around_the_world_today_Feb_09

                            AROUND THE WORLD: 1st - 28th FEBRUARY, 2009

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 DEC 22nd - 24th, 08    JAN 6th - 31st, 2009

Subject: Around the World Today: Saturday 28th February 2009

No information posted

Subject: Around the World Today: Friday 27th February 2009

No information posted

Subject: Around the World Today: Thursday 26th February 2009

GLOBAL WARMING: Icecaps around the North and South Poles are melting faster and in a more widespread manner than expected, raising sea levels and fuelling climate change, a major scientific survey showed Wednesday. The International Polar Year (IPY) survey found that warming in the Antarctic is "much more widespread than was thought."

SOUTH AFRICA: Fires raging for days in the mountains around Cape Town are threatening historic South African wine estates, local media reported Tuesday. The Cape Times reported firefighters suspect arson is to blame for fires burning in the Helderberg mountains, the latest in a string of blazes in the province spurred on by extreme heat and windy weather conditions.

VIETNAM: Vietnamese agriculture officials say hoof-and-mouth disease has been detected in nine provinces during the past three weeks. It is also battling Bird Flu in 10 Provinces.

AUSTRALIA: The wildfire emergency in Australia that has killed more than 200 people will continue until early April if dry conditions persist in the nation's parched southeast, officials said Tuesday.
As 3,500 firefighters took advantage of milder weather to try to contain six fires raging across Victoria state, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) warned the reprieve was temporary.

USA: Texas - A Dallas family discovered a gaping hole in their roof, another hole in a bedroom and a chunk of metal on their kitchen floor. It was described as a 6-pound piece of metal with two drill holes in it. A police spokesman said the chunk hit with enough velocity to break through the roof and second floor. A biohazard team tested it for radioactivity, it tested negative. Earlier this month, a big fiery object was observed streaking across the Texas sky. Aviation officials speculated that the flaming object could be "space junk" from the collision of two satellites over Siberia.

NIGERIA: Afresh outbreak of Lassa Fever may have claimed not less than seven lives at the National Hospital, Abuja. The disease had claimed the lives of four of the five patients referred to the hospital for treatment about two weeks ago. Yesterday, however, the House of Representatives adopted a motion calling for emergency action on the outbreak of lassa fever and meningities in about ten states in the country.

INDIA: Chandgrah - Panic spread at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 33, on Wednesday afternoon as bees attacked students who were playing in the ground during lunch break. The stinging assault left 41 primary students in need of immediate medical attention.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Czech vets on Tuesday discovered a virus of bird flu when checking the breeding of waterfowl in the Rybarstvi Hodonin fishing company, local vet authority head Jaroslav Salava told CTK. It was discovered in nine out of the 60 randomly checked geese near the Pisecensky pond. However, it is not the risky type H5N1, but the much less dangerous H7 stem, Salava said. Nevertheless, vets will still order the putting down of all the roughly 3000 geese and 350 ducks.

EU: The European Union called Monday for better planning to curb the impact of disasters across the world, saying global warming may trigger more of them and cause worse damage.It said it would share more early-warning information with poorer nations and urge them to plan ahead and stockpile supplies for disasters.The EU said it would start by working on a plan with Caribbean nations, where storms made hundreds homeless last year and destroyed crops and livestock. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29349538/

SOUTH AFRICA: An outbreak response team visited a school in Senaone in Soweto on Tuesday after a pupil died of viral meningitis, the Gauteng health department said. The outbreak response team went to the school on Tuesday. The team assessed the situation at the school and offered information to community members fearful of an outbreak.

ZIMBABWE: The number of people infected during Zimbabwe's worst cholera outbreak in more than a decade has topped 83,000, with more than 3,800 deaths, the World Health Organization said.

Subject: Around the World Today: Wednesday 25th February 2009

No information posted

Subject: Around the World Today: Tuesday 24th February 2009

MACEDONIA: After several weeks of an intensive emergency vaccination campaign the mumps epidemic in Macedonia has topped 3,600 patiens, but authorities expect the infection to eventually let up in the coming weeks. More than 35,000 people were vaccinated in the nation-wide action so far, the health ministry informs

TONGA: Subsea earthquakes continue to rumble in region.

INDONESIA, MEXICO, USA - ALASKA: Earthquakes continue.

ROMANIA: A blast occurred Monday at the Bucharest Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence and Ecology Research Center of the Romanian Ministry of Defense, killing one officer who was working there, the ministry said. The Military Techniques and Technologies Research Agency which has the NBC Defence Research Center under its authority has never before experienced such incidents, said the National Defence Ministry. A commission headed by the institution's Chief of Staff investigates the circumstances of the event.

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh's remote Chittagong Hill Tracts region faces a serious risk of prolonged famine and bubonic plague unless a ballooning rat population is brought under control, experts say. The rats -- some weighing as much as 1.5 kilogrammes (3.3 pounds) -- feed on bamboo forests in the hilly region.

NIGERIA: No fewer than 13 persons have died as a result of outbreak of cerebral Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in five local governments areas of Sokoto State in the last three weeks. The affected local government councils include Tambuwal, Kware, Illela, Gwadabawa and Isa. Speaking to newsmen in Sokoto yesterday, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Alhaji Umaru Attahiru, disclosed that no fewer than 184 cases were recorded in the affected areas during the period under review.

USA: Maine - A winter storm blew through northern New England on Monday, dumping 2 feet of snow in spots, forcing hundreds of schools to cancel classes and leaving tens of thousands of homes and businesses without power. More than 127,000 utility customers in Maine remained without electricity Monday evening after wet, heavy snow snapped tree limbs, power lines and utility poles. The Maine Emergency Management Agency said about 15 warming shelters had been set up around the state.

INDONESIA: A flash flood swept through five villages in Padangan district in Bojonegoro, East Java on early Tuesday morning, forcing hundreds families to flee their homes and seek safety on higher grounds. Padangan district chief Kusnandoko told Antara that a heavy downpour has caused Tambakrejo river, a branch river of Java's biggest river Bengawan Solo, to overflow on Monday night.

Subject: Around the World Today: Monday 23rd February 2009

AUSTRALIA: Victoria - Three bushfires threatened communities on the outskirts of Melbourne in southeastern Australia, a day after memorial services were held for more than 200 people who died in blazes earlier this month. Residents may have to contend with heavy smoke and burning embers from a fire in Upwey, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Melbourne, the Country Fire Authority said on its Web site.

USA: Missouri - Officials from Fort Leonard Wood have confirmed that a third case of meningitis has been diagnosed. A possible fourth occurrence, involving a National Guardsman from Florida, is under investigation.

