around_the_world_today_June_08

AROUND THE WORLD: JUNE 16th - 29th, 2008

AROUND THE WORLD - MARCH 2008

AROUND THE WORLD - APRIL 2008

AROUND THE WORLD - MAY 1st - 20th, 2008

AROUND THE WORLD - MAY 21st - 31st, 2008

AROUND THE WORLD - JUNE 1st - 15th, 2008

Subject: Around the World Today - Sunday 29th June

CHINA: An explosion at a chemical plant left three people dead and three others slightly injured on Friday in southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authority confirmed Saturday. The blast occurred around 10:35 a.m. in Yunnan Dawei Coke Co. Ltd. in Qujing City when workers were maintaining facilities in the workshop.

IRAN: Agriculture Minister Mohammad Reza Eskandari said on Saturday that some 30 provinces in the country are facing varying levels of drought. Speaking while inspecting Yamchi Dam in Ardebil province, he further said that to alleviate the impacts of drought, the government has extended the loan repayment periods and pay the charges involved. Banks have also been directed to facilitate granting loans to farmers, he said. Stating that a total of 15,000 billion rials will be invested in high pressure irrigation as part of a comprehensive plan to counter drought, Eskandari further said that the plan will be implemented in all the provinces for three years. He added that some 1,000 billion rials have been proposed for implementing wetland projects as part of a bill submitted to the Majlis. The minister pointed out that some 4,800 billion rials were allocated for 14 drought-stricken provinces at the beginning of the current Iranian year on March 21.

USA: California - US President George W. Bush has declared a state of emergency in California and ordered federal aid to help authorities battle more than 1,000 wildfires burning out of control. More than 12,000 fire-fighters have been battling the fires, many of which were sparked by lightning from dry thunderstorms for more than a week. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had urged Bush to call a federal emergency, saying the fires were 'of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state'. Around 265,000 acres of tinder-dry forest and parkland have burnt across northern California since the fires erupted on June 20. California is frequently hit by scorching wildfires due to its dry climate, Santa Ana winds and recent housing booms which have seen housing spread rapidly into rural and densely forested areas. Last October, devastating wildfires were among the worst in Californian history, leaving eight people dead, destroying 2,000 homes and displacing 640,000 people.

USA: Missouri - Rescue workers pulled motorists, campers and mobile home residents from floodwaters along the James River and other areas in Stone County as torrential rains hit the area earlier today, the county's emergency management director said.

PANAMA: A swarm of suspected Africanized "killer bees" killed a 66-year-old retired police lieutenant and left his wife seriously injured, Panamanian authorities said Saturday. The insect attack occurred in the town of Purio near Panama City. The incident started when the man shook a tree on a fruit plantation, setting off a hive of bees. The couple suffered thousands of bee stings as the hive attacked.

MALAYSIA: A total of 34 plantation workers from a rubber estate here in Segamat are suspected to be down with chikungunya fever. While many received outpatient treatment for the mosquito-transmitted fever, at least 14 have been warded at the Segamat Hospital since the outbreak was detected about 12 days ago in Bukit Datuk Estate.

INDIA: Another powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck off India's Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean yesterday. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicentre of the quake was 140km southwest of Port Blair, the capital of the islands. It struck at a depth of 35km, the US Geological Survey said.

Subject: Around the World Today - Saturday 28th June

ENGLAND: (only because it's different!) Passangers were forced to dive for cover when a double-decker bus with 30 people on board had its roof torn off by a low bridge. Witnesses said it sounded like a bomb going off as the bus - a replacement for train services disrupted by signal failures - struck the footbridge on the approach road to Thornaby railway station, on Teesside, at about 12.20pm yesterday. The roof of the bus was peeled back all the way to the rear seats. Two people were injured, although not seriously, while other passengers were left shocked. They described seeing the bridge draw closer and then suddenly realising they were in danger. About 12 people were on the top deck at the time of the accident.

PHILIPPINES: The Sorsogon Provincial Agriculture-Fishery Office has confirmed reports that thirteen persons were hospitalized and one died of red tide poisoning in Casiguran town covering the period June 17-20,. The red tide victims suffered difficulty in breathing, loss of consciousness, numbness, dizziness and fever which are symptoms of red tide Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) after eating a certain specie of green mussel (tahong).

SPAIN: Orange alerts for high temperatures have been issued for areas of Andaluca. Spain is getting prepared for high temperatures of up to 40 degress today and over the weekend, with special orange alerts in place for Sevilla, Cordoba and Ja?n, all of which are expected to break the 40 degree barrier. These warning are in place until the end of Sunday. Granada is also on yellow alert until the end of tomorrow, Saturday as temperatures are forecast to reach 38 degrees. With such high temperatures the public are asked to take particular care of children and pensioners who are more likely to suffer from heatstroke. The intake of plenty of water is recommended, as is a reduction in physical activity and the wearing of light-coloured clothing. The Spanish Minister for Health, Bernat Soria, has announced that the Government will be sending advisory SMS text messages and emails to inform those at risk from the high temperatures, especially pensioners, the chronically ill and those who work in the fresh air. An advertising campaign with the slogan 'Combating the heat is in your hands' has been launched. Temperatures will also be significantly above normal over the weekend in Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Andalucia and the Canaries, although isolated showers are possible in the northern third of the country.

PHILIPPINES: Diving and retrieval operations at a capsized ferry in the Philippines were halted on Friday after it was found that the vessel was carrying a large shipment of highly toxic pesticides. Search teams were recalled from the submerged wreckage of the MV Princess of the Stars, which was carrying 10 metric tons of endosulfan, a restricted pesticide, in a 40-foot container van. 'We aborted the retrieval operations because of the pesticide inside the ship,' More than 100 Filipino and US divers have been working around the submerged vessel since Monday to retrieve bodies of casualties. Attorney Manuel Espina, Sulpicio Lines spokesman and legal counsel, said the shipping company did not know that endosulfan was toxic.

