Tag Archive: United Arab Emirates


U.S. ‘backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria and blame it on Assad’s regime’

  • Leaked emails from defense contractor refers to chemical weapons saying ‘the idea is approved by Washington’
  • Obama issued warning to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month that use of chemical warfare was ‘totally unacceptable’

By Louise Boyle

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Leaked emails have allegedly proved that the White House gave the green light to a chemical weapons attack in Syria that could be blamed on Assad’s regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country.

A report released on Monday contains an email exchange between two senior officials at British-based contractor Britam Defence where a scheme ‘approved by Washington’ is outlined explaining that Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical weapons.

Barack Obama made it clear to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month that the U.S. would not tolerate Syria using chemical weapons against its own people.

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War games: An explosion in the Syrian city of Homs last month. It has been now been suggested that the U.S. backed the use of chemical weapons to spur international military intervention

War games: An explosion in the Syrian city of Homs last month. It has been now been suggested that the U.S. backed the use of chemical weapons to spur international military intervention

According to Infowars.com, the December 25 email was sent from Britam’s Business Development Director David Goulding to company founder Philip Doughty.

It reads: ‘Phil… We’ve got a new offer. It’s about Syria again. Qataris propose an attractive deal and swear that the idea is approved by Washington.

‘We’ll have to deliver a CW to Homs, a Soviet origin g-shell from Libya similar to those that Assad should have.

‘They want us to deploy our Ukrainian personnel that should speak Russian and make a video record.

‘Frankly, I don’t think it’s a good idea but the sums proposed are enormous. Your opinion?

‘Kind regards, David.’

Britam Defence had not yet returned a request for comment to MailOnline.

Enlarge   Leaked: The email was allegedly sent from a top official at a British defense contractor regarding a 'Washington approved' chemical attack in Syria which could be blamed on Assad's regime

Leaked: The email was allegedly sent from a top official at a British defense contractor regarding a ‘Washington approved’ chemical attack in Syria which could be blamed on Assad’s regime

The emails were released by a Malaysian hacker who also obtained senior executives resumés and copies of passports via an unprotected company server, according to Cyber War News.

Dave Goulding’s Linkedin profile lists him as Business Development Director at Britam Defence Ltd in Security and Investigations. A business networking profile for Phil Doughty lists him as Chief Operationg Officer for Britam, United Arab Emirates, Security and Investigations.

The U.S. State Department had not returned a request for comment on the alleged emails to MailOnline today at time of publication.

However the use of chemical warfare was raised at a press briefing in D.C. on January 28.

A spokesman said that the U.S. joined the international community in ‘setting common redlines about the consequences of using chemical weapons’.

Countless losses: Families attempt to identify the bodies of Syrian fighters shot and dumped in a river in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo today

Countless losses: Families attempt to identify the bodies of Syrian fighters shot and dumped in a river in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo today

Read More  and  Watch Video Here

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CYBERWARNEWS.INFO

britam defence hacked, confidential documents leaked, site offline

By on

britamdefence_logo

Update: Full report here

A British defence company has been breached and as a result a heap of documents have been published online and now the site has gone offline.

The attack is on britam defence (
http://www.britamdefence.com/
) and  has been claimed by a hacker using the handle JAsIrX who uploaded the leaked information to various file sharing websites and released it via a single pastebin post with the a message about the release (see bottom).

The documents come in 6 parts and total over 423MB compress zip files and inside the compress files appears to be a common layout of three main folders named !!Syria, Iran and Iraq.

Inside these appear to be documents like passports, incident reports about drunk employees which are labelled private and confidential as well.

A quick look into the files shows shocking plans for chemical warfare attacks where they have planned to lure victims to kill zones. The file can be found in the Iran folder under OPLAN (Ruhayyat) 1433H-1.doc.

 

Read More Here

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Earth Watch Report  -  Epidemic Hazards

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06.06.2013 Epidemic Hazard Saudi Arabia MultiProvinces, [Provinces of Eastern and Al-Qassim] Damage level Details

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Epidemic Hazard in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, 02 May, 2013 at 07:12 (07:12 AM) UTC.

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Updated: Thursday, 06 June, 2013 at 02:08 UTC
Description
Medical authorities across the Arab world are on alert particularly in Saudi Arabia, where the victims from the new SARS virus have reached 25. Another 39 cases have been confirmed and another 1300 suspected cases have been reported. Foad Aodi, president of the association of foreign doctors in Italy ( AMSI) and Comai, which represents the Arab world in Italy, are both concerned. Two deaths have been reported in Jordan, another in the United Arab Emirates, one in Tunisia and one in London. Now there are concerns about the threat to the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca and fears that further contagion could become an epidemic. “The most worrying aspect is that we still haven’t identified the means of contagion of the virus and we have serious fears about the next haj that will bring millions of Muslims from around the world to Mecca the most holy place in Islam in October,” said Aodi. Around 2,000 Muslim pilgrims are expected to go to Mecca from Italy. The greatest risk will be at the Eid festival which marks the end of Ramadan with a feast including the killing of an animal that is shared among the poorest families in the Arab world. Even though there is still a great deal of uncertainty, Aodi says like the Chinese version of SARS it is widely believed that the origin of the virus is linked to contact with animals. Unlike the Chinese strain, the new SARS particularly strikes the kidneys, even though it moves through the respiratory system and particularly strikes people who are already weak.

