| AROUND THE WORLD: DECEMBER 22nd - 24th, 2008
MARCH 08 APRIL 08 MAY 1st - 20th, 08 MAY 21st - 31st, 08 JUNE 1st - 15th, 08 JUNE 16th - 30th, 08 JULY 1st - 19th, 08 JULY 20th - 31st, 08 AUG 1st - 12th, 08 AUG 13th - 22nd, 08 AUG 23rd- 31st, 08 SEPT 1st - 12th, 08 SEPT 13th - 26th, 08 SEPT 27th - 30th, 08 OCT 1st - 18th, 08 OCT 19th - 31st, 08 NOV 1st - 17th, 08 NOV 18th - 30th, 08 DEC 1st - 21st, 08 Subject: Around the World Today: Wednesday 24th December Last AWT until 05/01/09 Happy Holiday's everyone !!! PNG: An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 and depth 58.2km has struck an unpopulated area in the Northern Solomons Province (population: 0.1 million) in Papua New Guinea. PNG: Authorities in Alotau have revealed at least 20 confirmed cases of typhoid fever from areas around Losuia station on Kiriwina Island in the Milne Bay Province. Most cases reported to the Losuia Health Center have been treated and listed for follow-ups for close monitoring. The situation was first detected in March this year. The way of life of the Trobriand Islands people has seen them get by without proper toilet but health authorities are moving into the area to encourage proper hygiene and the importance of proper toilet facilities. SOMALIA: Dozens of people have died in central Somalia's Galgadud region after an outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD), medical personnel said on 23 December. The worst-affected area is in and around the town of Balambale. GUYANA: Non-stop rain began during the week of 8 December, causing approximately 25 communities (Greenfield, Dazzel-Paradise, Haslington, Foulis among others) along the East Coast of the Demerara River to flood, and parts of the capital city of Georgetown. USA: Tennessee - A retention pond holding toxic coal ash slurry burst Monday in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing over half a billion gallons of potentially toxic sludge that swept into the nearby town of Harriman and contaminated tributaries of the Tennessee River. The resulting flood damaged 15 homes, injured one man as it knocked his house off its foundations, and has left over 400 acres of land covered by several feet of coal ash, mud and contaminated water. KUWAIT: Two more cases of meningitis, both in adult women, are currently being treated at the Amiri Hospital. Doctors are baffled about the cause of the disease in one of the individuals, an Ethiopian woman, although the sponsor of the other woman believes that she may have caught it from her sister. The Ethiopian woman, who is employed as a maid, is currently in an isolation unit in the hospital. Doctors there suspect that her condition may be infectious. USA: Oregan - The Umatilla County Public Health Department has confirmed a case of Meningococcal Meningitis in a child. It can cause permanent health problems or death. ZIMBABWE: The worst cholera epidemic ever recorded in Zimbabwe is still not under control after infecting nearly 24,000 people, with the death toll approaching 1,200, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported today. ITALY: An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale has struck the Italian cities of Parma, Milan, Genoa, and Florence, damaging some buildings. There were no immediate reports of casualties, reported on Tuesday. The temblor's epicenter was near the Apennines mountain city of Parma, the National Institute of Geophysics in Rome reported. USA: Maryland - Rescuers scrambled helicopters and boats to pull commuters from frigid floodwaters unleashed by a massive water main break Tuesday on a commuter road just outside Washington. One neighbor described the torrent as a river that filled the street after the rupture of a main measuring 5-1/2 feet in diameter. BELGIUM: Emergency measures have been taken after an outbreak of bird flu was detected in two farms in northern Belgium, Belgian media reported on Tuesday. Control tests showed last Friday that some ducks and geese in a farm in Bocholt, which borders the Netherlands, were infected with the H5 bird flu virus. VIETNAM: Spoiled cakes are the suspected cause of a food poisoning outbreak that put hundreds of students at a Ho Chi Minh City secondary school in hospital this week, health officials said Tuesday. "Four hundred seventy children were hospitalized due to the food poisoning on Monday," said Le Truong Giang of the Ho Chi Minh Department of Health. BANGLADESH: Bangladeshi authorities said Tuesday a new outbreak of bird flu had been detected at a village in the north of the country as they struggled to contain the disease.Livestock department spokesman Salahuddin Khan said at least 100 birds were slaughtered on a farm in the northern Kurigram district late Monday after the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was discovered. DENMARK: A flock of free-range chickens on a farm in south-western Denmark is suspected of being infected with bird flu, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said on Monday. Subject: Around the World Today: Tuesday 23rd December No information posted Subject: Around the World Today: Monday 22nd December GLOBAL: Catastrophes killed more than 238,000 people this year, with cyclone Nargis which swept through Myanmar accounting for more than half the deaths, a study by reinsurer Swiss Re showed on Thursday. "While the total cost to society was 225 billion dollars (182 billion euros), 50 billion dollars was covered by property insurance, making 2008 the second costliest year ever in terms of insured losses. ARGENTINA: Health authorities in Misiones, a province in northeast Argentina that borders on Brazil and Paraguay, intensified measures against yellow fever after having found that more than 20 monkeys died with symptoms lesions of the disease. According to the local press, there is more concern in the past few days since some of the dead animals were found near Posadas, the capital city of Misiones province, located 1000 kilometers (621 miles) north from Buenos Aires, and next to Encarnacion province in Paraguay. AUSTRALIA: Queensland - Two people have been taken to hospital and 150 people have been evacuated from a south Brisbane club after a chemical smell was detected. Fire crews wearing breathing apparatus evacuated patrons at the Southside Sport and Community Club in Mt Gravatt and are inside searching for the source of the smell, which was first detected in the kitchen area. Two people were taken from the scene to QEII and Greenslopes hospitals with nausea. About 150 people were evacuated from the club and it is not expected they will be allowed to return to the building for some time. AUSTRALIA: WA - About 240 campers were forced to evacuate the Cape Le Grand National Park yesterday after a series of lightning strikes triggered several bushfires at the popular tourist destination. Access to the national park remains closed as firefighters continued to battle the blazes. The campers were evacuated AUSTRIA: Avalanches in the Austrian Alps killed three German ski tourists Sunday and blocked several roads in the Vorarlberg and Tyrol provinces, officials said. A 22-year-old unnamed snowboarder was buried by an avalanche on a closed slope in the Bregenzerwald region. USA: Colorado - A Denver International Airport spokeswoman said this morning the total number of people injured last night was 68, higher than originally reported after an airport runway accident. A spokeswoman from University of Colorado Hospital said that of the nine people taken there, seven have been released. One of those still hospitalized is in serious condition, and the other is in fair condition. Both have broken bones, she said. Continental Flight 1404 was bound for Houston, carrying 112 passengers and crew members when it skidded off a runway shortly after 6 p.m. last night. The Boeing 737-500 ended up in a ravine and burst into flames, with the plane's entire right side engulfed. CHINA: Nearly 400 villagers in southern China were forced to evacuate after a sinkhole opened up, causing one building to collapse and threatening up to 72 others, state media reported on Saturday. The cave-in on Friday afternoon left a three-metre-wide (10-foot) hole in the ground in the southern city of Guangzhou, Xinhua news agency said. JAPAN: An intense earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale jolted seas east Honshu of Japan, at 0923GMT on Sunday, the Hong Kong Observatory said in a news bulletin here Sunday evening. UK: Mutual Aid Guide for Local Authorities released - http://www.ukresilience.gov.uk/media/34839/mutual_aid.pdf |
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