Environment Canada blows winter forecast


Environment Canada admits it was off its long-term forecast for Western Canada's winter.

In the fall, when the weather service was predicting what it would be like this winter, it said be prepared for temperatures colder than normal.

Instead, this has been one of the mildest winters on record. In southern Manitoba, temperatures have often been far warmer than normal for this time of year, causing problems for ice rinks, winter roads, ski hills and businesses that rely on the cold and snow.

"Boy, never have we been more wrong in the West as this year," said Dave Phillips, chief climatologist for Environment Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/ ... itoba.html

Swine flu spikes in Mexico


Mexico's federal health secretary says swine flu cases in January have surpassed the number for all of 2011, a year when the virus barely appeared worldwide.

Salomon Chertorivski Woldenberg says there have been 1,623 cases of all strains of flu in Mexico so far in January, 90 per cent of them H1N1. That's the version that originally was called swine flu when it caused a pandemic that started in Mexico in 2009.

Chertorivski says 32 people have died from flu, 29 of them from H1N1.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/201 ... exico.html


US panel defends call to censor bird flu studies

A potentially deadlier form of the bird flu virus poses one of the gravest known threats to humans and justifies an unprecedented call to censor the research that produced it, a top U.S. biosecurity official said on Tuesday.

The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) set off a furious debate in the scientific and public health communities in December when it asked the journals Nature and Science to censor two studies on new strains of the H5N1 virus that may make it more easily transmissible in people.

"The potential of this pathogen, in theory, exceeds anything else I can imagine," Paul Keim, acting chair of the NSABB, told Reuters in an e-mail.

Keim explained his personal decision to support censorship in this case in a commentary published on Tuesday in mBio, the journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The panel also published an explanatory piece in Nature and Science.

The panel cited fears that mutant versions of the H5N1 virus created by scientists at Erasmus Medical College in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, could accidentally escape the lab or be used as a devastating form of bioterrorism.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/01/3 ... z1l7U77aou



Published Date: 2012-01-30 20:00:21
Subject: PRO/EDR> Influenza (06): Mexico
Archive Number: 20120130.1026907

INFLUENZA (06): MEXICO
**********************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Sat 28 Jan 2012
Source: Channel 6 News [edited]
http://channel6newsonline.com/2012/01/m ... arly-1500/


An ongoing swine flu [influenza A/H1N1pdm09 virus infection] outbreak in Mexico has left at least 29 people dead and nearly 1500 others infected, health officials confirmed on Saturday [29 Jan 2012]. Thousands more are also ill as the country faces several types of influenza this season [2011-2012].

Since the start of the ongoing winter season [2011-2012], at least 7069 people have reported suffering from symptoms similar to those of swine flu [influenza A/H1N1pdm09 virus infection]. Lab tests are still underway and have so far confirmed 1456 cases of the disease [swine flu], which is officially known as A/H1N1pdm09 virus infection. According to Mexico's Health Ministry (SSA), at least 29 people have died of swine flu so far this season. While no health emergency has been declared, officials expect the death toll will rise in the coming weeks as Mexico also faces A/H3N2 and B type influenza [virus infection].

http://www.promedmail.org/?p=2400:1000: ... 702832:::::

EXCLUSIVE: WikiLeaks to move servers offshore, sources say

Julian Assange’s investors are in the process of purchasing a boat to move WikiLeaks’ servers offshore in an attempt to evade prosecution from U.S. law enforcement, FoxNews.com has learned.

Multiple sources within the hacker community with knowledge of day-to-day WikiLeaks activities say Assange’s financial backers have been working behind the scenes on the logistics of moving the servers to international waters.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/ ... z1l7TSkhyx

This was hidden wayyyyy at the bottom of the page


Economy unexpectedly shrinks in November: StatsCan

Canada's gross domestic product shrank unexpectedly in November, dragged down one-tenth of a percentage point largely on lower output in the energy sector.

In its latest GDP report released Tuesday, Statistics Canada notes that crude oil and natural gas extraction and exports led the decline as they dropped 2.5 per cent.

Analyzing the numbers, BNN's Michael Kane told CTV News Channel they point to a slowing economy.

"It was mostly in the oil and gas sector," he said, noting some strength in the mining and manufacturing sectors.