TURKEY: A forest fire raged on a hill near the Turkish Mediterranean resort Marmaris on Friday, prompting the evacuation of nearby hotels and houses at the height of the tourist season, broadcasters said. Television footage showed woodland ablaze and strong winds blowing thick smoke across residential areas just 200 metres away in the Marmaris district of Armutalan. Fire brigade teams were fighting the blaze from the ground and with helicopters, and hotels and houses in the vicinity were evacuated. The cause of the blaze, which broke out around 3 p.m. (1200 GMT) was not immediately clear. "Three helicopters and 25 vehicles are fighting the blaze," said a Forestry Directorate head Osman Kahveci. He said firefighters aimed to limit the fire to an area of 3-5 hectares.

USA: Missouri - The levee was lost Friday at this eastern Missouri town, but emergency workers still hoped to save about 100 homes. The breach at about 5 a.m. at the Pin Oak levee at a spot just south of Winfield slowly began to flood about 3,000 acres. Army Corps of Engineers dam safety chief Travis Tutka said muskrat holes caused the breach. The good news: the break happened far enough away from the residential area that the water wasn't expected to get there for several hours. National Guard Col. Michele Melton said plans call for a four-foot-tall sandbag levee to be hurriedly built around the residential area.

USA: Arizona - Three people were injured early Friday morning when a medical helicopter crashed about 30 miles outside of Prescott near Ash Fork. The Air Evac helicopter crew was flying to pick up a patient near Ash Fork, which is near the junction of Interstate 40 and Arizona 89. The helicopter crashed for unknown reasons, said Jonathan Collier, a spokesman for Air Evac. There were no patients on board the helicopter. All three crew members onboard were being treated at Flagstaff Medical Center. Two were in stable condition and one was in critical condition. That crew consisted of a pilot, a nurse and a medic. (Our thoughts are with our fellow EM professionals)

INDIA: A strong earthquake shook India's remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands but no tsunami alert was issued and there were no reports of damage, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services said on Friday. The magnitude was said to be 6.7 and it centred in the Andaman Islands. Later downgraded to 5.7 mag. Some reports say a Tsunami Warning was issued.

Subject: Around the World Today - Friday 27th June

CHINA: Macau - Local schools and public transport resumed normal operations in Wednesday afternoon, as tropical cyclone "Fengshen" continued to move away from Macao and make its landfall in Southeastern China. The magnitude of the cyclone has reduced, and it was located 120 kilometers north off Macao coast, sweeping northwestward at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour, according to the update released at 1:28 p.m. Wednesday by the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG).

USA: Alabama - A severe thunderstorm that produced nickel-sized hail knocked out power to about 7,000 homes and caused minor damage in several locations in Tuscaloosa County Wednesday evening. Most of the power outages were in the Taylorville, Duncanville and Cottondale communities and along Hargrove Road, said Alabama Power spokeswoman Keisa Sharpe.

USA: Michigan - A swift-moving band of storms swept through Metro Detroit Thursday evening, causing damage and disrupting power to thousands. About 50,000 Detroit Edison customers were without electricity in the region by 6 p.m., spokeswoman Lorie Kessler said. Wind gusts as high as 52 mph were reported at Detroit City Airport, according to the National Weather Service.

USA: Illinios - Twenty-one people were hospitalized and 45 others were treated on the scene after a Wednesday night chemical leak in a far west suburban Montgomery trucking company. Firefighters responded to a hazardous materials spill at Yellow Transportation about 10:20 p.m. and found a chemical leaking from a 275 gallon plastic container, according to a release from the Montgomery and Countryside Fire Protection District. Between 30 and 40 gallons of a high-concentration of hydrogen peroxide leaked from the tank and reacted with materials in the area to produce fumes, the release said. Paramedics treated 66 people on the scene and 21 of those later were hospitalized at Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva, Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora and Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora. The other 45 people treated were released without being hospitalized, the fire department said. The spill and fumes were contained inside the building. All the injured were from the Yellow Transportation building and surrounding buildings were not evacuated. Fifteen fire departments and more than 95 firefighters assisted Montgomery personnel.

NEW ZEALAND: North Island - Severe weather kept the Fire Service busy in Auckland over Wednesday night as a major electrical storm lashed the region and much of New Zealand. Lightning strikes activated alarms and strong winds uprooted trees and brought powerlines down across the greater Auckland area. A mini tornado is being blamed for uplifting roofing tiles from a house in Kumeu, north-west of Auckland. Another tornado was reported to have caused similar roof damage to a house in Waiuku, southwest of Auckland.

GERMANY: Summer thunderstorms Wednesday in Germany killed two people and traffic was snarled by torrential rain, local flash floods and falling trees. Near the western city of Mainz, a worker was found dead in a vineyard, apparently after being hit by lightning.

UGANDA: At least 31 people have died of cholera and over 290 infected in eastern Uganda in the past six weeks followed the April heavy rainfall in the region, an official has said. Health Minister Stephen Mallinga, attributed the infections to River Manafwa, which he said was contaminated and runs through four districts, including Butaleja, Mbale, Pallisa and Manafwa, before it joins the swamps in the low-lying rice-growing areas of Butaleja.