Arthur Rabjohn CEM

CHINA: About half the 2,125 reservoirs damaged by the massive earthquake in southwest China will be repaired this year, state media on Friday quoted a water resources official as saying. The repairs to roughly 1,000 reservoirs and 378 kilometres (234 miles) of embankment will cost 5.5 billion dollars.

AUSTRALIA: Australia's government Friday moved to fast-track the introduction of "fire safe" cigarettes, following the country's deadliest ever wildfires. A discarded cigarette butt has been linked to one of several major blazes that swept through the southeastern state of Victoria this month, killing 208 people and leaving another 10,000 homeless.

TURKEY: An avalanche in northeastern Turkey engulfed and killed 11 climbers Sunday with six others from the group making a miraculous escape, officials and reports said.

CANADA: A Canadian Coast Guard vessel rescued 22 fishermen from the frigid waters off Newfoundland on Sunday after their fishing trawler caught fire and later sank.

USA: Arizona - Sky Harbor Airport simulated a full scale aircraft emergency Saturday night to see how well Phoenix's Emergency Response Teams work together. The test is called the "Triennial" drill and is required by federal law to be conducted every three years. But it also gives Sky Harbor's emergency departments a chance to get hands on training. http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/story/Sky-Harbor-Airport-put-to-the-test-in-emergency/FScTPO8LZUm7EUZFo8-1fQ.cspx

Subject: Around the World Today: Sunday 22nd February 2009

CHINA: Rubella threatens to "spread all over" Ho Chi Minh City while new measles cases in the southern hub and a chickenpox vaccine shortage have put health agencies on high alert.

JAPAN: A snowstorm in Japan has damaged houses, caused power failures, disrupted train service and led to the cancellation of more than 150 domestic flights, local authorities said on Sunday. About 40 centimetres (16 inches) of snow blanketed the runways at New Chitose Airport, the biggest air hub on the northern main island of Hokkaido on Saturday, an airport official said. At least 154 flights were cancelled. The storm, which also brought high winds, damaged at least 137 houses and buildings and temporarily cut off power to 47,500 households in northern Aomori prefecture alone, the local authority said. There were no reports of injuries, and authorities said conditions were improving on Sunday.

CHINA: In China, an explosion in a coal mine in Shanxi province has killed at least 73 miners. At least 113 miners have received hospital treatment. The explosion is thought to have been caused by methane gas. At the time of the explosion, more than 400 miners were at work. It is not known how many are still trapped undergound. Chinese coal mines are noted for their dangerous working conditions. In 2008, more than 3,000 miners died in work-related accidents.

RUSSIA: A powerful cyclone bringing heavy snows to remote far eastern Russia forced the closure of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport, officials said Saturday. The cyclone was pummeling Sakhalin Island on Russia's Pacific Coast, closing the airport, shutting down a commuter ferry and covering roads on the entire island in a heavy blanket of snow. The Sakhalin Hydrometeorological Center reported wind speeds reaching about 60 mph, with forecasters not promising any letup in the storm until Sunday evening, the Russian news agency said.

Subject: Around the World Today: Saturday 21st February 2009

No information posted

Subject: Around the World Today: Friday 20th February 2009

No information posted

Subject: Around the World Today: Thursday 19th February 2009

MOZAMBIQUE: Laboratory results have confirmed an outbreak of cholera in the town of Quissico, in the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane, where 16 cases of acute diarrhoea were notified during the last four days, with four deaths.

CHILE: Officials say scores of people who had returned to a Chilean town destroyed by a volcanic eruption are being evacuated again as the volcano roars back to life. The presidential delegate for the region says an explosion has rocked the dome of the Chaiten volcano and sent volcanic material down the mountain's slope, threatening to block a river and cause flooding.

TURKEY, GREECE, USA - Alaska, MEXICO & TAJIKISTAN: Mild earthquakes have shaken these countries.

USA: Alabahma: A second reactor has been shut down at TVA's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Limestone County, the second shutdown this week. Plant spokesperson Craig Beasley said late Wednesday afternoon a problem with a fan system that cools the electrical connection between Browns Ferry and the TVA power grid prompted the shutdown at 3:51 a.m. Wednesday morning.

TURKEY: A powerful blast hit a perfumery in central Turkish province of Eskisehir on Thursday, injuring 15 people. Fire crews and civilian defense teams were working together to extinguish a huge blaze that engulfed a number of stores and parking cars in the nearby area.

CROATIA, SERBIA & ALBANIA: Blizzard conditions hit the east coast of Adriatic.

UGANDA: Five people have died after eating meat believed to be infected with anthrax in Katunguru sub-county in Bushenyi district, the health ministry has said.

Subject: Around the World Today: Wednesday 18th February 2009

USA: Vermont - Engineers at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant are still trying to stop a pipe from leaking slightly radioactive water. Vermont Yankee spokesman Rob Williams says there have been several attempts to fix the gasket in the 4-inch pipe in the reactor's clean-out system, but all have failed. The company announced last month that the leak had been discovered. At one point, it leaked about 3,600 gallons of water a day. The water isn't released into the environment. Williams says engineers will attempt this week to reinstall a sealant. Neil Sheehan of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the pipe now leaks about one-tenth of a gallon a minute. Sheehan says one option would be to shut down the plant and install a new valve.

CZECH REPUBLIC: An Austrian pharmaceutical firm sent a flu vaccine, which it had accidentally contaminated with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, for testing in the Czech Republic, a report said Tuesday. The Austrian firm Baxter said it contaminated the vaccine with the dangerous virus by accident, likely during packaging in Austria, the Mlada Fronta Dnes daily reported, citing Baxter's representative. Baxter shipped the infected vaccine to the Czech biomedical firm Biotest for testing on ferrets in late January. None of Biotest's 13 employees, who had been exposed to the highly pathogenic virus for a week, contracted the disease.

POLAND: Two crew have died after an air ambulance helicopter en route to a multi-vehicle traffic pile-up crashed near Jarostow, in southwestern Poland. A police spokesman said one injured person had been brought to hospital. The accident occurred in thick fog, heavy cloud cover and snowfall, but the cause has not been determined. The Soviet-era Mi-2 helicopter was headed to the scene of the traffic accident - involving more than 20 vehicles - to evacuate an injured pregnant woman. (Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of our lost EM colleagues)

ATLANTIC / IRELAND: Coastguards in Britain and Ireland were on red alert today after a Russian aircraft carrier spilt an estimated 1,000 tonnes of oil off the southern Irish coast. The spill, which happened as the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier was refuelling at sea, caused a slick that is now more than three miles long and almost as wide. It is the biggest oil spill in waters around the British Isles since the Sea Empress ran aground off Milford Haven in 1996, causing widespread damage to the Pembrokeshire coast.

