According to official data, Yemen saw 371,326 cholera cases, including 505 deaths in all of 2018. During the first six months (Jan. 1- Jun 30) this year, the total is 451,895, including 705 deaths.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), recent flash flooding has accelerated the spread of cholera across Yemen, exacerbated by poor maintenance of waste management systems and lack of access to clean water for drinking or irrigation.

After four years of continuous conflict, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is the worst in the world. A higher percentage of people face death, hunger, and disease than in any other country.  The degree of suffering is nearly unprecedented.

Eighty percent of the entire population requires some form of humanitarian assistance and protection, an increase of 84 percent since the conflict started in 2015. Twenty million Yemenis need help securing food and a staggering 14 million people are in acute humanitarian need.

Since the cholera outbreak began on April 27, 2017, 1,855,309 cases have been recorded. 3456 fatalities are linked to the outbreak.

Yemen map/L’Américain

Source: http://outbreaknewstoday.com/yemen-cholera-outbreak-2019-more-cases-than-all-of-last-year-53909/

The post Yemen cholera outbreak 2019: More cases than all of last year first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

CNN)Five people were killed Thursday and two were injured in a “targeted attack” on the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, authorities said.

What we know about the shooting

He said police don’t have knowledge that the gunman was targeting anyone in particular and can’t confirm whether the suspect knew employees at the paper or just targeted the publication.

The suspect “possibly” had a connection to the paper through social media, according to Krampf

“This person was prepared to shoot people. His intent was to cause harm,” he said.

The suspected gunman, who authorities said was a white male in his late 30s, was found hiding under a desk in the building, Anne Arundel County Executive Steven Schuh told CNN.

He was taken into custody and is being interviewed, police said. Authorities do not yet know what the motive for the shooting might be.

Two law enforcement sources said his fingerprints appear to have been altered, making it difficult to identify him that way. He was identified using facial recognition software, according to one law enforcement source.

Authorities have not released the suspect’s name, but multiple law enforcement sources identified him as Jarrod Warren Ramos. Police are outside an address connected to Ramos in Laurel, Maryland.

Ramos has a connection to the paper, the sources said. He filed a defamation claim in 2012 against the paper but the case was dismissed.

‘Like a war zone’

Schuh said authorities responded to the shooting in “60 seconds.”

“They went immediately into that building without a moment’s hesitation and demonstrated incredible courage,” he said. “It could have been a lot worse.”

An employee on lockdown in a nearby building said responding officers “were hustling.” Authorities evacuated about 170 people from the building, which is also home to other businesses and doctors’ offices, said Lt. Ryan Frashure of the Anne Arundel County Police.

Daria McMiller, who works as an administrative assistant in a building next to the Capital Gazette building, said she was very impressed with the police response.

 newspaper stand selling the Capital Gazette.

McMiller said she and her co-workers didn’t hear any shots but they heard authorities yelling and saw police, FBI, state troopers and SWAT swarming to the scene.

“Some of them were still in civilian clothes and they were pulling their vests on as they ran towards the building,” she said.

Four of the dead were killed at the scene; a fifth person, who was shot in the upper body and arm, died at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Schuh said.

In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, Davis, the reporter, said the newsroom “was like a war zone”.

“I’m a police reporter. I write about this stuff — not necessarily to this extent, but shootings and death — all the time,” he said. “But as much as I’m going to try to articulate how traumatizing it is to be hiding under your desk, you don’t know until you’re there and you feel helpless.”

‘He believed profoundly in the craft’

Police identified the victims as Wendi Winters, who worked in special publications; Rebecca Smith, a sales assistant; Rob Hiaasen, an assistant editor; editorial page editor Gerald Fischman; and John McNamara, a staff writer.

Clockwise from top left: Robert Hiaasen, Wendi Winters, Gerald Fischman, John McNamara and Rebecca Smith (center.)

In a Facebook post, author Carl Hiaasen said he was “devastated and heartsick” to confirm the death of his brother, affectionately known as “Big Rob” because he towered over people.

Hiaasen said his brother, who was an editor and a columnist at the paper, was “one of the most gentle and funny people I’ve ever known.”

