around_the_world_today_Sept_08

                   AROUND THE WORLD: SEPTEMBER 1st - 12th, 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

Subject: Around the World Today - Friday 12th September

No postings

Subject: Around the World Today - Thursday 11th September

ENGLISH CHANNEL: Train services through the Channel Tunnel have been suspended after a fire on a freight train near the French coast. (As posting)

INDONESIA: An Indonesian man from Tangerang, a satellite town near the capital Jakarta, has died of bird flu, bringing the country's death toll from the disease to 112, a Health Ministry official said on Thursday. The official, who declined to be named, said the 37-year-old man had worked as a driver for a cargo company at Sukarno-Hatta airport, Jakarta's main airport for domestic and international flights (Worrying!). The man, who had had no contact with sick fowl, died in early July, after being treated at three different hospitals, the official said. Tests had showed he was infected with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.

IRAN: At least five people were killed and 26 injured when an earthquake rocked southern Iran, sending tremors across the Persian Gulf and shaking the skyscrapers of Dubai, Iranian state television said. The country's seismological centre said a magnitude six quake struck with the epicentre about 850 miles south of the capital Tehran, in the region of Bandar Abbas.

JAPAN: A magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit northern Japan on Thursday morning, triggering a small tsunami that apparently caused no damage, Japan's Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The agency said the quake hit at 9:21 a.m. off the eastern coast Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island at a depth of about 12.4 miles. A 4-inch tsunami rippled at the shore about 35 minutes after the quake. A warning had been issued for a tsunami of up to 20 inches along the eastern coast of Hokkaido and the northeastern coast of Japan's main island of Honshu. Authorities ordered people to stay away from beaches. National broadcaster NHK showed footage of the coastal area, but there did not appear to be any damage. The report said the force of the quake had not broken windows or knocked items from shelves.

PHILIPPINES: At least 23 houses were damaged and several families left homeless by a tornado that struck an area in Manila Wednesday afternoon.

INDONESIA: Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami alert on Thursday after a strong 7.6-magnitude earthquake in the country's east, but lifted the warning less than one hour later. The quake happened at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) at 2200 GMT, 122 kilometres northwest of Ternate city in North Maluku province, the meteorology and geophysics bureau said.

HAITI: The United Nations has called for some 107 million dollars in humanitarian aid to help Haiti recover from four major storms in less than four weeks, a top UN official said here Wednesday.

CHINA: Several hundred people believed missing after an industrial landslide engulfed a Chinese town are likely dead, with 128 already confirmed killed, state press said Thursday, citing a senior official. Minister of Work Safety Wang Jun said "several hundred" people are thought buried in the mud and sludge that came cascading down onto the village after a mining waste reservoir burst its banks on Monday, the China Daily reported.

IRAN: At least 16 people have drowned in torrential rains and floods lashing western and southern parts of Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday. The flooding, which began late Tuesday, destroyed or damaged several villages in Chahar-Mahal Bakhtiari province in west of the country where 13 people were killed, it said. Another three people were killed and another three wounded in a violent storm in the southwestern city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan province. Electrical installations were damaged by winds packing more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) an hour and several homes were left without power.

NORWAY: Norwegian oil and gas group StatoilHydro said on Thursday that about 14,000 litres of production oil leaked from one of its facilities in Akershus, southeast Norway, late on Wednesday. StatoilHydro said in a statement that the oil was a "thin oil" used in the production at the facility that produces lubricating oil. It said it was able to stop the leak and that it had cleaned up about 6,000 litres during the night. Preliminary investigation showed that the leak was caused by a crack in a pipe next to an oil tank, the group said.

INDONESIA: Twelve teenagers died and 10 others were having medical treatment in hospitals and their homes after they consumed alcohol-brewed drink on Monday in Indramayu regency of West Java province in Indonesia, the local police spokesman named only Suhiro said on Thursday. Dozens of teenagers from Losarang district of the regency were immediately rushed to nearby hospitals after they drank an alcohol-made drink of Vodka and Krattingdaeng, a locally-made drink to boost stamina in several parties, the spokesman said. "Twelve of them have died since Monday and ten others are still getting medical treatment," he said on telephone. The spokesman said that most of the teenagers refused to get medical treatment in hospitals because of shame. "Actually, there are dozens of them being treated at home," he said.

Subject: Around the World Today - Wednesday 10th September

TURKEY: Mugla Province - It emerged yesterday [8 Sep 2008], hundreds of British holidaymakers may have been struck down with salmonellosis. Some have already been diagnosed with the potential serious infection after returning from a hotel complex in Turkey. These numbers are expected to rise. The tourists affected were staying at the Holiday Village Turkey in the resort of Sarigerme. They suffered sickness and diarrhea and some were so ill they had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

TOGO: An outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed in the West African nation of Togo for the first time since last year, the Health Ministry said Tuesday. The virus was detected at a poultry farm housing more than 4,500 birds in the village of Agbata outside the capital, Lome, said a ministry statement read over state television. It was not known how many birds died, but more than 80 per cent of those infected by the flu were fatalities, the ministry said. The statement did not say whether the birds were infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, which has scientists concerned because it has the potential to infect humans. The Health Ministry banned the sale of all chicken and poultry products in the region around the farm.

AUSTRALIA: Tasmania - The world's biggest wild abalone fishery, which accounts for 25 percent of the global annual harvest, may be under threat from a destructive virus, Australian officials said. The ganglioneuritis virus has been detected in two abalone from waters off Australia's southern island state of Tasmania and tests are under way to determine the extent of the threat. The virus has already devastated the abalone industry in nearby Victoria state on the Australian mainland.

