Liberia’s president declares curfew

Liberia’s president declares curfew

MONROVIA, Liberia

Liberia’s president declared a curfew and ordered security forces to quarantine a slum home to at least 50,000 people late Tuesday as the West African country battled to stop the spread of Ebola in the capital.

The measures came as authorities said that three health workers in the country who received an experimental drug for the disease are showing signs of recovery, though medical experts caution it is not certain if the drug is effective.

At least 1,229 people have died of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in the current outbreak, and more than 2,240 have been sickened, according to the World Health Organization. The fastest rising number of cases has been reported in Liberia, with at least 466 dead.

Authorities here have struggled to treat and isolate the sick, in part because of widespread fear that treatment centers are places where people go to die. Many sick people have hidden in their homes, relatives have sometimes taken their loved ones away from health centers, and mobs have occasionally attacked health workers.

Parents keep kids’ IDs off social media

NEW YORK

Behold the cascade of baby photos, the flood of funny kid anecdotes and the steady stream of school milestones on Facebook.

It all makes Sonia Rao, a stay-at-home mother of a 1-year-old in Mountain View, California, “a little uncomfortable.”

“I just have a vague discomfort having her photograph out there for anyone to look at,” says Rao. “When you meet a new person and go to their account, you can look them up, look at photos, videos, know that they are traveling.”

At a time when just about everyone and their mother — father, grandmother and aunt — is intent on publicizing the newest generation’s early years on social-media sites, an increasing number of parents such as Rao are bucking the trend by consciously keeping their children’s photos, names and entire identities off the Internet.

Reasons for the baby blackout vary. Some parents have privacy and safety concerns. Others worry about what companies might do with their child’s image and personal data.

Body-art pros applaud regulations

Akron

Two decades ago, body art was limited to a much smaller portion of the population.

A lot has changed, with men and women of all ages now sporting tattoos and piercings on virtually any area of skin, but laws governing the artists in Ohio hadn’t kept up with the times.

Until now.

The state is redrawing the rules for tattoo artists and piercers for the first time since the late 1990s.

Among the new regulations going into effect Sept. 1: Piercing guns can be used only on lower earlobes and minors can’t get their genitals or nipples pierced, even if their parents approve.

“These aren’t bad changes,” said Rob Church, a piercer and owner of a body art business. “These are great changes for our profession and the industry and public health.”

8 dead, 13 missing in Japan landslides

TOKYO

Eight people died and at least 13 were missing after rain-sodden hills in the outskirts of Hiroshima gave way early today in at least five landslides.

Video footage from the national broadcaster NHK showed suburban homes in the western Japanese city surrounded by streams of mud and debris, and residents picking their way over piles of rocks and dirt.

Wire reports