USA: Missouri - Contagious viral meningitis killed a second soldier from Fort Leonard Wood. One soldier died on Feb. 5. The other, who just died, was reported in serious condition over the weekend at a hospital in Springfield. Fort Wood commanders have said they are making sure troops' and civilians' health will be kept safe while investigating the source of the cases.

BOLIVIA: At least 300 people have been injured in the Bolivian city of La Paz following a serious mudslide.

Subject: Around the World Today: Tuesday 17th February 2009

AUSTRALIA: NSW - Towns on the New South Wales mid-north coast have spent the day dealing with heavy rain and rising rivers. More than 3,000 Bellingen residents remain isolated by floodwaters after downpours of more than 375 millimetres in the last 48 hours. The State Emergency Service is monitoring the area and has helicopters ready to assist isolated residents.

SPAIN: Post Event Analysis - It has been calculated that the tornado which hit Malaga on February 1 was the strongest to be seen in Spain in 150 years. 2,500 people have claimed for damages caused by the storm which ripped the roofs of warehouses, uprooted trees and caused widespread damage along a 4km long corridor, some 300m wide. 400 cars were damaged as were between 250 and 300 homes and 70 businesses, the main bus station among them. The tornado left a four kilometre long and 300m wide corridor of damage in the city. The State Meteorological Agency, AEMET, has classified the tornado as EF2, which indicates that windspeeds reached between 185 and 220 kms per hour

IRELAND: Russia's navy denied on Tuesday that any of its ships could have caused a 300 (or 12)-tonne oil slick discovered off the coast of Ireland, though it confirmed its vessels had refuelled nearby. Ireland's Department of Transport said on Monday that 300 tonnes of oil had been found close to the Russian navy ships and that the oil probably leaked during refuelling.

USA: Alabama - Tennessee Valley Authority's 1,155-megawatt Unit 2 at the Browns Ferry nuclear power station in Alabama was shut as of early Tuesday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its daily plant status report. In an "Event Notification Report" on Monday, the company said the unit was in hot shutdown mode after being manually shut early Monday due to loss of stator cooling water. The cause of the failure was being investigated.

RUSSIA: Moscow - At least 12 people were injured in an ammonia leak at a meat-processing factory in northern Moscow, a spokesman for Moscow's emergencies service said on Tuesday. A total of 10 kg (22 lbs) of ammonia leaked on Monday during a scheduled defrosting of a refrigerating chamber due to safety violations and operator error.

BUKINO FASO: The authorities of Burkina Faso on Monday warned that the west African country is facing a possible meningitis epidemic as well as an "abnormal increase" in measles in the past three months. According to health ministry officials there have already been 138 deaths of meningitis out of 948 suspected cases of the disease since the start of the new year.

NIGERIA: Katsina state has recorded over 400 cases of cerebro-spinal- meaningitis (CSM), Executive Chairman, State Primary Healthcare, Dr. Ahmad Qabasiyyu has revealed.

RUSSIA: Sakhalin - A winter cyclone smashed across Sakhalin Island closing down all transport routes and causing 10 reported avalanches.

Subject: Around the World Today: Monday 16th February 2009

ANGOLA: The National Civil Protection Commission alerted the public to the possibility of more heavy rains and lightening in the coming 24 hours around the country. 415 families in the Luanda's Kilamba Kiaxi district were left homeless by the first storms.

BANGLADESH: A suspected Bird Flu outbreak seems to have gripped Harirampur sub-division of South Dinajpur district in the wake of at least 800 birds having died at Barmahar village over the past three days.

ASEAN: Major Exercise announced - A MULTI-COUNTRY exercise focused on disaster-response under the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum would be held in Metro Manila and Central Luzon in May. The multi-country and multi-agency exercise called the Volunteer Demonstration Response will serve as a venue on how countries can work together to address disasters said the National Disaster Coordinating Council and Office of the Civil Defense.

CHILE: Thirteen firefighters were killed on Sunday when their helicopter crashed in a region of south-central Chile that is grappling with a rash of forest fires, regional authorities said. The helicopter, which belongs to forestry company Celco, a unit of conglomerate Copec COP.SN, crashed in the Maule region around 185 miles (300 kilometres) south of the capital, Santiago. (Our thoughts are with the bereaved in this sad loss of EM colleagues)

GERMANY: Germany is investigating 150 tons of steel items imported from India which were contaminated with radioactivity, a leading newsmagazine said in a report to appear in its Monday issue. It said the most serious case was five tons of stainless steel wool which had to be disposed of by a nuclear-waste company, GNS. The contamination was thought to be the result of the radioactive isotope cobalt 60, which is used in nuclear medicine, being inadvertently mixed with steel scrap and being melted down at three Indian steel works.

PERU: A strong earthquake struck near the coast of northern Peru early Sunday, the magnitude 6.2 quake, which struck about 5 a.m. ET, was felt on land. The quake was measured at a depth of 22 miles (35.4 kilometers).

ISREAL: 100 people suffered light injuries Monday after being exposed to a hazardous material at a Club Hotel resort in the southern city of Eilat. The injured, complaining mostly of respiratory difficulties and a burning sensation in their eyes, were taken to the city's Yoseftal Medical Center. A truck was unloading hypochlorite in the hotel's machine room, resulted in the substance accidentally coming in contact with hydrochloric acid, creating a gas which began spreading throughout the compound. Hypochlorite is used by many resorts to maintain water quality in pools. Hydrochloric acid is a highly corrosive mineral acid common in industrial uses. The mixture resulted in a harsh chemical odor, which soon enveloped the hotel. Magen David Adom emergency services declared the incident a mass-casualty event.

CANARY ISLANDS: Lanzarote - At least 19 people drowned when a boat carrying mostly North African migrants capsized off Spain's Canary Islands with three still missing, Spanish rescuers said Monday. Surfers pulled six survivors from the ocean after hearing their cries for help on Sunday when the boat overturned just offshore from Arrecife, the main city on Lanzarote island.

Subject: Around the World Today: Sunday 17th February 2009

COLOMBIA: Galeras volcano in southern Colombia, near the border with Ecuador, began erupting late Saturday, and some 8,000 residents were ordered to evacuate, the Colombian Institute of Geology and Mines said. A forceful eruption began at 7.10pm (0010 GMT), after which the regional alert system was raised to its highest level. A 'large amount of ash' was falling on the regional capital Pasto.