SPAIN: Madrid - The south of the city was most affected by the storm last night. A heavy hail storm brought traffic chaos overnight to the south of Madrid, and caused damage to many cars and property with windows broken. Many people reported hail the size of bottle tops. The tunnels on the M-30 ring road have had to be closed because of flooding. Particularly hit were the districts of Carabanchel, Usera and Santa Mara de la Cabeza.

GHANA: Some communities along the coast, in the Keta Municipality, have suffered from what could be described as one of the major disasters ever recorded in the area in recent times, when strong tidal waves washed away three communities. The affected communities are Dzita, Akplorwotorkor, and Dakordzi. Other areas that were affected by the waves were Atiteti, Fuveme and Kporkporgbor, which left hundreds of people, including women and children, homeless with all their belongings washed away. The people, whose main occupation were fishing, farming and petty trading, told The Volta File that last Wednesday at about 2 a.m., the sea swept over the shores and run into several homes, destroying properties worth millions of cedis.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: A 6.1 magnitude earthquake has hit the Solomon Islands but has caused no immediate damage. Solomons national disaster officer Loti Yates said the earthquake's epicentre was 200km west of the capital, Honiara, at a depth of 10km.

IRELAND: Its eerie blue hue was attracting plenty of curious onlookers who crowded around a glass jar yesterday -- but its sting could be deadly. A poisonous Portuguese Man O' War has been found alive in Irish waters, sparking fears that larger swarms could follow. The discovery, in a lobster pot off the Kerry coast at the weekend, could mean more of the fish are on their way here, a marine biologist warned yesterday.

IRAN: A quake in southern Iran injured 15 people on Qeshm, an island in the southern Gulf close to where the tremor struck, reported on Wednesday without giving further details. Reported an aftershock of 4.8 on the Richter scale following the stronger tremor earlier in the day southwest of the major port city of Bandar Abbas. The power was cut on Qeshm island as a result of the quake.

ENGLAND: A fresh outbreak of bluetongue has been detected in livestock imported to the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said. The disease, which can be fatal to animals such as cows and sheep, was identified in 18 cattle on premises near Bishop Auckland, County Durham. Defra said the animals originated from a bluetongue-restricted zone in Germany. The disease was picked up during post-import testing carried out on all susceptible animals arriving from the Continent.

EU / HAITI: Responding to the request for assistance from the Haitian authorities to the European Community Mechanism for Civil Protection on Monday, the MIC is currently activated. The request concerns logistics and technical assistance as most of the international relief efforts are hampered by the damaged and destroyed infrastructures and bridges on site.

CUBA: Hurricane Ike slammed into Havana after its second landfall in Cuba, packing sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour. Ike is gaining strength as it is now moving across the Gulf of Mexico on a projected path towards the Texas coast although the storm's path could veer off. Source: GDACS / BBC News

JAPAN: Tropical storm Sinlaku formed in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday and it is expected gather strength to become a category IV typhoon as it will move towards Japan on Thursday. Forecasters predict its winds will reach up to 230 kilometer per hour with wind gusts of up to 277 kilometer per hour. Source: GDACS

CHILE: Heavy rain triggered flash floods and landslides in the region, La Araucania, affecting more than 81,755 people and damaging or destroying nearly 10,922 houses since last week. Evacuation of people from isolated area has begun by emergency response operations, however 4,713 people still remained stranded.

Subject: Around the World Today - Tuesday 9th September

GERMANY: Germany is engulfed in a discussion over how to best handle nuclear waste, after it surfaced that several leaks threaten security at a dumping site in Lower Saxony state. German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel did not beat around the bush. The dumping site in the Asse mountain range in northern Germany is "the most problematic nuclear facility in all of Europe," he said last week.

HURRICANE IKE / CUBA: Hurricane Ike has powered ashore south of Cuba's capital, Havana, bringing with it fierce winds and heavy rains. Huge waves are pounding the capital's seafront promenade as the eye of the storm moves closer, while there are floods and mudslides on higher ground. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from Havana ahead of the storm's second landfall this week. Four people are known to have died so far in the storm, which battered the east of the island on Monday. It is the first time in several years that a hurricane has claimed lives in Cuba, which is renowned for its well-organised mass evacuations. State television said almost 1.25 million people had been moved to shelters so far - more than one tenth of the island's population.

VANUATU: A strong earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu early Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. No tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

IRELAND: A series of flood warnings were issued yesterday as a result of the tail end of Hurricane Hanna passing by the north coast. Met Eireann said there will be heavy rain throughout the first half of today and more tomorrow, with the country expected to be hit with bouts of "exceptionally wet" weather. The west of the country, especially coastal areas, is expected to have anything up to 50mm of rainfall by lunchtime today as a result of poor conditions which started yesterday.

CHINA: Hundreds of people may be missing after a mudslide triggered the collapse of a reservoir of iron ore waste in northern China, burying houses and sweeping away cars in a wall of thick sludge that killed at least 34 people. Monday's landslide, caused by torrential rain, injured 35 people at the Tashan iron ore mine in Shanxi province. More than 1,100 police, firefighters and villagers were hunting for survivors in the rubble. State radio added in a report on its website that "several hundred" were missing, though it did not provide any additional information.