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Epidemic Hazard in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, 02 May, 2013 at 07:12 (07:12 AM) UTC.

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Updated: Thursday, 06 June, 2013 at 19:27 UTC
Description
The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia notified the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 5 of a newly diagnosed case of illness due to the MERS-CoV novel coronavirus. The 14 year old female patient became ill on May 29. The WHO has received reports of 54 cases of illness due to this new virus since Sept., 2012. The official designation for the virus is MERS-CoV, “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus”. The novel coronavirus is from the same group of viruses that produced the SARS outbreak in 2003, though it is not presently spreading as rapidly. The WHO believes that it can be transmitted from person to person in a limited manner. At this time it is not as easily spread as the SARS virus was. As the official name states, most of the patients have been diagnosed in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, according to the CDC, has seen 40 cases of MERS-CoV and 24 deaths. WHO notes that France, Germany, Italy, Tunisia and the United Kingdom have reported cases. Those cases were transferred from the Middle East for care or had traveled in the region before becoming ill. There has also been limited local transmission among patients who had close contact with patients diagnosed with the illness. The respiratory infection caused by MERS-CoV resembles influenza. The illness can severely impair respiration and be fatal. Hospitalized patients often require respirators and intubation. Health care workers have become ill and correct use of universal precautions and SARS protocols are urged by the CDC.

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Channel News Asia

New death from MERS virus in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi health ministry on Thursday announced the death of one of its citizens in the eastern region of Al-Ahsaa after he contracted MERS, a SARS-like virus.

File photo: A view of Al-Mamlaka hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh. (AFP/Fayez Nureldine)

RIYADH: The Saudi health ministry on Thursday announced the death of one of its citizens in the eastern region of Al-Ahsaa after he contracted MERS, a SARS-like virus.

The ministry website said the latest death, announced on Wednesday, brings to 25 the number of people who have died from the virus since September, adding that 40 people are suffering from the disease in the kingdom.

The strain was renamed the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, or MERS, reflecting the fact that the bulk of the cases are in that region, mainly in Saudi Arabia.

On May 31, the World Health Organisation said that the global death toll from the virus has risen to 30.

Read More Here

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Earth Watch Report  -  Epidemic Hazards

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30.05.2013 Epidemic Hazard United Arab Emirates Emirate of Dubai, Dubai Damage level
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Epidemic Hazard in United Arab Emirates on Thursday, 30 May, 2013 at 05:48 (05:48 AM) UTC.

Description
’A few schools in Dubai have warned parents about an increase in number of chicken pox cases in the emirate. Parents of kids who study in Jumeriah Primary School were sent a note from the school nurse, informing them that they have registered a few cases in their school. “Apart from detailing the symptoms of the disease, the note advices parents to keep their child at home (if diagnosed with the disease) until he/she has fully recovered,” explains a parent. Sporadic cases were also reported at Modern School. A parent informed that he was warned from taking his sick child (who had a stomach bug) to a hospital emergency because his child might contract the chicken pox virus when there. “My friend, who was already at the hospital, told me it’s better to keep my child home and away from the more dangerous virus,” he recalled. “Many kids here are being treated for Chicken Pox”. A pharmacist in Al Nahda reported that the numbers are high. “I’ve seen many cases over the last few weeks,” he added. “Yes, while this is the season, there’s no need to be alarmed,” explained Dr Fatima Al Attal, head of preventive services unit at the DHA. “Chicken Pox has drastically come down over the last three years. And one of the reason is that the Chicken Pox vaccine is compulsory on the child heath immunization programme, which is followed by UAE.” She listed out the statistics for the previous years to enunciate her point. “Number of cases in 2011 was 3,821 and in 2012, it went down to3,674″. “If a child has contracted the disease, they should be kept home for nearly 10 days. A laboratory assistant at City Hospital informed that the vaccination is priced at around Dh170, and will be administered following a check-up by a general physician.
Biohazard name: Chicken pox
Biohazard level: 2/4 Medium
Biohazard desc.: Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. “Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures”, see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents.
Symptoms:
Status: confirmed

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Earth Watch Report -  Epidemic Hazards

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30.05.2013 Epidemic Hazard Saudi Arabia MultiProvinces, [Provinces of Eastern and Al-Qassim] Damage level
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Epidemic Hazard in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, 02 May, 2013 at 07:12 (07:12 AM) UTC.

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Updated: Wednesday, 29 May, 2013 at 02:51 UTC
Description
The Saudi health ministry said on Tuesday it has recorded five new cases of a deadly SARS-like virus in the east of the oil-rich kingdom. It identified those affected as elderly people aged between 73 and 85 who had been grappling with chronic illnesses. The announcement came as France’s first victim of the nCoV-EMC novel coronavirus – a cousin of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that sparked a world health scare in 2003 – died on Tuesday. The 65-year-old man is thought to have contracted the virus in Dubai, and a man who shared a hospital room with him in France is also affected. Saudi Arabia counts by far the most cases of the new virus, with more than 30 confirmed infections and 18 fatalities. Cases have also been detected in Jordan, Qatar, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, and Britain. The virus, which has killed 24 people so far, was last week redubbed the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, or MERS. SARS erupted in east Asia 10 years ago, leaping to humans from animal hosts and eventually killing some 800 people. Like SARS, the new virus appears to cause an infection deep in the lungs, with patients suffering from a temperature, cough and breathing difficulty, but it differs from SARS in that it also causes rapid kidney failure.

