around_the_world_today_Oct_08

               AROUND THE WORLD: OCTOBER 19th - 31st, 2008

MARCH 2008    APRIL 2008    MAY 1st - 20th, 2008    MAY 21st - 31st, 2008    JUNE 1st - 15th, 2008    JUNE 16th - 30th, 2008

JULY 1st - 19th, 2008      JULY 20th - 31st, 2008      AUGUST 1st - 12th, 2008      AUGUST 13th - 22nd, 2008

AUGUST 23rd- 31st, 2008      SEPTEMBER 1st - 12th, 2008    SEPTEMBER 13th - 26th, 2008    SEPTEMBER 27th - 30th, 2008

OCTOBER 1st - 18th, 2008

Subject: Around the World Today - Friday 31st October

No information posted

Subject: Around the World Today - Thursday 30th October

PAKISTAN: An aftershock with a magnitude of 6.2 struck Pakistan's Baluchistan province on Wednesday about 12 hours after a stronger quake killed at least 160 people. There were no immediate reports of more damage or casualties.

POLAND: Authorities say that 16 miners were slightly injured when a small earthquake hit a copper mine in southern Poland. Ewa Tomaszewska, a spokeswoman for the government authority that oversees the mining industry, says the tremor occurred early Wednesday. She says the men were working more than 3,000 feet (1,000 meters) underground at the Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine. The injuries; largely bruises; occurred when they were hit by falling rocks or knocked over by the tremor. Five of the miners were still in hospitals later Wednesday.

USA: California - The U.S. Geological Survey says it's preparing for the largest earthquake drill in the nation's history -- the Great Southern California ShakeOut. The 10 a.m. PST on Nov. 13 the drill will simulate what might occur during and after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the U.S. West Coast. The exercise is based on a USGS scenario created with emergency responders, power, water and transportation departments, social scientists, engineers and others.
FULL STORY: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/California_gets_ready_for_earthquake_drill_999.html

USA: Illinios - An oil well exploded in southern Illinois on Wednesday, killing two workers and injuring four others, authorities said. The explosion occurred around 10 a.m. as workers from Mason Well Servicing in Grayville were cementing a finished well west of Crossville and gas from the well ignited, White County Sheriff Doug Maier said in a statement.

CHINA: Twenty-six people were hospitalized after a chemical leak at a factory in east China's Shandong Province early Wednesday. A sodium hypochlorite tank of Shandong Haihua Group Co., Ltd's plant in Weifang City, suddenly burst at around 6 AM, leading to a leak of the irritative chemical which can cause discomfort in the respiratory system. The chemical is usually used as a fungicide and an oxidizing bleach. A total of 58 company staff went to hospital for checkup and treatment. As of Wednesday evening, 26 remained in hospital.

NIGERIA: The Federal Government has embarked on a three-year action plan to train more than 154,800 volunteers on effective disaster response and control mechanism. Authorities of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), which disclosed this at the flag-off of a three-day sensitisation workshop on disaster risk management for senior public officers in Kaduna, said it plans to engage 154,800 volunteers as part of the Federal Government's new contingency plan on disaster management. FULL STORY: http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=126659

ENGLAND: Devon & Cornwall - East Devon and parts of Cornwall have been hit by serious flooding after a night of storms, including severe rain and heavy hail. Devon and Somerset fire service said the situation in the Ottery St Mary area was "absolute chaos". Portland Coastguard said its volunteers rescued a number of people, including several elderly homeowners, and there is fear over lost livestock. An evacuation centre has been set up at the hospital in Ottery St Mary.

BOTSWANA: The Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) abattoirs in Lobatse and Francistown closed yesterday after reports of suspected Foot and Mouth Disease in Kuke extension in the Gantsi veterinary district. A statement from the Ministry of Agriculture says five cattle were reportedly showing foot and oral lesions associated with the disease. Samples have been taken to the laboratory for testing and results are awaited.

VIETNAM: Heavy rains and floods killed at least seven people and left one missing in central Vietnam, officials said Thursday. "According to the updated figures as of 9 am (0200 GMT) Thursday, seven people have been killed, with one missing and one injured," said Hoang Hiep of the National Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control.

