Everyone agrees we need to fight cholera. No one can agree on how —  The clinics were overwhelmed. Over just a few days in 2010, cholera had swept through the chaos of earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Violently ill patients were packing wards, slumping in tents, and dying within hours of showing their first symptoms. Dr. Louise Ivers, an infectious disease specialist, needed help. She and other medical professionals were working without sleep, besieged by a stream of weak patients struggling into the clinics. There was a vaccine available. Although the cache was not nearly large enough — and still not fully approved by the World Health Organization — Ivers and others appealed to Haitian officials to allow them to distribute the drug. The government said no. “This was a missed opportunity to save lives,” Ivers, who ran a clinic in Haiti for the nonprofit Partners in Health, recalled in a recent interview. Today, the epidemic is seen as a pivotal moment in a dispute over the best way to counter cholera. On one side are public health advocates, backed by the powerful Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who have been galvanized in their enthusiasm for vaccines. Those vaccines, they believe, can be used to make major strides against a disease that is thousands of years old, easily treated, and entirely preventable. On the other are public health officials who argue that the vaccines are not effective enough and are a Band-Aid diverting attention from the water and sanitation issues that are at the root of cholera. “This is a disease of poverty,” said Shafiqul Islam, director of the Water Diplomacy Program at Tufts University. “There is a group of people who think vaccines will solve the problem. I don’t think it will.” Experts on both sides acknowledge the disagreement has undermined unity in the fight against cholera. The WHO has tried to straddle the divide by supporting both approaches, without settling how to pay for both. Caused by bacteria, cholera is spread through contaminated water, and it kills by massively dehydrating victims’ bodies through diarrhea and vomiting. The WHO says about 100,000 people die worldwide from cholera each year. It is a rough estimate: Some countries do not report cases, and victims often die in isolated rural communities, the cause of their deaths unrecorded. The disease roars seasonally into India, Bangladesh, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and made appearances last year in 32 countries. Outbreaks typically center on Africa, South Asia, and, recently, the Middle East. There are year-to-year fluctuations in the number of cholera cases, but the overall incidence does not seem to be dropping. Two oral vaccines exist, and the most useful, called Shanchol, was available in limited supplies when the epidemic began in Haiti. It had been administered widely in Vietnam since 1997, but at the time of the Haitian crisis — which came as a handmaiden of death after the country’s earthquake and ultimately killed 9,000 people — the WHO was awaiting the results of a larger study and had not signed off on international distribution. Since then, the WHO has approved the vaccine and the Gates Foundation — the source of major public health funding — has weighed in forcefully to promote its use. Among other steps, the foundation has pumped about $20 million into Shanchol and helped jumpstart manufacturing of the vaccine in India. As of mid-2013, public health officials had at their disposal a stockpile of 2 million doses that can be moved quickly to an area of need. The vaccine was used successfully in rural Guinea in 2012 and again in refugee camps in South Sudan in 2013. Some 500,000 doses have been sent to Iraq, where continuing violence has helped fuel the emergence of more than 2,000 cholera cases. Helen Matzger, senior program officer at the Gates Foundation, said the decision to promote the vaccine made sense. “When you look at the amount of money it would take to make infrastructure improvements, that’s well outside what a foundation could do,” she said. But the vaccine has drawbacks: It must be administered in two doses, two weeks apart, a daunting task in an emergency. And it is far from perfect clinically — it cuts a person’s risk of contracting the disease by an average of 50 percent to 65 percent over two years. After that, a recipient’s immunity drops even further. More to the point, critics noted, reliance on a vaccine does not address the underlying causes of cholera. “You are really only going to solve this with an investment and infrastructure and maintenance of the infrastructure,” said David Olson, deputy medical director of Doctors Without Borders. He advocates a focus on assisting the 900 million people worldwide without clean water and the 2.5 billion people without good sanitation. Ivers, now senior health and policy adviser for Partners in Health, does not dispute the importance of that goal. “Nobody is saying [a vaccine] replaces water and sanitation,” said Ivers. “But there are still those who say spending $1 million on vaccines is $1 million we don’t have to spend on water and sewer.” Cholera has likely been around as long as man. As societies became urbanized, epidemics were swift, massive, and deadly. More than 14,000 died in London in an 1849 outbreak. Thousands more died when cholera reached New York that year. President James Polk was a victim. The breakthrough against this disease is medical legend. Dr. John Snow, a London physician, rejected the belief that the disease was spread by “bad air,” and began meticulously plotting cholera deaths on a map of Soho in 1854. His plots revealed a key crossroads around a water pump on Broad Street. He got the pump handle removed, stopped the epidemic, and proved contaminated water is the source of the disease. “It has always inspired fear because it is so sudden and horrifying,” said Eric Mintz, a cholera expert at the CDC. “We really have made significant progress in understanding how cholera spreads, evolves, how it can be prevented and how it can be treated.” Though naturally present in tropical, brackish waters, cholera may surge into an epidemic when human waste from a sick person contaminates water used by others for drinking, bathing, or growing crops. Without treatment, cholera can drain victims’ bodies of so much fluid in just six hours that their bodies can no longer pump blood. Death follows immediately. Children can succumb even faster. The separation of sanitation and water systems in cities following Snow’s revelation have largely eliminated cholera in developed countries. And doctors have learned how to effectively treat it. Quick infusion of large quantities of a simple saline solution of water, salt, and sugar — either by drinking or through an IV infusion — works. Such a solution can convert a deadly bout of cholera into an illness from which patients can recover quickly. In countries where cholera is endemic, a regular occurrence, people know to act fast. “I’ve had it several times,” said Maimuna Majumder, an engineer who works regularly in Bangladesh. “Everybody gets it every year. Everybody knows what it is.” But the deadliest outbreaks occur unexpectedly. Haiti was never known to have cholera, despite its poor water and sewer infrastructure. After the earthquake, however, a United Nations peacekeeper likely brought the bacteria from Nepal, a UN investigation found. Latrine runoff from a UN camp apparently reached a major river used for drinking and washing, and the epidemic erupted within days. Ivers recalled being at a meeting and getting a message from a colleague that 100 patients had arrived overnight at a rural clinic with severe diarrhea. “We were all afraid to say the word,” she recalled. “Everybody was taking a deep breath, saying, ‘Oh, please, no.’” Because cholera was unknown in Haiti, people did not recognize it and doctors were not used to treating it. Oral saline solutions and IVs were not there in the numbers needed. The sick crowded wards or slept in tents tended by family members, with few controls to stop further infection. “It was chaotic and fearful,” said Daniele Lantagne, who was on the UN team sent to investigate the outbreak, and is now on the faculty at Tufts University. “Haiti had absolutely no idea what it was. They literally thought it was voodoo, the curse of god.” Ivers and Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, urged the government to improve sanitation and to buy the 200,000 available doses of Shanchol — enough for 100,000 people — and rush it into use. But the government rejected the appeal. “There’s a lot of criticism about the decision,” said Olson, of Doctors Without Borders, who was on the ground in Haiti soon after the outbreak. “But at the time, if you had to figure out who are you going to give 100,000 doses to out of 10 million people, how do you do that?” “The vaccine would not have prevented the exponential spread of the disease,” said Lantagne. “It could have blunted the curve, yes, but it would not have prevented the epidemic.” Ivers, who finally got approval to administer the vaccine to 45,000 Haitians as the epidemic stretched into its second year, said the results of her experiment — a 65 percent reduction in cases — proved the vaccine’s worth. “Even if they only had 200,000 doses in the bank, we could’ve bought those and got started,” Ivers said. “We could’ve told the manufacturers we will buy 5 million doses, so ramp up the manufacture. We could have started. We could have done it.” Ivers envisions a strategy, mostly embraced by the WHO, in which the vaccine could be used to treat the elderly and children in areas in which the disease is endemic, such as Bangladesh, before the predictable spring and fall outbreaks, and could be rushed in to try to isolate an unexpected outbreak in places like Haiti. But mobilizing vaccinations when an outbreak emerges is tough. “Cholera makes fools of epidemiologists. It’s just so hard to predict,” Olson said. “It will almost always move faster than you can move resources. We are just trying to warn people, ‘don’t get too caught up in vaccinations because you are going to have patients at any case.’” Added the CDC’s Mintz: “Vaccines are not the hydrogen bomb in this war.” A younger generation is injecting new voices — and new ideas — into the debate. Majumder, a doctoral engineering candidate at MIT, is seeking to link texting on mobile phones, rapidly becoming ubiquitous in the world, to the fight against cholera. She believes that if communities can begin reporting evidence of the disease sooner to medical providers, public health officials would have a head start in rushing resources to address emerging epidemics. “If we can identify the hot spots, that would be great,” she said of her effort, known as the Village Zero Project. Another freshly minted researcher, Faith Wallace-Gadsden, has helped start a project in Haiti to mobilize women to sell cheap chlorine water sterilization tablets. It’s a simple idea, but one she believes could work. Wallace-Gadsden contends that the dispute over vaccinations is too narrow. “The thing that is mind-blowing is the amount of money that has been spent, and it hasn’t worked,” she said. “The idea that people are still dying in 2015 of cholera is outrageous.”