LAOS: Authorities in Laos detected a fresh outbreak of bird flu in the north of the country last week and slaughtered all poultry affected, a government spokesman says. The government did not say how many birds were infected with the deadly virus, which was detected in a village about 150km north of the ancient royal capital Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

SOUTH AFRICA: Last week was the big chill, but this week Gauteng is in the grip of a heat wave. The mercury was today set to rise to 31C in Joburg and as high as 34C in Pretoria. According to the South African Weather Service, the heat may cause "dangerous to very dangerous conditions" across the country's north, central and eastern parts.

MOROCCO: The U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency says a highly contagious sheep and goat plague has hit Morocco and could spread to southern Europe. Agency spokeswoman Teresa Buerkle says the outbreak has reached 29 Moroccan provinces and has largely affected sheep. She says the viral disease is known by its French name peste des petits ruminants (small ruminants' plague), or PPR. The disease is closely related to cattle plague and is transmitted to goats, sheep and wild small ruminants through close contact between animals. Buerkle says it poses no risk to human health. She told a U.N. briefing Tuesday that there is a concern PPR could reach southern Europe because of the close trade Morocco has with countries including Spain.

BULGARIA: Samokov municipality declared a state of emergency on September 9 to deal with the fire that started two days earlier in the Mechkata area on the bank of Iskur Dam in the foothills of Rila Mountain, the Interior Ministry said in a media statement. The cause of the fire is believed to be the wide-spread practice of farmers to set stubble fields ablaze, private broadcaster bTV reported. The law prohibits such activity in areas that are within 500m from forests. The fire in Samokov municipality is close to the village of Gorno Okol. French fire-fighting aircraft, which arrived a day earlier to fight the fire in the Rila national park, will assist the fire fighters in Samokov municipality, where the fire has spread to cover around 400ha, half of which are mixed forests. About 120 employees of the Interior Ministry, civil protection, Defense Ministry and Samokov municipality were trying to extinguish the fire near Gorno Okol. There were 10 fire-fighting vehicles, three water tanks and a bulldozer at the site, the Interior Ministry said. Currently, there is no threat to Samokov municipality population and property, according to the ministry's statement.

INDONESIA: Two people died and 60 were injured in an earthquake in Indonesia's South Sumatra province on Tuesday morning, a government official said. More than 350 houses in several villages were damaged by the 5.6 magnitude quake, which hit the area near Lahat, said Rustam Pakaya, a senior official at the health ministry who handles disasters, adding that 10 people had been hospitalised. Southeast Asia's biggest economy lies in an area of intense seismic activity.

CANADA: A person died of listeriosis in Ottawa Monday and public health officials are probing whether the death is linked to a recent outbreak that has killed 13 people across the country. Dr. Isra Levy, Ottawa's medical officer of health, said the death was the city's first fatal case of listeriosis this year. Listeriosis is a food-borne illness caused by the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. A single strain linked to 13 deaths has been traced to a Maple Leaf Foods meat processing plant in Toronto.

SPAIN: Spain's Interior Ministry says a ship carrying 1,000 tons of fuel has partially sunk in the northeastern port of Tarragona. A ministry official in Tarragona says an undetermined amount of fuel leaked from the 120-foot (36-meter) vessel after its stern went down early Tuesday while it was docked. The official said, that crews have set up floating booms to contain the spill. He characterized it as minor. The ship is not a tanker. It supplies other vessels at the port with fuel. The official says it was carrying 750 tons of fuel oil and 260 tons of diesel. He spoke on condition of anonymity because department rules do not permit publication of his name.

Subject: Around the World Today - Monday 8th September

PHILIPPINES: Authorities in the southern Philippines have ordered the evacuation of 50,000 people following two landslides in a remote mining village that left 25 people dead or missing. Villagers and soldiers are engaged in a desperate attempt to unearth a cluster of houses buried in thick mud and rocks in the Compostela Valley. The provincial disaster rescue agency says the death toll has risen to nine, with 19 people injured. Sixteen are listed as missing, and hopes of finding them alive are fading quickly. It says at least 18 houses had been completely buried while dozens of others are damaged in the village of Masara. Heavy monsoon rains over three days triggered two landslides and intermittent rains are hampering rescue operations.

HAITI: Officials in Haiti said Sunday that heavy flooding caused by Hurricane Ike has killed at least 47 people. Those deaths add to an estimated toll of 500 people killed during the past week by a series of storms. Officials also said a key bridge collapsed, cutting off the central city of Gonaives from desperately needed aid supplies.

RUSSIA: Magadan - An outbreak of trichinellosis has been registered in the settlement Myaundja of the Susumanskiy region of Magadan oblast. It involves 12 people, including 3 children under 14. The severity of the disease is mild to moderate. All the cases had consumed smoked bear meat at the end of July and the beginning of August 2008. All affected people are now receiving treatment in the infectious diseases department of the regional hospital. A preventive informational-educational campaign is being carried out on the spot to prevent new cases. Trichinellosis has been registered in all the territories of Russia, and family outbreaks are frequent.

TURKS & CAICOS: A slightly weaker Hurricane Ike moved toward Cuba late Sunday afternoon after damaging most of the homes on Grand Turk Island earlier in the day. Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick said the storm damaged 80 per cent of the homes on the main island and that hundreds lost their roofs as the hurricane made a near-direct hit. In South Caicos, a fishing-dependent island of 1,500 people, most homes were damaged, the airport was under water, power will be out for weeks, and every single boat was swept away, despite having been towed ashore for safety, a government official said. The Category 4 storm was downgraded to a 3 in the U.S. National Hurricane Center's 5 p.m. ET report. The hurricane's eye was then about 120 kilometres west of Great Inagua Island, the Bahamas' southernmost island, and the storm's maximum sustained winds had fallen to 190 km/h from of 215 km/h earlier Sunday. Moving west at 22 km/h, Ike's core will move away from the Bahamas and be over or near eastern Cuba Sunday night, the centre said.