BOLIVIA: In the worst national outbreak in a decade, nine Bolivians have died after contracting hemorrhagic dengue fever, officials announced Saturday. The health ministry reported 64 confirmed cases of people with the deadly hemorrhagic dengue fever virus and some 15,800 people with regular dengue fever.

MALTA: A man had to be taken to hospital after inhaling ammonia while drilling a hole in a pipe that turned out to be connected to an old tank that stored the toxic substance. The leakage led to the evacuation of a Marsa factory, a police spokesman said. The man was released from hospital soon after treatment. The incident took place yesterday morning at a disused ice cream factory now being used as a warehouse by Alfred Mizzi & Sons, sources said.

USA: Pennsylvania - A third student has been hospitalized for a meningococcal infection and is in critical condition. As a result, all University and student-sponsored parties that may bring students into close contact, particularly through food and drink, have been cancelled for the weekend "as a precaution," according to University spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman.

NETHERLANDS: Dutch media say a large fire has broken out at an oil refinery in Rotterdam's port. The fire began late Friday at a facility owned by Q8 Petroleum where sulfur is cleansed from raw oil, Rotterdam newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reports on its Web site. There were no injuries, and firefighters have decided to let the blaze exhaust itself in a controlled burn, the paper says. Newspaper De Pers cited Q8 spokesman Anton Fransen as saying early reports of explosions were incorrect.

KENYA: Kenya's sprawling and overcrowded Dadaab refugee complex is grappling with a cholera outbreak that has infected 14 people so far, most of them children, and already claimed the life of a three-year-old boy, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today.

PERU: Torrential rains created havoc in 17 of Peru's 24 regions, leaving eight people dead and cutting off several towns from the rest of the country, officials said Friday. Six people died in the northern region of Cajamarca and two others were killed in the Amazonas - both areas are on the Ecuadorian border. Indeci, Peru's civil defence authority, said the downpour led to mudslides and rain-swollen rivers flowed over their banks, damaging roads and destroying agricultural land.

CHINA: Forest fires have killed at least three people as they swept through several areas of southern China, reported on Friday. Fires have broken out in at least six provinces, some of them fanned by high winds in areas hit by drought.

Subject: Around the World Today: Saturday 14th February 2009

No information posted

Subject: Around the World Today: Friday 13th February 2009

No information posted

Subject: Around the World Today: Thursday 12th February 2009

GREECE: Greece has spent 600 million euros (776 million dollars) to replace homes and livestock lost in devastating forest fires nearly two years ago that killed 77 people, officials said on Wednesday. But authorities overseeing the reconstruction effort admitted that only around 11 percent of homes had been rebuilt thus far.

ALBANIA: A former Albanian defence minister and 10 senior military officials were charged Wednesday over a series of blasts that killed 26 people last year, a prosecution spokeswoman said. The former minister, Fatmir Mediu, and former army chief of staff Luan Hoxha were among those accused of violating safety procedures in a weapons disposal operation that triggered the explosions.

USA: Texas - An explosion has rocked an area near a gas processing plant in eastern Texas, causing a fire and prompting the evacuation of nearby residents. Company officials say employees from the DCP Midstream East Texas complex in Carthage were evacuated Wednesday morning.

SPACE: A commercial Iridium communications satellite collided with a Russian satellite or satellite fragment, Tuesday, creating a cloud of wreckage in low-Earth orbit, officials said Wednesday. The international space station is not threatened by the debris, they said, but it's not yet clear whether it poses a risk to any other satellites in similar orbits.

CANADA: A second outbreak of bird flu in less than a month has been detected on another poultry farm in Canada's westernmost British Columbia province, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said on Wednesday. Like the first outbreak in late January, it is believed to be a strain of avian influenza with a low risk of spreading or 'low pathogenicity'.

SCOTLAND: Hundreds of schools in Scotland were closed today as blizzards swept across parts of the country. Heavy snow moved east leaving most of the country with a covering. Severe weather warnings of heavy snow were issued by the Met Office for the Highlands, Grampian, Strathclyde, Central, Tayside and Fife regions.

VIETNAM: Bac Ninh province neighbouring Hanoi on Feb. 11 announced an outbreak of bird flu in An Dong village, Lac Ve commune, Tien Du district. On Feb. 8 and 9, water fowls were found dying en masse at two poultry farms in An Dong village and later tests proved those dead fowls carried the H5N1 virus.

FRANCE: EDF halted all four nuclear reactors at its 3,900-megawatt Blayais nuclear plant in southwest France on Thursday after storms affected water quality on the Gironde river, the company said. Power stations rely for river water for cooling and take precautions to prevent debris, stirred up storms, from damaging the pumps.

Subject: Around the World Today: Wednesday 11th February 2009

EUROPE: 112 European Emergency Number Day

KENYA: At least 33 cases of visceral leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease also known as Kala-azar or black fever, have been reported in the past four weeks in the drought-affected north-eastern district of Isiolo.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: At least six people died and 12,400 had to be evacuated from their homes in the north of the Dominican Republic due to flooding in the wake of heavy rains, local media reported Tuesday. Rescue teams said that 10 rivers flowed over their banks in the province of Santiago, 155 kilometres north of Santo Domingo. The rush of water cut off at least 10 towns from the outside world and flooded 1,997 homes.

USA: Oklahoma - The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said 15 have been killed and 20 to 50 people were injured by the tornado that hit Lone Grove late Tuesday evening. Amber Wilson, the emergency management director for nearby Ardmore, said damage was extensive in Lone Grove. The town of about 4,600 people is about 100 miles south of Oklahoma City.   Two other tornadoes hit the state in the afternoon. One in the Oklahoma City metro area damaged homes and businesses, but injuries were minor.

AUSTRALIA: Redback spiders have infested an aged care centre in the southwest Queensland town of Charleville. The Waroona Aged Care Centre has moved 43 of its residents to the Charleville Hospital temporarily while it fumigates parts of the centre today. South West Health Service District chief executive officer Maree Geraghty said the infestation was rare and puzzling.

ENGLAND: Parts of central London were at risk of flooding today as the Thames threatened to burst its banks, government experts warned. The Environment Agency issued 55 flood alerts along the Thames, warning that flooding of low-lying land and roads was expected. The Thames Barrier was also likely to be raised again today.