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Epidemic Hazard in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, 02 May, 2013 at 07:12 (07:12 AM) UTC.

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Updated: Thursday, 30 May, 2013 at 03:41 UTC
Description
Two healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia became ill from patients who have the SARS-like virus – newly named the MERS-CoV virus, experts say. The SARS-like virus, identified as the novel coronavirus, was first detected in March 2012. It has caused 49 confirmed cases of infection and 27 deaths, officials at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, said. Coronaviruses cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, as well as a variety of animal diseases. However, the new virus is not SARS. The disease is a significant public health risk under the International Health Regulations and WHO issued recommendations for enhanced surveillance and precautions for the testing and management of suspected cases. WHO is working closely with countries and international partners, CNN reported. The Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses has published a proposed new name for the novel coronavirus, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, or MERS-CoV, WHO officials said. “The proposed name MERS-CoV represents a consensus acceptable to WHO, built on consultations with a large group of scientists,” WHO said in a statement.

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Epidemic Hazard in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, 02 May, 2013 at 07:12 (07:12 AM) UTC.

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Updated: Thursday, 30 May, 2013 at 12:37 UTC
Description
Saudi Arabia has reported that three more people have died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing the total number of deaths globally to 30. The Ministry of Health said Thursday the three deceased, ranging in age from 24 to 60, had chronic diseases, including kidney failure. It says they were hospitalized a month ago. The Ministry also announced a new case of the respiratory virus called MERS, bringing to 38 the number of those infected in the kingdom. It identified the afflicted person only as a 61-year-old from the Al-Ahsa region where the outbreak in a health care facility started in April. The World Health Organization said the new germ, a respiratory infection, was first seen in the Middle East and sickened more than 49 people worldwide.

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Man with coronavirus dies in France, second man critically ill

May 28, 2013 9:15 am by

LILLE, France (Reuters) – The first person to fall ill in France with the new SARS-like coronavirus, a 65-year-old man who had been travelling in Dubai, has died in hospital from the illness, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

Health Minister Marisol Touraine sent her condolences to the family of the man, whose death in the northern French city of Lille brings to 23 the number of people killed worldwide by the new virus.

The man was diagnosed with the new virus strain, known as nCoV, on May 8, after being admitted to hospital on April 23, shortly after his return from Dubai, with what seemed at first to be a severe stomach bug and breathing problems.

A second man, aged 50, is critically ill with the virus in the same hospital. The two men had shared a ward in April at a different hospital.

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16 May 2013
Information is reviewed on a regular basis and updated as required.

Risk Assessment

  • The public health risk posed by HCoV-EMC/2012 to Canada is considered low at this time. There have been a limited number of cases reported to date, and while there is evidence of limited capacity for human-to-human transmission, zoonotic transmission is still presumed to be the source of infection.
  • Updated risk assessments will be conducted as new evidence becomes available.

Event Summary

Cases of Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) – subsequently identified and named Human Coronavirus Erasmus Medical Centre (HCoV-EMC/2012) have been reported in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and France since the Fall of 2012.

As of 14 May 2013, 34 laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with novel coronavirus (nCoV) have been reported to WHO: two from Jordan, two from Qatar, 25 from Saudi Arabia, two from the United Kingdom (UK), one from the United Arab Emirates and two from France. Most patients are male (82%; 27 of 33 cases with sex reported) and range in age from 24 to 94 years (median 56 years). Most patients presented with severe acute respiratory disease requiring hospitalization and eventually required mechanical ventilation or other advanced respiratory support. Eighteen patients have died (case fatality rate 53%). Animal exposures were of concern in earliest cases, but the majority of recent cases do not have that history. For the latest updates on the total number of cases and deaths please visit the Global Alert and Response websiteExternal Link.

Since 14 April 2013, 15 new cases of infection have been confirmed and reported in Saudi Arabia, seven of these have died. All patients were reported to have at least one comorbid medical condition and most had more than one. Most of the cases were patients at a single health care facility. Two were family members of two patients from that facility; no health care workers have been affected. Preliminary investigations indicate that a small number of these cases had contact with animals in the time leading up to their illness.

On May 8, 2013, The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in France reported one confirmed case with infection of nCoV. The patient was hospitalized and preliminary investigations revealed that the patient had a history of travel to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A secondary case was reported on May 12, 2013 in a patient who shared a hospital room with the first laboratory-confirmed case. Among 120 persons identified as contacts of the first laboratory-confirmed case in France, laboratory tests were conducted on five suspected cases, of which four tested negative, one (mentioned above) tested positive. No healthcare workers have been affected to date.