Subject: Around the World Today - Thursday 26th June

USA: More than 840 wildfires sparked by an unprecedented lightning storm are burning a swath of Northern California, alarming the governor and requiring the help of firefighters from Nevada and Oregon. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was told late Sunday evening that the state had 520 fires, and he found it "quite shocking" that by Monday morning the number had risen above 700. Moments later, a top state fire official standing at Schwarzenegger's side offered a grim update: The figure was actually 842 fires, said Del Walters, assistant regional chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. All but a couple were in the northern part of the state. "This is an unprecedented lightning storm in California, that it lasted as long as it did, 5,000 to 6,000 lightning strikes," Walters said. "We are finding fires all the time." Out-of-state assistance, mostly firefighting aircraft, arrived from Nevada and Oregon after being requested over the weekend.

ITALY: Fifteen British tourists are sealed off in isolation in an Italian hospital after being diagnosed with a "virulent" strain of salmonella. Police were also investigating whether the same infection led to the death of Geoffrey Appleyard, 71, from Evesham, Worcestershire on Monday.

GREECE: A 3.3-magnitude earthquake occurred in southeastern Greece yesterday. There are no reports of any injured or damage at this stage.

GREECE: A major forest fire on the outskirts of Athens engulfed the Greek capital in black smoke and caused power cuts in several areas Wednesday. The fire was burning on the eastern slopes of Mount Hmitos, near Glyka Nera, approximately 8 kilometres from central Athens and was quickly spreading to the eastern city suburb of Papagou. Officials said they had dispatched 20 fire trucks with 60 fire fighters, six fire-fighting planes and eight helicopters to help battle the blaze. The mayor of Glyka Nera said the fire was quickly spreading owing to strong winds and high temperatures reaching 38 degrees Celcius in the area which was suffering from a severe water shortage. A second forest fire was reportedly burning in Amegdileza near Athens and six fire trucks and one helicopter were rushing to the area to help extinguish the blaze.

RUSSIA: Hundreds of passengers were evacuated from a train on Moscow's underground railway on Wednesday after a derailment blocked a busy line, leading to huge crowds on other routes. The Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya metro line was shut down during the rush hour after four train carriages derailed in a tunnel between two stations in a northern Moscow suburb. There were no fatalities. "A stretch of rail about 1.5 metres long cracked," Pyotr Biryukov, a deputy Moscow mayor, told the Vesti-24 television channel. He said 10 people with high blood pressure had asked for first aid. "All in all, around 800 passengers were evacuated," Russian agencies quoted Yevgeny Bobylev, a spokesman for Moscow's emergency service, as saying. Earlier, Russian media had reported the evacuation was caused by a fire, but a metro spokesman denied there had been a blaze. A Reuters reporter said a busy motorway north of Moscow was congested, with scores of people trying to hire cars to get home after work. Vesti-24 showed amateur mobile phone footage from another line, with huge crowds of people elbowing their way to trains and escalators. One person was hospitalised. Several others suffered from bruises and dislocations caused by emergency braking.

RUSSIA: The number of children hit by a relatively uncommon stomach infection in the East Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk since last week has risen to 70, the region's chief sanitary doctor said Wednesday. A total of 46 children from the Solnechny summer camp were hospitalized on June 20 with the symptoms of yersiniosis, which is a bacterial infection usually contracted through the consumption of undercooked meat, milk, water or vegetables. Sergei Kurkatov said on Wednesday that 65 children and one adult are currently in hospital while another four children from the same camp are receiving outpatient treatment.

CHINA: Tropical storm Fengshen struck China's south-eastern coast yersterday, bringing torrential downpours to a region. The storm, which also packed high winds, made landfall in Guangdong province early in the morning, closing schools and disrupting air traffic across the region and in neighbouring Macau and Hong Kong. More than 13 000 ships had already returned to Guangzhou's bustling port in advance of the storm. Heavy downpours in the nearby city of Zhongshan limited road visibility to just a few dozen metres. 70 inbound or outbound flights servicing the Hong Kong city were delayed or cancelled. The storm, which had been downgraded from a typhoon, will move slowly north and gradually lose strength. Source: GDACS / star / thedailystar / dawn

INDONESIA: A 5.6-MAGNITUDE earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island yesterday, but there was no threat of a tsunami and no immediate reports of damage. The quake hit at 8.52am (9.52am Singapore time), 42 km north-west of the city of Gunung Sitoli in North Sumatra province. It was 12 km deep.

USA: President Bush has declared Illinois a "major disaster" area and ordered aid for 13 counties affected by severe storms and flooding.

CHINA: Rainstorms have killed five people and affected more than 90,000 in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, local authorities said here Tuesday. Strong rain hit the Xing'an League from June 20 to 22, inundating 58,600 hectares of cropland, damaging nearly 10,000 houses and sweeping away more than 7,000 head of livestock, a civil affairs bureau spokesman said. Roads and bridges in some places were also destroyed. The local government has sent clothes, quilts and other relief supplies to the disaster-hit areas, the spokesman said. The meteorological bureau has forecasted heavy rain in the areas for Wednesday and issued a flood warning.

INDIA: The death toll from an unknown fever in North Dinajpur district rose with the death of 3-year-old Rina Parvin of Rudel village, Karandighi block last night. According to the health department, the death toll from the unknown disease has now reached 15 although unofficial records claim 17 children have died in the past 10 days in different villages from the disease.

Subject: Around the World Today - Wednesday 25th June

DR CONGO: The Mbandaka-based World Health Organisation (WHO) office, in the northern part of the DR Congo, has raised the alarm over the rising cases of viral hemorrhagic fever (FHV) at the hospital of Boende, the Congolese News Agency (ACP) reported. According to the weekly report of activities, the WHO said "the case has reached a crisis situation in the country".