CHINA: Hainan - A total of 22 cases of cholera had been confirmed as of Oct. 29 in Danzhou and Lingao, two counties in southernmost China's Hainan Province, since Oct. 20 when the first case was found, local health authorities said on Thursday.

FINLAND: Attempts to free the Russian cargo vessel that has run aground in the Gulf of Finland proved unsuccessful. The cargo vessel has 37 tonnes of fuel aboard, but apparently none of it has leaked into the sea. The vessel is not double-hulled. The ship has sustained damage to its bow, and water has entered into the bow maintenance space. The ship is currently listing at about ten degrees. All twelve Russian seamen on board were evacuated by a Finnish sea rescue helicopter. The sailors were taken to a coast guard station in Kotka, Finland, from where they were allowed to return to Russia on Wednesday. The ship's cargo contains general cargo, including hospital supplies. None of the cargo is said to be hazardous.

SOUTHAFRICA / ZAMBIA: A new type of arenavirus has been identified as the cause of the deaths of four people since September, specialists at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Johannesburg said on Thursday. "There is no doubt we are dealing with a newly emerged virus," said Janusz Paweska, head of the special pathology unit at the NICD. The virus belongs to the "old world" arenavirus, but until two weeks ago, they did not know they were dealing with a new virus.

ZIMBABWE: An outbreak of cholera, the deadly diarrhoeal disease that doctors say has claimed dozens of lives in crisis-hit Zimbabwe in recent weeks, has spread to the city's crowded townships, state media reported Thursday. One person died in the city's Budiriro township and 20 more from across the city were being treated for the disease in hospital, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported. Some of the cases are from areas very close to the city centre. The death brings to 121 the number to have died of the disease this year, according to the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR).

Subject: Around the World Today - Wednesday 29th October

PAHISTAN: Thirty people were killed and about 40 injured when a strong earthquake struck southwest Pakistan on Wednesday, government and hospital officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey said a 6.2 magnitude quake hit 70 km (45 miles) northeast of the city of Quetta before dawn. The Pakistan Meteorological Department put the magnitude at 6.1 and said the quake struck at 5.10 a.m. (2310 GMT).
AUSTRALIA: WA - West Australian farmers are counting costs after a massive storm swept away hundreds of sheep, burst dams and wrecked fences, east of Perth. The storm hit last night, causing damage to roads and bridges in the shire of York, about 100km east of Perth. Roads have been closed in the small shire where farmers were preparing to begin harvesting their crops next month.

USA: New York - A foot of snow fell across some parts of the region Tuesday as an autumn nor'easter made October feel more like December. The combination of high winds and heavy, wet snow downed trees and power lines, cutting off electricity for at least 14,000 customers in the 11-county region around Oneonta served by New York State Electric & Gas Corp, according to NYSEG officials.

SOUTH AFRICA: Eastern Province - Eighty three people from Mthome village have been admitted to hospital for diarrhoea and vomiting, an Eastern Cape health department spokesperson said on Tuesday. Sizwe Kupelo said 54 people were admitted to St Banarbos hospital on Sunday and an additional 29 were admitted on Tuesday. Kupelo said doctors confirmed that the people were suffering from food poisoning. Kupelo said the department has sent a team of health workers to area to access the outbreak.

USA: Kansas - (EXERCISE) A large scale disaster hit Forbes Field in Topeka Tuesday. It was a staged event, but the practice emergency crews got out of it was real. Several Shawnee County departments put their skills to the test to make sure they're ready to work together if a real disaster were to occur. FULL STORY: http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/33464124.html

JAPAN: Japan's disaster prevention panel said hundreds of thousands of people would be unable to find a toilet if a major earthquake were to hit Tokyo on a weekday. The panel studied a simulation that imagined a magnitude - 7.3 quake striking Tokyo at noon on a workday. A temblor of that size would send 12 million people spilling out of their offices, forced to walk home from the city center. Assuming that each of those fleeing will need to stop for the bathroom every two hours, the report said 810,000 people will be desperately looking for a toilet within hours of the quake, even if half of the public facilities remained intact. Some might wait 17 hours before finding a toilet, the simulation said. FULL STORY: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ifwhbCPgEZbh7pNz0RNtRn_1ThMAD943J0I00

