Man Caught Smuggling Illegal Booze Down His Pants in Saudi Arabia

his is the extreme lengths that one man in Saudi Arabia went to for a drink - smuggling 14 bottles of liquor into his underpants.

But alcohol is strictly forbidden in the country under strict Islamic law - and the man now faces a public lashing, alongside a lengthy jail sentence.

It’s believed that the man was returning from Bahrain - where booze is not illegal, and was caught on the King Fahd causeway that links the two countries with the bottles concealed under his robes.

But the problem of liver disease among those who head for Bahrain in search of a drink has now become so high that UK and American specialists are drafted in to treat the problem in state of the art hospitals.

Authorities are usually believed to take a softer approach to expatriates drinking in Saudi Arabia - as long as it is consumed in sealed quarters.

Another option is to make booze yourself - an endeavour which previously saw British expatriate Karl Andree facing the prospect of 350 lashes for making wine before he was eventually pardoned.(YAHOO NEWS)

Brazil Zika outbreak: More babies born with birth defects

 Brazil says the number of babies born with suspected microcephaly or abnormally small heads since October has now reached nearly 4,000.

In the worst affected area, about 1% of newborns have suspected microcephaly.

The Brazilian authorities believe the increase is caused by an outbreak of Zika virus. Just 150 babies were born with microcephaly in 2014.

The brain condition can be deadly or cause intellectual disability and developmental delays.

Colombia's health minister has advised women there to delay pregnancy.

Brazil's health ministry says there have been 3,893 suspected cases of microcephaly since October, when the authorities first noticed a surge, up from 3,500 in last week's report.
The link with Zika has not been confirmed, but a small number of babies who died had the virus in their brain and no other explanation for the surge in microcephaly has been suggested.

Zika is generally mild and only causes symptoms in one in five people. It is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue and chikungunya.

Brazil is experiencing the largest known outbreak of Zika.

President Dilma Rousseff, visiting Recife in the worst-affected north-east of the country, said Brazilians needed to engage in the fight against the virus.

"Until we discover a vaccine, we will need to rely on the population to help us remove the conditions under which the mosquito reproduces," she said.

"In the meantime we need to provide all the assistance the children and their families require."

Brazil's health ministry says that 90% of notified suspected cases of microcephaly are in the north-east - and 6% in the south-east, an area which includes Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Rio de Janeiro is due to host the Olympics in August. The country is expecting 10,500 international athletes and many more spectators to attend.

The worst affected states in the north-east - the poorest part of Brazil - are Paraiba, Pernambuco and Bahia.

In Paraiba, the health ministry says that the number of babies born with suspected microcephaly works out as 114 per 10,000 live births - or more than 1 in 100 of all newborns.

Last week, Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Castro said a new testing kit was being developed to identify quickly the presence of any of the three viruses spread by the mosquito concerned - dengue, chikungunya and Zika.

He also announced extra funds to speed up the development of a vaccine for Zika.

At the moment the only way to fight Zika is to clear stagnant water where mosquitoes breed, and to protect against mosquito bites.

he US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert last Friday advising pregnant women to consider postponing travel to Brazil and other Latin American and Caribbean countries where outbreaks of Zika have been registered.

The travel alert applies to Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. (BBC)

OIL FACILITY ATTACKS: MILITARY PRESENCE TO SAFEGUARD LIVES & PROPERTY---DTSG

The Delta state government has assured its citizens that the presence of heavily armed military personnel in the state, especially in Gbaramatu Kingdom, is not intended to cause panic or harm but as part of measures to safeguard lives and property of law abiding citizens as well as oil and gas facilities in the affected areas of the State. 

A statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Festus Agas, said the Delta State Security Council at its emergency meeting yesterday, deplored the recent attack on oil facility in the Niger-Delta region.

DELTA STATE GOV. OKOWA CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON OIL & GAS FACILITIES, READS RIOT ACT TO PERPETRATORS

Delta State Governor, Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa, has condemned in strongest terms, the recent attacks on the oil and gas facilities across the state and called on all Deltans to cooperate with the security agencies to unmask the criminals behind the heinous crime.

In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, the Governor urged the security agencies to intensify their surveillance over the oil facilities and pledged the commitment of his administration to support all measures that would restore the confidence of all stakeholders in the oil & gas industry operating in Delta state.

“These attacks should be condemned by all well meaning Nigerians, particularly compatriots from Niger Delta. This is an attack on our soul. The state is bleeding again and its implication for the economy and image of Delta state grave”, he said.