UAE: The Emergency and Public Safety Department of Abu Dhabi Police recently tested the ability of its team in dealing with hazardous chemical leaks. A mock drill was organised by the department at the Isnad company in the industrial area of Musafah, near Abu Dhabi. At 9am, when the operations room of the company reported a leak of chemical substance used in manufacturing products in an affiliated factory, Lt-Col Mohammed Abdullah Al Nuimi, acting director of the department, arrived at the "scene" with his emergency unit, where he supervised the operation. Emergency teams, hazardous material unit, ambulances and police patrols rushed to the area and contained the situation successfully after following the appropriate procedures. "The objective of this exercise was to test the capabilities of the emergency units in dealing with such dangerous material, as well as their ability to coordinate and cooperate with each other," explained Al Nuimi. He said the mock drill was a "complete success" and the involved teams demonstrated "exceptional capabilities".

BALKANS: Two people have died and hundreds have sought medical assistance as a summer heat wave grips the western Balkans. A period of extremely warm temperatures started as of this weekend and will last at least three weeks, meteorologists in the region said. They warned that temperatures even above 40 degrees Celsius may be set creating temperature highs not seen in the last 100 years.

MALTA: The Malta Maritime Authority has launched a €1 million project to bolster protection of the sea and Maltese shoreline against possible oil and chemical pollution. The project will identify improvements that need to be made in resources, strategies, personnel and training in order to respond to oil and chemical spills more effectively. The MMA collaborates closely with the Civil Protection Department which is the entity responsible to take the lead in case of any disaster whether natural or man-made.

CHINA: The death toll from last month's massive earthquake in southwest China is likely to exceed 80,000, state media reported Tuesday, citing a vice premier.

BANGLADESH: The earthquake that devastated China's Sichuan province last month has prompted Bangladeshi authorities to step up contingency plans in the quake-prone South Asian nation, an official said Tuesday. Fire Service and Civil Defence director major Motihur Rahman told AFP that 62,000 volunteers would be trained to deal with quakes and other natural disasters.

COLOMBIA: Colombian authorities said a landslide has killed at least 10 people, including three children. Strong rains caused the landslide Tuesday near Hacari in northeastern Colombia.

Subject: Around the World Today - Tuesday 24th June

USA: An explosion on a farm near Santa Paula on Sunday injured six people, three critically, when an employee using a cutting torch ignited a 55-gallon drum containing petroleum product, authorities said.The tank exploded about 3:40 p.m. at San Cristobal Distributing at 20991 South Mountain Road.

CHINA: Macao - Nine new enterovirus cases were confirmed in Macao as of Monday, bringing the total number of the epidemic to 383 so far, according to the latest update from the city's Health Bureau (SSM). These enterovirus cases comprise hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and herpangina (mouth blisters), but none of the patients was in serious condition, the bureau said in a press statement.

INDIA: At a time when the state health department is groping in the dark about the reason behind the deaths of 13 children over a span of 6 days at Karandighi in North Dinajpur, an experts' team from the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) and the city-based virus unit of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) suspected a new strain of virus has hit the area. "We have tried to find out the exact cause behind the deaths of the children. But the symptoms suggest that the disease is neither measles nor Japanese encephalitis, which were primarily suspected to be the cause of deaths. It is probably a new strain of virus, which can be confirmed only after detailed test of viscera samples at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune," said an expert who visited the area.

UKRAINE: Four people were killed in a storm that swept through the western Ukrainian city of Lvov on Monday, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry for Emergency Situations said. Strong winds blew down trees, damaging parked cars and devastating a historic municipal cemetery, while heavy rains flooded some streets under 30 cm (12 inches) of water. In the aftermath of the storm, many of the city's 735,000 people were left without electricity and cellular telephone communications were disrupted. Lvov's historic city center is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and the city itself celebrated the 750th anniversary of its founding last September.

IRAQ: An unidentified disease is spreading through Iraq's cattle population, killing scores of cows and buffalo in the nation's southern marshlands, officials said. Khalid Ali Moussa with the environment ministry in southeastern Missan province said there is a lack of oversight from Baghdad regarding water contamination.

SENEGAL: ollowing an unexplained cluster of deaths in children from the NGagne Diaw quarter of Thiaroye sur Mer, Dakar, Senegal, an investigation by health and environmental authorities revealed that the area was contaminated with lead from the informal recycling of lead batteries. In addition, siblings and mothers of the dead children were found to have extremely high blood lead concentrations, in many cases above 1000 ug/L (in children, a concentration above 100 ug/L may impair neurological development, and 700 ug/L is considered to require immediate action). Following a formal request from Senegal, WHO has deployed an international team consisting of a clinical toxicologist, an environmental health specialist, and an analytical chemist. This team has conducted clinical examinations and further environmental investigations in NGagne Diaw. Clinical examinations have confirmed continuing high blood lead concentrations in the original group studied as well as in a randomly-selected group of adults and children who were not involved in lead recycling. Many children are showing evidence of neurological damage. Environmental investigations have found very high concentrations of lead both outside and inside peoples' homes. These have been mapped to an area inhabited by approximately 950 people who are continuously exposed through ingestion and inhalation of lead-contaminated dust.

CANADA: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a cow in the province of British Columbia. This case poses no risk to human or animal health since Canada's stringent BSE safeguards prevented any part of the animal's carcass from entering the human food chain or any potentially infective parts of the animal's carcass from entering the animal feed chain. The animal was detected through Canada's national BSE surveillance program. The CFIA has launched a comprehensive investigation in an effort to determine the birth farm of the animal.

SLOVENIA: No worker at Slovenia's nuclear power plant Krsko was exposed to excessive levels of radiation during a recent leak in the cooling system, a spokeswoman for the plant said on Monday.
"I can assure you that none of the workers that intervened in the repair of the valve in the cooling system was exposed to a level of radiation higher than those allowed by the law," the Krsko plant's spokeswoman Ida Novak told AFP. Slovenia's sole nuclear power plant had to be shut down earlier this month after a leak in the cooling system that set off a Europe-wide alert.