Subject: Around the World Today - Tuesday 28th October

CAPE VERDE ISLANDS: Two dead, but 9 saved as ship sinks. Coordinated rescue effort by Dutch and UK Coastguard saves 9 seaman.
FULL STORY: http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=44848

RUSSIA: Authorities in south Russia's Stavropol Region plan to cull 7,000 pigs to prevent the spread of African swine fever, first detected two weeks ago, a regional governor's spokesperson said on Monday. Some 2,500 pigs have been already culled in the village of Gorkaya Balka, where the fatal virus was first reported on October 15. Some 117 pigs died and later tests confirmed the deaths were caused by the African swine fever virus. A state of emergency has been declared in the area, where two new outbreaks were reported at private farms earlier on Monday.

BANGLADESH: At least 15 people were killed and some 300 injured by a tropical storm that battered southern Bangladesh, officials said on Tuesday. At least 10 fishing boats with 50 aboard were missing in the Bay of Bengal after tropical storm Rasmi lashed the south of the country with winds of up to 80 kmh (50 mph), community leaders said. Thousands of homes and areas of crops were damaged, while electrical and telephone poles were brought down, cutting power and disrupting communications. At least 1,000 head of cattle died as offshore islands and coastal areas were swept by a tidal surge two meters (nine feet) higher than normal.

INDIA: Assam - Flash floods in lower Assam's Kamrup district caused by incessant rains breached an embankment submerging over 70 villages and snapped surface communication between the state and the rest of the country. An embankment was breached last n ight at around 11:00 pm following rain over the past three days in the Puthimari area of the district and upper reaches of the surrounding mountains, official sources said. The flood waters affected over 70,000 people, damaged standing paddy crops ready for harvest.

TURKEY: An official says a boiler room explosion at a primary school in eastern Turkey has injured six adults. No students were hurt. Sami Bulut, the governor of the eastern city of Erzurum, says the blast occurred Tuesday when all students were in class. Bulut says an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the blast. [As winter arrives in northern hemisphere these type of incidents will be more frequent]

Subject: Around the World Today - Monday 27th October

No information provided

Subject: Around the World Today - Sunday 26th October

INDIA: Indian Railways seriously lacks in disaster management preparedness, the CAG has pointed out in its latest report, tabled in Parliament on Friday. It finds that railways is not geared up to respond to accidents and disasters on many counts. There is inadequate provision of safety aids. There is shortage of trained manpower. It lacks proper communication equipment to even inform about the incident. FULL STORY: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/CAG_Railways_ill-equipped_for_disaster_management/articleshow/3641739.cms

GHANA: Mr Akrofi Asiedu, Acting National Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), has called for the mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction into development policies and programmes to make disaster management more effective. To this end, he said, there was the need for strong political and financial commitments to disaster management at the national, regional and district levels. FULL STORY: http://news.myjoyonline.com/news/200810/22009.asp

ITALY: On 21 Oct 2008, the national reference laboratory for rabies in Italy confirmed a case of rabies in a fox in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region of north-eastern Italy. This fox was euthanized on 10 Oct 2008 after it attacked a person who was out walking in a forest in Resia district, close to the borders with Austria and Slovenia. The results were positive for 'classical' rabies virus by PCR testing. Italy has been rabies free since 1995.

INDIA: Orissa - On 19 Oct 2008 the state government pressed into service epidemiologists from the Regional Medical Research Centre and Science Research Centre to visit [Kendrapara] district in the wake of reports of the outbreak of a mysterious fever. Nearly 1500 patients from thickly populated villages in Garadpur, Marshaghai and Mahakalpada block are hit by the virus disease. The epidemiologists from the research centre are making a symptomatic study of the disease.

RUSSIA: Four people were killed and five injured on Saturday when an explosion partially destroyed a gunpowder factory in Kazan, in Russia's Volga area republic of Tatarstan, a regional emergencies spokesman said. The explosion occurred in a one-story building, around a third of which collapsed. The four dead and five wounded, who suffered burns of varying degrees, were pulled from the rubble, which covered around 300 square meters. The injured were taken to a local hospital.