This seems like a horrible situation with no real solution.  It is crazy that cholera is still an issue in 2019 but apparently it is going strong in some places.  I'm not sure that there is an obvious solution except maybe better sanitation for some of these people.  But I guess some of that is cultural and not much can be done to fix it.  Educating the people about it does not seem to have helped much, nor does vaccinating them.  So what do you do, really?


The person is male. Racially, the person is hispanic / latino. The person is 32 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 35000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.0 in openness, 5.5 in conscientiousness, 2.0 in extraversion, 5.5 in agreeableness, and 4.5 in stability.

I feel like in order to fight Cholera correctly we have to understand it. Its a good sign that no one agrees how to do it in my opinion because that just means that we need to find better ways to fight it. IT also means people are trying to agree just can't. That is a good sign because people are willing to talk about a solution.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 62 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 29000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 2.5 in openness, 6.5 in conscientiousness, 1.0 in extraversion, 6.5 in agreeableness, and 2.0 in stability.

Hey A:  Did you read the article on cholera in third world countries?  I'll focus on the Haiti piece of the article.   Haiti had an overwhelming number of folks that had cholera.   Vaccines were offered to the government because there was little they could do for those folks other than IVs.   The government refused to take help from the World Health Organization.   The corruption that goes on that country never ceases to amaze me.   I got extremely frustrated reading what could have been done but nothing was done.   So many people died that should not have.


Haiti goes from one catastrophe to another.   If it isn't a life ending hurricane, it's cholera.   I have huge respect for Bill and Melinda Gates.   Vaccines will stop cholera.  This country's opinions of vaccines are assine.   Without vaccinations, we return to cholera, small pox, measles, etc.   People wanting vaccines to save their lives yet there are not enough.


I feel like this is a problem not just with this Cholera situation but with humanity in general. WE can never just come together and form a common agreement we always seem to end up on the wrong side of things and disagreeing.. We tend to never agree on things and this causes disagreements like this. If we just worked things out correctly we would be better off.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 27 years old. The person has a went to technical / vocational school. The person earns 25000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.0 in openness, 6.0 in conscientiousness, 6.0 in extraversion, 6.0 in agreeableness, and 6.0 in stability.

Airline worker gunned down at Oklahoma City airport, suspect found dead —  A gunman murdered a Southwest Airlines employee, then killed himself Tuesday at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport in what police described as a premeditated attack.   Michael Winchester, 52, was shot while walking between a crowded terminal and the airport employee parking area. The unidentified suspect was later found dead in a pickup truck in public parking garage overlooking the scene. Police said the suspect appeared to die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Oklahoma City Police Capt. Paco Balderrama said the shooter apparently knew the victim's schedule and routine.   "This individual went there and waited for the employee to either be coming or going to take this opportunity," Balderrama said. He wouldn't say conclusively that it was a "sniper-type" attack. A LinkedIn page with Winchester's name described him as a ramp supervisor for Southwest and said he was from Washington, Okla., about 35 miles south of the airport.   Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said in a statement that the airline would cancel all flights scheduled to depart Oklahoma City for the remainder of the day Tuesday.   The 1 p.m. shooting set off a scramble at the airport, with police immediately closing the sprawling complex and asking passengers inside to seek cover. They diverted incoming flights and refused to give already-loaded aircraft permission to leave. There were concerns the gunman might have entered the terminal and mingled among passengers or employees. "We have a heightened level of security all the time. These people have access to aircraft so we're very concerned about that," airport spokeswoman Karen Carney said. Hundreds of people were stranded inside the terminal for more than three hours before officers began letting them leave slowly. Carney said about 300 people were held on aircraft away from the terminal after their planes landed ahead of a ground stop. Once police determined that a suspect found in a red pickup truck on the second floor of a public parking garage was dead, officers gave an all-clear. The airport handles between 7,000 and 8,000 passengers daily for Alaska, Delta, Southwest and United airlines and has a separate terminal that serves as a transfer center for federal inmates. A jet carrying inmates to the transfer site was allowed to land while the rest of the airport was shuttered. Video from a television station helicopter showed what appeared to be a pool of blood about 100 feet from the airport's employee parking area -- and about 100 yards from the airport's ticket counters and departure area. While airports have high security, it wasn't immediately known whether surveillance cameras might show the shooting, Balderrama said. Balderrama initially said police had received reports of a possible second victim, but no one was found. Police found the suspect's truck in the garage about three hours after the shooting and determined that someone was inside. They were not sure whether he was dead or alive. After about 75 minutes, using a robot, officers determined the suspect was dead. A number of inbound flights were diverted to other airports after Will Rogers suspended operations. Southwest redirected one flight back to Dallas while a Las Vegas to Houston flight that stops in Oklahoma City went to Amarillo, Texas, instead. Two commercial flights from Chicago's O'Hare Airport were directed to Tulsa, about 100 miles away. Michael Winchester was a punter on the University of Oklahoma's 1985 national championship team. His son, James, also played for the school and currently plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. "Our hearts are truly heavy for the entire Winchester Family. Mike was a former Sooner student athlete as was his son James/daughter Carolyn," the school's athletic director, Joe Castiglione, tweeted Tuesday afternoon. He added "daughter Becca was also a student athlete. Please keep this beautiful family in your prayers" in a later tweet.

This was just so sad and senseless. The brutal styel of killing and plotting behind this murde is crazy. Its insane in this day and age a gun couldnt even make its way into the airport building. Maybe there needs to be even more measures to prevent this. I am so saddened that the victim had a family and children that have to sit with his death forever now. Airline attendants should be more protected. I wonder what the connection between the two was, was it revenge, he knew his schedule so there must have been something going on there. I think way more security now has to be implemented as this should have never even happened. Also the poor people stuck on the planes for three hours with a supposed shooter on the loose id be terrified.


The person is male. Racially, the person is black / african american. The person is 37 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 40000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.5 in openness, 7.0 in conscientiousness, 1.0 in extraversion, 6.5 in agreeableness, and 6.0 in stability.

To this day I can not understand people who kill someone then kill themselves. If your life is going that bad and you want to kill yourself then you should do it, but leave other people out of it. I feel bad for the man who lost his life and his children that had to lose their father like that. I even feel bad for all the people at the airport that had their lives interrupted.


This is one of those articles that just hits you in the guts. You put yourself in the victims shoes and think what would i have done could i have known. It is horrifying in this day and age someone could even make it around an airport with any kind of weapon. I would really like to learn the motive and connection the victim had with the suspect. Why do people kill others I will never understand. Also for the families that have to deal with the after math the kids who dont get a father anymore for no reason. That must have been so painful. Being stuck on an airplane while a murderer is running around the aiport would also send me in to panick.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 38 years old. The person has a postgraduate / professional degree. The person earns 42000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 3.5 in openness, 7.0 in conscientiousness, 6.5 in extraversion, 5.5 in agreeableness, and 6.5 in stability.

All this senseless killing is so disturbing.  They didn't even seem to have a clear reason why this man was shot.  It seems like every day or so there is some lunatic out there with a gun killing people for no apparent reason except for their own instability or anger at the world.  This is such a sad scenario that people see killing others as an outlet for their own negative emotions.  It seems like there is not much of a good solution for this scenario, as controlling guns just takes away protection from people who need it.  The bad guys still find a way to arm themselves.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 47 years old. The person has a two year associate degree. The person earns 29000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.5 in openness, 6.5 in conscientiousness, 7.0 in extraversion, 7.0 in agreeableness, and 7.0 in stability.

What a terrible story, my heart goes out to the family of the victim. I wonder what he did to deserve this, was he involved in some way or did something to provoke this senseless murder? Either way, an innocent life is lost and the guy left behind two kids and his wife. The most pathetic thing about it that the murderer killed himself afterwards. What a coward! Hell is definitely a place for people of this caliber.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 29 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 85000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.75 in openness, 6.75 in conscientiousness, 6.75 in extraversion, 6.75 in agreeableness, and 7.0 in stability.

