Weekday MEGA news (7 Augest 2009) Friday
MEGA news begins today!
Singapore comfirms another 2 more cases bring a total to 8.
A 51-year-old Indian lady with Down’s Syndrome and high body mass index (BMI) passed away on 5 August (afternoon) due to pneumonia, caused by Influenza A (H1N1).
A 78-year-old Chinese male with no medical history passed away on the morning of 6 August. The cause of death has been certified as acute myocardial infarction, with Influenza A (H1N1-2009) pneumonia as a contributing factor.
A 78-year-old Chinese male with no medical history passed away on the morning of 6 August. The cause of death has been certified as acute myocardial infarction, with Influenza A (H1N1-2009) pneumonia as a contributing factor.
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Haze in Singapore
The haze is back in Singapore and you can expect more hazy days ahead. Smoke haze shrouded Singapore on Thursday morning, with an acrid burning smell hanging in the air.
And the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), which measures the air quality in Singapore, was around 60 on Thursday. Though this is still in the moderate range, it is however slightly higher than Wednesday’s reading of 52.
Smoke haze has been blowing into Singapore and the National Environment Agency (NEA) said that over the past few days, its satellite pictures detected significant hot spots with moderate to dense smoke.
The hot spots are mainly in the Sumatran provinces of Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra. On Wednesday alone, 50 hot spots were detected in Sumatra.
NEA added that with prevailing dry weather in the region and the wind direction expected to remain the same in the next few days, hazy conditions can be expected in Singapore over the next few days.
Doctors have cautioned against outdoor activities if the situation worsens, especially for those with respiratory illnesses.
Dr Chuah Li Li, a general practitioner from My Family Doctor, said: "Usually the discomfort is felt in the eyes, where people will feel there is a little bit of the smarting discomfort or a dry sensation. The other thing that you might feel is throat discomfort.
"For people who have lung problems — chronic obstructive lung disease and asthma — there might be... a little bit of difficulty in breathing and a chest tightness or cough.
"Elderly people with pre—existing lung condition or children with asthma should actually cut down on outdoor activities, especially strenuous activities like playing basketball and football."
But members of the public are currently not too concerned about the situation.
"At the moment, still not so serious. Maybe if it gets serious, we will do some precautionary measures," said a member of the public.
Singapore has expected the haze to return this year as the El Nino weather phenomenon develops, bringing with it hotter and drier weather. The situation is expected to worsen in the coming months, especially when the dry weather peaks in September.
The haze is the result of smoke from slash and burn activities in Indonesia, when farmers clear their lands to make way for new crops. Hot and dry weather can also cause dry twigs and leaves to burst into flames spontaneously.
On July 24, Singapore handed over three air and weather monitoring stations to Jambi Province in Sumatra to help calculate the risk of fires starting and spreading in the surrounding areas during dry weather.
And the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), which measures the air quality in Singapore, was around 60 on Thursday. Though this is still in the moderate range, it is however slightly higher than Wednesday’s reading of 52.
Smoke haze has been blowing into Singapore and the National Environment Agency (NEA) said that over the past few days, its satellite pictures detected significant hot spots with moderate to dense smoke.
The hot spots are mainly in the Sumatran provinces of Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra. On Wednesday alone, 50 hot spots were detected in Sumatra.
NEA added that with prevailing dry weather in the region and the wind direction expected to remain the same in the next few days, hazy conditions can be expected in Singapore over the next few days.
Doctors have cautioned against outdoor activities if the situation worsens, especially for those with respiratory illnesses.
Dr Chuah Li Li, a general practitioner from My Family Doctor, said: "Usually the discomfort is felt in the eyes, where people will feel there is a little bit of the smarting discomfort or a dry sensation. The other thing that you might feel is throat discomfort.
"For people who have lung problems — chronic obstructive lung disease and asthma — there might be... a little bit of difficulty in breathing and a chest tightness or cough.
"Elderly people with pre—existing lung condition or children with asthma should actually cut down on outdoor activities, especially strenuous activities like playing basketball and football."
But members of the public are currently not too concerned about the situation.
"At the moment, still not so serious. Maybe if it gets serious, we will do some precautionary measures," said a member of the public.
Singapore has expected the haze to return this year as the El Nino weather phenomenon develops, bringing with it hotter and drier weather. The situation is expected to worsen in the coming months, especially when the dry weather peaks in September.
The haze is the result of smoke from slash and burn activities in Indonesia, when farmers clear their lands to make way for new crops. Hot and dry weather can also cause dry twigs and leaves to burst into flames spontaneously.
On July 24, Singapore handed over three air and weather monitoring stations to Jambi Province in Sumatra to help calculate the risk of fires starting and spreading in the surrounding areas during dry weather.
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Typhoon lashes Taiwan; schools, businesses closed
BATOHZI, Taiwan – A major typhoon surged toward Taiwan on Friday, closing offices and schools, disrupting transportation, and confining millions of residents to their homes as its violent western fringe lashed the island with high winds and heavy rains.
