Construction Worker Found Dead with Knife in Head at Ratchaburi Worksite

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Canada to reduce staff at Cuba embassy after another diplomat falls ill

By Anna Mehler Paperny

 

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks in front of the Canada's Embassy in Havana, Cuba, January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

 

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada has decided to cut the number of diplomatic staff in Cuba by up to half after another person fell ill, Ottawa said on Wednesday, bringing the total to 14 Canadians suffering mysterious symptoms since 2017.

 

Canadian and U.S. diplomats in Havana first began complaining of dizziness, headaches and nausea in the spring of 2017. The United States reduced embassy staffing in Cuba from more than 50 to a maximum of 18, after more than two dozen personnel developed unusual illnesses.

 

"A further reduction in the (Canadian embassy) footprint is deemed to be the appropriate response," a Canadian government official told reporters.

 

The November incident was the first new Canadian case reported in months, leading to the decision to evacuate much of the remaining staff. Spouses and dependents left last year.

 

The Cuban government has been cooperating with a Canadian investigation into the cause of the illnesses, which has not been determined.

 

"I think I can safely say the Cuban officials are as frustrated as we are that we cannot get any closer to determining a cause," the official said.

 

Canada is one of Cuba's most important economic partners. More than a million Canadians visited the Caribbean island last year, making it the most important tourism market, as it has been for decades.

 

Canada is also among Cuba's 10 top trading partners, with Canada-Cuba trade totalling $790 million in 2017. This is Cuba's only trade partnership among the 10 countries where the trade balance is in the Caribbean island nation’s favour, according to the latest Cuban trade figures.

 

That is due to a joint venture between Canadian company Sherritt International and state nickel monopoly Cubaniquel, which produces around 60 percent of the island’s nickel plus cobalt, which is then shipped to a joint venture in Canada for refining.

 

(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto; Additional reporting by Marc Frank in Havana; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and James Dalgleish)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-01-31

[Briggsy]

It's the Chinese then. This would be the weird shit they would pull.

[geriatrickid]

4 hours ago, Briggsy said:

It's the Chinese then. This would be the weird shit they would pull.

Or Crickets. The  recorded sounds associated with the injury were identified as mass mating calls of the Indies short-tailed cricket (Anurogryllus celerinictus). 

https://www.livescience.com/64437-crickets-sonic-attack.html

 

[Briggsy]

8 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

Or Crickets. The  recorded sounds associated with the injury were identified as mass mating calls of the Indies short-tailed cricket (Anurogryllus celerinictus). 

https://www.livescience.com/64437-crickets-sonic-attack.html

 

Thanks for the link. The jury is out on that one. Let's wait for a more credible source to confirm the cricket theory.

[rgraham]

Does anyone have a source for purchasing mass quantities of the crickets? St Valentines Day is approaching and I have 3 or 4 ex-wives I would like to send them to.

[lungbing]

7 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Thanks for the link. The jury is out on that one. Let's wait for a more credible source to confirm the cricket theory.

Instead of that credible source you'd rather believe that North Korea/ Iran/ Cuba/ China, and this week Venezuela, have developed a weapon that only affects American and Canadian diplomats.

[observer90210]

Syphilis with all those hotties out there in Cuba ?...and a bit too embarassing to admit ?.....of course not...how could one think such a thing..

[IAMHERE]

^{Microwaves the Cubans are using to power eves dropping devices in the embassy. The microwaves affect the liquid in the inner ears of humans. Maybe some good headphones would help.}

[bristolboy]

26 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

^{Microwaves the Cubans are using to power eves dropping devices in the embassy. The microwaves affect the liquid in the inner ears of humans. Maybe some good headphones would help.}

Sure, The Cubans are endangering the health of the diplomats of their #1 trading partner.

[IAMHERE]

30 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Sure, The Cubans are endangering the health of the diplomats of their #1 trading partner.

Follow the money?

[bristolboy]

5 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

Follow the money?

That's exactly what my post did and it strongly suggests that whatever is going on at the Canadian Embassy is not due to the activities of the Cuban government.