India Kashmir: The teenager blinded by pellets —  Photographer Abid Bhat here describes the life of 14-year-old Insha Mushtaq, who lost vision in both her eyes after being hit by pellets in Indian-administered Kashmir. "I just want to ask the security personnel who fired pellets at me what my fault was," Miss Mushtaq says, as she stands by the same window she was sitting at when pellets blinded her. She has been in and out of hospitals for the past three months in an attempt to regain her vision. Nothing has worked so far, but she remains hopeful. Ms Mushtaq says she wanted to become a doctor before losing her vision. She brings out her text books to show me, and flips the pages though she cannot read them anymore. "I can only feel them now," she says tearfully. Concern in Kashmir over police pellet guns Photoshopped celebrities used for Kashmir pellet gun campaign She also shows me a school photo identity card. The continuing unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir has seen the deaths of 89 civilians with thousands injured. India blames Pakistan for stirring up violence in the region, a charge that it denies. Both countries claim Kashmir in its entirety but only control parts of it. The region has been a flashpoint for more than 60 years, sparking two wars between the countries. Within the Muslim-majority territory, some militant groups have taken up arms to fight for independence from Indian rule or a merger with Pakistan. And the widespread use of pellet guns to quell protests in recent months has led to more than a thousand people sustaining eye injuries. Pellet guns - a form of shotgun - were first used by the police as a non-lethal weapon to quell protests in Indian-administered Kashmir in 2010. They are normally used for hunting animals. The gun fires a cluster of small, round-shaped pellets, which resemble iron balls, at high velocity. A pellet gun cartridge can contain up to 500 such pellets. When the cartridge explodes, the pellets disperse in all directions. They are less lethal than bullets but can cause serious injuries, especially if they hit the eye. Doctors treating pellet gun wounds in Kashmir told the Indian Express newspaper they were seeing "sharp and more irregular-shaped pellets" which were causing "more damage" this time. Miss Mushtaq's family is struggling to come to terms with her injuries. Her mother bursts into tears as a family member helps Ms Mushtaq don a scarf and sunglasses to hide her eyes and scarred face. "If she was killed, I would have been able to overcome the grief but the sight of her blinded eyes kills me every day," her father says as he shows me pictures of her daughter in the hospital ICU. As for Miss Mushtaq herself, she is trying to stay positive. She greets every guest coming to enquire about her health with a smile, drinks her tea and tries to console her family members and relatives. Later, she goes out for a walk with some of her relatives, smile still intact. But, for her and many others like her, it is going to be a long and difficult road ahead.

I feel really bad for the girl that lost her eyes due to the attack with the pellets. She had her whole life ahead of her and she did not deserve what happened to her. She was merely a victim to all the war and corruption that is going on in the country. It's sad to think that someone who once had vision and is now never able to see anything ever again.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 25 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 60000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.0 in openness, 6.0 in conscientiousness, 2.0 in extraversion, 5.0 in agreeableness, and 6.0 in stability.

I can't imagine being a fourteen year old kid and losing my eyesight; that's just so sad. I don't think it's right to fire at people who can't defend themselves, and the fact that it sounds like they're using pellet guns with new shapes just to cause more damage is awful. I hope that girl gets more help in the future.


This girl's life is forever changed.  Pellets destroyed her eyes and her face.   Her mom wraps scarves around her face and eyes to protect her.  :)   I have a great deal of admiration for her as she is speaking the the journalist about what happened.   She wants her government to give her an answer.  She had aspirations of becoming a doctor.   She showed her textbooks to him.   She is in and out of hospitals hoping to retain her eyesight.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 41 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 28000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 2.0 in openness, 2.5 in conscientiousness, 1.5 in extraversion, 2.0 in agreeableness, and 1.0 in stability.

I feel some amount of sympathy for this girl because I can't imagine what it would be like to lose your eyesight like that.  In one brief moment the world goes from visible to invisible in an instant.  It's got to be nearly traumatic (although she seems to be remaining upbeat).  But I also don't feel that much sympathy because I want to know what she was doing when it happened.  Kashmir is a violent place. Someone like this should not be ignorant of the dangers in the region, including how police will respond to protests and uprisings.  I'm sure she wasn't just sitting in a peaceful cafe, minding her own business when she got blasted.  If she was part of a riot, then she got what she could have expected.  If she wasn't part of the unrest, then she should have fled the area.


You really cant help but put yourself in the victims shoes. Having dreams of becoming a doctor then one day your whole life changes and you cant do your dream anymore. It would be so scary to go blind not be able to see anything anymore you have to become dependent on on thers, you lose alot of your independence. I can understand that protests can become unsafe or even violent so you need tactics to over come that but with such numbers of people getting very hurt and permanently disabled I think thye should change there tactics. They should use more tear gas and change it to bean bag guns, a larger object that cant fit right into eyes .


Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi under fire as alleged military abuse follows militant attack —  SITTWE, Burma — A security crackdown following militant attacks has exacerbated the humanitarian situation in a predominantly Muslim region of Burma and focused international attention on the new government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Burmese troops launched a wide-ranging manhunt last month in a troubled area of northern Rakhine state populated largely by Rohingya Muslims, leaving scorched homes and displaced residents in their wake. The manhunt followed an Oct. 9 attack on police posts that left nine policemen dead. The government has accused members of the Rohingya community of being behind the attack. Another police officer was killed in what may have been a second militant attack last week, according to state media. Renata Lok-Dessallien, the United Nations resident coordinator in Burma, was among a team of United Nations officials and diplomats who visited the affected area last week. She said authorities had assured the U.N. that aid would resume after being effectively cut off for weeks. But how soon is not clear. U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel has called for a “thorough investigation” into alleged abuse and for the restoration of humanitarian access, the State Department said. An estimated 15 members of the security forces — roughly 10 police and five soldiers — have died and more than 30 Muslim residents have been reported killed in the security crackdown. Burma is also known as Myanmar. Human Rights Watch has reported that satellite data shows villages that have been burned, and the Reuters news agency and the Myanmar Times newspaper have chronicled the alleged rape of Muslim women by soldiers. The Myanmar Times reporter was fired following her report on the issue. “Any allegation of rape or sexual violence is a profound concern to us,” Lok-Dessallien said. Residents in Rakhine describe a landscape of fear in which members of the Rohingya community have allegedly been barred from going to mosques or work. “We can’t go anywhere, as we’re not allowed to,” Min Hlaing, a Muslim businessman in a restricted area near Maungdaw, said last week by telephone. He said food prices had risen as a result of roadblocks and claimed that at least one community leader was held by security forces. The crisis marks the first major test of Suu Kyi’s new democratically elected administration, which took over March 31 after decades of military rule. Analysts say she must find a way to work with Burma’s powerful military, which still controls the country’s security forces. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been accused of not doing enough to address the Rohingya crisis despite her lifelong commitment to Burmese freedom. In an interview with The Washington Post in New Delhi on Oct. 18, Suu Kyi said border security posts must be strengthened, rule of law followed and a development plan created for the area. “So many things have to be done simultaneously. It’s not an easy job,” she said. “But we are, of course, determined to contain the situation and to make sure that we restore peace and harmony as soon as possible.” Suu Kyi’s government has said the men who attacked police posts on Oct. 9 were from a little-known group with foreign backing. In YouTube videos, the group has called itself the Movement of Faith. There are about 1 million Rohingya Muslims in Burma who are essentially stateless, and many in the Buddhist-majority country consider them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. More than 120,000 Rohingya remain confined to dirty camps in the area after violent clashes with their Buddhist neighbors in 2012. Rohingyas said they do not believe that there was a militant group operating in the state. “This is a rumor. This is not true. This is the deliberate assassination from the government,” said Mohamed Amin, 21, a Rohingya who lives in the heavily guarded Muslim neighborhood in Sittwe. More than 16,000 people from both faiths have been displaced by the search, and 100,000 are without their regular food assistance, according to Pierre Peron, of the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Health services have been suspended, and weeks have passed without access to mobile health clinics and emergency referrals. “You have a very vulnerable population that is even more vulnerable now,” Peron said last week. The state government spokesman, Tin Maung Shwe, said the matter was “an internal affair, not an international affair.” Residents in the crowded camps said that in the days after the attacks, doctors who normally visit a few times a week did not show, although some visits have resumed. Suu Kyi blamed the health-care deficit on the security situation. “It’s even difficult for us to provide enough security to give them the health care that they need,” she said. “It is another big problem, because doctors and nurses who go to camps [for displaced people] are not treated well by the communities when they go back.” She added, “The whole thing is a rigmarole.” At a community health clinic in the Muslim neighborhood in Sittwe one day recently, there were no doctors, just a weary-looking pharmacist and several patients waiting in a dimly lit room. “We are doing as much as we can,” said Maung Htun, 54, the pharmacist. “But now we are only capable of healing small things.” Suu Kyi said that the government must create a resettlement program. A controversial citizenship-verification process that has been criticized by rights groups has been stymied because, Suu Kyi said, many Rohingya refused to participate. “We can’t fix a time frame, because it depends on how much everybody is prepared to cooperate,” she said. “We started off this movement for citizenship verification in order that we might move forward, but then, if there is no cooperation, it has been very difficult for us.” On the ground, the latest flare-up has frayed hope and diminished an already low level of confidence in Suu Kyi’s government. Maung Aye Shwe, 18, a volunteer teacher in one of the camps, said nothing has changed since Suu Kyi’s historic election a year ago. “There is no improvement within this year. We are having just oppression — no changes or improvement,” he said. Maung Kyaw Win, 42, said that he once worked as a goldsmith in his village, and that he does not know when he and his family will be able to return home. But he does know that relations with his Muslim neighbors will not be the same. “No one will trust each other until the end of the universe,” he said. Gowen reported from New Delhi. Aung Naing Soe contributed from Sittwe.