Late Friday morning, the Central Weather Bureau placed the center of Typhoon Morakot about 100 miles (170 kilometers) south of Taiwan's eastern county of Yilan. It said it was packing winds of 90 miles per hour (145 kilometers per hour) and moving west at a speed of 7 mph (12 kph).
The bureau said the storm was expected to make landfall in eastern Taiwan Friday evening assuming it maintains its present course. It is expected to pass directly through the densely populated north, including the capital of Taipei.
Schools and businesses throughout Taiwan were closed Friday. Authorities canceled many flights from Taipei to Asian destinations and all domestic flights departing from the capital, and suspended the operations of the island's state-of-the-art high speed railroad.
In the tumbledown northeastern port of Batohzi, huge waves pummeled the rocky coastline and dozens of fishing vessels bided their time behind the protection of a breakwater, waiting for the storm to pass.
In a nearby dormitory some 200 Chinese fishermen played mahjong, snacked on instant noodles and watched kung fu movies as Taiwanese coast guard officials watched warily in the background.
Batohzi traditionally provides refuge for fishermen from the mainland, caught on the high seas when major storms approach.
"It wasn't so bad when we came in here last night," said one, who identified himself only by his surname, Yu. "But we'll probably be stuck here for at least two days until we can get back out to sea."
Some 20 miles (30 kilometers) to the west, the normally bustling streets of Taipei were largely abandoned, as residents sought refuge from the high winds and heavy rains. By early morning nearby Miaoli county had already accumulated 23 inches (582 millimeters) of precipitation, and some 25,000 area households were without power.
Minor landslides were reported in other areas of northern Taiwan Friday but no casualties were recorded.
Morakot will be the first typhoon to hit Taiwan this year. Typhoons frequently move in between July and September, often causing injuries and deaths in mountainous regions that are prone to landslides and flash floods.
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US deficit climbs to 1.3 trillion dollars
WASHINGTON: The US budget deficit reached US$1.3 trillion for the current fiscal year in July, official data showed Thursday, news set to fuel opposition to US President Barack Obama's ambitious health care and climate change proposals. The deficit for the first 10 months of fiscal year 2009, which began October 1, reached US$1.3 trillion, close to US$880 billion greater than the deficit recorded through July 2008, said the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Outlays rose by almost US$530 billion, or 21 per cent, and revenues fell by more than US$350 billion, or 17 per cent, compared with the amounts recorded during the same period last year, the non-partisan CBO said. The new data was likely to stoke Republican opposition to Obama's plans to remake the US health care system and enact sweeping legislation to battle climate change, as well as fuel criticism of his handling of the economy. Republicans have charged that the nearly US$800-billion economic stimulus package Obama and his Democratic allies pushed through earlier this year only swells the deficit and has not paid off in jobs recovered. The president late Thursday declared America may be seeing the beginning of the end of its economic nightmare, and fired a blistering attack on his Republican critics. "The recession was years in the making, it didn't just start last month. That bank crisis didn't happen on my watch. Let's get the history straight," he said in a fiery and partisan speech reminiscent of his barnstorming 2008 election rhetoric. The president argued that his mammoth US$787-billion rescue plan and other emergency measures had stopped the economy's free-fall and cut the rate of job losses. "We may just be seeing the very beginnings of the end of this recession," he said. Obama cranked up his counter-attack as a new poll suggested voter patience may be wearing thin with his economic rescue effort, with his sky-high job approval rating slumping to 50 per cent, the lowest since his inauguration. The Quinnipiac University poll rating was a significant dip from the 57 per cent Obama enjoyed on July 2, and followed a month of fierce battles of his economic rescue plans and signature healthcare reform. The White House is also bracing for new unemployment figures due Friday that analysts expect to show the jobless rate climbing to a 26-year high of 9.6 per cent, ever closer to the politically perilous 10-per-cent mark.
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Europe shares turn positive after US jobless data
LONDON, Aug 7 - Europe shares turned positive on Friday afternoon, after unemployment in the United States rose less than expected in July.
At 1243 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was up 0.5 percent at 943.52 points, the high for the day, having been as low as 926.91 earlier.
Telecoms added the most points to the index. Vodafone, Telefonica , Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom were up between 1.8 and 3.5 percent.
U.S. employers cut 247,000 jobs in July, far less than expected and the least in any month since last August, according to a government report on Friday that provided the clearest evidence yet that the economy was turning around. [ID:nN06337602]
Futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up between 0.8 and 1.2 percent, having been flat just before the data.
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At 1243 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was up 0.5 percent at 943.52 points, the high for the day, having been as low as 926.91 earlier.
Telecoms added the most points to the index. Vodafone
U.S. employers cut 247,000 jobs in July, far less than expected and the least in any month since last August, according to a government report on Friday that provided the clearest evidence yet that the economy was turning around. [ID:nN06337602]
Futures for the Dow Jones
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