EU-DIGEST

Avoid going to US and Mexico if you don't have to says EU health chief

(Reuters)Androulla Vassiliou, the European Union's health chief advised travelers on Monday not to go to areas affected by swine flu. Asked for details, she said: "They should avoid traveling to Mexico or the United States unless it's very urgent for them." The warning came as health officials in Spain confirmed that a man hospitalized in eastern Spain had tested positive for swine flu, becoming what appeared to be Europe’s first case of the disease. Health authorities were also testing 17 other suspected cases across Spain, a major hub for travel between Mexico and Europe.

The EU did not issue any formal instructions to travelers but said the bloc's health ministers would discuss ways to prevent the spread of the virus later this week and that EU foreign ministers would discuss the situation later on Monday. As Mexico struggled to contain its outbreak, the World Health Organization reported that the number of confirmed cases in the United States had doubled, rising from 20 to 40. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters in Greece: "It's too soon to speculate about the situation. We are following the situation very closely, together with the member states."
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Labels: EU, Mexico, Spain, Swine Flu, Travel Industry, US

Deadly flu strain threatens Mexico and U.S.- No reports from Europe

(Reuters)Mexican and U.S. health officials searched on Saturday for signs an outbreak of a new flu strain is spreading further, after it killed up to 68 people in Mexico and infected eight in the United States. The World Health Organization said the virus from 12 of the Mexican patients was the same genetically as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in eight people in California and Texas who later recovered. The Mexican government said the flu had killed 20 people and it may also be responsible for 48 other deaths. In all, 1,004 suspected cases have been reported nationwide. Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova, speaking on the evening television news, encouraged people to avoid crowds and wear face masks, noting there was no guarantee that going to get a flu vaccine would help against the new strain.

In California, Dr. Gil Chavez, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the California Department of Public Health and the state's chief epidemiologist, said many more cases could come to light as patients are tested. "The more we look the more we are likely to find," he said. In New York City, health officials were investigating what had sickened scores of students who fell ill with flu-like symptoms in a Queens high school on Thursday and Friday. The symptoms were reported as mild and a city health official said he could not speculate about which flu strain was responsible.

The U.S. government said it was taking the situation seriously and monitoring for any new developments. As far away as Hong Kong -- the epicenter of the 2003 SARS epidemic and especially vigilant to any threat of infectious disease -- the government's Center for Health Protection said it was closely monitoring investigations in the United States and would analyze flu samples in the territory.

Bob Prechter, in "The Wave Principle of Human Social Behavior, Chapter 18" writes: "Epidemics and pandemics seem to hit populations during major negative social mood trends. ...when we study pandemics of the Dark Ages or the Spanish influenza epidemic that broke out during the bear market of 1917 (which year also saw intense fighting in World War I and the Communist coup in Russia), there always appears to be a bear market in force, and the extent of the epidemic tends to correlate with the size of the setback in mood." So far there have been no reports about this flu strain in Europe.

Labels: Alert, China, Economy, Epidemic, EU, Flu, Mexico, US

In George Friedman's "The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century" (Doubleday), the author predicts that Poland along with Turkey, Japan and Mexico, will become new world powers by the end of this century. We won't be worrying ourselves over Russia or China, because those countries will have experienced a breakdown of power, much like the first collapse of communism. And the war against militant Islamists that has been the primary focus of our country for the past eight years? It'll become a distant memory.

Friedman predicts that the world's falling population figures and longer life expectancy are going to mean fiscal chaos for those of us born between 1970 and 1990. It could also mean that our country will be engaged in a fight to attract a declining global labor force. We are turning immigrants away from our borders but 20 years from now, Friedman says, we will be offering incentives such as a streamlined visa program and even bonuses to anyone who will come to work in the U.S.

Labels: EU, Mexico, Poland, Turkey

Carlos Slim Helú

For the complete report from USATODAY.com click on this link

Mexico - The richest man you've never heard of - Chris Hawley

Carlos Slim Helú's business career began on the playground, trading baseball cards. He would buy the adhesive-backed cards at a candy stand in downtown Mexico City, then make a meticulous record of each trade in a notebook, carefully evaluating whether he had come out on top. By age 12, he had moved on to trading stocks and bonds. Before turning 30, he owned a soft drink company and a stock brokerage. Now, at 67, Slim is the world's second-richest man and is closing quickly on Bill Gates, according to Forbes magazine's most recent rankings.

Slim accumulated his $53 billion fortune by collecting companies much as he once did baseball cards. He searches for undervalued businesses, infuses them with cash and uses the size of his holdings to overwhelm the competition. He now owns controlling stakes in at least 222 businesses, but he tells USA TODAY in a rare interview that he has never forgotten the lessons of his youth. "Buying well is a discipline," he says. "The first type of business negotiation you do as a child. … (Trading cards) was a way to understand supply and demand, to understand the market. … Some boys had few (cards), and some had a lot."

Labels: Carlos Slim Helú, Mexico