Several cases have occurred in clusters, including in a health care setting in Jordan in April 2012, in the UK among family members of an infected patient who had recently arrived from Saudi Arabia, the cluster in Saudi Arabia and now the cluster in France. Nosocomial transmission has occurred once and possibly two other occasions (investigations ongoing); and the UK and France clusters confirmed the potential of the virus to transmit between humans with close contact. In neither instance did transmission appear to go beyond the immediate outbreak into the community, and the likely current scenario is multiple introductions into humans with local spread rather than persistent low human transmission.

No vaccine is currently available for novel coronavirus.

The National Institutes of Health has found that a combination of two antiviral drugs, ribavirin and interferon-alpha 2b, can inhibit replication of the virus in cell culturesFootnote 1.

Read Full Report  Here

 

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Toronto SARS expert to go to Saudi Arabia to help with coronavirus

Dr. Allison McGreerDr. Allison McGeer in a laboratory at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto on Tuesday January 27, 2004. (/Frank Gunn / The Canadian Press)

Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, May 8, 2013 1:37PM EDT
Last Updated Wednesday, May 8, 2013 5:02PM EDT

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have invited outside experts to help it deal with a large outbreak of the new coronavirus in the eastern Saudi city of al Hofuf, and a Canadian infectious diseases specialist is among them.

Toronto SARS expert Dr. Allison McGeer arrived in the Middle Eastern country on Wednesday, travelling at the request of the kingdom’s government, a source revealed.

The outbreak, which involves at least 13 cases, has ratcheted up worry about the coronavirus, the World Health Organization acknowledged in an update on the virus, which is from the same family as the SARS coronavirus.

“The reappearance of this virus and the pattern of transmission currently being observed in Saudi Arabia increase the level of concern regarding this novel pathogen,” the statement said.

“The questions of the exposures that result in human infection, the mode of transmission, the source of the virus and the extent of infection in the community urgently need to be answered and are being actively pursued by the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia.”

In addition to McGeer, two officials of the World Health Organization were in or travelling to the country to meet with senior officials of the ministry of health in the capital, Riyadh.

“It’s likely they will also visit al Hofuf,” WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl said. He would not reveal the names of the WHO personnel.

The news came on the same day as France reported it had confirmed a case in one of its citizens, a 65-year-old man who got sick in late April after travelling to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. His infection was confirmed May 7.

It was reported that the man was in the Middle Eastern country on a package tour, a fact that suggests his case may help disease investigators in their efforts to track down the source of the virus. That key fact has to date evaded detection.

Piecing together possible exposures with this coronavirus has been tough. Of the 31 confirmed cases, 18 have died. Of the others, many remain in hospital in critical condition, often on breathing machines. So questioning cases about what they did in the days before they fell ill can be difficult or impossible.

Read Full Article Here

Earth Watch Report  -  Epidemic  Hazards

10.05.2013 Epidemic Hazard France Nord-Pas-de-Calais, [Valenciennes, Douai and Tourcoing ] Damage level Details

Epidemic Hazard in France on Wednesday, 08 May, 2013 at 09:54 (09:54 AM) UTC.

Description
French health authorities say they have confirmed the country’s first case of a new respiratory virus related to SARS, in a traveler returning from the United Arab Emirates. The Health Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the person is hospitalized in isolation and is under medical surveillance. It says Paris’ Pasteur Institute analyzed the virus and confirmed that it is a novel coronavirus, the first such case in France. The ministry gave no other details. Health Minister Marisol Touraine plans a news conference later Wednesday to elaborate. The new coronavirus, first identified last year, can cause acute pneumonia and kidney failure.
Biohazard name: nCOV (SARS-like virus)
Biohazard level: 4/4 Hazardous
Biohazard desc.: Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release.
Symptoms:
Status: confirmed

Epidemic Hazard in France on Wednesday, 08 May, 2013 at 09:54 (09:54 AM) UTC.

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Updated: Wednesday, 08 May, 2013 at 13:08 UTC
Description
A 65-year-old Frenchman is hospitalized after contracting France’s first case of a deadly new respiratory virus related to SARS, and French health authorities said Wednesday they are trying to find anyone who might have been in contact with him to prevent it from spreading. It’s unclear how or where the man was infected with the novel coronavirus, which has killed 18 people in four countries and raised new public health concerns since being identified last year in the Middle East. It can cause acute pneumonia and kidney failure. The Frenchman fell ill after returning from a trip to the United Arab Emirates, the Health Ministry said. He has been under isolation and medical surveillance at a hospital in Douai in northern France since April 23, and is receiving respiratory assistance and blood transfusions, said Jean-Yves Grall, the government health director. Paris’ Pasteur Institute analyzed the man’s virus and confirmed that it is a novel coronavirus, the ministry announced Wednesday. France’s health minister, Marisol Touraine, said “this is an isolated case” in France but said authorities are “fully mobilized” to prevent it from spreading. Authorities are trying to reach anyone who was in contact with the patient before he was hospitalized, and a national hotline was established Wednesday for the public to call about the virus. WHO has advised countries to test any people with unexplained pneumonia.

Epidemic Hazard in France on Wednesday, 08 May, 2013 at 09:54 (09:54 AM) UTC.