GUINEA BISSAU: A cholera epidemic which has claimed 90 lives to-date in Guinea Bissau, with more than 3,900 people suffering from the disease, is spreading but no new cases have been reported from neighbouring Guinea, the WHO said Sunday. "The cholera outbreak continues with 3,915 cases and 90 deaths reported as of 31 August" in Guinea Bissua, said a World Health Organization report

ENGLAND: Northumberland - More than 400 people were evacuated from their homes after the town of Morpeth in Northumberland was 'virtually cut off' when the River Wansbeck burst its banks. The town has experienced the worst flooding since the 1960s. The situation was so serious an RAF helicopter was called in to help pluck several stranded residents to safety. The British government is to announce that it will operate the Bellwin scheme, which provides emergency financial assistance from government to Local Authorities to meet the costs of an emergency or disaster. Severe flood warnings have also been issued for Pickering in North Yorkshire which has been repeatedly hit by flooding in recent months and years.

CUBA: High winds and torrential rain hit the east of the island ahead of the Category 3 hurricane, flooding low-lying areas and causing rivers to burst their banks. Forecasters warned that Ike could lash the heart of Cuba, still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Gustav, for two days, Officials said just over a million people had been evacuated from their homes in a matter of hours on Sunday. In the capital Havana, police with loudspeakers passed through the streets urging people to take steps to protect their property.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: At least one Papua New Guinean villager is confirmed dead, many are missing and thousands are homeless following flooding in the northwestern Morobe Province. Morobe Disaster Service (MDS) said 500 people were now suffering malaria and dysentery that struck after flooding from heavy rains for close to 24 hours caused major rivers to overflow. On Friday the MDS reported 250 homes were swamped as the Markham, Busu, Bumbu and Yalu rivers rose. But a weekend report from Morobe's remote Garaina region described massive destruction to houses, good gardens, cash crops and domestic livestock. The report also described a malaria outbreak and hundreds of locals now bedridden with cold and flu symptoms. PNG's National newspaper said access to the region had been hampered by a lack of helicopters.

HUNGARY: Temperatures reached 36.7C in Szeged on Saturday, setting a new record high in Hungary for that date, the National Meteorological Service reported. The previous record for September 6 was 36.5C, also gauged in Szeged in 1946. Budapest experienced the hottest weather for that date since 1982. The National Ambulance Service said the number of accidents due to carelessness rose in the unusually hot weather. Disaster Control spokesman Tibor Dobson said fire-fighters had been alerted 500 times due to the great heat and dry weather. Public swimming pools in Budapest were filled to capacity.

CHINA: A landslide triggered by heavy rain killed at least 26 people in northern China on Monday, while an unknown number of others remained trapped. The flow of mud and rocks in Shanxi province collapsed a mine warehouse, said the provincial work safety bureau. It was not known how many of the victims were inside the warehouse when the landslide occurred at about 8 a.m. in Xiangfen county of Linfen city. More than 300 police and villagers were searching for survivors. One person was injured. Twenty-two people were rescued, state broadcaster China Central Television said.

MACAU: A total of 141 people in Macao were food-poisoned after eating polluted raw oysters in local restaurants, the Special Administration Region's health authorities announced on Monday. The food-poisoning outbreak was firstly reported on Aug. 28 when a number of people fell sick after eating raw oysters served in a buffet restaurant in the Venetian Macao Resort, and more cases were later reported in restaurants in the Sands Hotel, Golden Dragon Hotel and the Macao Tower, according to the SAR's Disease Control and Prevention Center of the Macao Health Bureau (SSM). The SSM said in its latest press release that eight new cases were reported on Monday, the victims of which dined in the four restaurants mentioned above and ate raw oysters, but it also confirmed that those victims have fully recovered from the illness. The problem oysters served in the four restaurants came from the same supplier in Hong Kong, according to the SSM, which has ordered the four eateries to stop providing raw oysters at their buffets. The food-poisoning was caused by Norwalk virus that was communicable through food, vomit, and excreta among human beings, said the SSM, adding that the victims comprised locals as well as tourists from Hong Kong and elsewhere. Earlier, a spokesman for Hong Kong SAR's Center for Food Safety told the media that they have made initial contacts with the supplier, Pearlwin Limited, and "requested them to supply information on the quantity and distribution of the concerned oysters to facilitate the tracing of the source and distribution outlets". The SSM said that it will strengthen cooperation with its counterpart in Hong Kong and the local Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau to tackle the issue.

