September 2009 Archives

CONAKRY, Guinea-- A crowd of 50,000 Guineans protesting the militaristic regime of Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara were first sprayed with tear gas, then with bullets, the New York Times reported Monday.

Some demonstrators died on the spot in the football stadium, while several thousands walked away wounded, soon to flood every nearby hospital. Some female protestors were stripped by troops and, according to several witnesses, raped with rifle butts.

"We saw trucks coming into the stadium and the soldiers getting out from them," a teacher, Youssouf Koumbassa, said to the New York Times. "They were firing everywhere."

It was unclear whether the command to open fire was official, or if troops were acting out of control.

The country's captain took no responsibility for the actions of his soldiers, officially stating "those people who committed those atrocities were uncontrollable elements in the military. [...] Even I, as head of state in this very tense situation, cannot claim to be able to control those elements in the military."

Captain Camara is an officer of the Guinean army who currently serves as Guinea's head of state after seizing power in last year's military coup.

The Associated Press reports that Guinea's government will be investigating who instructed the soldiers to shoot, and that France's foreign minister has withdrawn military cooperation with Guinea, its former colony, as a consequence of the bloodshed.

AP also reported that soldiers "reeking of alcohol" further terrorized citizens Tuesday by firing guns into the air from the streets. Opposition figures were targeted with gunfire as well, their homes looted and ransacked.

Corinne Dufka of Human Rights Watch stated, "Guinea's leaders should order an immediate end to attacks on demonstrators and bring to justice those responsible for the bloodshed."

The death toll in the Philippines is feared to climb into the hundreds after an unfriendly visit by tropical storm Ketsana Saturday, according to Bloomberg and The Associated Press.

It's likely that the number of missing and dead will increase as waters recede, said Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, according to Bloomberg. "Now that the sun has risen, we found five bodies in several seconds."

People waded through chest-deep water, waited to roofs or got swept away as flood waters rose higher and higher Saturday.

A dramatic video aired on ABS-CBN television, showing people smashing against pillars and getting separated from each other with no guarantee of rescue.

Distressed residents of metropolitan Manila called and e-mailed TV and radio stations by the thousands, according to The Associated Press.

Weather Bureau Director Nathaniel Cruz attributes the storm to climate change in a phone interview with Bloomberg, predicting that it could be "a manifestation of things to come."

The storm deposited over a month's worth of rain in 12 hours Saturday, forcing the government to declare a "state of calamity" in Manila and 25 other provinces devastated by the storm.

The University of Minnesota will be holding a memorial service for agricultural scientist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug on Oct 8.

Borlaug is known for having created a type of wheat that helps to quell world hunger, an achievement that earned him the Peace Prize and made him the father of the green revolution in the eyes of many, the Star Tribune and Minnesota Daily report.

Borlaug died Sept. 12 at age 95. He had been scheduled to be a grand marshal for the U's homecoming parade Oct. 10.

He earned undergraduate, master's and doctorate degrees in science at the U in the 1970s.

According to the Star Tribune, University President Bob Bruininks calls Borlaug "one of the university's most distinguished alumni -- a scientist, educator, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate whose work made him a hero around the world."

The event will take place in the McNamara Alumni Center on the Minneapolis campus. It is free and begins at 10:30 a.m.

Speakers will include Bob Bruininks, Kennith Quinn, president of the World Food Foundation and Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation.

The Cedar Cultural Center presents its first annual International Music Festival this weekend, showcasing a lineup of bands who merge the fresh and modern with the traditional and classic.

The festival's first headliner, BLK JKS, was said to sound like a cross between Queen and present-day rock band TV on the Radio, according to the Minnesota Daily.

But the Star Tribune had a different perception of the band. The newspaper said that half the audience left by mid-show, the Cedar's "ever-inadequate ventilation" presented temperature issues, and that the band's appeal was challenging.

Whatever your perception of the show, The Cedar works to provide another element of diversity to its roster, which also includes a yearly Nordic Roots festival.

The festival continues through Sunday, with The Brass Kings closing out the evening with a headlining set along with two other local musicians.

As the government scrambles to produce 45 million vaccines for the H1N1 virus, parents across the country wonder about the safety and necessity of vaccinating their children.

And there's a reason for them to be skeptical. A swine flu vaccination flurry in 1976 left twelve dead and hundreds paralyzed, and CBS News reports that results from clinical trials of the present-day vaccination won't be available until late October, which is after the recommended vaccination period.

According to a survey conducted by the University of Michigan, only 40% of parents said they would vaccinate their children for H1N1, though 54% said they would vaccinate for the normal flu, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The CDC recommends that school-age children be the first to get vaccinated for the disease, but some parents remain skeptical.

Side effects are another concern.

"I'm just not quite there yet until we get more research on what the effects could be on children so young," said Kwame Brown, a parent questioned by CBS news.