YEMEN: Rain and flooding in Yemen has killed 58 people and left an estimated 20,000 without basic shelter. Most of the dead were in Hadramout, one of the worst-affected provinces, said Yemen Post Editor-in-Chief Hakim al-Masmari, citing the Ministry of the Interior. Officials continued to evacuate people from affected areas, but thousands remained stranded in their homes because the extensive rain has prevented help from reaching them. The flooding follows several days of rain in the Middle Eastern country that is unaccustomed to more than a few inches of rain a year.

JAPAN: A major Japanese meat processor has recalled millions of packs of sausage and meat products over suspected cyanide contamination from the underground water sources used in the products. Itoham Foods Inc. said in a public notice published in national newspapers Sunday that tests have found the water used in the products contained twice as much toxin as the government limit. The recall covers nearly 2.7 million packages of sausage and pizza products sold in Japan. No health problems have been reported over the case, the latest in recent food scandals in Asia.

IRAN: An Iranian official says a magnitude 5 earthquake has hit southern Iran, injuring nine people. The director of Hormozgan province emergency department, Yasser Hazbavi, says the strong quake shook the port town of Kong late Saturday evening. The quake is part of a series of tremors that have jolted the area in recent months. Kong, on the Persian Gulf coast, has a population of 15,000 and is about 930 miles south of Tehran. Iran is located on several seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes, experiencing at least one slight tremor every day on average.

TRINIDAD & TABAGO: An unexpected early morning volcanic eruption in an oilfield area in Santa Flora sent about 100 villagers including several children scampering out of their homes to safety. Many of them have since fled their homes and are now seeking shelter at relatives homes until a disaster relief shelter at Los Bajos is fully prepared. Up to Press time, mud continued spewing several feet into the air from two large craters lying in close proximity to a pumping jack in the Los Bajos Field located at Francis Trace. The erupting mud was accompanied by the strong scent of methane gas.

Subject: Around the World Today - Saturday 25th October

MALTA: The Malta Maritime Authority and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) yesterday conducted an oil recovery response exercise at sea, off Valletta. The oil recovery response exercise simulated the detection of a 500m by 300m unattached slick of heavy oil off Valletta, which was “reported�? by a fishing boat to the Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) at the MMA. The first call was made to the Harbour Master at 5:30am, and the response was initiated through VTS calls for mobilising everyone concerned. In fact, the Malta Maritime Authority’s Control Centre was fully manned by 6am.
Vessels arriving on the scene started deploying booms and skimming equipment for the recovery of the oil slick. FULL STORY: http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2008/10/22/t4.html

USA: Ohio - FirstEnergy has reported a radioactive leak at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant. The report was issued to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Thursday. According to the NRC, radioactive tritium was leaking from a drainage pipe within the plant Wednesday. Around 4:00 p.m., officials identified the Turbine and Water Treatment Building sump discharge line to be leaking. An NRC spokesperson tells NBC24 that the water supply in Oak Harbor and Carroll Township is not threatened. The radioactive material remains at Davis-Besse. The cause of the leak is unknown at this time.

YEMEN: Hadramut - A tropical storm hit southeast Yemen, leaving at least 26 civilians and six soldiers dead while trapping hundreds of people, a provincial governor and local officials said Friday. Heavy rains, thunderstorms and flash floods destroyed hundreds of mud-houses in the stricken coastal region, and President Ali Abdullah Saleh flew to the area to oversee relief efforts in the province of Hadramut, which was most affected by the storm. Provincial Governor Ahmed Salem al-Khanabshi said six soldiers died trying to rescue residents in the city of Sayoun and that a "number of bodies" were floating in the valley of Amd.

MOROCCO: Flash floods from heavy rains in northern Morocco killed 13 people overnight and inundated 170 manufacturing plants, the Interior Ministry and government rescue service said on Friday.

NETHERLANDS: A new type of the bluetongue livestock virus normally found in Africa or central America has infected cattle in the Netherlands, the Dutch Agriculture Ministry said on Friday. Four cows on four different farms were suffering from bluetongue Type 6, for which no vaccine is available in Europe, a ministry spokesman said. The disease causes fever and mouth ulcers and in some cases turns an animal's tongue blue.