AUSTRALIA: NSW - A bus crash will cause about 60 "casualties" in Sydney on Tuesday as part of NSW's largest emergency management exercise since the 2000 Olympics. Up to 150 emergency service personnel will take part in the exercise, which will centre on the emergency response to a crash between a bus and a car at Sydney Olympic Park. Police, firefighters, ambulance officers and SES volunteers will take part, along with personnel from Sydney Olympic Park Authority, the Salvation Army and NSW Health. Student nurses from Sydney University will play the role of casualties in the exercise

CANADA: Nova Scotia - The worst of post-tropical storm Hanna skirted Nova Scotia on Sunday, but still left residents in northern parts of the province dealing with flooded basements and washed-out roads. Emergency measures officials said their main concern Monday was to warn those with flooded basements to be careful if there were downed electrical wires near their homes. Heavy rainfall washed out some roads in Cumberland County, causing the school in River Hebert to close its doors for the day since buses couldn't get students to the building. The town of Parrsboro was struck with the heaviest rain, at just over 100 millimetres. Emergency officials were keeping a close eye on water levels in rain-swollen rivers in Cumberland County on Sunday.

IRAQ: Bagdad - Two more cholera cases have been diagnosed in Baghdad, bringing the number of cases to seven since last week, including a fatality in the south, the Health Ministry said on 7 September.

SWEDEN: Two animals infected with bluetongue disease have been destroyed, as Sweden's agricultural ministry gears up to prevent a wider outbreak of the feared livestock disease. A total of 81 municipalities are to be affected by restrictions.

CUBA: Hurricane Ike's winds and massive storm surge have ripped apart houses and toppled trees as the deadly storm roared across Cuba toward Havana and its historic but decaying old buildings. Forecasters said it could enter the Gulf of Mexico next, with Louisiana among the likely targets. More than 770,000 Cubans evacuated to shelters or higher ground ahead of the Category 3 hurricane, which earlier raked the Bahamas and worsened floods in Haiti that have already killed at least 319 people.

BAHAMAS: Ike roared across low-lying islands Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane, destroying homes, sweeping away boats and bringing more rain to waterlogged communities in Haiti, where at least 48 people died in the floods. Slamming into the southern Bahamas, Ike bore down on Cuba on a path that could hit Havana head-on, and hundreds of thousands evacuated to shelters or higher ground. To the north, residents of the Florida Keys fled up a narrow highway, fearful that the "extremely dangerous" hurricane could hit them Tuesday.

Subject: Around the World Today - Sunday 7th September

CANADA: British Columbia - An industrial accident at a mushroom farm in Langley Township has left three people dead and two others in serious shape. Emergency crews, including a medevac helicopter and a technical-rescue team, were called to the deadly mishap in the 23700-block 16th Avenue around 6 p.m. Friday. CKNW News Radio reported that at least three men were overwhelmed by noxious fumes in a utility shed on the property, and that several others were also overcome when they went in to help. Rescue crews on scene reported three fatalities, two people taken to hospital and about six others who were pulled to safety.

HAITI: Almost 500 bodies have been found in the port city of Gonaives, Haiti, after floodwaters caused by recent storms receded, according to reports. Police commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille said 495 bodies had been found and the toll could get higher. A ship carrying 33 tons of UN aid arrived in Haiti on Friday to help an estimated 600,000 people struggling in the wake of tropical storm Hanna.

USA: Minnesota - Winona health officials are warning people to be careful around bats. Two bats have tested positive for rabies in Winona in the past month. The Winona Health Urgent Care Clinic has treated several patients for bat bites in the past two weeks, including one patient who was bitten by a rabid bat. In the most recent case, a bat brought to a veterinary clinic tested positive for rabies after biting a 4-year-old boy. The bat was found in the child's bed. The first reported bat with rabies bit a man on the finger as he grabbed it from his washing machine. Many times people won't know they've been bitten because a bat's teeth are so small. Last October, a Monticello man died from rabies. He didn't realize he'd been bitten until symptoms had already set in.

UK: The UK was lashed by torrential rain and gale-force winds yesterday as the first major storm of the autumn caused widespread chaos. Large swathes of the Britain were deluged, with heavy and persistent rain causing some localised flooding. Severe weather and flood warnings were in place in south west England and Wales, with the heavy rain expected to drift north as the weekend progressed. Homes across Britain are expected to be at risk of flooding for days to come after thousands of people were evacuated as water levels continue to rise. A total of five people have died in accidents related to the rains and the North East is currently the region most seriously hit by the storms. Up to 1,000 properties in Morpeth, Northumberland, have been flooded. An RAF helicopter was called in to help pluck several stranded residents to safety. Flash floods have also hit parts of Yorkshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

INDIA: Assam - At least 17 persons were killed as flood situation in Assam turned grim affecting an estimated 12 lakh people in 18 districts with surging waters inundating the rhino homelands of Kaziranga National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary drowning a rhino calf. With one more killed in Morigaon district, the toll rose to 17 in the third wave of floods which breached embankments and overrun large tracts of human habitation, official sources said on Friday. Most of the flood-hit people were forced to flee homes to take shelter in highlands and 189 relief camps.

SOUTH AFRICA: Eastern Cape - Twelve tuberculosis patients have run away from the Jose Pearson TB hospital in Port Elizabeth, up from the initial six thought to have absconded, the Eastern Cape department of health said on Friday. "Three of the escaped patients have the extreme drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR) and nine have the Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR)," he said. Police have been dispatched to look for them. According to the department of health 10 more security guards have been added to the Jose Pearson TB hospital and the Fort Grey hospital in East London after protests by patients wanting to leave the facility.

HUNGARY: he national medical officer has issued a heat alert effective until Sunday due to an approaching major heat wave. Afternoon temperatures will be several degrees above 30 degrees Celsius in many parts of the country from Friday until early next week. The daily mean temperature is likely to reach 25 degrees Celsius in the coming days, or even 27 on the weekend and Monday.

