FEAST OR FAMINE

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Rare Disease Day is remembered annually on 28 February worldwide since 2008. Originally 18 countries took part in commemorative events. Last year, in 2016, events were held in 84 countries. A disease or disorder is defined as rare in Europe when it affects fewer than 1 in 2,000 people. A disease or disorder is defined as rare in America when it affects fewer than 200,000 Americans at any given time. One rare disease may affect only a handful of patients, while another may affect as many as 245,000. In the EU, as many as 30 million people may be affected by one of over 6,000 existing rare diseases. Eighty percent (80%) of rare diseases have identified genetic origins. Others are the result of infections (bacterial or viral), allergies and environmental causes, or are degenerative and proliferative. Fifty percent (50%) of rare diseases affect children. Over 6,000 rare diseases are characterised by a broad diversity of disorders and symptoms that vary not o...

One Day (2009) is mainly set in Britain. The premise is: 20 years, 2 people, 1 day. Two 18-year-old British university graduates, Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley, meet the day after graduation: Friday 15 July 1988. For just one night. But they keep in touch over the years. The narrative is always on 15 July each year, until 2007. Sometimes they catch up on that day, but mostly they don’t. Dexter initially wanted to spend two years on holiday travelling the world, but this extended long beyond his expectations. Emma, meanwhile, worked as a waitress, while gradually writing a book. The beginning and the end are the interesting parts, while the rest is a roller coaster of potentialities, boredom, and predictability. Positive elements of the format are the section headings and quotes on life – by Charles Dickens (Great Expectations), James Salter (Burning the Days), Thomas Hardy (Far from the Madding Crowd), and Thomas Hardy (Tess of the d’Urbervilles). For example, the Thomas...

The Crested Porcupine (Hystrix cristata) in Cyprus is also found in Italy, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. In the Mediterranean it is known from mainland Italy and the island of Sicily, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Crested porcupines are nocturnal animals that spend their time in burrows during the daytime. The burrow is self-constructed to a length of 10 metres and a width of four metres. The porcupine has quills which are raised when alarmed or irritated. Porcupines also rattles the hollow spines on its tail, and if the offending animal has not retreated, the porcupine launches a backwards attack and rams its tail into the animal. This drives the porcupines spines deep into the enemy’s body. The Cyrpus Crested Porcupine is compatible with the mongoose and other rodents. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lamen...

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden announce the birth of a Nile hippopotamus, Fiona. Fiona, the hippopotamus, was born six weeks premature, a month ago on 24 January 2017. She was born 20 pounds (9 kilograms) lighter than the typical birth weight for a Nile hippo, so she needed emergency care for the first month of her life. Initially baby Fiona was dehydrated and need help from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The Center’s Vascular Access Team, a group that works with prematurely born (human) children, helped place an intravenous (IV) drip in the little hippo to ensure that she received fluid nutrients to build her strength. Now at 50 pounds (almost 23 kilograms) she is about the weight she should have been at birth, and the IV drip has been removed. She has been in the pool to build muscle and lung strength. She continues to put on weight daily and is passed the critical stage. However, she is still receiving treatment and has not yet been ...