I feel like this is the type of attack that has no excuse.  Maybe the troops dislike the religion of muslims but this is no way to go about things just attacking them in this manner. The reporter that was fired for reporting on this issue has my respect, she tried to bring it to light and lost her job trying to let the voice of these women to be spoken.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 21 years old. The person has a high school degree or diploma. The person earns 20000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 3.0 in openness, 5.0 in conscientiousness, 5.0 in extraversion, 4.0 in agreeableness, and 3.5 in stability.

Do you believe what is happening over there! It seems like the government and medical person ell are doing all that they can to help people, but not much is being done and it just continues to get worse. This leads to people thinking that nothing is being done and no one is being helped, even though they are!


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 47 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 110000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.5 in openness, 7.0 in conscientiousness, 4.5 in extraversion, 5.5 in agreeableness, and 7.0 in stability.

This is a sad story about a predominantly Muslim community in Burma that is fighting with the government and military of the region. They are under constant fear of attack. There are roadblocks so they can't get food in or get out to get food. The prices of goods that are within the area have also risen drastically. I can't imagine having to live in this type of situation.


I don't really care about this issue, in part because I don't even understand it.  All these ethnic and religious conflicts with displaced people, governments cracking down, and terrorist groups--they just tire me after a while.  I do tend to agree with the idea that these are internal matters, not international matters.  Burma has a right to independence and to protect itself against deemed threats.  The UN always wants to come in and defend the refugees and criticize the governments for not doing enough or for cracking down too hard on perceived threats.  Why should a government not have the right to defend itself against existential threats?  For the sake of some do-nothing, pompous, self-righteous group from the UN?  Screw that.


An article like this just make you so glad to live in the united states. Where everything is regulated and we have laws. I can not imagine living in a place where the governemnt and law can do anything they please without consequences. Soldiers raping women burning down houses all with out real cause. Any aid workers and doctors are treated very poorly so theres not enough to go around how does this civilzation survive. Crazy how far behind and uncivilized some places still are in 2019. I think more light needs to be shown on this as real people are hurting. Everyone deserves to feel safe in there country.


US-Backed Air Campaign Accused Of War Crimes In Yemen —  On an August morning, a taxi driver in northwestern Yemen hugged his kids and jokingly told his family, "Forgive me if I don't come back." It was his way of laughing off the danger of driving in a country where airstrikes can hit any road at any time.   In the afternoon, Mohammed al-Khal happened upon just such a strike. Three missiles had hit a highway, leaving bystanders wounded. Al-Khal took one of them, an ice cream vendor, in his car and rushed him to the nearest hospital, run by the international humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders.   But the warplanes were still hunting.   Moments after al-Khal pulled up at the hospital in the town of Abs, a missile smashed down by his car, just outside the hospital entrance. Al-Khal, a father of eight, was incinerated. The blast ripped through patients and family waiting in an outdoor reception area. Nineteen people were killed, along with two civilians killed on the highway.   The Aug. 15 attack typified what has been a pattern in the nearly 2-year-old air campaign by Saudi Arabia and its allies against Yemen's Shiite rebels, known as Houthis. Rights groups and U.N. officials say the U.S.-backed coalition has often either deliberately or recklessly depended on faulty intelligence, failed to distinguish between civilian and military targets and disregarded the likelihood of civilian casualties.   Experts say some of the strikes amount to war crimes.   "The Saudis have been committing war crimes in Yemen," said Gabor Rona, a professor teaching the laws of war at Columbia University. He warned that American personnel helping the coalition "may also be guilty of war crimes."   Nearly 4,000 civilians have been killed in the war, and an estimated 60 percent of them died in airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition, the U.N. says.   Saudi Arabia launched the coalition campaign in March 2015 in a bid to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, after the Houthis overran the capital, Sanaa, and the north of the country. The Iranian-backed Houthis are allied with troops loyal to Hadi's ousted predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh.   The war has devastated the country of 26 million, causing widespread hunger and driving 3 million from their homes.   Warplanes have hit medical centers, schools, factories, infrastructure and roads, markets, weddings and residential compounds.   The U.S. and its allies have sold billions of dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia for the campaign. The U.S. military provides it with intelligence, satellite imagery and logistical help.   Washington underlines it does not make targeting decisions and calls on the coalition to investigate reported violations. Over the summer, the U.S military reduced the number of military personnel advising the coalition from several dozen to fewer than five, an apparent move to distance itself from the campaign.   "U.S. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said.   The coalition says it does its utmost to avoid civilian casualties and notes rebels often operate among civilians. Rights groups and U.N. officials have reported probable war crimes by the Houthis, including shelling civilian areas and basing their fighters in schools and other civilian locations.     "This is the fog of war," the coalition's spokesman, Saudi Gen. Ahmed al-Asiri, told The Associated Press when asked if there is a pattern of civilian deaths. "In war, there are decisions that should be taken fast."   The coalition, which says it investigates every claim of violations, has made nine investigations public. In two it acknowledged mistakes and said it would pay compensation to victims. In most of the other cases, it said the strikes were against a justified military target.   But critics say the American and international backing has given Saudi Arabia and its allies a free rein.   "We believe that the coalition understood ... it has a green light to commit more massacres in Yemen," said Abdel-Rashed al-Faqeh, the head of Muwatana, one of Yemen's most prominent rights groups.   The strike in Abs underscored several of the problems experts point to in many strikes — the failure to distinguish between civilian and military targets and a lack of proportionality, the principle that use of force must be balanced to avoid civilian casualties.   In the strikes, warplanes initially fired a rocket targeting a Houthi checkpoint manned by two rebels on a highway outside Abs. The fighters escaped, but two more rockets were fired, killing two bystanders and wounding others. It appears the warplanes followed al-Khal's Camry, believing he was carrying a wounded fighter, and struck him outside the hospital.   The hospital was on a coalition list of sites not to be targeted in airstrikes, and had markings on its roof to show it was a medical facility.   The AP interviewed witnesses to the strikes on the highway and at the hospital, as well as al-Khal's two wives.   The head of Doctors Without Border's mission in Yemen, Colette Gadenne, said the coalition acknowledged to the group privately that the strike was a mistake.   The head of the coalition's investigation team, Mansour al-Mansour, said he could not discuss the investigation results in public. He said the coalition gave Doctors Without Borders all information it gathered.   The effect of the strike — the fifth on a facility run by the group in Yemen — has been wide-reaching. The organization pulled its personnel from northern Yemen, straining staff at multiple hospitals.   The Abs hospital served around 100,000 peoplpe, said its manager, Ibrahim Ali. Now it is shut down and the nearest medical facilities are two or three hours away by car. "Patients sometimes die on the road," Ali said.   Rona, the legal expert, said those behind the Abs strikes "didn't take sufficient precautions to determine that the people in the taxi are targetable." Then, warplanes struck where "there would be significant collateral damage to the hospital."   "Any way you look at it, it is a war crime."