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Updated: Thursday, 09 May, 2013 at 02:50 UTC
Description
The latest novel coronavirus case (NcoV), a Sars-like virus, has been linked to the UAE. According to international newswires on Wednesday, France confirmed its first case of a Sars-like virus in a traveller returning from the UAE. The report stated that the Paris-based Pasteur Institute, a leading biomedical research organisation, analysed the virus and confirmed that it was a novel coronavirus. According to the French Health Ministry statement, the person is in isolation in hospital and is under medical surveillance in an undisclosed location.

Epidemic Hazard in France on Wednesday, 08 May, 2013 at 09:54 (09:54 AM) UTC.

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Updated: Friday, 10 May, 2013 at 02:45 UTC
Description
Two people who had contact with a Frenchman who is seriously ill with the new SARS-like coronavirus have fallen sick and been admitted to hospital, health officials in northern France said on Thursday (9 May 2013). One is a patient who shared a ward with the 65-year-old man infected with the virus when he was in a hospital in the town of Valenciennes, northern France, at the end of April (2013), and the other is a doctor who treated him there. The 65-year-old carrier, who fell ill on his return from a trip to Dubai, has since been transferred to an isolated intensive care wing in a hospital in Douai, near the northern city of Lille, where he is in a critical condition. The ARS local health authority said the 2 other men were in individual rooms in separate hospitals, one in Lille and the other in the nearby town of Tourcoing and that tests had been carried out on both of them.”They show symptoms which require a special infectious diseases consultation,” the ARS said in a statement. “The results of the tests carried out on these 2 people will be known soon and will be made public.” As France reported the 65-year-old as its 1st case of the coronavirus on Wednesday (8 May 2013), the World Health Organization said it would send experts to visit a Saudi hospital from which the virus has spread, killing 7 people so far. The French case brought the total number of known infections worldwide to 31, of which 18 resulted in death. Coronavirus is from the same viral family that triggered the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that swept the world from Asia in late 2003, killing 775 people. Despite there being no evidence so far of sustained human-to-human transmission, health experts’ concerns are growing over clusters of new cases.

Epidemic Hazard in France on Wednesday, 08 May, 2013 at 09:54 (09:54 AM) UTC.

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Updated: Friday, 10 May, 2013 at 12:07 UTC
Description
A Frenchman diagnosed with a new, deadly SARS-like virus known as coronavirus that has killed 18 people may have infected two other people, authorities in northern France said Thursday. French health authorities said Thursday they feared the country’s first case of a new SARS-like virus that has killed 18 people, mostly in Saudi Arabia, may have infected two other people. The 65-year-old man who came back to France from a holiday in Dubai was diagnosed with the deadly novel coronavirus, and is in intensive care in a hospital in the northern city of Douai, the health ministry said Wednesday. “This is the first and only confirmed case in France to date,” it added. But on Thursday the health authorities in the Nord/Pas-de-Calais region said two more people were undergoing tests after showing symptoms of the virus. They were a man who had shared a room in hospital with the patient, and a doctor who treated him.The unnamed patient, who was in Dubai from April 9 to 17, has been placed in isolation and is being given respiratory assistance and blood transfusions. The virus, known as nCoV-EMC, is a cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which triggered a scare 10 years ago when it erupted in east Asia, leaping to humans from animal hosts and killing some 800 people. It was first detected in September 2012 and since then more than 30 cases have been reported in different countries, with 18 deaths. But the French health ministry says it does not appear to be very contagious. While it has been deadliest in Saudi Arabia, where 11 people have been killed by the virus, other cases have been reported in Jordan, Germany, Britain and now France. The World Health Organisation on Thursday reported two new confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia.

 

Syria Likely Used Chemical Weapons, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Says

 

By JULIE PACE and BRADLEY KLAPPER 04/25/13 06:14 PM ET EDT AP

 

Syria Chemical Weapons Chuck Hagel

 

WASHINGTON — The White House declared Thursday that U.S. intelligence indicates Syrian President Bashar Assad has twice used deadly chemical weapons in his country’s fierce civil war, a provocative action that would cross President Barack Obama’s “red line” for a significant military response. But the administration said the revelation won’t immediately change its stance on intervening.

 

The information, which has been known to the administration and some members of Congress for weeks, isn’t solid enough to warrant quick U.S. involvement in the 2-year-old conflict, the White House said. Officials said the assessments were made with “varying degrees of confidence” given the difficulty of information gathering in Syria, though there appeared to be little question within the intelligence community.

 

As recently as Tuesday, when an Israeli general added to the growing chorus that Assad had used chemical weapons, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration was continuing to monitor and investigate but had “not come to the conclusion that there has been that use.”

 

The Syrian civil war has persisted, with an estimated 70,000 dead. Obama has so far resisted pressure, both from Congress and from within his own administration, to arm the Syrian rebels or get involved militarily. He has, however, declared the use of chemical weapons a “game changer” that would have “enormous consequences.”

 

The White House disclosed the new intelligence Thursday in letters to two senators, but had Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announce it to reporters traveling with him in the United Arab Emirates. The letters were sent in response to questions from senators of both parties who are pressing for more U.S. involvement, and it marked the first time the administration has publicly disclosed evidence of chemical weapons use.