The Governor noted that only last week, his administration hosted a stakeholders’ summit on the effects of the VANDALISM of oil and gas facilities in the state; where the various arms of the security agencies, the oil and gas operators and the host communities converged to brainstorm on measures to stem the activities of vandals. He noted these attacks, coming just few days after the summit, was not a good way of reciprocating the good intentions of his government and the enormous resources that are being invested in turning around the fortunes of the state.

He called on community leaders and youth groups to resist any temptation to be drawn into these nefarious activities as this might jeopardize the on-going intervention of federal government, in the lives of the youths, through the Amnesty Office.

“Do not be part of this crime and refuse to listen to any leader or politician who would want to pitch one ethnic nationality against the other as a result of these incidents. The destruction of oil facilities is purely criminal and we reject attempts to label it otherwise”, the Governor observed.  (GVT. PR)

Zika Virus: This Is the New Mosquito-Borne Disease Travelers Have to Worry About

As if travelers didn’t have enough to worry about with mosquitos spreading diseases like Dengue, Chikungunya, and West Nile, now there’s a new virus threatening our health: Zika virus.

Mosquitos are one of the deadliest insects on earth. (Photo: James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP)

The CDC has issued a travel alert for people traveling to areas where this once rare virus is now rapidly spreading, and it has advised pregnant women to consider avoiding these regions altogether, as the evidence grows that Zika can cause infected pregnant women to have babies born with the severe birth defects. The countries of concern include: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico.

Related: Potentially Deadly Dengue Virus Hits Hawaii — Everything You Need to Know

The most common symptoms of Zika, a flavivirus related to Dengue, Yellow Fever, and West Nile, according to Richard Kuhn, Head of Biological Sciences at Purdue University, include flu-like symptoms (fever, body aches, headache), as well as rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis.

But it’s becoming clear that infection in pregnant women is particularly problematic. Kuhn tell Yahoo Travel that “Once a pregnant woman is infected, the placenta can also become infected, causing an infection in the brain of the fetus.” It now appears that this infection can cause microcephaly, a potentially deadly abnormal underdevelopment of the brain. “It is still unclear whether there is a particular trimester during which fetuses are the most vulnerable,” says Kuhn.

At the moment, there is no vaccine against or cure for Zika, says Kuhn, but the National Institutes of Health is focusing on the virus for research and development. 

Though the kind of mosquitos that transmit Zika are found in the southern U.S., according to Kuhn it is unlikely that Zika will become a big problem here. Still, “You might see some people bring some imported Zika back to the U.S.,” says Kuhn.

Related: What You Need to Know About the Mosquito-Borne Disease Ravaging the Caribbean

Zika virus was originally discovered in Uganda in 1947, and was named after a forest there. It remained an obscure disease found only in Africa and Asia until a small outbreak in 2007 in Micronesia.

But in May of last year, perhaps due to Africans traveling to Brazil for the world cup, according to some experts, the virus appeared and soon exploded across South American country. Now the Brazilian Ministry of Health estimates that up to 1.5 million people may be infected.

Amid the outbreak, Brazilian health officials noticed a spike in microcephaly, a potentially deadly form of abnormal brain development in newborns. Experts there say there is strong evidence of a connection to mothers infected with Zika. In fact, the Ministry has taken the unprecedented step of advising women in the northeast region of the country to avoid getting pregnant for the foreseeable future due to the risk.

Anyone who has not previously had Zika and is traveling in an area where Zika is an issue could be at risk. The best way to stay healthy is to avoid getting mosquito bites in the first place. According to the CDC, mosquito repellants containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, and oil of lemon eucalyptus and para-methane-diol offer protection and are safe for pregnant women. 

However, for pregnant women (or others) who are hesitant to use harsh chemicals like DEET, here are some tips: If you do use repellant, wash it off as soon as possible and don’t sleep with the chemicals on your skin. Wearing long sleeves and pants and then treating these clothes with DEET can also be effective (but obviously does not protect exposed skin on the hands, feet, face, and neck). Repellents that contain natural ingredients like citrus, citronella and chrysanthemum are also safe, according to FitPregnancy.com, however they are not as effective as the chemical alternatives. (YAHOO NEWS)

TERRORISTS DISGUISE AS FRUIT & VEGETABLE VENDORS--DHQ

The Defence Headquarters has alerted Nigerians of the new antics by terror sects to perpetrate their evil acts.

According to a statement by the acting Director Defence Information, Brigadier General, Rabe Abubakar, said the terrorists now masquerading as fruits and vegetable vendors wheeling Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) as groceries into crowded areas. 

The Defence Headquarters therefore advises the general public to be constantly alert to this latest terrorist tactics and to report promptly any suspicious persons or objects to the nearest security agency. The Defence Headquarter reminded Nigerians that security is everybody’s concern therefore, and should therefore support efforts by security agencies to eliminate the remnant of the Boko Haram terrorists.