I think that after reading the article, it just confirms my views on war and terrorism. It has been going on for way too long and it really needs to come to an end. Innocent people are dying as well as getting killed. Families of these people are all grieving that they just lost a family member. Overall, it's terrible that this is still going on in the world today and there's nothing we can do about it.


It's amazing how statistics can show you how bad things are, but it's individual stories that really make you feel them. Like, reading about how 4,000 civilians have been killed in the crossfire? that's sad. But somehow reading about just one man, who ran an taxi service or a guy with an ice cream truck and leaving behind eight kids? Devastating.


I don't feel much sympathy at all in this situation.  War is war.  What some professor at Columbia says about how war should be fought is idiotic.  What value are words in war?  Pieces of paper?  War should be fought to win.  In World War II we leveled German cities and nuked Japan twice.  We didn't concern ourselves with preventing civilian casualties.  That would have seriously hindered us from winning the war, which should be the only point of going to war.  In the same way, the Saudis and this coalition should not concern themselves with protecting somewhat complicit Yemenis when it hinders their effort to win the conflict.  That should be the goal.  The idea of fighting wars with tweezers to prevent collateral damage is absurd, even if it means people like this father of eight die.


This is such a disturbing article to read through. You just cant help but feel for the families of the victims so brutually killed. How could this coalition have such a lack of care for human life. The fact that they hit near a humanitarian run hospital is despicable. I am in aw that the us would in any way help when there is faulty information and so much civilian life loss. I feel for all these people that are now injured and have to go hours away for medical help because they had to shut this hospital down.


The person is male. Racially, the person is hispanic / latino. The person is 23 years old. The person has a went to college but did not get a degree. The person earns 70000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.5 in openness, 4.0 in conscientiousness, 6.5 in extraversion, 3.5 in agreeableness, and 5.0 in stability.

Child sex abuse victim recalls horror of being forced to sleep with father and mother —  A woman has recalled the horror of being forced to have sex with both of her parents and being plied with alcohol from the age of 11.   In a particularly heartbreaking episode of The Dr Phil Show, an incestuous child abuse survivor confronted her biological mother two decades on. Victim Amanda divulged her horrific experience, including her parents making her pose for explicit photographs and videotaping their sexual encounters with a view to sell them online.   Mother Justine – who appeared remorseful for her actions – claimed that she "hates" herself for the crimes made against her daughter. She said: "I know I made poor choices."   The daughter told her mother and the audience: "My innocence was stolen from me."   Television host Dr Phil questioned the mother: "In what parallel universe does a mother watch her daughter performing a sex act on her husband and her father?"   Justine and Amanda's biological father Jim were charged with sexual assault and exploitation of their then 13-year-old daughter in 1996. They both pleaded guilty and received sentences of 20 years in prison.   Amanda shocked the audience when she said: "My parents forced me to have sex with them," before revealing that she was given rewards for the sexual acts and that her mother showed her how to "enjoy" sex. "Justine would show me how good sex would feel by having sex in front of me with my father," she added. The young woman also claimed she was forced to have sex with both parents. She said that mother Justine both coached her sexually and was a "willing participant" in the ongoing sexual abuse.   Amanda revealed that Justine photographed and videotaped much of what she refers to as "encounters." After her parents "got what they wanted", family life would resume as normal.   Following the abuse, Amanda gave an account of what would typically happen thereafter. She said: "Afterwards, it was a normal night, dessert, brush my teeth and bedtime."   She also claimed that her parents threatened her if she revealed their dark secret to anyone in a bid for help. "It's been 20 years since that nightmare ended, but it's still hard to grasp the idea that they are out of prison," she said. According to the victim, her mother Justine had allegedly refused "to acknowledge that she had any significant part" in the molestation.   Jim, who has since reached out to his daughter on Facebook before becoming "manipulative," has yet to apologise to Amanda. She said: "I don't think I've ever received a real apology from Jim. Justine claims that her and her husband's behaviour was fuelled by money. She said: "Jim found out how much money could be made from child pornography.   "If I could take it all back I would. I hate myself for what I did," she added, along with claims that Amanda's father made her "join him" in abusing their daughter. She suggested it was all her then-husband's idea and that she had initially fought him for three months, but eventually "gave in". Contrarily, Jim has previously branded his ex-wife a liar, and stated that she was a willing participant in their heinous sex crimes against their own child. He is to appear on The Dr Phil Show today (17 November) and explain why he had sex with his daughter.   Since the episode aired, the official Twitter account for Dr Phil has posted a slew of tweets regarding child abuse and information on paedophiles.   Many viewers have expressed their horror on Amanda's story, with one person writing on the social media sharing site: "This show is a hard one... don't know how I'm going to stomach tomorrow's continuation," as another put: "SO Sad. Her parents are sick and should be ashamed of themselves".

Hearing the story of the girl on dr phil was the most heartbreaking thing i have read recently. People who are victims of sexual abuse i always feel terrible for. But to be okay with the abuse of your children absolutely breaks me. How can you be parents and think that abusing your child is okay because of the money you will make from it. Disgusting and they both should have gone to prison longer than 20 years.


This article is so shocking and just stomach churning to me. How could your own flesh and blood do such horrible acts to you, a little girl. They stole her innocense and trust in people. They deserve life in jail the fact that they are out is just absurd. If they could do this to there own child i think they are to be considered at risk to other children and the community. It shows they have no moral compass and consious. I feel for that girl how you could ever live a normal life or create real relationships after being used for sex for so long is beyond me. I hope she has gotten appropriate therapy and other family to help her through. What a strong girl to go against her parents and stand up for herself.


This is a very disturbing article and i really hope that the girl grows up to be a decent person. What she had to go through was nothing that a child should ever have to go through. It was terrible and disturbing to say the least. Those two parents should be put in jail for their whole life or even the death sentence. The fact that thye can do this to a minor, let alone their own daughter, is so bad.


After reading the article, i couldn't help but feel really disturbed. It's so disturbing that someone can do that to their own child. The fact that you are doing this to a child is already bad enough but to do it to your own child is downright disgusting. These people deserve the life sentence in my opinion. If you are able to do something like this, who knows what else you are capable of.


The person is male. Racially, the person is asian / pacific islander. The person is 33 years old. The person has a went to college but did not get a degree. The person earns 36000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 4.25 in openness, 4.25 in conscientiousness, 4.5 in extraversion, 4.25 in agreeableness, and 3.75 in stability.

This is pretty sick I can not believe that parents could be that sick but it must be white people they like to do sick perverted stuff like this they are the ones that ruin everything we need to really look at society and see how we need to improve the way that things are going into the world it is crazy


73 killed in tanker explosion in Mozambique —  A fuel tanker exploded in northern Mozambique as residents gathered around to buy fuel from the driver on Thursday, killing 73 people and injuring 110 others, Mozambican media reported.   Dozens of charred bodies were scattered around the blast site in the town of Caphiridzange in Tete province, and government officials believed more bodies might be in surrounding woods, Radio Mozambique reported. Some badly burned people had tried to run into a nearby river, the radio said.   A truck driver from neighboring Malawi had turned off the main road to sell fuel to local residents, who were gathered around the vehicle when the fuel caught fire, according to Radio Mozambique.   Medical teams rushed to the scene of the accident, evacuating the injured in ambulances and other vehicles. Searchers looked for more victims, though their efforts were hampered as night fell.   The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. Citing Mozambican reports, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said one theory was that a fire near the tanker set off the blast, while another theory pointed to a lightning strike as residents were collecting the fuel.   A national government task force planned to travel to the accident site on Friday.

This article just hits you when thinking about the victims and there last minutes. To be in a country set up like that after being involved in such a blast and being injured i would be mentally inconsolable and frightened as you cant rely on the medical emergency people and communication to save you I think that is why many tried running into the river. These poor people experienced un imaginable pain before dying. I think the site emergency repsonders who arrived at this seen with charred bodies everyhwere must have been traumautizing and to see humans suffering in such pain. I hope that there wernt more victims that ran into the woods and just died from extreme pain. I am horrified from this story.


I feel really bad for the people that were involved in this accident. It was so terrible and so many lives were lost because of something so unexpected happening. It really makes me feel bad for the families of the ones that were lost as well. All of their lives will be impacted by this and will make living on much more harder.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 33 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 110000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 4.5 in openness, 7.0 in conscientiousness, 1.5 in extraversion, 7.0 in agreeableness, and 7.0 in stability.

