The number of confirmed swine flu cases in Australia rose to 1,009 yesterday, more than triple the number just one week ago, the health department said.
The vast majority of the cases — 874 — are in the southern state of Victoria, prompting several other states and territories to quarantine schoolchildren returning home from Victoria for seven days.
Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon on Friday said health officials were not surprised by the rapid spread of the virus, and said it was likely to continue spreading throughout the southern hemisphere’s winter months.
“This recent surge in cases was not unexpected, given the behavior of the disease that we’ve seen in other countries,” she said.
The defense department canceled its annual parade celebrating the Queen’s birthday near Canberra yesterday, after one of the cadets who was supposed to have marched in the parade tested positive for the virus. The cadet and others he came in contact with were placed in isolation.
Meanwhile, Philippine officials announced yesterday that the start of college classes would be postponed for a week until June 15 because of concerns over the rising number of swine flu cases.
The Department of Health has reported 33 swine flu cases, and all have shown mild symptoms.
The postponement will give foreign students who come from countries with swine flu cases time to self-quarantine, a top education official told DZBB radio.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is constructing a new counter-stealth radar system on a disputed reef in the South China Sea that would significantly expand its surveillance capabilities in the region, satellite imagery suggests. Analysis by London-based think tank Chatham House suggests China is upgrading its outpost on Triton Island (Jhongjian Island, 中建島) on the southwest corner of the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), building what might be a launching point for an anti-ship missile battery and sophisticated radar system. “By constraining the US ability to operate stealth aircraft, and threaten stealth aircraft, these capabilities in the South China Sea send
HAVANA: Repeated blackouts have left residents of the Cuban capital concerned about food, water supply and the nation’s future, but so far, there have been few protests Maria Elena Cardenas, 76, lives in a municipal shelter on Amargura Street in Havana’s colonial old town. The building has an elegant past, but for the last few days Maria has been cooking with sticks she had found on the street. “You know, we Cubans manage the best we can,” she said. She lives in the shelter because her home collapsed, a regular occurrence in the poorest, oldest parts of the beautiful city. Cuba’s government has spent the last days attempting to get the island’s national grid functioning after repeated island-wide blackouts. Without power, sleep becomes difficult in the heat, food
Botswana is this week holding a presidential election energized by a campaign by one previous head-of-state to unseat his handpicked successor whose first term has seen rising discontent amid a downturn in the diamond-dependent economy. The charismatic Ian Khama dramatically returned from self-exile six weeks ago determined to undo what he has called a “mistake” in handing over in 2018 to Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who seeks re-election tomorrow. While he cannot run as president again having served two terms, Khama has worked his influence and standing to support the opposition in the southern African country of 2.6 million people. “The return of
SOUTH CHINA SEA TENSIONS: Beijing’s ‘pronounced aggressiveness’ and ‘misbehavior’ forced countries to band together, the Philippine defense chief said The Philippines is confident in the continuity of US policies in the Asia-Pacific region after the US presidential election, Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro said, underlining that bilateral relations would remain strong regardless of the outcome. The alliance between the two countries is anchored in shared security goals and a commitment to uphold international law, including in the contested waters of the South China Sea, Teodoro said. “Our support for initiatives, bilaterally and multilaterally ... is bipartisan, aside from the fact that we are operating together on institutional grounds, on foundational grounds,” Teodoro said in an interview. China’s “misbehavior” in the South
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