FRANCE: Twelve people were injured, three seriously, when a roof collapsed in a shopping mall in southeast France on Saturday, police said. About 20 people were in a shop inside the Grand'Place mall at Echirolles near Grenoble when 150 square metres of the roof came down.

HURRICANE IKE: Hurricane Ike strengthened into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane on Saturday as it churned westward across the Atlantic on a path that would take it through the Bahamas toward Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

EGYPT: Cairo - Ten people were killed and 19 injured when a rockslide hit a shanty town in Cairo on Saturday, with the death toll expected to rise, security sources said.Dozens of houses in the Manshiyet Nasser shanty town east of central Cairo were completely destroyed by boulders and rocks, the sources said.

INDIA: Bengal - Around 70 people at Sidhar village under Suti-I block in Murshidabad are suffering from cholera for the last week or so. The disease has already claimed two lives. Sources said all the tube wells in the village are lying defunct for the last few months.

NETHERLANDS: THE HAGUE, Netherlands (Reuters) - The Netherlands must spend nearly 2 billion euros ($2.9 billion) annually in the coming decades to protect low-lying areas from coastal flooding, the Dutch government said on Wednesday. With sea levels projected to climb as much as 1.3 meters (4 ft 3 in) this century and another 2 to 4 meters in the next, current flood and sea defenses will not be enough to protect the country of 16 million people from surging tides, said the commission, led by former agriculture minister, Cees Veerman.

Subject: Around the World Today - Saturday 6th September

No release

Subject: Around the World Today - Friday 5th September

CHINA: Liaoning - At least 27 people were killed and six others injured when a gas explosion ripped through a coal mine on Thursday in northeast China, officials said. The explosion occurred when 41 miners were working in the mine in Fuxin in Liaoning Province. Six of the 14 survivors were injured and hospitalised. Senior officials have rushed to the accident site and a probe has been launched. Nearly 3,800 people died in coal mines accidents in China last year although independent monitors say the real figure was likely far higher as many accidents were covered up.

TS HANNA / USA / HAITI: Tropical Storm Hanna closed in on the southeastern US Thursday after hammering Haiti and was expected to surge into a hurricane, even as explosive Hurricane Ike gathered force in the Atlantic. The UN says the storms that have hit Haiti in recent weeks have left some 600,000 people in desperate need of help.

HURRICANE IKE: Hurricane Ike turned into an "extremely dangerous" category four storm in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday with winds of 215 kilometers (135 miles) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center reported.

UGANDA: A hepatitis E epidemic has killed 121 people in northern Uganda, where it erupted in October last year, a health ministry official said Thursday. The outbreak has mainly affected displaced residents in the Kitgum district returning to their homes, which lack proper hygiene.

KENYA: Busara - A huge hailstorm turned parts of central Kenya white, thrilling residents most of whom had never experienced such conditions, officials said on Wednesday. Hailstorms are usual in some parts of Kenya, which straddles the equator, but the ferocity of the storm in Busara, 255 km (158 miles) northwest of the capital was unprecedented.

USA: Idaho - A southwestern Idaho bird farm has been quarantined after two birds there were found to have a bird flu virus, but Idaho Department of Agriculture officials say it is not the same virus that has spread through birds in Asia, Europe and Africa. About 300 birds were shipped from the farm to a bird dog sporting event at Prado Regional Park in Chino, Calif., just before the virus was detected, and all of those birds were quarantined and euthanized.

MONGOLIA: A total of 2460 sandgrouse were found dead in Uvurkhangai [Ovorhangay] aimag's Bayangol and Tugrug soums and in Dundgobi [Dundgovi] aimag's Saihan Ovoo soum. Professionals have been investigating the cause of mortality but are still unable to identify it. National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) officers were on site to destroy the dead birds and to disinfect the area.

BULGARIA: Sofia - An illegal landfill in Sofia neighbourhood Hristo Botev, close to Sofia airport and Drouzhba district, caught fire in the early hours of September 4. The reason was the spontaneous combustion of refuse, which included a large amount of polyethylene plastic bags, causing a suffocating stench to spread. The fire was extinguished at 9am by teams of the civil protection service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The ministry said it measured the air quality and found excessive levels of carbon and ethylene oxides in the air, which could harm the respiratory organs. Residents of both Hristo Botev neighbourhood, who are predominantly Roma, and Drouzhba were advised to keep their windows closed.

USA: Hawaii - A U.S. Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crashed this evening about 5 miles south of Honolulu International Airport, a news release said. The helicopter's four-man crew was conducting search and rescue drills with a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Honolulu when it went down at 8:15 p.m., the release said. The Coast Guard was notified by the FAA and immediately launched a C-130 search plane from Air Station Barbers Point. A crew on board an inbound Air Force C-17 to Honolulu International saw the Coast Guard helicopter go down and circled the site until a rescue boat from the Honolulu Fire Department could get on scene. The 47-foot motor lifeboat is also on scene, as is the C-17, the C-130 and helicopters from the Honolulu Fire and Police Departments.   Officials said three of the four crewmembers have been accounted for, but their status is unknown. Divers are in the water searching for the fourth crewmember. Some wreckage has been found by a rescue team that includes three boats and a helicopter. Coast Guard officials said a news conference is scheduled for about 10 p.m. tonight. (Our thoughts are with crew, colleagues and families).