CHINA: East China is bracing for the arrival of severe tropical storm Fengshen, which is forecast to make a possible landfall in the coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong on Wednesday. The Fujian provincial meteorological observatory issued a warning at 6:33 a.m.

USA: - Arizona A hazardous materials situation forced the evacuation of an Arizona State University building in Tempe late Monday morning. Tempe Fire Department officials said the evacuation was caused by a fire in the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 5. An employee apparently flipped a vacuum pump switch, which then flashed and started a fire. The employee suffered arm burns, and the fire department was called. The entire building was evacuated as crews worked to put out the fire. It's unclear what type of substance came out of the vacuum and caused the fire. It's also unknown if there were any other injuries, or when staff may be allowed back in the building.
USA: - Tennesee Operators were forced to shut down the High Flux Isotope Reactor over the weekend after an electrical relay line failed. Kelly Beierschmitt, director of nuclear operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said today the problem was not in a safety-related system. However, the electrical line did affect systems that control motor operations and maintain consistent power levels at the 85-megawatt research reactor, he said. The problem was detected at about 9 p.m. Saturday when control room operators got a warning light indicating a relay failure, Beierschmitt said. A subsequent series of checks confirmed the problem, he said. The electrical line was replaced over the weekend, and restart testing was being done today, Beierschmitt said. Lab officials plan to restart the research reactor Tuesday, he said. Beierschmitt said the electrical line was at least 20 years old and that probably was the reason for the failure. The laboratory is gradually replacing old parts and systems at the research reactor, which was built in the 1960s.

UGANDA: Uganda's Ministry of Health has sent a team of experts to the northern district of Kitgum to investigate an outbreak of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) which has killed 64 people over the past 8 months. The team will assess the extent of the epidemic, the level of intervention against the disease and identify response gaps, said a Kitgum District Chairman Komakech John Ogwok.

Subject: Around the World Today - Monday 23rd June

JAPAN: Torrential rain and thunderstorms battered large swaths of Japan this weekend, triggering floods and landslides that left at least one person dead. The Japan Meteorological Agency said it expects heavy rain of 1 to 2 inches per hour in northeastern, eastern and central Japan on Sunday night and Monday as a seasonal rain front and low-pressure system made their way across the country. More than 15 inches of rain fell on the southern island of Kyushu between Thursday and Sunday morning, the agency said.

GERMANY: Police in southern Germany say more than 50 people have been injured after inhaling ammonia gas that leaked at a swimming pool in the village of Kulmbach. Michael Huebsch, a spokesman for police in nearby Bayreuth says that 24 people were taken to the hospital after suffering injuries from inhaling the poisonous gas. About 30 others were treated on the spot. Authorities say they don't know what caused the leak at the outdoor pool on a hot Sunday afternoon when it was packed with swimmers.

PAKISTAN: North-West Frontier, Tordher village, a Bird Flu outbreak killed 4,000 chickens and led to a further 2,000 being culled. Workers were tested but all proved negative to contamination.

PHILIPPINES: 28 survivors washed ashore 120 miles away from the ferry that sank having been hit by Typhoon Fangshen. They drifted for 24 hoours in a life raft. Another 4 survivors were located near the capsized vessel that is believed to have been carryibng 750+ passengers and crew.

MEXICO: Police blamed for Mexico stampede
Mexico City's mayor has accused police of making serious errors during a raid at a packed nightclub which led to the deaths of 12 people in a stampede. Marcelo Ebrard also suspended all public employees directly involved in the raid on the News Divine club. The club's owner was detained earlier. Police said he had caused panic by announcing the raid to the crowd. Nine youths and three policemen died in the raid to check reports that drugs and alcohol were being sold to minors.

Subject: Around the World Today - Sunday 22nd June

PHILIPPINES: Typhoon Fengshen slams the Phillippines killing at least 155, with 800 missing at sea, and causing 200,000+ to evacuate their homes.

RUSSIA: Forty-six children were hospitalized with symptoms of a relatively rare infection in the east Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk in the past two days, a health official said on Saturday. The condition of two children brought from a summer kindergarten camp, who were initially placed in intensive care with symptoms of yersiniosis, has improved, said Yulia Kryukova, spokesperson for the city's health department. Kryukova said police were inquiring into possible violations of sanitary rules at the summer camp. Yersiniosis is an infection contracted through the consumption of undercooked meat, milk, water or vegetables contaminated by the bacteria. Kryukova said more cases could be expected until June 26, as the incubation period for the disease is seven days.

KENYA: Severe flooding in Kenyan coastal areas has displaced at least 15,000 villagers and washed away farmland, officials said Saturday. Several houses and hundreds of hectares of farmland have been sub-merged in the River Tana Delta, near the Indian Ocean city of Mombasa after two weeks of heavy rains, raising fears of disease outbreak.

Subject: Around the World Today - Saturday 21st June

PHILLIPINES: Typhoon Fengshen smashed into the Philippines' third largest island today packing winds of 140km/h as residents braced for flooding, landslides and big waves. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage as the storm scythed north-west across Samar, an impoverished island of 1.5 million people. Typhoon Fengshen dumped heavy rains across the eastern and central Philippines Saturday, grounding domestic flights and inter-island ferry services, officials said. The storm forced over 200,000 people to seek temporary shelters in the eastern Bicol region,

HAITI: Low pathogenic avian influenza (H5N2) detected in Limonade, Haiti, first occurrence of a listed disease. Outbreak status: Continuing.

RUSSIA: The Healthcare Committee of the Volgograd Oblast has informed the correspondent of the Regnum News Agency that 2 cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) were registered in the region on Mon 16 Jun 2008. Both cases have been confirmed by laboratory tests.