INDONESIA: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked eastern Indonesia on Wednesday. The earthquake struck in Kepulauan Talaud region, eastern Indonesia, at 1:34:52 a.m. local time Thursday (17:34 GMT) and its depth is 35 kilometers. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the earthquake was 7.4 magnitude and it ruled out any destructive tsunami will occur.

Subject: Around the World Today: Tuesday 10th February 2009

WESTERN EUROPE: Parts of France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Britain are facing gale-force winds and rain, as a new band of wintry weather pushes in from the Atlantic Ocean. The French national weather service, Meteo France, put 61 of the country’s 100 departments on orange alert, one step below the top red-alert status. Atlantic coastal areas, particularly the Loire Atlantique and Vendee, will be lashed with rain and winds reaching 150 kilometers per hour from 6 p.m. local time today. The entire west and north is in the storm’s path, only the southeast will be spared. FULL STORY: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aOdW1mbYDdtY&refer=europe

DUBAI: An oil tanker carrying around $9 million worth of petroleum products was in collision with a container vessel off the Dubai coast on Tuesday, setting both vessels on fire and sending up a thick plume of black smoke. The tanker, called the Kashmir, was built in 1988. It was carrying some 30,000 tonnes of oil condensates from Iran to the United Arab Emirates port of Jebel Ali, oil industry sources said. The second ship was a container vessel called Sima Buoy, which was leaving the port when the incident took place, ship brokers said. The two vessels collided at 1235 (0835 GMT), around seven nautical miles from Jebel Ali port. It was not immediately clear what caused the incident but one witness said the oil tanker appeared to be badly damaged.

USA: Arkansas - Both reactors at Arkansas Nuclear One near Russellville were shut down nearly 30 hours this weekend after unrelated problems involving a fire in a turbine building for Unit 1 and a steam leak in a turbine line that serves Unit 2. Neither occurrence caused extensive damage - and none to the reactors.

FRANCE: A storm has swept across northern France, cutting off more than 600,000 homes from the power grid, while high winds and gales also hit Britain and Switzerland. In an unusual precautionary measure, authorities halted all air traffic in the Paris region on Monday evening.

ENGLAND: Storms also swept Britain, bringing heavy rain, fierce winds and more snow and sleet in some areas, raising the risk of serious flooding. The Environment Agency issued 95 flood warnings, mostly in southern and south-west England, with a severe one issued for parts of Anglia.

MYANMAR, INDIA, BANGLADESH: At least 165 people have died of meningitis and over 2,000 were taken ill with the contagious disease in the northeastern India bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar over the past one month, reported on Tuesday.

CANADA: Manitoba - An unusual bout of warm winter weather turned snow into freezing rain on Monday in western Canada, coating much of Manitoba and Saskatchewan provinces in ice, snapping power lines and stopping travel. Federal police described the storm as one of the worst to strike the region in decades.

ARGENTINA: Officials say at least 12 people are missing and more than 1 000 residents have been evacuated after a massive mudslide swept away a railroad bridge and homes in the small town of Tartagal on Argentina's northern border with Bolivia.

JAMAICA: Persistent rains in the north-eastern parishes of St Mary and Portland yesterday flooded homes and left several roads impassable. Last night the ODPEM advised the public to avoid areas that were at risk from flooding and landslides.

USA: Kentucky - A state official says about 56,000 utility customers remain without power after a deadly winter storm. Kentucky Emergency Management spokesman Greg Flynn says the figure released Monday afternoon includes 30,968 customers whose utilities are regulated by the Public Service Commission, about 24,000 customers of the Tennessee Valley Authority and 1,965 customers of municipal utilities. The number of outages peaked at about 769,000 at the height of the storm, which blew into Kentucky Jan. 27, dropping snow and ice across the state. State officials have attributed 30 deaths to storm-related causes. Some 101 counties and 75 cities have declared states of emergency, and President Barack Obama has issued a major disaster declaration for the state.

PERU: An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale on Monday rocked the northwestern coast of Peru, with no reports of casualties or damages so far. The earthquake occurred at 9:09 a.m. local time (1409 GMT) and its epicenter was in the sea near Punta Negra.

Subject: Around the World Today: Monday 9th February 2009

CHINA: A fierce fire engulfed a major new building in Beijing that houses a luxury hotel and cultural center on Monday, the last day of celebrations for the lunar new year when the city was ablaze with fireworks.The building was designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and is part of China Central Televisions new headquarters, an angular wonder of modernist architecture that sits astride the city and was built to coincide with the Beijing Olympics last year.

PHILIPPINES: A suspected hog cholera outbreak in three North Cotabato towns has resulted in the deaths of 240 pigs since last week, officials said yesterday. Dr. Enrico P. Garzon, chief provincial veterinarian, has advised owners of affected hogs to bury them since eating infected meat may be hazardous to human health.

AFGHANISTAN: A landslide completely destroyed five houses and damaged six others in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province leaving scores homeless, an official said Monday.

ZIMBABWE: The number of people suffering from cholera in Zimbabwe has risen to more than 69,000 cases, U.N. figures showed, putting further pressure on leaders to end a humanitarian crisis after forming a unity government. The World Health Organisation said the epidemic has killed 3,397 people out of 69,317 cases since August, the deadliest outbreak in Africa in 15 years.

USA: Illinois - A holding tank at a Caterpillar facility in a Chicago suburb broke Sunday, spilling about 65,000 gallons of oil sludge and contaminating a 3-mile section of the Des Plaines River, officials said. The substance was reported to be hydraulic and cutting oil, said Maggie Carson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

INDONESIA: Floods sparked by torrential rains that began Saturday evening have inundated most parts of Semarang, Central Java, including many densely-populated residential areas in the city. Water levels reached between 50 centimeters and 1.5 meters, paralyzing road and rail networks. The Ahmad Yani airport was likewise forced to close as its runway was submerged. The heavy rains caused a landslide in the Bukit Talang area of Bedanduwur, Gajah Mungkur district, killing a local resident. Hundreds of people living nearby were forced to evacuate for fear of more landslides.

EGYPT: An Egyptian boy has contracted the bird flu virus, the state-run news agency quoted the Health Ministry saying on Sunday, in the second such case in the last week and the 55th case since the virus reached Egypt in 2006.

VIETNAM: Health officials say a Vietnamese woman in the northern border province of Quang Ninh has tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

AUSTRALIA: Thousands of firefighters continue to battle the main fires and scores of other blazes across Victoria on Monday, as well as fires in neighbouring New South Wales state. While cooler, calmer conditions helped firefighters, 10 major fires remained out of control in Victoria. But the week-long heatwave that triggered the inferno would appear to be over. The fires burnt out more than 330,000 ha of mostly bushland in Victoria, but a number of vineyards in the Yarra Valley were also destroyed. The towns of Marysville and Kingslake have been raised.