“He spent his whole gifted career as a journalist, and he believed profoundly in the craft and mission of serving the public’s right to know the news,” Hiaasen wrote.

‘A newspaper we live with every day’

Susan O’Brien, a spokeswoman for the city of Annapolis, said the publication “is a newspaper we live with every day.”

“Our hearts are with the family,” she told CNN.

Earlier, Gov. Larry Hogan tweeted he was “absolutely devastated to learn of this tragedy in Annapolis.”

“Devastating. My heart is with Capital Gazette and the people of Annapolis right now,” Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin tweeted.

Capital Gazette Communications publishes multiple newspapers, including the Capital and the Maryland Gazette.

The Capital is one of America’s oldest newspapers, beginning life as the Evening Capital in 1884.

The company that publishes it started in 1727 with the Maryland Gazette. In 1767, Anne Catharine Green became the first female newspaper publisher in the country and the Maryland Gazette fought the stamp tax that started the American Revolution.

For many decades, there were two papers that served the region — The Maryland Gazette, a weekly, and the Evening Capital, a daily.

In 1981, The Evening Capital became The Capital. And in 1994, the company that owned it launched one of the first newspaper websites in the US with CapitalOnline.com.

Today, The Capital serves Annapolis, Anne Arundel County and Kent Island. It has a daily readership of about 67,000 and a Sunday readership of 83,000, according to the Baltimore Sun Group, which owns it.

‘We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow’

Chase Cook@chaseacook

Replying to @chaseacook

We also don’t know anything about motive in this incident.

Chase Cook@chaseacook

I can tell you this: We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow.

The Capital Gazette had been threatened on social media as recently as Thursday, Krampf said. He said authorities are trying to confirm what account the threats came from and who sent them.

He said the threats “indicated violence.”

Threats against journalists have been on the rise recently. Press freedom groups have also reported an increase in physical assaults on reporters, particularly at campaign events and other political venues.

Deadliest day for journalism since 9/11

Gazette reporters said their staff is small, and they are determined not to let the shooting deter them from their doing their jobs. Despite the shooting, they still planned to publish a paper Thursday night.

Multiple newsroom staffers, plus reporters from The Baltimore Sun, are working on stories for Friday’s edition.

“The Capital is not a big newsroom. There are about 20 news staffers, a few more advertising. We are close. We are family. I am devastated,” tweeted Danielle Ohl, a reporter.

“I can tell you this: We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow,” another reporter Chase Cook tweeted.

CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz , David Shortell, Evan Perez, Adrienne Winston, Ayana Archie, Josh Campbell, Saeed Ahmed, Brian Stelter and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.

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Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/28/us/annapolis-maryland-newsroom-shooting/index.html

[Disclaimer]

The post Five dead in shooting at Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Dust and rain storms hit northern India on Wednesday, with the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab most affected.

At least 90 people were killed, many by collapsing roofs and falling trees. More than 160 people were injured.

The Agra district of Uttar Pradesh, home to the Taj Mahal monument, was one of the worst hit, according to media reports. In April, a storm had destroyed two ancient pillars at the entryways of India’s most famous landmark.

Read more: Why was the Taj Mahal excluded from tourism brochure?

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind tweeted his condolences, wishing “an early recovery to injured.”

President of India  @rashtrapatibhvn

Saddened to hear about loss of lives due to thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in Rajasthan, UP, Punjab and other parts of north India. Authorities taking steps to help affected people. Condolences to bereaved families and wishing an early recovery to injured #PresidentKovind

Dust storms with high winds are common during the summer in northern and eastern India. Wednesday’s rainstorm caught people by surprise, however, as the monsoon season is still more than six weeks away.

Thunderstorms with gusty winds were expected Thursday across northern India, the Meteorological Department said in its forecast.

More thunderstorms with gusting winds are expected across northern India throughout Thursday.

ng/msh (AFP, dpa, AP)

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Source: http://www.dw.com/en/scores-dead-in-dust-storms-in-northern-india/a-43632951

[Disclaimer]

The post Scores dead in dust storms in Northern India first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.