GUATEMALA: A landslide at a garbage dump in the Guatemalan capital on Friday killed at least four people and injured six others who made their living by scavenging for food and recyclable goods, firefighters said.

Subject: Around the World Today - Friday 20th June

RUSSIA: In the village of Ust-Kozyrevsk Kamchtskogo area on Kamchatka in one of the farmstead of all chickens died suddenly. Veterinarians to begin to worry - not whether it is bird flu. But initial laboratory analysis showed that the birds had died not from the avian influenza virus. The above translation describes excessive poultry deaths in Kozyrevsk on the Kamchatka peninsula in eastern Russia, approximately 400 miles from Alaska. Although initial tests are negative for bird flu, samples have been sent to Moscow for further analysis. There have been recent H5N1 outbreaks just to the south of this location in Japan, Russia, and South Korea. All of the earlier outbreaks have been the Fujian strain with a clade 2.3.2 HA sequence, and clade 2.3.4 sequences for the other seven gene segments. The outbreaks have been directly linked to wild birds in Russia and Japan. In Japan, the positives have been whooper swans, which migrate north in the summer, raising the possibility of further movement along the Australia East Asia flyway, which passes over Kamchatka and links to Alaska.

USA: The Adams County Health Department has received a report of the presumptive diagnosis of an individual with invasive Meningococcal disease. The ACHD is currently in the process of identifying close contacts of the individual and advising the individual of the need for prophylaxis. Those identified as exposed will be directed to see their primary care provider for prophylactic therapy. Close contacts are defined as being in intimate contact with the client (i.e.: household contacts, daycare and other intimate contacts that would share the same living, breathing, eating and sleeping space. In general, people who are exposed to meningitis are not considered a risk to others. Meningococcal disease is a serious illness. It is important to continue to be alert to signs of illness and contact your health care provider if symptoms develop. Early symptoms may include: sudden onset of fever, intense headache, nausea, vomiting, often a stiff neck and frequently a pinpoint red rash. Light sensitivity, altered mental state, delirium and coma may appear.

CHINA: China improving air drop ability after quake setbacks
The Chinese military has begun drills to improve its ability to parachute into disaster areas after its troops struggled during last month's earthquake, state media reported. The training, the first of its kind in China, began Wednesday and involved eight large aircraft delivering soldiers, vehicles, radar and other equipment. MORE AT: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/China_improving_air_drop_ability_after_quake_setbacks_state_media_999.html

INDONESIA: Two women have died of avian influenza, bringing the total fatalities of the disease to 110, spokesperson of the country's health ministry Lily Sriwahyuni said here Thursday.

PERU: The Peruvian government declared the state of emergency in eleven departments of the country due to low temperatures with the purpose to execute immediate actions destined to reduce and minimize existing risks.

NICARAGUA: Volcano Masaya as started erupting

AUSTRALIA: Up to 14 workers have been injured in an explosion at a sugar mill in north Queensland. Firefighters are at the scene of the blast at the Pioneer sugar mill at Brandon, south of Townsville. Two 1,000 litre vats containing sugar and mud heated to 110 degrees celsius are understood to have exploded in a laboratory at the mill, injuring up to 14 people.

ECUADOR: Ecuador's state-owned oil company Petroecuador had to deal with a new oil spill Thursday, caused by the rupture of a transfer pipe of Auca 19 well in the eastern province of Orellana. The accident occurred Thursday at 07:30 local time (1330 GMT), affecting a surface area of 4,000 square meters of marsh zone in Dayuma parish, according to the website "Ecuadorinmediato". Absorbent barriers were put in place to prevent the oil from spreading and to minimize the environmental impact. Technical workers from another oil field, the Cononaco field, have also been asked for help in curbing the pollution. On Monday, a clandestine perforation was made in a secondary pipeline of the Tetete field in the northern province of Sucumbios. The marsh around the spill point and a part of the Ocano riverside have been affected, workers said.

VIETNAM: Porcine Reproductive and RespiratorySyndrome (PRRS), known as "blue ear" disease, hit Vietnam's southern Soc Trang province Thursday, killing and leading to the forced culling of 60 pigs, a local veterinary agency said on Friday.

USA: Texas - Storm winds toppled walls at a Rice University dormitory construction site Thursday afternoon, killing one construction worker and sending six others to area hospitals.

PHILIPPINES: The Philippines warned of flashfloods and landslides on Friday as Typhoon Fengshen churned towards the centre of the archipelago with gusts of up to 140 kph (87 mph). The centre of Fengshen, a low-level category 1 cyclone, is about 180 km (110 miles) east of the island of Samar and is expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon before sweeping back out into the Pacific Ocean on Sunday on a path that passes south of Okinawa. Around 20 typhoons hit the Southeast Asian country every year, triggering flooding and mass evacuations. Environmental groups blame illegal logging for making flooding worse, particularly in the central Philippines, where more than 5,000 people were killed in 1991 by floodwaters triggered by a typhoon.

Subject: Around the World Today - Wednesday 18th June

KENYA: Thousands of people have been displaced in the Tana Delta District on the Kenyan coast following heavy rain over the past few days, according to a senior official with the provincial administration. "The floods have also submerged crops and the situation could get worse if the River Tana bursts its banks," District Commissioner Charles Monari said on 16 June. At least 2,000 families have been forced to abandon their homes and farms for higher ground to avoid being marooned by the flood waters, Monari said. The worst hit areas included Mnazini, Tarassa, Konamasa and Chara, with some 2,000 families affected in the latter two places. Overflowing pit latrines were posing a risk of waterborne diseases, he said. The floods have also hit road transport, stranding several trucks belonging to the Kenya Red Cross which were taking relief supplies to the affected families. Public transport from the district to parts of the neighbouring district of Lamu and North Eastern Province had also been cut. The Ministry of Special Programmes has sent a team to the area to assess the situation.