Subject: Around the World Today: Sunday 8th February 2009

AUSTRALIA: So far, at least 108 people have died and entire towns have been devastated as the flames destroy vast areas north of Melbourne, in the state of Victoria. Tens of thousands of firefighters are battling against several major fires, which have been made worse by high temperatures and unpredictable winds. The Army are now helping fire crews, but the death toll is expected to rise. Australia has experienced one of its worst heat-waves in decades in recent weeks, with temperatures reaching up to a scorching 47degrees.

USA: Ohio - Some 150 fishermen were rescued from an ice floe in wind-whipped western Lake Erie in Ohio, after it broke loose from the shore due to warmer weather, officials said. One fisherman fell through the ice during the four-hour rescue effort and died on the way to a hospital, a Coast Guard spokesman said. Another man who fell through the ice was not injured. The Coast Guard, which used boats and helicopters to rescue the men, said it was surveying the area to see if there were other people on floes.

AUSTRALIA: Heavy rain continues to fall causing more flash flooding and damage in north Queensland. The rain has eased in Ingham but the floodwaters remain high as the monsoon trough moves south. Ingham has been flooded for seven days. Residents had begun to clean-up on Friday but heavy rain pushed water back up yesterday. The Herbert River peaked at 12.25 metres last night and has been steady since.

NEW ZEALAND: Patients at a Wellington medical centre and passengers on several international and domestic flights may have been exposed to highly infectious English [in contradistinction to German] measles. Wellington Regional Medical Officer of Health Annette Nesdale issued a warning today [7 Feb 2009] after a child who returned from Viet Nam on 29 Jan 2009 was diagnosed with the disease.

CHINA: Hong Kong - Authorities confirmed on Saturday that seven dead birds recently found in the territory all tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu strain. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said laboratory tests confirmed that four chickens, a duck, a Peregrine Falcon and a Grey Heron found dead this month carried the deadly strain.

Subject: Around the World Today: Saturday 7th February 2009

AUSTRALIA: Spare a thought for our colleagues in Australia as they deal with a heatwave of 45+ degrees, flooding, drought and now huge wildfires. I'm sure all EM's on this list wish them well in all their endeavours in these unprecedented circumstances for Australia.

EGYPT: Egyptian Health Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that a two-year-old baby has been infected with bird flu virus, which brings the number of human case of bird flu to 54 in the populous country.

MALAWI: More than 50 have been killed by an outbreak of cholera in Malawi which has affected more than 1 800 people, the health ministry said on Thursday.

ENGLAND: The engine room of a cargo ship carrying Bauxite caught fire this morning at 03:34hrs at the entrance to the River Humber. The Mayday call was received by Humber Coastguard from the Netherlands registered vessel SALINE. This 1,990 gross tonne vessel reported that they had attempted to extinguish the fire by smothering the engine room with CO2 gas. A RAF helicopter from Leconfield was sent along with Humber Lifeboat ready to evacuate the seven crew if required. The crew are all unharmed and remained on-board the vessel. The Humber Lifeboat remains on scene. The vessel SALINE is currently being towed by the Port's fire tug LADY STEPHANIE. The specialist fire fighting MIRG Team from Humberside Fire and Rescue are on-board assessing the situation. Drew Mahood Watch Manager at Humber Coastguard said: "This is a good example of interagency working between the Coastguard and the Fire Brigade in an emergency at sea."

NIGERIA: The number of children killed in Nigeria by teething syrup tainted with a poisonous chemical has risen to 84, more than three times as many as was announced in December, the health minister said on Friday. Babatunde Osotimehin said there were 111 reported cases of children who had fallen ill after taking "My Pikin" teething syrup contaminated with diethylene glycol, a compound blamed for causing kidney failure.

USA: New York - A loss of some control room alarms caused the Ginna nuclear power plant in Wayne County to go into emergency mode on Thursday. The plant declared an "unusual event" at 2:13 p.m. Thursday because of the loss of some control room announciators. An unusual event is the lowest of four emergency levels used by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The unusual event at the Ginna plant in Ontario was terminated at 4:35 a.m. Friday, when the alarms were restored, tested, and returned to service.

MOROCCO: More than 40 people have died in Morocco as a result of severe rainfall and snow. Most victims were buried underneath the rubble of their collapsed houses. On Thursday, six members of one family were killed when the roof of their home in the Atlas Mountains collapsed under the weight of the snow. The region has seen two weeks of continuous snowfall and dozens of families have lost their homes. Other parts of Morocco have been hit by torrential rain. In Casablanca, one person was killed on Friday after the rain caused a storage space wall to collapse.

ENGLAND: British Energy's Heysham 1-1 nuclear power reactor shut down on Friday, a spokeswoman for the company said, less than a week after restarting from a lengthy repair outage. "Heysham 1 unit one had an unplanned shutdown at about 1630 GMT," she said, adding that the reason for the shutdown was being investigated.

VIETNAM: A 23-year-old man has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 virus in northern Vietnam, reported on Saturday.

Subject: Around the World Today: Friday 6th February 2009

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Most of the Solomon Islands' main province of Guadalcanal has been declared a disaster area after widespread floods left nine people dead and more than 1,000 families homeless, officials said on Friday. There are fears the death toll could rise as several people are missing, including a Belgian national.

ENGLAND: The snow storms which paralysed Britain may have cost businesses already battling the credit crunch up to a billion pounds, experts said Tuesday -- and more blizzards could be on the way. The 10 centimetres (four inches) of snow which coated London, Europe's financial capital, on Monday virtually shut down air, rail and road links. About 150 people have been taken to rescue centres in Devon after spending several hours stranded in their vehicles in heavy snow. Emergency crews were called to the A38 at Haldon Hill, near Exeter, at about 2100 GMT after drivers were caught out when the weather deteriorated suddenly. Some drivers remain trapped while others have abandoned their cars and walked to nearby hotels.

CHINA: China may have experienced outbreaks of bird flu among poultry recently, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation said Wednesday, even though the government had yet to report any cases this year.

CANADA: Sleuths searched on Wednesday for the source of radiation in the Canadian capital's sewers after two shipments of sludge were turned away from the US border for being too hot.

MADAGASCAR: Cyclone Gael 09 has reach Cat 1 and pummelled Tromelin Island. It is forecast to veer south along the western coast of Madagasca.

