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Hundreds of houses damaged after strong earthquake hits Mexico

Category: , By News Updater

A 7.4 earthquake hit central and south Mexico today around noon, with its epicenter near Ometepec, Guerrero, but felt strongly in the capital and as far away as Guatemala. There are no reported deaths so far, and only limited damage has been described, although the tremor is said to have caused power-outages for some 1.5 million Mexicans.

The earthquake today was reminiscent in size of the 1985 earthquake in Mexico city, that topped in at 8.1 on the Richter scale, but not in aftermath. For one thing the infrastructure today is much better than in 1985, when 400 buildings were leveled, including hospitals, hotels, offices, apartment buildings, and schools. Due to this mass destruction and tragic loss of life (10,000 people were killed), officials began demanding and enforcing stricter building codes for Mexico City, presumably resulting in the more limited damage this time around.

But more than physical infrastructure, the 1985 earthquake highlighted the worst of the non-democratic political regime. President Miguel de la Madrid was virtually absent in the initial days, and when he did engage the media, he spent more time downplaying the damage than addressing the situation. Perhaps worse, few police, army, or governmental officials came to help dig out survivors, hand out supplies, or shepherd the nearly 200,000 homeless to shelter. In fact, the ineffectual response of the federal and capital governments to the 1985 earthquake helped spur Mexico's long transition to democracy.

Already today, the government's response has also been one of immediate communication and action. Felipe Calderón began live tweeting updates on the damage and the status of Mexico's social services within hours of the quake, and the governor of Oaxaca, Gabino Cué Monteagudo, told media that he had called the mayors of the most affected towns.

While the earthquake today may have brought back memories from 1985, Mexico has reaffirmed through its response that it is a not the same country it was before. The response today across all levels of government (and regardless of party) shows how much Mexico has changed.

This article originally appeared at CFR.org, an Atlantic partner site.

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Living alone 'are more depressed'

Category: , By News Updater

People of working age who live alone increase their risk of depression by up to 80% compared with people living in families, says a Finnish study. Similarly, research teams on top psychology schools also found out that elderly people living alone are more at risk for depression and mental health problems.

It says the main factors are poor housing conditions for women and a lack of social support for men, who are both equally affected.


The study tracked the use of anti-depressants in 3,500 Finnish people.


A mental health charity said people who lived alone must be given outlets to talk about their problems.


The study authors highlight the fact that the proportion of one-person households in Western countries has increased during the past three decades, with one in every three people in the US and the UK living alone.


The participants in the study, published in BioMed Central's public health journal, were working-age Finns; 1,695 were men and 1,776 were women, and they had an average age of 44.6 years.
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Loneliness and isolation results in people having fewer outlets to talk about how they are feeling, which is something that we know can really help.”


Beth Murphy Mind


They were surveyed in 2000 and asked whether they lived alone or with other people.


Other information about their lifestyle was gathered, such as social support, work climate, education, income, employment status and housing conditions, in addition to details on smoking habits, alcohol use and activity levels.


Researchers found that people living alone bought 80% more anti-depressants during the follow-up period, between 2000 and 2008, than those who did not live alone.


Dr Laura Pulkki-Raback, who led the research at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, said the real risk of mental health problems in people living alone could be much higher.


"This kind of study usually underestimates risk because the people who are at the most risk tend to be the people who are least likely to complete the follow up. We were also not able to judge how common untreated depression was."
Isolation


Researchers said that living with other people could offer emotional support and feelings of social integration, as well as other factors that protect against mental health problems.


Living alone, the study said, could be linked with feelings of isolation and a lack of social integration and trust, which are risk factors for mental health.


The study said all the factors involved needed to be addressed in order to understand and reduce depression in working-age people.


Beth Murphy, head of information at mental health charity Mind, said the rise in the number of people living alone had had a clear impact on the nation's mental health.


"Loneliness and isolation results in people having fewer outlets to talk about how they are feeling, which is something that we know can really help to manage and recover from a mental health problem.


"It is therefore essential that people who live alone are given the most appropriate treatment such as talking therapies, which provide safe, supportive environments to discuss and work through problems, rather than simply being left to rely solely on antidepressants."

Read more: BBC.com
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Egypt helps ease Gaza oil crisis

Category: , By News Updater
Egypt has agreed to start supplying fuel to the Gaza Strip, to help ease a lengthy fuel crisis.

Cairo agreed to send diesel to be used at a power station, which shut down in mid-February.
This caused big reductions in Gaza's ambulance service, medical operations and taxi services, and power cuts of up to eighteen hours a day.
Officials in Gaza said enough fuel to run the power station for a day had arrived in nine trucks.
Israel is allowing the fuel supplies to go through the Karam Abu Salim border crossing.
The crisis stems from a dispute between Egypt and the Hamas government in Gaza over whether Gaza can trade with Egypt openly, or only via Israel.
At the same time Egypt cracked down on fuel being smuggled through tunnels, leading to petrol pumps running dry.
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Tsunami-Tossed Boat

Category: , By News Updater

A tsunami-tossed boat tossed by giant waves lies atop a building in the city of Otsuchi in northern Japan on May 7, 2011.

The day after the earthquake struck, Mayama was in the city of Yamato documenting the destruction when a woman approached him and led him to the mangled wreck of a car where her dead daughter was trapped.

Despite the devastation around them and no help in sight, she and her husband couldn't leave, and she continued to brush the girl's hair with a comb. "I could see only the hair," Mayama said. "She said it's my daughter, it's my daughter."

The woman explained that she had approached Mayama because she wanted him to take pictures to document their loss. "I've never forgotten that," Mayama said.

One year later, Mayama said he is still searching for the woman so he can give her the photographs.
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Arrest after BPAS abortion advice service site hacked

Category: , By News Updater
A man suspected of computer hacking is being questioned by police after the website of one of Britain's largest abortion providers was accessed.

The 27-year-old claims to have links to hacktivist group Anonymous.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said no medical or personal information relating to women who had received treatment had been accessed.

But it took out a court injunction after details of people who requested information was compromised.

Police said they were alerted to allegations that the BPAS website had been hacked on Thursday.

Claims later appeared on Twitter that the culprit had accessed the names of women who had undergone terminations and was threatening to release them into the public domain.
'Rapid action'

The suspect was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act during the early hours of Friday, Scotland Yard said.

He is in custody at a West Midlands Police station after being arrested at a property in Wednesbury, West Midlands by officers from the Metropolitan Police's central e-Crime unit.

Det Insp Mark Raymond from the Met's e-Crime Unit said: "We have taken rapid action to identify and arrest a suspect involved in hacking. This was done to prevent personal details of people who had requested information from the BPAS website being made public.

"It should be stressed that the stolen data did not contain the medical details of women who had received treatment or why individuals had contacted the British Pregnancy Advisory Service."

BPAS said in a statement: "The website does store details (names, addresses and phone numbers) of people who have requested information from BPAS via the website, including those making personal inquiries as well as health and education professionals, the media and students.

"These may have been inquiries relating to contraception, pregnancy, abortion, STI testing and sterilisation. Relevant authorities were informed and appropriate legal action taken to prevent the dissemination of any information obtained from the website.

"While the confidentiality of women receiving treatment was never in danger, this episode was taken very seriously indeed."

BPAS is a non-statutory abortion provider and has a number of clinics across the country.

It also provides counselling for unplanned pregnancy and abortion treatment and gives advice about contraception, sexually transmitted infection testing and sterilisation.
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