CHINA: China on Tuesday reported a bird flu outbreak in ducks in the southern province of Guangdong, close to Hong Kong where poultry at all commercial markets was culled last week. The Guangdong outbreak, in a village administered by Jiangmen city, was first detected on June 13. The National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed on Tuesday that the virus the birds contracted was a subtype of the H5N1 strain, Xinhua quoted the Ministry of Agriculture as saying. A total of 3,873 ducks died of the disease and a further 17,127 were culled as part of a contingency plan that the report said had effectively contained the outbreak. Large parts of densely populated Guangdong province, which provides much of Hong Kong's poultry, have also been battling floods triggered by downpours in the past week.

USA: Illinois emergency authorities said a levee along the Mississippi River in far western Illinois burst Saturday and voluntary evacuations were under way in the small community of Keithsburg.

GREECE: State ill equipped for disasters
Lack of coordination between various authorities thwarts response to fires, quakes, ministry report says The state's civil protection system is being undermined to the point of paralysis by the lack of coordination between different authorities, inefficient use of human resources and underqualified regional officials, according to a report commissioned by the Interior Ministry. Greece ranks 114th out of 262 countries in terms of its «susceptibility» to natural disasters, according to a group of experts who conducted the study. MORE AT: www.iaem-europa.eu

USA: Texas - A major storm moving through North Texas downed power lines and left 85,000 Dallas-Fort Worth area residents and businesses without power Tuesday. Oncor said the storm hit its system hard with extremely high winds and heavy rain causing 101,000 outages systemwide by late afternoon. Winds in excess of 70 miles per hour have been reported.

USA: Officials warily eyed the mighty Mississippi Monday swollen by days of flooding as waterlogged Iowan towns began a massive clean-up with damage set to run into billions of dollars.
With some 2,500 National Guard already deployed across the state trying to keep the floodwaters at bay, experts believe the Mississippi, the country's second longest river, could crest either Tuesday or Wednesday. Iowa Governor Chet Culver warned the Mississippi would be the next battleground, as floodwaters from the state's Cedar, Iowa and Des Moines rivers poured into it. MORE AT: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Fears_for_Mississippi_river_as_flood-hit_Iowa_cleans_up_999.html

AUSTRALIA: Queensland Health is urging people to be aware of the signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease, after two Sunshine Coast teenagers contracted the potentially deadly disease in the past fortnight.

PHILIPPINES: Six elementary school pupils were reported missing following a flashflood in a far-flung village Tuesday in Manay, Davao Oriental, police said Wednesday. Three pupils were also rescued by residents after floodwaters swept a group of pupils crossing Mambusao River in Sitio (sub-village) Mambusao, Barangay (village) Taocanga at around 12 noon, Inspector Ariel Nueva, Manay police officer-in-charge said. Nueva said the victims aged 14 and 15 years old were going home after teachers decided to suspend the afternoon classes as heavy rains were imminent. The New Madsayap Primary School is just about 15 meters from the river and since a heavy downpour was coming, the schools faculty decided to send the pupils home; Nueva told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview. Nueva said the pupils were crossing the 20-meter wide river when water levels suddenly rose, sweeping most of the victims down river. Some were able to cry for help and residents along the side of a bank threw ropes for them to hold on to, the police official said.

USA: Several people are being treated after a suspicious package made them sick. It happened at Red Rock Hotel and Casino in northwest Las Vegas. Metro Police officials say just after 7 p.m., casino security found a pillowcase in the garage. They said an unusually order was coming from the pillowcase, so they took it into the security office [Some people never learn!]. Once it was inside, about five employees started feeling sick. Their symptoms included sweating and headaches. Metro officials say they don't believe the illness is life threatening so everyone will be treated on the scene. Officials from the Clark County Fire Department and Metro officials have gone into the garage and are investigating. We have a team going inside to determine whats in that package at this time; said Metro Officer Jose Montoya. Metro officials say the casino is operating as normally, but they will be taking a look at surveillance video to determine who left that package. No one is allowed in the garage to get their cars until officials can determine whats in that pillowcase.

CYPRUS: A huge forest fire raged in southwest Cyprus on Wednesday, threatening holiday homes on the parched island, fire authorities said. They said the fire was being kept away from residential areas but at least three holiday homes were badly damaged. "It is very large, it is very difficult to gauge right now how big it is. It has yet to be brought under control," fire brigade spokeswoman Lisa Kemidjis said. Helicopters from British military bases in Cyprus were assisting local firefighters and Greece was expected to send aircraft later on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, which started before dawn and quickly spread through the mountainous region between the coastal cities of Larnaca and Limassol. Cyprus is experiencing one of its worst droughts on record and plans to start importing water from Greece this month.

PHILIPPINES: At least 20 persons have been afflicted with typhoid fever in a village in Hernani town, Eastern Samar. Dr. Benefrida Bacunawa, the municipal health officer of Hernani, said they did not know yet the source of the water-borne disease but suspected it could be an open spring, the main source of drinking water of Barangay (village) San Miguel.

CHINA: Abnormal heat has been scorching in China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang as the country's southern provinces are facing continuous downpours. The provincial capital Harbin, known as the "Ice City", reported on Tuesday an unusually high temperature of 37.1 degrees Celsius, the second highest in the city's history. The average temperature in Harbin in summer is normally around 20 degrees Celsius, one of the lowest in the country.

AUSTRALIA: The most severe drought for 100 years in Australia is getting worse. Farmers warn that this winter's wheat crop could be even smaller than last year's if rain does not come soon. Most Australian grain is exported and empty Outback grain silos have contributed to shortages and rising global prices. Australia is the third-biggest wheat exporter behind the U.S. and Canada.