 

“Our intelligence community does assess, with varying degrees of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin,” the White House said in the letters, which were signed by Obama’s legislative director, Miguel Rodriguez. He went on to write that “given the stakes involved,” the U.S. was still seeking “credible and corroborated facts” before deciding how to proceed.

 

Two congressional officials said the administration has known for weeks – and has briefed Congress – that the CIA and other intelligence agencies have evidence of two incidents of sarin gas use.

 

A U.S. official said intelligence agencies have had indications of chemical weapons use since March and reached the conclusions made public Thursday about two weeks ago. The two incidents are believed to have occurred around March 19 in the Syrian city of Aleppo and suburbs of Damascus, the official said.

 

The officials commented only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly by name.

 

The White House described the attacks as “small scale,” but the full extent of the chemical weapons use and resulting casualties was not immediately known.

 

Even as Assad has ratcheted up the attacks on his own people, Obama has limited U.S. assistance to non-lethal aid, including military-style equipment such as body armor and night vision goggles. However, he has repeatedly said that the use of chemical weapons, or the transfer of the stockpiles to a terrorist organization, would change things.

 

“That’s a red line for us,” he said in August. “There would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front, or the use of chemical weapons. That would change my calculations significantly.”

 

A senior defense official said the White House letters were not an “automatic trigger” for policy decisions on the use of military force. The official alluded to past instances of policy decisions that were based on what turned out to be flawed intelligence, such as the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq after concluding that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.

 

Read Full Article Here

 

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IDF commander: We fired more than a million cluster bombs in Lebanon

Phosphorous and cluster bombs heavily used; unexploded munitions litter wide area of Lebanon.

By Meron Rappaport Sep.12, 2006 | 12:00 AM

 

 

this story is by
Meron Rappaport

 

 

“What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs,” the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon said regarding the use of cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the war.

 

Quoting his battalion commander, the rocket unit head stated that the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets.

 

In addition, soldiers in IDF artillery units testified that the army used phosphorous shells during the war, widely forbidden by international law. According to their claims, the vast majority of said explosive ordinance was fired in the final 10 days of the war.

 

The rocket unit commander stated that Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) platforms were heavily used in spite of the fact that they were known to be highly inaccurate.

 

MLRS is a track or tire carried mobile rocket launching platform, capable of firing a very high volume of mostly unguided munitions. The basic rocket fired by the platform is unguided and imprecise, with a range of about 32 kilometers. The rockets are designed to burst into sub-munitions at a planned altitude in order to blanket enemy army and personnel on the ground with smaller explosive rounds.

 

The use of such weaponry is controversial mainly due to its inaccuracy and ability to wreak great havoc against indeterminate targets over large areas of territory, with a margin of error of as much as 1,200 meters from the intended target to the area hit.

 

The cluster rounds which don’t detonate on impact, believed by the United Nations to be around 40% of those fired by the IDF in Lebanon, remain on the ground as unexploded munitions, effectively littering the landscape with thousands of land mines which will continue to claim victims long after the war has ended.

 

Read Full Article Here

 

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Israel Accused of Using Illegal Weapons

Human Rights Watch claims that Israel has dropped cluster bombs in civilian areas of Lebanon, violating international law.
July 28, 2006  |

The Israeli military is using illegal weapons against civilians in southern Lebanon, according to several reports.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said this week that Israel had used cluster bombs in civilian areas of Lebanon, in clear violation of international law.

The group said cluster bombs killed a civilian and injured 12 others in Blida village in the south of Lebanon last week. Cluster bombs disperse hundreds of tiny shrapnel-filled ‘bomblets’ that are “unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable”, and should not be used in civilian areas, HRW said.

Lebanese doctors, aid workers and refugees are reporting that the Israeli military has used the incendiary weapon white phosphorous in civilian areas, also in violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Dr. Bachir el-Sham at the Complex Hospital in Sidon in the south of Lebanon told IPS in a telephone interview that he has received civilian patients injured by incendiary weapons.

“We are seeing people that are all blackened, with charred flesh that is not burned by normal bombs and flames,” he said. “I am sure this is a special bomb. They are using incendiary weapons on civilians in the south. We are seeing these patients.”

The doctor also told IPS that the Israelis are again using suction bombs, which they used heavily during the Lebanese civil war.

“They are using suction bombs that implode our buildings,” he added, “With implosive bombs… instead of the glass blasted out, it is inside the building. These kill everyone inside the building. There are rarely survivors when they use these bombs.”

Bilal Masri, assistant director of the Beirut Government University Hospital (BGUH) had told IPS earlier that “many of the injured in the south are suffering from the impact of incendiary white phosphorous.”

 

Read Full Article Here

Saudi sends more tanks, arms to Bahrain

Saudi Arabian troops heading towards Bahrain to crush anti-regime protesters (file photo)

Saudi Arabian troops heading towards Bahrain to crush anti-regime protesters (file photo)
Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:34PM GMT
Press TV



Bahrani activists said on Sunday that the tanks were sent by heavy military transport vehicles, which crossed the main bridge that links the two neighboring countries.

Meanwhile, Saudi-backed Bahraini security forces clashed with pro-democracy protesters, who held demonstrations on Sunday across the country against the Grand Prix race.

The violence erupted when police attacked protesters blocking roads in Manama. The protesters also burnt tires on roads in villages outside Manama, according to witnesses.