RUSSIA: Around 600 pigs will be culled in southern Russia to prevent the spread of African swine fever virus, which was detected in Stavropol Region last week, a spokesperson for the regional governor said on Friday. The outbreak was reported on October 15 in the village of Gorkaya Balka at a farm containing around 460 pigs. Later tests confirmed the deaths were caused by the African swine fever virus, which has killed around 120 animals.

ENGLAND: Hundreds of people taking part in a run in the Lake District near Keswick have been stranded by flooding and torrential rain. The runners were taking part in the Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) run when they were overcome by the weather. Honister Slate Mine manager Mark Weir said he was sheltering 300 of them and some were suffering from hypothermia. Mountain rescue teams are out on the hills searching for missing runners who may be stranded. Cumbria Police said competitors spending the night on the mountain were mainly seasoned mountaineers, and were expected to be carrying suitable equipment to cope with adverse weather.

AND FINALLY WEEKENDS ODD ONE

URUGUAY: Newspaper El Pais reported that the cows had pressed themselves against a wire fence during a storm when the lightning bolt struck in the northern Uruguayan state of San Jose. A photograph released by the San Jose Police Department shows the black and brown cows lying dead in a row. The newspaper said that vets at the scene confirmed the cause of the deaths, which happened on Wednesday. The experts also said that cows often crowd around fences to seek protection during bad weather. Meteorologist Fernando Torena said he was not surprised that a single lightning bolt killed so many cows. But he called it "very bad luck".

Subject: Around the World Today - Friday 24th October

CHINA: Water supplies for at least 26,000 people were cut off in southwest China after a scenic lake popular with holidaymakers was contaminated with arsenic and other pollutants, state media reported Thursday.

INDIA / FRANCE: India's atomic safety body said Thursday that radioactive scrap metal which found its way into buttons installed into lifts in France had been traced back to a western Indian foundry. At least four Indian firms were involved in the manufacture of the components, an official said, but it was still unclear where the contaminated scrap originated.

AUSTRALIA: The Department of Health has today [20 Oct 2008] confirmed measles in a passenger who arrived in Perth [Western Australia] aboard a Royal Brunei Airlines flight from Thailand on 1 Oct 2008. The passenger also attended funeral services held on Fri 3 Oct 2008 before developing a measles rash the following day [4 Oct 2008]. Medical Coordinator Communicable Disease Control Dr Paul Effler said measles was contagious for up to 5 days before the development of the rash and passengers on the same flights and those at the funeral servicemay be at risk of developing measles if they were not immune.

SLOVENIA: Slovenian veterinary services confirmed on Wednesday [22 Oct 2008] another case of anthrax just several days after 4 cows were found to have died of anthrax on a farm in eastern Slovenia. A bull on a farm 7 kilometers (4.4 mi) away from the original outbreak was infected with the disease, the National Veterinary Administration said in a statement, adding that the most likely cause of the infection is contaminated fodder.

SCOTLAND: Storms battered Scotland yesterday and are expected to return tomorrow, with severe weather warnings issued for western and central parts of the country. The Met Office yesterday had most of Scotland placed on its second-highest level of alert, with conditions particularly bad on the west coast and northern Highlands. As much as 70mm of rainfall was recorded in higher areas, though conditions improved in the evening.

SRI LANKA: The number of displaced as a result of torrential rain over the last few day has risen to over 5,000 by yesterday. Meanwhile the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services said Rs. 6.3 million has been allocated to assist the people affected by the rain and floods.

IRELAND: Kerry - Major flooding has hit parts of Co Kerry after heavy rain and strong winds. Killarney and Kenmare have been worst hit with all access to Kenmare blocked to allow emergency services deal with the problem. Garda have advised motorists to avoid the town completely and AA Roadwatch said the Killarney to Kenmare Road (N71) was impassable. The flooding in Kenmare is some of its worst flooding in living memory and was caused by a combination of high tides, heavy downpours and rivers bursting their banks. In the early afternoon up to four feet of water was recorded in the Square, Church road and Main Street

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Papua New Guinea on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or tsunami.

