Free Republic

BEIJING — Most of the 458 passengers aboard a chartered cruise ship were still missing on Tuesday morning more than 12 hours after it sank during a storm along the central Yangtze River, according to a report by Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency. Fewer than a dozen people had been rescued, local news media reported, indicating that this could be the worst such disaster in East Asia since the sinking of the South Korean ferry Sewol last year.

Although M. tuberculosis probably first emerged some 40,000 years ago in Africa, the disease did not take hold until humans took to farming... A previous analysis by his team had shown that the common ancestor of all the M. bacterium strains circulating today began spreading around 10,000 years ago in the ancient Fertile Crescent, a region stretching from Mesopotamia to the Nile Delta that was a cradle of agriculture... 4,987 samples of the Beijing lineage from 99 countries... the information to date the expansion of the lineage and show how the strains are related... the Beijing lineage did indeed emerge...

China has announced $1 billion in funding to help farmers fight the country's devastating droughts, according to The Guardian. The country is facing its worst drought in 60 years right where it hurts the most, the wheat producing province of Shangdong.

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...