Subject: Around the World Today - Thursday 4th September

IRAN / IRAQ: An earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale shook the vicinity of Iran-Iraq border in Ilam province, southwestern Iran, early on Thursday. The Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the quake at 03:13 hours local time (22:43 GMT on Wednesday)

MEXICO: Police say an American tourist drowned after a giant wave swept him and two others away in southern Baja California. The U.S. Embassy confirmed that Richard Harry Barr, 72, from Fort Smith, Arkansas, drowned in Cabo San Lucas on Tuesday. State police investigator Enrique Wilar says the two other people managed to swim to shore. Wilar said the three were taking a walk on a beach when they were swept away. The surf was unusually rough from the effects of Tropical Depression Karina. On the same stretch of beach two years ago, a giant wave swept away and killed an American tourist.

SPAIN: A wildfire on Thursday forced the evacuation of about 1,000 people from urban areas near the south- western Spanish port of Algeciras, rescuers said. More than 100 firefighters using 17 aircraft or helicopters were trying to contain the flames, which devastated 150 hectares of scrub, including parts of a nature park.

HURRICANE IKE / ATLANTIC: Hurricane Ike turned into an "extremely dangerous" category four storm in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday with winds of 215 kilometers (135 miles) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center reported. The powerful storm was moving over the west-central Atlantic far from any land.

CHILE: Chile has declared an emergency in southern areas where torrential rains have left at least eight people dead and caused widespread flooding. Some 23,000 people have been affected by the rains, said to be the heaviest in more than 30 years. Helicopters have been used to reach some residents, but in the worst-hit areas boats are needed for rescue work. Officials say food, blankets and fuel are being sent to the area, although many roads have been cut off.

UGANDA: Uganda has reported an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, FMD. The outbreak of the cattle disease has been reported in Nakisunga and Nyenga sub-counties of Mukono district, central Uganda. According to Dr. Fred Mukulu, the director of production, it is the 1st time in 20 years that Mukono has registered an FMD outbreak. The outbreak has led authorities to impose a ban on cattle movement.

HAITI: Tropical storm Hanna has killed at least 38 people and left thousands homeless in Haiti and caused widespread flooding in the Dominican Republic, authorities said Wednesday. According to reports reaching here, many houses were damaged by the flooding. The city of Gonaives, some 100 km north to the capital city, was flooded and declared in emergency state. The death toll reached 10 on Wednesday. The flooding even blocked the entrance to Gonaives, where water in some areas was three meters deep. Haitian President Rene Preval said the government was taking actions to cope with the situation in eight of the 10 provinces of the country.

DUBAI: A helicopter crashed into an oil drilling platform off the coast of Dubai, killing all seven people on board, officials said Thursday. Among the victims were an American and a Briton, said Hanan Moussa of the United Arab Emirates' General Civil Aviation Authority. Also killed were two Indians, a Pakistani, a Philippino and a Venezuelan, Moussa said. The Bell 212 helicopter crashed Wednesday on the deck of an oil rig, then broke up and fell into the sea, said a spokesman for AeroGulf Services - which operated the chopper. A fire broke out aboard the rig, located about 43 miles (70 km) off the coast of Dubai. The fire was quickly contained, the AeroGulf spokesman said. Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.

INDIA: New Delhi - With the death of a 33-year-old army garrison engineer, India`s national capital, Delhi reported its first suspected dengue death. Major Vikas Kumar who died Tuesday was admitted to Research and Referral Army Hospital on Friday with high fever, vomiting and acute body pain.

ZIMBABWE: Harare - Two people have died and 23 are in hospital following an outbreak of cholera, the highly contagious diarrhoeal disease, in one of Harare's crowded townships, health officials said Thursday. The outbreak occurred on Monday in Chitungwiza, a dormitory township of about a million people on Harare's southern outskirts where sewerage routinely flows through the streets and people's yards.

INDIA: Uttar Pradesh - A deadly and mysterious fever is causing panic in the northern city of Kanpur, India and in the villages that surround the area. More than 100 people have already died of the illness in the past four weeks. As a result, there�s been a mass exodus from the region. The situation is particularly bad in two villages where the disease has already infected more than 1,000 people. There are also reports that at least 40 people have died of the mysterious fever in the past few days, according to the news agency.

Subject: Around the World Today - Wednesday 3rd September

BANGLADESH: Rising rivers driven by late monsoon storms in northern Bangladesh Tuesday flooded hundreds of homes and forced the rescue of thousands of people stranded in muddy villages, officials said. The swollen Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers breached their banks, inundating farmlands in the 16 stricken districts in the past two days, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said. The rains have been blamed for at least eight deaths in mudslides since the weekend. Nearly 20,000 people from the low-lying areas in Kurigram and Gaibandha districts were given shelter in schools and community centres. Another 100,000 people were waiting to be rescued, officials said.

USA: Authorities in the US state of Louisiana have reported eight storm-related deaths, in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm. The dead include an elderly couple in Baton Rouge, who were killed when a tree fell on their home. It brings to more than 100 the number of fatalities linked to the storm. Most died in Caribbean islands as the hurricane made its way towards the Louisiana coast. However, Gustav is continuing to weaken as it moves inland from the US Gulf Coast. It is expected to slow further and lose energy today as it crosses into Texas. Officials say the city of New Orleans escaped the worst effects of the storm and that flood defences that were rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina struck three years ago have so far managed to hold. An estimated 2m people had moved inland from the Louisiana coast to avoid Gustav.