Subject: Around the World Today - Thursday 23rd October

INDIA: At least 26 people have died after a huge explosion at an illegal fireworks factory in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, police say. The dead include eight children. The blast in Deeg town near Jaipur early on Thursday left some 20 others injured. The blast was so powerful that it destroyed the factory in a slum and brought down two neighbouring homes.

FRANCE: Otis, the French elevator company, is removing the buttons from hundreds of its lifts, after finding they contained the radioactive material cobalt 60. Up to 600 Otis lifts were refurbished using the buttons which were made using materials supplied by an Indian firm. Some 20 staff at a factory in Chimilin, France, were believed to have been exposed to unsafe levels of radiation. France's nuclear safety body (ASN) raised its alert level but said there was no danger to human life.

USA: Alaska - The Coast Guard says a fish processing boat with 11 crew members on board is missing off Alaska's Aleutian Islands.The military says all that searchers had found by noon Wednesday were two empty survival suits and a partially deflated life raft. There were no signs of the boat or crew members.Petty Officer 3rd Class Levi Reed says the agency received a distress signal early Wednesday from the 93-foot boat.

UGANDA: The cholera epidemic has struck Kampala city suburbs again killing four people and six others have been admitted at Mulago Referral Hospital.This comes two weeks after medics announced that they had contained the epidemic in Kinawataka-Katogo Zone near Bweyogerere in Nakawa Division.Kampala City Council Health Department yesterday revealed that the epidemic had spread to areas of Bwaise, Kanyanya in Kawempe Division, Kisenyi in Central Division, and some parts of Makindye Division. The epidemic which first broke out late last month in Kinawataka, claimed four lives out of the 43 cumulative cases recorded then.

ITALY: Sardinia - A flood has killed at least four people in Sardinia after a sudden storm caused streams to burst their banks and damaged homes and infrastructure in parts of the Italian island. Heavy rains early Wednesday caused a stream to flood the town of Capoterra, near the city of Cagliari. The Carabinieri police say two men and a woman were killed when their cars were swept away as they were trying to escape. A fourth victim, an elderly woman, was trapped by water in her house's basement. Roads and power lines were damaged across the Cagliari region, and authorities are using helicopters and army vehicles to evacuate inhabitants from flooded areas.

GIBRALTAR: During the last 10 weeks, Gibraltar has experienced an outbreak of measles. The Government has been notified of over 250 cases and notifications are still coming in at around 4-6 cases per day. It is believed that the actual numbers are greater as many people with mild attacks have chosen not to report them. While the majority of infections in the outbreak have been mild, some have been severe and a few patients including babies have needed Intensive Care. Measles is an unpleasant disease with fever, sore throat, streaming eyes, diarrhoea and rash. Most people recover within a week or so, but complications like fits, bacterial infection or pneumonia can develop. Long term complications can also arise in very young children.

USA: Vermont - Federal regulators and utility officials say they are investigating a release of radioactive contaminants at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant that led to a brief evacuation of 25 workers. A spokesman for the utility Entergy Nuclear says the release occurred Monday while the cover of a reactor vessel was being removed for refueling.

Subject: Around the World Today - Wednesday 22nd October

UK: The UK Government released is Pandemic Flu: International Strategy document today. It can be downloaded at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_089527

SYRIA: Syria's worst drought in 40 years is strangling grain production, prompting authorities to seek aid from the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation, the official SANA news agency reported on Tuesday. Wheat production has fallen by 53 percent in 2008 and that of barley by 68 percent, with thousands of families affected, SANA said.

FIJI: Wainadoi village and surrounding areas are under 3 to 4 feet of water. The police command center says bridges along the main highway are also under water.

SWEDEN: Sweden shut down one of its nuclear reactors on Tuesday to check the plant's control rods after cracks were found in the rods at an identical plant, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) reports. The agency said it had been alerted last week that a routine annual inspection at the Oskarshamn nuclear plant in eastern Sweden had turned up cracks in Reactor 3's control rods, which are used to control the rate of fission of uranium and plutonium.