"We watch manufacturing very closely and manufacturing has been strengthening despite the fact that the Canadian dollar has been strong and goods we export look more expensive to outsiders," he said.

Manufacturing was up 0.6 per cent, as were retail sales as they posted their fourth-consecutive monthly increase.



Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/201201 ... z1l7VstFPb



6 big Canada Pension Plan changes arrive in 2012

New rules could affect retirement planning

Last week in a speech in Davos, Switzerland, Prime Minister Stephen Harper lit a political powder keg when he hinted at possible changes to Old Age Security benefits. He was quick to point out that the Canada Pension Plan is "fully funded, actuarially sound and does not need to be changed," but a close look at the plan shows some alterations to the CPP are already underway.

The rules governing the Canada Pension Plan are updated regularly, but most years the changes are limited to simple increases to benefit payments and premiums. Not this year.

Ottawa is bringing in a raft of new or tweaked policies to reflect that retirement these days is more of a gradual transition for many people rather than a single event. Many of these changes either begin in 2012 or are entering the next phase-in period, and they'll have a direct impact on the retirement plans of Canadians.

In some cases, the changes are big enough that people nearing retirement may want to have a chat with a financial adviser before deciding exactly when to apply for a CPP retirement pension.

Early CPP, lower benefits

The first change involves payment rates.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/taxseas ... anges.html

Freezing weather in Europe has fatal consequences


Freezing weather in Europe has fatal consequences
Advertisement1 February 2012 Last updated at 00:49 ET Help This week's cold snap in eastern and central Europe has now killed at least 60 people.

The drop in temperatures has forced some countries to deploy the army and set up emergency shelters.

At least 30 people, mostly homeless, have died in Ukraine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16828781


Britain to shiver in temperatures 'colder than the South Pole' as health chiefs say more than 1,500 people a week could die from killer freeze


cold snap that has left dozens dead across Eastern Europe will reach Britain by the weekend.
Temperatures are set to plunge far below freezing point making the country even colder than the South Pole. Forecasters are expecting overnight temperatures of between -8c (18f) and -10c (14f) on Friday.

The McMurdo research facility in Antarctica is currently recording -6c (21f) at night. The bitter cold has forced some countries to deploy their armed forces and set up emergency accommodation.

Health chiefs have also started warning that as a result of the freezing conditions, more than 1,500 people a week could be killed by the weather.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1l7YxSUCa

Business bites: Highest ever unemployment rate for eurozone


Unemployment in the eurozone now stands at 10.4% - its highest rate since the euro was launched in 1999.

Figures from the Eurostat agency say that 16.5 million people were out of work in the eurozone in December, up 751,000 on the year before.

Spain has the highest unemployment rate at 22.9%, while the lowest is in Austria at 4.1%

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16815207

Water bills to rise by up to 8.8% hitting 'struggling' families with additional £20 charge

Water bills will rise by as much as 8.8 per cent in April, hitting millions already struggling with soaring costs.

The average increase will be 5.7 per cent, taking the annual charge for water and sewerage up by £20, to £376.

Increases will vary depending on the provider, size of household and whether a meter is fitted.

One million households served by Southern Water will see rises of 8.2 per cent, taking the figure up by £31 a year to an average of £416.

Bristol Water, a smaller firm that does not provide sewerage services, will hit around 500,000 households with an increase of 8.8 per cent for water.

The increases are a result of the Government allowing the industry to link changes to the retail price index (RPI) measure of inflation as it stood in November.

RPI was then running at 5.2 per cent – the first time it had topped 5 per cent in November for 21 years.



rises are way above increases in pay and pensions, meaning households will have to cut other costs to pay for water.

Southern Water has been allowed to push its prices particularly high to put in new mains and sewers to cope with a rising population. Its customers’ bills will go up by 12.4 per cent over three years.

The water industry provides rich pickings for foreign investors. The Chinese government paid more than £1billion for a stake in Thames Water, the UK’s biggest supplier.

Joanna Elson, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, said: ‘Paying water bills is increasingly difficult for many households.
‘Whilst the price rises may be in line with inflation, they are not in line with growth in earnings, meaning water bills will take up more and more of the money we bring in.’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1l7a6EC3C