There were seventy three people killed in a horrific accident in Mozambique when a fuel tanker exploded. There were seventy three residents gathered around the tanker waiting to buy fuel from the driver when the explosion suddenly happened, killing seventy three and injuring one hundred and ten people. This was a tragedy.


Sometimes living in the United States we forget how a lot of the people of the planet live. I would not think about buying fuel from a truck that stops in my community. We think of gas stations, not thinking that everybody in the world do not have access to a gas station. I feel sorry for the people who died and was hurt in the accident.


This story in Caphiridzange is horrific.   The tanker just pulled over to provide fuel to the residents of that region and it completely blew up hurting countless numbers of people.   There were a couple of ideas that were suggested what caused it but nothing was specific.   So many died and so many left injured.


At least 10 hurt after massive Arizona apartment complex fire caught on video —  Ten people were hurt when a fire tore through a small apartment complex in Payson. Fire Chief David Staub says the fourplex is a total loss after an explosion ignited the blaze Saturday evening. The fire was reported after sundown and fire crews arrived to find the building completely engulfed.   Staub says eight people inside all suffered minor injuries except one person who was transported to a Maricopa County burn center. That person remains hospitalized in stable condition.   Two people who were outside the apartments also sustained minor injuries. They were treated at the scene.   It took crews about 10 minutes to get the fire under control after the gas company shut off gas in the neighborhood.   Staub says the cause remains under investigation.

This really sounds like it could have been so much worse.  Of course it is really sad for the people who lost their homes and the person in the hospital, but everyone made it out alive which is a miracle.  Oftentimes in fires people do not make it, so I would say it is a blessing that they all have their lives.  They will have to rebuild which will be stressful but at least they have each other and are alive.  I think it is very fortunate that it turned out this way.  I would say these people are lucky.


I've never been in a fire personally or really known about one, but I can't imagine how terrifying that would be. I kind of wonder how the people outside of the complex got hurt - I wonder if they were trying to get people out, or if some of the fire/debri came outside? Either way, it would be terrifying. I'm glad no one died.


There were at least ten people hurt after a rather large apartment complex in Arizona caught on fire. The fire was caught on video. The fire chief stated that it was a total loss and that the fire had been started following an unexplained explosion. It took the fire department crews close to ten minutes to get the fire under control.


This fire in the Arizona complex was so very scary.   The entire building was a complete loss.   It was great that the firemen rescued almost all of them without injuries except one that was sent to a burn unit.   Watching all your possessions and your home burn is just very sad.  I can't imagine replacing everything.


I feel so sad that this freak fire has effected so many people. It has ruined the owners property which has got to be a big financial loss. It also has displaced so many people who have lived here. They have lost everyhting in the fire and i cant imagine having to rebuild or having the money to replace all my stuff and stuff thats irreplacable like pictures. I feel grateful that people were hurt and no one was killed it could have been way worse. Hopefully everyone had renters insurance to help pay for some of the damages.


Rescuers say all 33 miners trapped in China mine found dead —  BEIJING — All 33 coal miners trapped underground in a gas explosion earlier this week have been found dead, state media reported Wednesday, as work safety officials vowed to punish those responsible. Two miners survived Monday’s explosion but rescuers working around the clock found no others alive. All bodies have been recovered and rescuers were shown bowing their heads in memorial for the dead. Gas explosions inside mines are often caused when a flame or electrical spark ignites gas leaking from the coal seam. Ventilation systems are supposed to prevent gas from becoming trapped. The State Administration of Work Safety ordered an investigation into the blast, “adding that those responsible must be strictly punished.” Local officials in Chongqing also ordered smaller mines to shut down temporarily, Xinhua said. China’s mining industry has long been among the world’s deadliest. The head of the State Administration of Work Safety said earlier this year that struggling coal mines might be likely to overlook maintenance. China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal but plans to shutter more than 1,000 outdated mines as part of a broader plan to reduce overproduction.

This is kinda sad because it is just a mass tragedy.  So many lives lost, and it seems like it could have been so avoidable.  It seems like mining is such a dangerous activity in general and a very dangerous job for those involved.  It's sad for the families of these people that lost their lives, I feel bad for them.  I wish that someone could have done more to save them before it was too late.


I feel so bad for the victims and the victims families. They were just doing there job and this careless explosion cause them to lose there lives. It is sad that they know how deadly and unsafe these worker conditions are but still have yet to close them. I am happy they are set to close around 1,000 but i think more has to be done. There should be a council and regulations set up like osha in the us to protect workers and make sure all precautions are being done to preserve human life. Now families are left without there sons fathers and incomes when they could have easily just shut this down. I hope for safer woring conditions in the future.


It is always depressing when things like this happen. I feel like the coal business has always been a very dangerous one and we need to be able to realize that no matter what we do to try and change things, they will somehow someway always be the old fashioned way with old fashioned dangers. I think we need to find a way these workers get safer jobs.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 29 years old. The person has a went to college but did not get a degree. The person earns 39000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.5 in openness, 6.0 in conscientiousness, 1.0 in extraversion, 6.0 in agreeableness, and 5.5 in stability.

I just read an article about a mine collapse in China. Turns out there was a gas explosion and 33 workers were killed. I know that mining is a dangerous profession, but I can't imagine the instant of fear that comes before being incinerated. Then, there families have to wait weeks for their remains to be unearthed. The whole thing is really sad.


I really doubt the credibility of anything China says.   They are always out for money, workers are in jobs that aren't save, people have no decisions made on their own.  It's a communist country where the government rules.   Living conditions are terrible and I don't believe the branch of government that is responsible for safe working conditions do anything.   It's all just chatter for the rest of the world to rread.


UW-Madison student charged in alleged attacks on 5 women —  (CNN)One woman's allegations of sexual assault against a University of Wisconsin student led to multiple charges based on claims from five women. Alec Cook, 20, appeared Thursday in Dane County Circuit Court to hear the charges against him. He faces 14 felony counts, including second- and third-degree sexual assault, strangulation and false imprisonment, and one misdemeanor count of fourth-degree sexual assault. The court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to the misdemeanor charge. Under Wisconsin law he will not enter a plea to the felony counts until after his arraignment. He is being held on $200,000 bail in Dane County Jail. Cook's name and face spread through social media and local news reports after his October 17 arrest based on allegations from another UW-Madison student. She told police that Cook sexually assaulted her October 12 in a nearly three-hour ordeal, grabbing her by the hair and neck so tightly that, she told police, her "vision started to go." Cook was charged with four counts of sexual assault, strangulation and false imprisonment stemming from the allegations. Within a week, police said "dozens" more women came forward with potential information about Cook. CNN reached out to Cook's lawyers about the additional allegations but they declined to comment on the new charges. March 2015 The earliest count goes back to March 2015, when Cook allegedly invited a woman back to his apartment about two weeks after meeting her at a party. She told police that kissing turned to unwanted touching despite her attempts to push him away. When she tried to leave he grabbed her and pinned her to the futon and resumed kissing and touching her, according to a criminal complaint. She told investigators that after he assaulted her, she again tried to leave but that Cook pinned her to the futon again, wrapping his arms around her neck and torso. The detective asked what she thought would happen if she tried to leave she said she didn't know. "That's what I was afraid of. I didn't know." When she saw his face on the news in connection with his arrest she told police she "knew immediately" it was him, according to the complaint. Cook was charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment based on her allegations. January to May 2016 Two women who took ballroom dance classes with Cook reported to police being groped by him during the class. One woman told police the behavior continued even after she told him to stop. Their complaints led to the misdemeanor count of fourth-degree sexual assault. February 2016 Another woman described to police a similar scenario of a February 2016 encounter that started with consensual kissing and quickly escalated to sexual assault. She told police she repeatedly said no as forceful touching turned into forced oral sex and then vaginal rape. She had smoked marijuana earlier that night and drank a beverage she could not identify, and as the evening progressed she began feeling "fuzzy" and out of it, she told police, according to complaint. When she awoke the next morning he tried to have sex with her again, she told police, according to the complaint. Her allegations formed the basis of three counts of felony sexual assault. August 2016 Another woman to come forward said she took a psychology class with Cook, according to the complaint. He sent her a Facebook message and they began corresponding. She told police that she went to his apartment and they started kissing and having consensual sex. She rebuffed his efforts to choke her, though, and eventually he relented. About 45 minutes passed before he forced himself on her, hitting her backside with an open palm as he raped her. She told police she went along with it so he would not force her to have oral sex, according to the complaint. Sexual assault: Changing the conversation before college Defense lawyers: Wait for the facts When questioned by police on October 17, Cook said the encounter that triggered his arrest was consensual and that he did not recall grabbing the woman by the neck. He acknowledged pulling the woman's hair. Cook's lawyers called on the public "to wait for the facts before condemning" him, and railed against a "politically correct" culture that leads to "blind acceptance of mere accusations." "Alec, a 20-year-old business major with no criminal history, has seemingly been charged, tried, and convicted," read the statement from attorneys Christopher T. Van Wagner and Jessa Nicholson. "The rapid-fire news cycle, combined with the viral nature of social media, has resulted in modern-day character assassination that is very real and very wrong." How to help survivors of sexual assault CNN's Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.