CYPRUS: Heavy showers brought chaos to Nicosia this morning as a huge downpour left drivers stranded in their cars and countless homes and businesses in the capital flooded. The much needed rain fell across the island, bringing transport problems with it as several roads became impassable. Despite the heavy rain, Cyprus is still low on water supplies following a six month drought.

MEXICO: Tabasco - he Usumacinta River, snaking through Mexico's southeast state of Tabasco, burst its banks after heavy rains, driving 34,500 people out of their homes by far, authorities reported Tuesday. The flood, triggered by heavy rains in the nearby state of Chiapas and in Guatemala, has damaged houses and ravaged farmlands in four municipalities and 165 rural communities in the area, the Civil Protection Office of Tabasco said Tuesday.

SCOTLAND / ENGLAND: Heavy rain and stormy weather has caused flooding in Scotland on Monday. Forecasters predicted more wet weather by the end of the week. A flood warning has been issued on Wednesday in Northwest England.

BELIZE: Tropical depression number 16 brought persistent rains to Belize over the weekend causing alarmingly high water levels in Cayo District. People have to be evacuated to shelters. Government officials are trying to assess the loss and damage caused by the floods.

Subject: Around the World Today - Tuesday 21st October

USA: Hawaii - The state wants to build a $70 million emergency operations center on Diamond Head Road that could withstand a Category 4 hurricane or a powerful earthquake, comfortably accommodate dozens of representatives from state and federal agencies in one control center and run on a generator for at least 15 days.

EUROPE: EMSA, Cefic and Cedre sign agreement for co-operation in the field of marine pollution involving chemicals. FULL STORY: http://www.chemie.de/news/e/88430/

CZECH REPUBLIC: A Czech nuclear plant shut down a reactor during the weekend after one of its the turbines developed a fault, the plant's owners said Monday. "During the final turbine generator tests prior to the synchronisation to the power distribution grid, a failure has been found on the flow through part (rotor) in the third low pressure turbine" on Sunday, the energy company CEZ said.

ZIMBABWE: A cholera outbreak that has bridged Zimbabwe's dry season is proving difficult to contain and has spread from the cities to rural areas. There are fears that the onset of the rainy season could make the waterborne disease endemic if the authorities fail to address the water and sanitation crisis plaguing the county. The UN noted that "a cholera outbreak has been a cause of concern in Zimbabwe since February 2008 ... so far 120 deaths have been recorded cumulatively, with the highest percentage found in Mashonaland Central

MOZAMBIQUE: In a country as poor and vulnerable as Mozambique, extreme climatic events can push entire communities to the brink of disaster. Unable to recover from the multiple impacts of floods, cyclones and drought, they are often sent into a downward spiral of poverty. In the past three decades alone, Mozambique has suffered the impact of 35 hydro-meteorological disasters, affecting nearly 16 million people. According to Alexandre Tique, a meteorologist at Mozambique's National Meteorological Institute (INAM), most basic statistics point to an upward trend in natural disaster occurrence due to climate change.

INDIA: Orissa - Outbreak of a mysterious fever in Bari, Korei, Rasulpur and Dharmasala blocks have led to fear of Bird Flu here. But district health authorities say it is not bird flu but some other virus which is yet to be diagnosed. Initially the patients complained to be suffering from high fever and later severe pain following swelling of all joints of the body. They are initially treated a malaria patients and then antibiotics meant for typhoid is also given to the patients.

HONDURAS - Intense rain triggered a landslide that buried the victim's home. Five people died from the wall collapse. According to the Emergency Committee of Honduras (COPECO), the remnant circulation of Tropical Depression 16 has caused 120, 854 people to be affected by the heavy rains.

MEXICO: Mexico City - At least 15 people died and 11 others were injured during a prison riot in northeastern border city Reynosa of Mexico, local authorities said on Monday. Local Civil Protection said police and military forces have been sent to the site in an attempt to negotiate with the inmates in fierce conflict since midnight Sunday.

CAYMAN ISLANDS: Low lying areas on Grand Cayman will be at danger of flooding over the next few days as a broad area of low pressure centred over the Gulf of Honduras slowly moves north–east. Locally, weather forecasts said Grand Cayman will continue to experience periods of heavy showers until Wednesday, depending on how fast the system moves.

