province. -
Mila: 'No regrets' for French teen targeted for criticising Islam
A teenager has sparked a national debate about blasphemy in France after an Instagram post calling Islam a "religion of hate".
Mila, 16, posted her comments online after receiving homophobic abuse from a Muslim commenter. She received death threats and has not attended school since. But Mila has refused to back down, saying in her first television interview that she "wanted to blaspheme". She has since deactivated her Instagram account. The post has sparked a huge debate in France over freedom of speech. The country has no national blasphemy laws and has a rigidly secular constitution. Police initially opened two investigations: the first into whether Mila was guilty of hate speech, and the second into her online attackers. They have since dropped the hate speech case as Mila was expressing a personal opinion on religion and not targeting individuals. -
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BBC News - Coronavirus: Ten passengers on cruise ship test positive for virus
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-51381594 -
Second Turkey avalanche buries dozens of rescuers
Thirty-three people have been killed and dozens more trapped after a second avalanche struck a mountainside in Turkey on Wednesday, officials say.
About 300 rescue workers were at the site, near the eastern border with Iran, dealing with an earlier avalanche on Tuesday that killed five people. More than 50 people were believed to be trapped in vehicles in the area following the incident on Wednesday. Pictures from the scene showed people being carried away on stretchers. Wednesday's avalanche brings the death toll from the two incidents to 38. According to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, the governor of Van province Mehmet Emin Bilmez said police officers, security guards, a firefighter and a number of civilians were among the dead. Search and rescue efforts involving Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (Afad) are ongoing. The interior ministry said 30 people had been pulled from the snow so far, according to Anadolu news agency. -
Mass drug rape charges to be dropped against US surgeon and girlfriend
Charges against a California couple accused of sexually assaulting "hundreds" of women will be dropped due to lack of evidence, officials said.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer accused his predecessor of mishandling the case and using it to aid his re-election bid. In 2018, prosecutors said they found proof that Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Riley drugged and raped victims. Mr Spitzer said the case was "manufactured". He accused his predecessor of misleading the public, as a review of the case found "not a single video or photograph" depicting assault, as Tony Rackauckas, the former district attorney, had claimed. -
Coronavirus: Newborn becomes youngest person diagnosed with virus
A Chinese newborn has been diagnosed with the new coronavirus just 30 hours after birth, the youngest case recorded so far, state media said.
The baby was born on 2 February in Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus. The baby's mother tested positive before she gave birth. It is unclear how the disease was transmitted - in the womb, or after birth. Only a handful of children have come down with the virus, which has killed 565 people and infected 28,018. All but one of the deaths were in China. State media outlet Xinhua reported news of the infection late on Wednesday. It added that the baby, who weighed 3.25kg at birth (7lbs 2oz), was now in a stable condition and under observation.