Protests have increased in Bahrain as the Manama regime prepares to host the controversial sporting event.

Bahrain’s public security chief, Major General Tariq Hassan said in a statement, “Police are out in force to beef up security measures at the Bahrain International Circuit.”

On Saturday, police fired tear gas at anti-regime demonstrators calling for the cancelation of the sporting event over the regime’s crackdown on peaceful protests.

Similar demonstrations were held on Friday, when tens of thousands of Bahrainis rallied along the Budaiya highway west of Manama to demand the cancelation of the race.

The Bahraini revolution began on February 14, 2011, when the people, inspired by the popular revolutions that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, started holding massive demonstrations.

On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country, upon Manama’s request, to help the Bahraini regime quash the uprising.

The protesters initially said they wanted political reform and a constitutional monarchy. However, following the regime’s brutal crackdown on the popular protests, the Bahraini people began demanding that the ruling Al Khalifa family step down.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others arrested in the crackdown, but the protesters are undaunted and have refused to back down on their demands.

GJH/HN

Earth Watch Report  -  Epidemic  Hazards

Today Epidemic Hazard United Arab Emirates Capital City, Abu Dhabi Damage level
Details

Epidemic Hazard in United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, 26 March, 2013 at 04:00 (04:00 AM) UTC.

Description
The German media and Saudi Arabia’s health ministry have reported two new novel coronavirus (NCoV) cases, one in a patient hospitalized in Munich and the other a mild illness in a Saudi Arabian resident. According to an early report today in German from Abendzeitung, a news source based in Munich, the German patient arrived in Germany from the Middle East by medical transport. It says the patient is in isolation in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Munich Municipal Hospital. The patient is a 73-year-old man from the United Arab Emirates who was first treated in an Abu Dhabi hospital on Mar 19, another German news source, TZ Online, reported today. It said medical authorities are monitoring about 50 people who had contact with the patient. The case appears to be Germany’s second NCoV case. In October a Qatari man was hospitalized and treated in Germany but has since recovered. The man’s NCoV infection wasn’t detected until almost a month after he was hospitalized, and so far no evidence of infection has been found in any of that case-patient’s German contacts.

Saudi Arabia’s health ministry said its new case is a contact of a 39-year-old man who died in early March from the disease in that country, according to a Mar 23 World Health Organization (WHO) statement. The patient had a mild illness, recovered, and has been discharged from the hospital. It said there isn’t enough information to allow a conclusive assessment of the mode and source of transmission. The WHO provided no other details about the patient’s NCoV infection. However, Ziad Al-Memish, undersecretary with the health ministry, said the patient is from Riyadh, Arab News, an English-language newspaper based in Jeddah, reported yesterday. He added that the ministry has taken prevention measures and is monitoring the disease. The latest infection in Saudi Arabia appears to represent yet another instance of a mild illness in a person who had contact with another infected patient. Though the disease has been fatal for many patients infected with NCoV, the emergence of mild cases has raised questions about surveillance for the disease and whether people with asymptomatic or mild disease could be playing a role in the spread of the virus.

In a related development, the index patient in a recent three-case British family cluster has died, according to a Mar 23 Birmingham Mail report. The man died at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester on Mar 19, and his body has been taken to Pakistan for burial. The 60-year-old man got sick at the end of January after traveling to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and has remained hospitalized. The Saudi Arabian case pushes the number of WHO-confirmed NCoV cases to 16, and the UK death raises the fatality count to 10. That count does not include Germany’s new case.

Biohazard name: NCoV (novel coronavirus)
Biohazard level: 4/4 Hazardous
Biohazard desc.: Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release.
Symptoms:
Status: confirmed

 

 

Inbred Oil Kings, Bush League Crime & the End of the Energy Oligopoly

 

by Dean Henderson

Veterans Today Network

 

With revolution percolating through the oil-rich sands of the Middle East, the Rothschild/Rockefeller energy oligopoly that has enslaved humankind and decimated planet Earth for the last century is coming apart at the seams. The arrogance and stupidity of the self-proclaimed “illuminated ones”, who operate their energy matrix from the City of London, is being writ large for all to see.

Troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have entered Bahrain to help the al-Khalifa petro-monarchy put down pro-democracy protests.  Protests have been violently suppressed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.  This desperate coercion, condoned by Western powers, represents a last-ditch effort at salvaging the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – the neo-colonial modus operandiorganized by the London banksters.

(What follows is excerpted from Big Oil & Their Bankers…)


The six GCC nationsSaudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar and Oman – sit atop 42% of the world’s oil. The single-family monarchies that control them were hand-picked by the British Empire. They work in tandem with Israel to steal crude oil from the Arab people. They – not China or Japan – are the biggest foreign sovereign purchasers of US Treasuries. Their interests lie not with the Arab people, but with the City of London and Wall Street.

The bloodline elite of the six GCC nations are heavily invested in Western economies. High volume crude oil production keeps this investment capital flowing to Wall Street and the City of London while allowing the GCC elites to live opulent lifestyles. As Saudi Oil Minister Hisham Nazer put it, “We now have a mutual bond of self-interest and reciprocal security interests.”