GREECE: Greece was hit by an earthquake measuring 5.7 degrees on the Richter scale. There are no reports of any injures or material damage. The quake's epicenter was located 90 km south-east of Athens in the Argos area.

PANAMA, COSTA RICA: An earthquake of 5.8 degrees on the Richter scale struck the south west zone of Panama, while an other seism was registered in Costa Rica. The quake occurred at 11:42 a.m. local time (1742 GMT) with the epicenter about 556 km from Panama City. The earthquake occurred in a depth of 10 km. Meanwhile, an earthquake of 5.3 degrees on the Richter scale has been reported in the South of Costa Rica, near the border with Panama. There are no reports of injured or damage at this stage.

Subject: Around the World Today - Monday 16th June

CHILE: Southern Chile volcano erupts with renewed strength
Since the volcano had calmed down in the past weeks officials were hoping to let evacuees return to recover their belongings -- but that plan was put on hold "until we are certain that this increased activity is something temporary," said Galilea.
by Staff Writers. The Chaiten volcano in southern Chile has erupted with renewed strength, belching thick clouds of ash and hurling molten rocks into the air, regional authorities said Friday. The 1,000-meter (3,280-foot) tall Chaiten volcano, located some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) south of Santiago, first began to erupt in May after lying dormant for centuries. FULL STORY: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Southern_Chile_volcano_erupts_with_renewed_strength_999.html

NORWAY: Norway seeks EU help with largest forest fire in its history. Dry conditions and unpredictable winds have fuelled the progress of the fire which has now consumed more than 3000 hectares. Norway called on European Union countries on Friday to help it bring the largest forest fire in its modern history under control. "We have for several days been in contact with our European Union partners and this contact intensified this morning (Friday) with the aim of obtaining their assistance," Norwegian Justice Minister Knut Storberget said following a crisis meeting on the fire. FULL STORY: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Norway_seeks_EU_help_with_largest_forest_fire_in_its_history_999.html

MYNAMAR: About 300 bloated and decaying corpses, apparently victims of Cyclone Nargis, washed up on a beach in eastern Myanmar more than one month after the storm, a local official said Saturday. The bodies had been found in the last week on the beach near Mawlamyine town, across the Gulf of Martaban, more than 100 miles (160 kilometres) east of the devastated Irrawaddy Delta.

AUSTRALIA: Western Australian gas explosion crisis to worsen: premier
A crisis triggered by an explosion at a Western Australian gas plant will worsen this week, state Premier Alan Carpenter said Sunday as unions warned thousands could lose their jobs. The June 3 blast at the Apache Energy plant on Varanus Island cut off one-third of the state's gas supply and the company says it will be up to two months before supply is partially resumed.

CHINA: Rescue workers were Saturday forced to abandon a search for seven miners trapped after an explosion at a Chinese coal mine in which at least 27 died, state media said Saturday. The rescue effort, already hampered by high levels of toxic gas in the mine, was abandoned completely after the workers found unused explosives and detonators in the shaft.

SOUTH AFRICA: A special team has been sent out to look for 19 tuberculosis patients who escaped from the Jose Pearson TB hospital in Port Elizabeth, the Eastern Cape Health Department said on Sunday. "The patients escaped yesterday [Saturday] after a security guard who has since been suspended, allegedly allowed one patient to go shopping... we are worried that they may put others at risk," said spokesman Sizwe Kupela. The 19 demanded that they be let out of the hospital, and then managed to overpower security guards and fled. He said the team would wear protective gear when looking for the patients, to avoid infection. "We have sent people in to investigate what happened at the hospital... anyone who may have assisted in their escape will be dealt with. "We are in contact with the relatives of those patients who escaped. "Families of three of the patients have already confirmed that they have returned home and will bring them back to the hospital." He said that a search was still on for the 16 others. "We appeal to these patients to return to the hospital as they need to take their proper medication and look after themselves." Kupela said he was not sure why the patients wanted to leave the hospital, and the search would continue.

USA: Connecticut - Nearly 19,000 customers of Connecticut Light and Power are without electricity as a storm rolled through Connecticut. A spokesman for the Berlin-based utility says its emergency operations opened Saturday to coordinate work restoring power. Areas affected are in the central, western and southern parts of Connecticut. It's the second time in less than a week that Connecticut Light and Power has been grappling with widespread power losses. Violent storms Tuesday night caused more than 30,000 power outages across the state.

CHINA: More than 70,000 people were being evacuated as the threat of landslides had increased in earthquake-devastated Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province, China's national television station reported today. More than 21,000 areas of Sichuan Province faced potential landslides. Of those, 2,170 places were considered very dangerous, said He Shiming, director of the Land and Resources Bureau of the Aba Region. The landslides even jeopardize temporary shelters that were set up for victims made homeless by the 8.0 magnitude earthquake that struck on May 12, He said.

INDIA: Flash floods and mudslides unleashed by heavy monsoon rains have claimed 25 lives and displaced 200,000 people in northeastern India.

RUSSIA: ore than 2,000 people were stranded in villages of Russia's Ural regions due to heavy rainfall and rising flood waters, reported on Monday. Water levels in the rivers of Tura and Nitsa, crossing the Sverdlovsk region, had risen by eight to 12 cm for the past few days and traffic with the besieged villages were disrupted, the local emergencies department said. Local authorities established communication with those settlements by ferryboats, and all the flood-trapped people were provided with food and medicine, local officials said.

SOMALIA: Floods have left at least six people dead in and around the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Torrential rains over the weekend also affected thousands of displaced people living in camps outside the city. The floods came after another week of violence in Somalia, in which dozens of civilians, two aid workers and a BBC reporter were killed. The UN World Food Programme has warned that nearly half Somalia's population will require aid later this year.

AROUND THE WORLD TODAY