I don't know about these accusations it seems the women were having sex and then did not want to have sex its getting to the point where a guy should make women sign a sex waiver before engaging in any activity just for legal ramifications also they should video tape every sex act so men know that it was not rape


These attacks on women seem to be more prevalent lately than not. I think with our current president and his feelings about women it has increased these attacks. We need to be aware of this and make the changes accordingly. We need to be able to prevent these attacks before they happen but finding out how to do that is the tough thing.


As a father of three girls, I hate to see stories like this one. I know in today's climate people can be convicted in the eyes of the public before an actually trial, but I think this guy did it. It is too many different women saying that he did the same thing to them. It is hard for me to see what any man gets from doing this.


I feel so bad for this girl... and I bet you money that people will try to victim blame or twist this story/circumstance to make it seem like her fault, because she smoked some weed and had a few drinks. Even thought neither of those things are ever deserving of being raped or assualted. But that is the sad way the world works/thinks


China: Boy trapped in well found dead after 4 days —  A young boy stuck in a well in northern China since Sunday has been found dead, according to local media.   Rescue crews found the boy's body Thursday in a narrow, abandoned well in the province of Hebei, bringing an end to an almost five-day search involving more than 500 responders. He fell down the well -- just one foot (30 centimeters) wide -- while helping his father harvest vegetables, state news agency Xinhua reported. Too narrow for adults to climb into, rescuers began digging out the 40-meter deep well. Aerial shots of the scene showed excavators working on soft sandy soil around the dry well. Xinhua said the earth was prone to collapse and measures had been taken to support the shaft.

This little boy died in a well while he was helping his father harvest vegetables.  It was large enough for him to fall only one foot but too small for all the adults.  They tried to get him out for five days.  His father had to entail that severe pain knowing it was just time.   Over 500 volunteers tried to dig him out to get to the well.  Just devastating.


I can't imagine losing a kid this way. 'Cause like... he'd be literally right there, you know? You could hear him if he said anything, maybe even see him if the whole was straight enough. But there'd be no way to get to him. Just forty feet away and your kid is dying. Ugh. I feel so bad for his dad, I hope he doesn't blame himself.


This is a story about a young boy who was helping his father in the fields and fell down a well. It was too narrow for an adult to go down so it took them four days to get to him. When they found him, he was dead. This is horrifying. I can't imagine how this boy felt being stuck in the well and how his family felt while trying to get to him.


After reading the article, you just can't help but feel really sad for the boy and his family. It's so sad because he was just doing his family a favor by harvesting crops when he fell. It's so unfortunate as well because he was so young and he had his whole life ahead of him. Hopefully his parents are able to move on with life peacefully.


The World Economic Forum's annual gender gap report is out and it doesn't look good —  The World Economic Forum (WEF) revealed its annual global gender gap report today, and the results are depressing.   The US slipped down to 45th on their ranking of countries by gender equality, behind four African countries and all major European countries (all of which are in the top 20), and down from 28th last year.    This dramatic fall is partly because women's participation in the labor force has declined over the past year and the number of women in senior positions is shrinking.   On a more positive note, the US closed its education gender gap in 2016. This means there is a large pool of educated female talent, even though fewer women are actually working, as can be seen in the table showing the United States' scores below. The annual report looks at progress towards equality between men and women in four key areas: educational attainment, health and survival, economic opportunity, and political empowerment.   Progress towards economic equality in 2016 has slowed globally, with the economic participation and opportunity sub-index dipping to 59% — worse than any point since 2008.  According to the report, the global economic gender gap is not forecasted to close until the year 2196.    That slowdown is partly due to imbalances in salaries, with women around the world on average earning just half of what men earn despite working longer hours, as well as a drop in women's labor force participation, with the global average for women standing at 54% compared to 81% for men. This is  despite the fact that women attend university in equal or higher numbers than men in 95 countries.    The number of women in senior positions also continues to be low, with only four countries in the world having equal numbers of male and female legislators, senior officials and managers.    "The world is facing an acute misuse of talent by not acting faster to tackle gender inequality, which could put economic growth at risk and deprive economies of the opportunity to develop," according to a statement issued by the WEF.   More progress has been made in the education sub-index, with the gender gap there having closed 95%. Similarly, the health and survival sub-index has also improved, with that gap having closed 96%.   The slow rate of economic progress for women poses a particular risk because many of the jobs that usually employ women are "likely to be hit the hardest by the coming age of technological disruption" says the report.   "This 'hollowing out' of female livelihoods could deprive economies further of women’s talents and increases the urgency for more women to enter high-growth fields such as those demanding STEM skills." STEM refers to a high education skill set consisting of science, technology, engineering and math.    The top four nations that lead the WEF's report are all Scandinavian countries, with Iceland taking the lead, followed by Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The next highest are Rwanda, Ireland, the Philippines, Slovenia and new Zealand. Rounding out the top 10 is Nicaragua.    The Global Gender Gap Index ranks 144 countries to understand whether countries are distributing their resources equally between women and men, irrespective of their overall income levels. The variables used to create the index come from publicly available data from international organizations like the International Labor Organization, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Health Organization among others, and from perception surveys conducted by the WEF.

As a father of three women, I hate that the gender gap is nowhere close to closing. I feel like it should be simple, equal pay for equal work. The world is a complex place and I'm glad that some nations are getting it and that they are closing the gender gap. I do still think there are some jobs are require more males than females and that it just because of physical strength.


This article was about gender gaps worldwide and especially in the US. It said that the gender gap in the United States is getting worse and is 45th in the rankings. The article didn't say anything about why the gender gap might be getting worse, like possibly more women wanting to stay home and raise families.


This is a topic that never seems to get any better for women.   Pay inequality has dropped to 45 for the United States.  This is an embarrassing statistic.   Fewer women are in the workforce and fewer women hold prestigious jobs.   The misuse of women's education and value is so disheartening.  US Stem Skills professions are not in a good place. Scandinavian countries hold the top 4 spots.  The disparity in salaries is what it was in 2008.


I'm really not sure why men are so afraid of women in positions of power. My boss is a woman and she does her job effectively and interacts with people with good nature and aplomb. I think that breaking centuries old social norms and structures takes a lot of work that most humans are unwilling to do. It's like self help for an entire species.


So who cares about women not getting paid as much as men they have to take into account the amount of time women waste getting their periods and being bitches during the month also they have babies and need to take time off to take care of the babies honestly they should just stay home and get me a beer.


Endangered Wildlife Are At Risk After 200,000 Liters Of Fuel Leak Into British Colombia’s Coastal Waters —  Ten days ago, diesel fuel was leaked into Heiltsuk First Nation water near Bella Bella, British Colombia. The leak was caused by a tugboat which crashed in a remote region off British Columbia’s Central Coast.   Following the oil leak, underwater dive images revealed endangered wildlife including abalone, amidst the fuel spill area. Efforts are being made by the Heiltsuk to help recover this protected species. Divers also discovered schools of juvenile herring around the sunken Nathan E. Stewart tugboat.   The outer boom which was put in place to contain the spilled oil had broke free on Friday causing the oil to spread and bad weather had prevented clean up crews from working on the spill for four consecutive days. By Saturday, salvage crews had recovered more than 40 percent of the 200,000 liters of fuel estimated to be in the vessel, but the damage had already been done.   Mike Reid, the Heiltsuk Aquatics Manager said that there is an increased concern about the marine life in the Gale Passage. This is an extremely sensitive ecological and marine rescue area and there is a crucial herring spawning area which is located at the south end of the passage.   “In the first week of the spill, we had the largest tides of the month at 17.4 feet,” he said in a release. “Even without bad weather, the speed of tides rushing through the spill site are likely to flush diesel into the area.”   The local clam fishery has been shut down and BC NDP leader John Horgan criticized the spill response.   “It was tragic to see the sheen of diesel on the water,” Horgan said, adding. “You couldn’t have picked a worse place to drop this boat into the bottom of the ocean.”   The company that owns the tugboat, Kirby Offshore Marine has made their apologies to the Heiltsuk First Nation and gave thanks to the agencies involved in the spill cleanup.   According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), diesel is one of the most toxic types of oil for marine creatures.   Depending weather conditions in the area, 1500 feet of kepner boom will be placed around the primary and secondary containment boom for additional protection.