CHINA: A man-made dam may have triggered China's devastating earthquake last year, some government officials and scientists are claiming, pitting them against others who insist it was a natural disaster. FULL STORY: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Dam_may_have_triggered_huge_China_quake_scientists_999.html

COLOMBIA: A major eruption of Colombia's highest volcano, the Nevado del Huila, seems imminent. This was revealed by experts and authorities on Thursday. A fly-over performed on Wednesday showed a large 'dome' of lava hanging over the volcano, which could indicate that an eruption is about to occur. As such, those living in the danger area were ordered to evacuate immediately.

USA: California - A wind-driven wildfire spread over 2,000 acres in California's Owens Valley even as a Pacific storm moved into coastal areas of the parched state Thursday. The fire erupted just before noon about six miles east of Fort Independence and was burning in brush and heavy grassland.

FRANCE: The French authorities have recently reported an outbreak of Low Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (LPAI) on a duck breeding farm in Vendee region. The birds were 12 months old and at the end of their moult. Preliminary testing confirmed the virus to be of the H5 type (but not N1), later identified as H5N3. Disease control measures have been put in place, including a 1 km restriction zone.

USA: Oregon - Students and staff members at a Lake Oswego elementary school had to be taken to a hospital by ambulance Thursday morning after becoming ill from a chemical odor. Over 40 students and staff members at Westridge Elementary School were transported after complaining of nausea and dizziness. Fire and hazardous materials crews were on the scene at around 11 a.m. to try and track down the source. Fumes from lacquer paint being used in an art project apparently got into the school ventilation system and spread to other parts of the school building.

CHINA: China has declared a top-level emergency for the country's worst drought in five decades that has hit eight wheat-growing northern provinces and left more than 4 million people without proper drinking water. The crisis was raised to a level one emergency from level two late Thursday, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief said. That means the Flood Control and Drought Relief office takes control of the relief effort.

Subject: Around the World Today: Thursday 5th February 2009

No information posted

Subject: Around the World Today: Wednesday 4th February 2009

IRAN: Workers are trying to control a fire on a platform in Iran's offshore Abuzar oil field and production from the platform has been halted due to safety reasons.

ARGENTINA: Five people died, 40 were injured and 300 evacuated when a storm packing high winds and hail tore through a region of central Argentina overnight, officials said on Tuesday. The tempest lashed the town and outlying areas of Rosario. Intense rain and "winds gusting at more than 90 kilometers an hour" hit the area.

NEW ZEALAND: The loud rumble from above alerted Freedom furniture store manager Sheila Shields something big was about to happen. Seconds later a strip of their roof was ripped off, as the Anglesea St, Hamilton, store was hit by a mini-twister which hurtled through the central city about 4.30pm yesterday.

FIJI: Hundreds of people are suffering from water-borne illnesses in Fiji after the recent devastating flooding. The flood waters mostly receded two weeks ago. However, there is stagnant water in low lying areas, old water tanks and tyres, which are a breeding ground for mosquitoes and bacteria beginning to cause illnesses.

AUSTRALIA: Australians battling major floods in the tropical state of Queensland have been warned to be on the look out for crocodiles and snakes, after a series of sightings in flooded towns, officials said on Wednesday. Some 17 rivers are in flood and 62 percent or more than 1 million sq kms (386,000 sq miles) of Queensland, Australia's second largest state, has been declared a natural disaster.

NIGERIA: With the recent outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis in Katsina State which claimed no fewer than 15 lives, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kano and Jigawa States have now become vulnerable to the epidemic according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The Agency has however assured the public that the federal government is taking prompt and proactive action by ensuring the distribution of drugs to the affected areas.

MOROCCO: Eight people were killed overnight in Morocco after torrential rains caused the collapse of their homes, reported on Tuesday. Four family members were killed when their home gave way in Beni Imougzen village in the northern Al Hoceima province.

Subject: Around the World Today: Tuesday 3rd February 2009

KAZAKHSTAN: Ministry of Emergency Situations issues warning that temperatures are expected to drop to as low as - 45 degrees C!

USA: New Jersey - This event oocured on 01.02.2009 at 10:11 pm: Officials are investigating a fire at the nation's oldest commercial nuclear plant. Exelon Nuclear says the fire was in one of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant's two main transformers. Plant operators declared an unusual event at 10:11 p.m. Sunday. An unusual event is the lowest level in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's emergency classification system. Oyster Creek is located in Lacey Township, about 60 miles east of Philadelphia and is 38 years old. Its owners are seeking to renew its license.

USA: Florida - A Marion County Fire Rescue hazardous materials team responded to radioactively containmated metal at the Baseline Landfill Monday morning. Metal containing trace amounts of radiation was brought from Davis Recycling in Oklawaha to Ocala Recycling in a very large recycling box. An alarm went off at the Ocala Recycling Center when the radiation was detected. The materials were taken to the landfill and authorities were called. Danenhower said Davis Recycling is closed temporarily. HazMat officials planned to check for other possible radiation at the facility.

CHINA: The health department in Yunnan province announced on 2 Feb 2009 that a cholera outbreak had occurred in Tong Hai, Hua Ning, and Jiang Chuan counties consecutively in recent days. 20 cases are confirmed to be cholera and 27 people are tested to be healthy carriers. At present, 47 cases under treatment have fully recovered, and the epidemic has been brought under control.

CANADA: BC - Thirty-six poultry operations across the Fraser Valley are now under quarantine after inspectors sealed off nine more operations to try to contain an avian flu outbreak in the region. The disease has been confirmed on only one farm so far although testing and monitoring continue.

ITALY: In Italy, three people were killed by the snow storms. One man died from the cold in the northern town of Lecco. Another was killed in Sicily when his car was swept away by a river. Another 500 people were evacuated from their homes in Cosenza in the southern region of Calabria. Snow also forced the cancellation of about 20 flights from Rome and Milan.

CHINA: Henan Province is not the only victim in thirsty northern China. Anhui Province issued a red drought alert Sunday, forecasting a major drought that will plague more than 60 percent of the crops north of the Huaihe River is no rain is reported by next week. Shanxi Province was put on orange drought alert on Jan. 21, as nearly one million people and 160,000 heads of livestock are facing water shortage.

SOUTH AFRICA: Barely 12 hours after two passenger trains rear-ended each other between the Lenasia and Midway stations south of Johannesburg yesterday, another train accident occurred in Ekurhuleni. This time around two Metrorail rains were involved in a head-on collision at the Springs West train station. Emergency services personnel put the number of commuters who were injured at 131 . This brought the total number of people injured in the two train accidents in Johannesburg yesterday to 291.