As Western dependence on Third World resources has increased, it has become increasingly necessary for the international bankers and their corporations to include local elite cliquesin their capital accumulation schemes, making a small group of local people extremely wealthy so that this group will cooperate in selling local resources cheaply to the West.

The bloodline elite of the six GCC nations are heavily invested in Western economies. High volume crude oil production keeps this investment capital flowing to Wall Street and the City of London while allowing the GCC elites to live opulent lifestyles. As Saudi Oil Minister Hisham Nazer put it, “We now have a mutual bond of self-interest and reciprocal security interests.”

An example of this utilization of local elites as surrogates can be seen through the case of the richest man in the world. He is Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei – a tiny oil enclave on the island of Borneo, where Royal Dutch/Shell holds a virtual monopoly over the oil industry and has paid the Sultan well to keep it that way. The Sultan of Brunei is worth over $60 billion and lives in a 1,778-room palace.

These local elite, in turn, hand over their wealth to Western bankers for protection from devaluation and bank failure. This robs their home country of much-needed capital and often precipitates devaluation and debt crises. The US has itself become a debtor nation and owes its debts, in part, to these same Third World elites, who own trillions on deposit at large US banks, while their fellow countrymen live in abject poverty.

Egyptian elites, for example, hold $60 billion in deposits in foreign banks, while the average Egyptian earns $650/year. In the case of the GCC, the amount of recycled petrodollars flowing back into Western investments is truly staggering.

The Saudis have over $600 billion invested abroad. Citigroup owns 33% of the Saudi American Bank but is itself now controlled by members of the House of Saud. In 1993 Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, owner of Saudi Commercial Bank, plunged $590 million into Citibank. bin Talal now owns 17.34% of Citigroup, while Crown Prince Abdullah owns a 5.4% share, making them the bank’s two largest shareholders. bin Talal is also the 2nd largest shareholder in Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp, parent of Fox News and the Wall Street Journal.

The Saudi Citigroup share purchases were facilitated by the Washington-based Carlyle Group, which is 20% owned by the Mellon family that owned Gulf Oil and now owns a large chunk of Chevron Texaco. Carlyle is led by former Reagan and Bush Defense Secretary and Reagan NSC Chairman, Frank Carlucci.  George Bush Sr., James Baker III, and former British Prime Minister John Major, are senior advisers and board members at Carlyle.

Bush Sr. served as Carlyle investment advisor to the bin Laden family until November 2001.

In 1995 Prince bin Talal teamed up with Canadian developer Paul Reichmann, Loews chairman Larry Tisch and Lebanese financier Edmund J. Safra – a close friend of war-criminal Henry Kissinger – to buy London’s Canary Wharf complex for $1.04 billion.

UAE ruling Sheik Zayed runs the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Much of its money is handled by private investment and equity firms like Carlyle Group and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, which is 18% owned by the Saudi Olayan Group. Olayan also owns big chunks of JP Morgan Chase and CS First Boston. The director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority serves as Carlyle Group’s Asian adviser.

Bahrain plays a role in this petrodollar recycling, serving as the key unregulated offshore banking center for both the GCC sheiks and their international mega-bank partners. Bahrain is also home to the US Fifth Fleet and a large number of refineries, which process Saudi crude.

The Saudis have over $600 billion invested abroad. Citigroup owns 33% of the Saudi American Bank but is itself now controlled by members of the House of Saud. In 1993 Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, owner of Saudi Commercial Bank, plunged $590 million into Citibank… and the 2nd largest shareholder in Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp, parent of Fox News and the Wall Street Journal.

Lebanon had been the premier banking center of the Middle East in earlier days, but with Beirut reduced to rubble by Israeli shelling, merchant banking has moved to the duty-free port of Dubai in the UAE, which is now the biggest gold market on the planet.  Investment banking is centered in Kuwait.

But it is Bahrain that is home to the vast multi-billion dollar pool of money market funds derived from GCC/Four Horsemen petrodollar revenues.  Most banks in Bahrain are foreign-owned and all US mega-banks have operations there. Many of Bahrain’s banks are owned by GCC elite and serve as a major conduit in the petrodollar recycling process. The Kuwait Burgan Bank, for example, owns a 28% stake in one of Bahrain’s largest banks – the Middle Eastern Bank.

Investcorp’s First Board of Directors. 1982

The most powerful firm in Bahrain is Investcorp, which took big stakes in Saks Fifth Avenue, BAT, Tiffany, Gucci, Color Tile, Carvel Ice Cream, Dellwood Foods, New York Department Store of Puerto Rico, Circle K and Chaumet.

Investcorp was co-founded in 1983 by Bahrain ruling family scion Sheik Khalifa bin Sulman al-Khalifa – who also owned a big chunk of the infamous BCCI.  A recent Investcorp prospectus lists the Bahrain Minister of Finance as an owner.

Investcorp’s chairman is Abdul-Rahman Al-Ateeqi, former Oil and Finance Minister of Kuwait. Its Vice-President is Ahmed Ali Kanooof the wealthy Saudi Kanoo family, which is worth an estimated $1.5 billion. Former Saudi Oil Minister Sheik Yamani was one of Investcorp’s founding shareholders, along with seven members of the Saudi royal family.

 

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