After reading the article, i feel so bad for all the wildlife and fishes that are in the body of water that were affected by the spill. We are already harming the earth and it's inhabitants already by polluting the air but this just adds on to it. I really hope we can come to a day where we will be able to help animals instead of harming them.


It seems like we hear about this sort of thing all the time! It's becoming way to common. When will he stop ruining our oceans and oceanlife! When will a measure be put in place to prevent this or to diminish the occurance of it. It seems like we hear abuout it all the time, but we never hear about the punishment or what is being done to fix it.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 30 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 55000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.5 in openness, 6.5 in conscientiousness, 2.5 in extraversion, 5.5 in agreeableness, and 4.5 in stability.

How unfortunate that the sea creatures that were already endangered in this area got harmed because of the diesel spill, it is great that it was cleaned up so quickly but it looks like the damaged is already done from the bad weather. Hopefully the company that was responsible for this got fined, these spills need to stop happening.


The person is male. Racially, the person is asian / pacific islander. The person is 29 years old. The person has a high school degree or diploma. The person earns 44000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.0 in openness, 5.5 in conscientiousness, 4.5 in extraversion, 6.0 in agreeableness, and 5.0 in stability.

Dear friend,                                                                                I have just read an article about a massive fuel leak in British Colombia. It is threatening all of the wildlife in the area, as well as the water. I am worried about this and hope there is a way to stop it before it gets out of hand.


After reading the article, i couldn't help but feel disturbed at the fact that humans can do things like this to animals. Humans should be more aware of what they are doing and the fact that they can harm animals unintentionally. Humans should do more to help other living things on Earth because we are not the only things living here.


Study: More toddlers and preschoolers are overdosing on opioids —  In recent years, rates of toddlers and preschoolers hospitalized for opioid overdoses more than doubled, according to a new study.   In fact, overdoses rose more than 100% over a 16-year period among all children, the study published in JAMA Pediatrics Oct. 31 showed.   Researchers from Yale School of Medicine analyzed national data from the Kids’ Inpatient Database on children admitted to U.S. hospitals for opioid poisoning. The study focused on more than 13,000 records from patients ages 1 to 19 between 1997 to 2012.   What's to blame? Possibly the increase of prescribed pain killers, including OxyContin and Vicodin. Research from 1999 to 2010 show retail sales of prescription opioids quadrupled."Even in children younger than 6 years, opioids, followed closely by benzodiazepines, now account for most of the drug poisonings in this age group; in nearly all these poisonings, the child was exposed to a prescription intended for an adult in the household," the study states.   Young children found a pill on the floor, got into their mother's purse or simply figured out how to open a bottle.   While more current data isn't yet available, study author Julie Gaither said the upward trend is likely to remain a problem among young children.   “It’s a simple message for parents that we can limit so many of these exposures to keep these medications out of these little hands," Gaither said.   She also said companies must improve packaging because young children are finding ways to get into "child-proof" bottles. Lastly, she said there needs to be more conversations about young overdoses in the pediatrics community, a topic that's largely underreported.   Prescription opioids accounted for most poisonings in the Yale study, but heroin poisonings also increased 161%. In August, more than 225 heroin overdoses occured in four counties in four states within one week. The batch of heroin was most-likely supercharged with another substance, but still drew attention to the popularity of the drug.

This is highly alarming and so unacceptable.  Not only is it terrible that adults are using these ridiculous medications, but now they are allowing their babies to get into them and harm themselves.  It's just outrageous, and they need to have stronger penalties for these people who are letting this happen.  There is simply no excuse.  Your drugs should be up in a cabinet locked far away from your children IF you choose to have drugs like that, which you really shouldn't be taking around a child anyway.  Shame on these people.


I've heard a lot of about the opioid crisis, but it's usually been in regards to older people being prescribed poorly and getting addicted, so this came as a bit of a shock. It's so sad to think of a little kid getting ahold of something and having no idea what it is, and then they're just... gone. I feel so bad for their families.


The whole drug topic really makes me sad as I had a mother who I saw unravel from being addicted to pain killers. I do wish they were prescriped less in our society and someone just made stronger doses of ibeuprofen. It is alarming how many people become addicted to these medicines. I thin there should be a something in place like a drug counselor to everyone who is prescribed so they can understand the signs of when it becomes addiction. The bottles should be better made now if children are being able to open them or they dont close all the way maybe a key or locking system can be made up. I have definitly seen way more about heroin overdose in my own suburbia it isnt disciminating agianst anyone it is sad it is ruining peoples lives.


The person is male. Racially, the person is hispanic / latino. The person is 32 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 35000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.0 in openness, 5.5 in conscientiousness, 2.0 in extraversion, 5.5 in agreeableness, and 4.5 in stability.

I had to read this article over twice because toddlers overdosing on opioids is mind boggling! I wonder how and why they have access to this. I know its because sometimes parents drop these pills but if parents are that bad, why are they having kids in the first place? We need laws that test people before they have children in order to make sure they will be good parents.


This article was so disturbing to read through. I feel like theres so many different levels to these happenings and something has to be done on each to prevent little children from getting these pills in there hands. On the level of the manufactorers we need to have way better packaging like codes the kids cant get into. Doctors prescribing these should ask if they have kids and tell them preventetive measures that should be taken to reduce the risk of exposure. Parents need to have a better understanding how easy it is for kids to get into these and die. So senseless dying of something so easy to prevent.


Flamingo Dead After Busch Gardens Visitor Allegedly Threw Her To The Ground —  A beloved flamingo at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, had to be euthanized Tuesday after police say a park visitor attacked her. Pinky, a female Chilean flamingo known for a distinctive style of walking that became known as the “Flamingo Flamenco,” was 19 years old, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Joseph Anthony Corrao was at the park with his family around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday when he allegedly reached into Pinky’s pen, grabbed her and threw her to the ground. The zoo had to euthanize her because of her injuries, according to a Busch Gardens statement.  “Pinky was a beloved member of the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay family and made many appearances on behalf of the park’s conservation and education efforts,” the statement read. “She will be sorely missed.” Witnesses said that before picking up Pinky, Corrao picked up a different flamingo but put it down unharmed, according to local news station WFLA. Zoo personnel say they never trained Pinky to perform her circular dance, but that she just started doing it on her own. “While making an appearance with Jack Hanna, the team noticed that she was dancing on her own to get attention,” Busch Gardens spokeswoman Karen Varga-Sinka told the Orlando Sentinel. “Since then, she has danced for countless guests, school groups, media appearances and national television shows.” Corrao was charged with animal cruelty and jailed on $2,000 bond. At his first court appearance on Wednesday, Judge John Conrad said that the act “borders on depraved,” ABC Action News reports. “I don’t know if you have other issues, but I don’t know who does that,” Conrad said.

Wow this is unbelievable, who on earth would do something like this to a harmless flamingo for no reason?  This guy is obviously depraved and has serious issues.  They need to punish him to the full extent of the law so he does not harm other animals or people.  I can't believe someone would do this to a living creature without provocation and just for the sick thrill of it apparently.  How very tragic and sad this is.


I don't get why people think it's ok to act this way? Why would you hurt any sort of animal? It makes me wonder this guys mental state and what else he has done, because if he thinks this is ok to do to a flamingo out in the public, then what does he think it's ok to do to another animal or even a human behind closed doors?


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 62 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 29000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 2.5 in openness, 6.5 in conscientiousness, 1.0 in extraversion, 6.5 in agreeableness, and 2.0 in stability.

The depravity that goes on in this world is alarming at best.   At Busch Gardens, Joseph Anthony Corrao, picked up a flamingo named Pinky and threw her to the ground.   Her injuries were so bad that she was euthanized.   Pinky was famous for a dance she just did on her own and welcomed visitors sometimes.


What is human nature coming to?   Zoo visitors attacking the wildlife and inflicting such horrendous injuries that she had to be put down.   I can't imagine what in the world that would cause a human being to do that.   His bond was too low.   It should be very high.   Laws are so ridiculous.   We do the laws that should not be on the books.