■UNITED STATES
Woman sues Brookfield zoo
A woman is suing a Chicago zoo for a fall last year near a dolphin exhibit, accusing zookeepers of encouraging the mammals to splash water and then failing to protect spectators from wet surfaces, local media reported on Thursday. In her suit filed last week, Allecyn Edwards said she was injured while walking near an exhibit at Brookfield Zoo, where a group of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins were performing, media said. Officials “recklessly and willfully trained and encouraged the dolphins to throw water at the spectators in the stands, making the floor wet and slippery,” but failed to post warning signs or lay down protective mats or strips, the suit said, the reports said. Edwards is demanding more than US$50,000 for lost wages, medical expenses and emotional trauma from the Chicago Zoological Society and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, which operate the zoo in Chicago’s southwest suburbs.
■BRAZIL
You’ve got mail and an STD
The Health Ministry has created a Web site to let people inform partners they have a sexually transmitted disease (STD) via an e-mailed virtual postcard. The official in charge of the ministry’s STD and AIDS programs notes that many people have a hard time telling partners they are infected. Mariangela Simao said in a statement this week that the e-mails could help people “tackle these diseases directly and with minimum exposure.” One of the cards shows a young man reclining in his underwear. It reads: “Hi! I don’t know if this is the best way to tell you, but I’ve learned that I have an STD.” The card suggests the recipient see a doctor.
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