SPAIN: ind speeds reached 180 kms/hour at times. The extent of the damage from the tornado which hit Malaga on Sunday night is only now becoming clear. More than 200 houses were affected, along with 400 cars and some 100 industrial warehouses. Nearly 1000 children are without classes because of the damage done to six schools in the city, and more than 20 people needed to be admitted to hospital because of their injuries. Only one person remains in hospital this morning.

UK: UK businesses have started counting the cost of heavy snowfalls that brought much of the country to a standstill at the start of the week. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) estimated 20 per cent of Britain's working population, or 6.4 million people, did not make it to work on Monday because of dangerous driving conditions and massive disruptions on public transport networks.

ANGOLA: Rabies has killed over 50 children in Angola's capital Luanda in the past three months, raising alarm in a city with thousands of stray dogs whose infected bite can transmit the virus to humans.

BOLIVIA: Bolivia has sounded the alarm about the country's worst outbreak of dengue fever for 22 years. The outbreak has already killed five people in the east of the country and infected more than 7,000.

THE UNITED STATES: New Jersey - A magnitude-3 earthquake rattled northern New Jersey about 55 km from New York City. No casualties and little damage is expected. There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries.

PERU: A strong earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale hit southern Peru yesterday. The amount of damage is not clear yet. Its epicenter was centered in the Pacific Ocean some 74 km west of the city of Pisco at a depth of 35 km. No casualties have been reported so far.

MEXICO: An earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale hit Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca on Monday morning. The quake was centered 22 km north of the municipality of San Pedro Pochutla and occurred at a depth of 44 km.

PAKISTAN: Tehsil Wadh and adjoining areas of District Khuzdar were struck by a moderate 5-magnitude earthquake Monday afternoon. .

Subject: Around the World Today: Monday 2nd February 2009

USA: Alaska - Geologists monitoring Mount Redoubt for signs of a possible eruption noticed that a hole in the glacier clinging to the north side of the volcano had doubled in size overnight; and now spans the length of two football fields. Scientists with the Alaska Volcano Observatory on Friday flew close to Drift Glacier and spotted vigorous steam emitted from a hole on the mountain. By Saturday, they had confirmed the area was a fumarole, an opening in the earth that emits gases and steam, that was increasing in size at an alarming rate.

SPAIN: Five people have been injured after the big top of a circus in Estepona during a tornado. Emergency services reveal that the marquee was ripped up along with several trees as a result of the freak storm, which affected numerous towns and villages on the Costa del Sol.

NEW ZEALAND: Firefighters continue to battle a large scrub fire at Mahia Beach, 43km southeast of Wairoa. Eight helicopters, and more than 50 firefighters were working to extinguish the fire. Three houses have been damaged in the fire which has forced the evacuation of six homes. The fire started at 4pm Saturday and was burning across a 2km front.

JAPAN: Mount Asama volcano in central Japan erupted overnight, spreading ash as far as central Tokyo 150 kilometers (93 miles) away.

JAPAN / RUSSIA: Two volcanoes in Japan and another in eastern Russia erupted overnight, spreading ash as far as the Philippines and Vietnam. Seven minor eruptions occurred at Mount Sakurajima on Japans southern island of Kyushu, throwing rocks up to 2 kilometers, the agency said.

CHINA: people were killed and 20 injured in a blaze set off by fireworks inside a bar in southeast China, state media reported Sunday. The accident happened late Saturday evening, towards the end of the Lunar New Year festival, in the city of Changle when a group celebrating a birthday set off fireworks at their table inside the bar, the Xinhua news agency said.

FIJI / SOLOMONS: Flooding in the South Pacific nation of Solomons Islands has killed eight people, left another eight missing, washed away bridges and destroyed houses, officials said on Monday. Since December, flooding has also hit the Pacific island nations of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, with tens of thousands of islanders abandoning homes. Heavy rain and flooding on the Solomons' main island of Guadalcanal and nearby Savo Island since last Thursday has caused widespread damage and forced the evacuation of more than 70 villagers to the capital Honiara, said officials in Honiara. Six teams in boats have been sent to the flooded areas to assess the damage and begin aid relief.

WESTERN EUROPE: Heavy snow disrupts road, rail and air transport across Western Europe, after some of the heaviest falls in two decades.

Subject: Around the World Today: Sunday 1st February 2009

KENYA: At least 111 people have died in Kenya after an overturned petrol tanker caught fire on a highway and exploded. Reports say the fire broke out after hundreds of people gathered to collect spilled fuel. About 200 people have also been injured in the blaze, in the town of Molo. Officials say the death toll may rise.

JAPAN: Japan's Meteorological Agency increased the alert level at Mount Asama volcano in central Japan, warning of an eruption within two days, an agency official said on Sunday. The alert level was raised due to signs of increased seismic activity on Mount Asama, a 2,568 meter (8,425 foot) peak 140 km (90 miles) northwest of Tokyo, the official said.USA: Texas - HAZMAT Incident Texas environmental regulators are investigating the death of thousands of fish in the Victoria Barge Canal after a spill of two gallons of acetone cyanohydrin. The chemical is used in the production of plastics, acrylics and synthetic resins.

BRAZIL: Severe floods have killed at least 10 people in southern Brazil and driven thousands from their homes. The Civil Defense department in Rio Grande do Sul state says the victims all drowned in the city of Pelotas. It said Friday in a statement that four days of heavy rains also forced more than 3,000 people to seek shelter with relatives and in schools, churches and gyms.

IRELAND: Heavy rain has caused flooding in several parts of the country. Clonmel in Co Tipperary is one of the worst affected areas after the river Suir burst its banks.

MEXICO: Five million residents in Mexico City and its metro area could soon start feeling the effects of water cutbacks imposed Friday due to drought conditions. Water behind the Cutzamala dam system is below normal levels after a lack of rain in 2008, according to officials. The dam system accounts for 20 percent of the water used in Mexico City and its surrounding area.

RUSSIA: At least 23 people are feared to have died after a fire engulfed an old people's home in northern Russia, local officials say. The cause of the blaze, in the village of Podyeysk in the Komi Republic, is not yet known.

AUSTRALIA: South Australia - At least 38 people have perished in South Australia's 40 degree-plus heatwave, while firefighters are battling huge blazes threatening homes, power installations and a coalmine in Victoria.

INDIA: Two border areas in Malda district in north Bengal have been declared bird flu hit following blood samples of chickens testing positive for the H5N1 virus. The samples were sent to laboratories following the death of a large number of chicken in these areas.

AROUND THE WORLD TODAY