Subject: Around the World Today - Monday 20th October

AUSTRALIA: NSW - Landholders in southern New South Wales have another week to spray plague locusts before they start swarming. The Wagga Wagga area is causing the most concern, with 440 reports of locust activity so far. Richard Lelievre from the Wagga Rural Lands Protection Board says landholders have responded well, but it's too early to say if the problem's under control.

VENEZUELA: Venezuela's state power company worked to restore electricity after the third blackout of the year affected parts of the capital of Caracas and eight states in the central and western parts of the country. Caracas lost power at 10:45 a.m. local time, and the states of Aragua, Lara, Guarico, Merida and Tachira were reporting problems, Venezuelan state television said.

CHINA: Hand, foot and mouth disease has killed three children and sickened about 110 others in eastern China. Late Sunday that all the cases were reported in Jian'ou city of Fujian province from October 1 to 17. Citing a provincial health official, Xinhua said the children who died from the infectious disease were under a year old and came from different towns. Twenty-two of the infected children were still hospitalized for treatment.

CHINA: Hong Kong - A house crow found dead in a crowded district in Hong Kong last week has tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus, a government spokeswoman said on Monday. The appearance of the virus in Hong Kong, more active in the cooler months between October and March, is closely watched as it may indicate the level of activity of the virus in mainland China, which has a poultry population of 13 billion. The virus is endemic in poultry in parts of Asia but experts fear it will mutate into a form that is easily passed from human to human, sparking a pandemic which could kill millions of people.

INDONESIA: Aceh - Flash floods have been hitting West Aceh, Aceh Besar and Aceh Jaya districts, Aceh province, since Saturday, forcing hundreds of people to flee to higher ground. Rain fell continuously on Monday causing the flooding to spread over a wider and wider area, Mursalin, a spokesman of the Aceh provincial administration, said here on Monday. At least 250 families in a number of villages in Mereubo sub district, West Aceh district, had evacuated themselves since Sunday (Oct. 19) to safer areas as several rivers overflowed.

BANGLADESH: Authorities in Bangladesh have reportedly detected bird flu at a poultry farm, just 4 months after the virus was last reported in the country. According to livestock department spokesman Salahuddin Khan, approx. 300 birds were culled in a farm in the northern Naogaon district after the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was detected.

MOROCCO: Flash floods from heavy rains in eastern and southern Morocco overnight have killed at least seven people, the government said on Monday. Seven provinces - Essaouira, Al Houaz, Azilal, Chichaoua, Oujda, Errachidia and Zagora - were the hardest hit, with many homes submerged or damaged and roads made impassable, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. At least 14 people were killed in several Moroccan regions, including Errachidia, last week in floods triggered by heavy rains, according to local media. Morocco received the highest levels of rains in 30 years for the Sept. 17-Oct 19 period, according to local disaster and weather officials.

Subject: Around the World Today - Sunday 19th October

INDIA: Dehli - At least two people have been killed after part of bridge under construction collapsed and fell onto vehicles below in the Indian capital, Delhi. Several people were also injured in the incident, which happened as construction workers were using cranes to lift huge concrete slabs.

VIETNAM: At least seven people have died in flash floods triggered by heavy rains in central Vietnam, officials say. Thousands of houses have been submerged in the provinces of Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai. A baby and two children are among the dead. More floods and landslides are expected and residents in the mountainous areas being urged to leave their homes.

CHINA: Three workers died and 11 others were injured in a steel plant accident in central China's Hubei Province on Saturday, local authorities said. The workers were poisoned by gas at about 3 p.m. while repairing a boiler in the heating power workshop at Echeng Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. in Ezhou City, said a city government spokesman.

ENGLAND: Rescue helicopters have evacuated 34 people from a North Sea oil rig following a fire on board. The fire broke out on the Energy Enhancer rig which lies 73 miles east of Whitby, North Yorkshire. Two RAF helicopters transferred the 34 non-essential staff to a standby vessel after the Humber coastguard was contacted on Saturday night. 45 crew members currently remain onboard the rig. The fire was confirmed to have been put out in the early hours.

AROUND THE WORLD TODAY