Search of capsized river ferry ends with 54 bodies found
Rescue workers in Bangladesh completed the search of a stricken river ferry yesterday, bringing the number of bodies recovered to 54 two days after the vessel capsized with about 200 people on board.
“We were able to salvage the capsized ferry today, and there are no more bodies inside the wreck,” said Saiful Islam Badal, deputy commissioner of Munshiganj district.
About 40 people swam to shore and 35 were rescued after the double-decker ferry went down in the Meghna river near the capital, Dhaka, during a storm on Thursday afternoon, police and rescue officials said.
Illinois man linked to ill Indianan has MERS, too
An Illinois resident who had close contact with a patient in Indiana who is the first known U.S. case of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome has tested positive for the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.
The Illinois resident did not seek or require medical care and is reported to be feeling well, but officials involved in investigating the first case have been monitoring his health since May 3, the CDC said.
The first confirmed case of MERS was discovered in Indiana in early May; the second was in Florida on May 11.
Medical marijuana approved by legislature for some cases
Minnesota legislators have approved legalizing medical marijuana in pill or liquid form for a limited number of patients suffering from severe or fatal illnesses.
Minnesota senators voted 46-16 and representatives 89-40 on Friday to approve the measure with bipartisan support and send it to Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, who has said he will sign it into law.
More than 20 states have approved medical-marijuana and cannabis programs, the National Conference of State Legislatures said.
Opponents of the bill said they are concerned that it could lead to wider use of marijuana in Minnesota, particularly among children, and serve as a first step toward legalization of the drug for recreational use.
Colorado and Washington state have legalized marijuana for recreational use, and other states are considering such legislation.
37 in Brotherhood see death sentences appealed
Egypt’s public prosecutor has appealed the mass death sentences issued by a provincial court, state media reported yesterday. The sentences have caused an international outcry.
Mass trials in the biggest Arab state have reinforced fears among human-rights groups that the government and antiIslamist judges are using all levers of power to crush opponents. Egypt’s government says its judiciary is independent.
A court in April recommended death sentences for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and 682 supporters, and it handed down a final capitalpunishment ruling for 37 others, alarming the United States, the United Nations and rights groups.
The 37 initially had been sentenced to death after a trial lasting only a few days. They were part of a second group of 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters, most of whom were imprisoned for life in the final sentencing.
Japan shows frozen-soil walls planned at nuclear plant
Japan’s industry ministry displayed to news media on Friday a site testing underground walls of frozen soil. Construction of a full-fledged version is to begin next month.
The walls are designed to prevent groundwater from mixing with contaminated water at Tokyo Electric Power’s crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear-power plant.
The government plans to build 100-foot-deep underground walls by freezing soil around the 1-mile perimeter of reactors Nos. 1 to 4 at the plant to keep groundwater from flowing into the reactor buildings and becoming highly contaminated.
The walls will cost about $315 million to build, the government said.