YEMEN: Hundreds of families (totalling about 2,000 people) in the southern governorate of Abyan have begun to leave their homes due to severe drought in their mountain villages, a senior official has said. Sirar District, a mountainous area in Abyan, has been particularly badly affected since May. Al-Khader Mohammed Saleh, director-general of Sirar District, told IRIN that over 300 families had left their villages over the past week as a result of the drought.

HAITI: Gonaives in northern Haiti was underwater today due to Tropical Storm Hanna, and town officials called for help amid fears of a disaster like the one Tropical Storm Jeanne sparked four years ago.

Subject: Around the World Today - Tuesday 2nd September

CHINA: Hubei - At least five people were killed and three reported missing Monday after four consecutive days of torrential rain in central Chinas Hubei province. The heaviest rain to hit the province this year has so far affected more than five million people in 43 counties, damaged 4,841 houses and caused loss of more than 1.978 billion yuan ($289 million), the Ministry of Civil Affairs said here. The ministry activated emergency response system and sent a work group to the province to help in the relief work.

ENGLAND: Flash floods gripped the Burnham area last night as cars had to be rescued from flooding and homes seeped in water. Torrential rain hit parts of Burnham, Taplow and Dorney causing severe flooding in less than two hours. The railway bridge in Huntercombe Lane North, in Taplow, was one hotspot where cars had to hauled through the water after getting stuck. The scene was repeated around the area as Buckinghamshire and Berkshire fire crews said that they were inundated with calls, after drainage systems struggled to cope. Chiltern Road, Stomp Road, Maypole Road, Conway Road and Hogfair Lane, all in Burnham, were swamped in water, where it was reported that the roads 'looked like rivers'.

SOUTH AFRICA: Nkandla - KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele has declared Nkandla and surrounding areas in the north of the province affected by fires disaster areas. He made the announcement at the homestead of Inkosi Muziwami Zuma whose son was killed yesterday when a corrugated was blown off a roof by strong wind. Ndebele was part of a high-ranking delegation visiting affected areas. He says it is not possible yet to determine how much money is needed to assist the victims. Meanwhile, 18 people have been confirmed dead in the Nkandla area while around 200 homesteads have burnt down. Fires have also destroyed large areas of grazing and killed wild animals and livestock in many areas, including the eastern Free State, the Waterberg mountains of Limpopo province and the Groot Marico area near Zeerust in North West.

BUKINO FASO: Heavy rains and violent winds in Burkina Faso have killed six people, wounded 18, and left 4,200 homeless according to the government's National Council for Emergency Aid (CONASUR). Seven of the country's 13 regions have been affected by the rains according to Amade Belem, the permanent secretary of CONASUR, and overall 500 houses have been destroyed. The highest homeless toll is in Bati in the southwest where 1,188 people are displaced and are currently sheltering in schools or government offices, or with neighbours and relatives.

SOUTH AFRICA: Western Cape - In the tourist city Cape Town, high winds and torrential downpours flooded roads and caused power disruptions. Along the Western Cape coast close to Cape Town -- known as the "Cape of Storms" -- salvage operators were keeping a close eye on the stricken 185 metre (607 ft) "Nena J", which was reportedly carrying steel pipes from India to Chile. The carrier, with 16 crew onboard, had dropped anchor some two miles off the coast, after a tow-line from salvage tugs snapped in 10 metre swells on Sunday.

FRANCE: Two Parisians are suffering from malaria, although they did not leave France. The 2 young people have been hospitalized at CHU [University Hospital Center] Nice since 23 Aug [2008]. "Their health is improving," said the Directorate General of Health (DGS). The 1st clinical signs (fever, headache, vomiting, and decreased blood platelets) appeared on 18 Aug 2008, 5 days after their arrival in the south of France. The DGS said that the couple visited friends 7 kilometres (4.4 mi) from the airport of Roissy Charles de Gaulle from 5 to 7 Aug [2008]. If a search was launched around their holiday location in Saint-Raphael in the Var region [in south east France] in order to exclude the hypothesis of the presence of a mosquito vector of malaria, it would appear that the diagnosis of "indigenous malaria" called "of airport" is the most likely.

BAHAMAS: Tropical Storm Hanna on Monday developed into a full-fledged hurricane east of the Bahamas in the Atlantic ocean, US officials reported, as deadly Hurricane Gustav pounded the Gulf Coast near New Orleans.

CUBA: Hurricane Gustav damaged 100,000 homes and devastated schools, power supplies and tobacco crops in western Cuba, officials said Monday, as Fidel Castro hailed preparations that prevented any deaths. Gustav, which killed more than 80 people in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica, tore through western Cuba late Saturday as a huge Category Four storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson Scale.

JAPAN: About 590,000 people participated in disaster-prevention drills held nationwide Monday on Disaster Prevention Day. The government held a comprehensive disaster-prevention exercise in cooperation with six prefectures in the Kinki region as well as Fukui, Mie and Tokushima prefectures based on the scenario that Nankai and Tonankai earthquakes had hit the area.

GUSTAV / New Orleans - Hurricane Gustav has hit a deserted US Gulf coast but delivered only a glancing blow to New Orleans before weakening and heading inland. A still-largely deserted New Orleans on Tuesday prepared to take stock of damage from Hurricane Gustav after rebuilt levees appeared to hold off a repeat of the flooding caused by Katrina three years earlier. Gustav roared through the heart of the U.S. Gulf oil patch but oil and natural gas prices plunged when Gustav weakened before landfall and spared key Gulf oil installations, easing fears of serious supply disruptions. As the hurricane's winds slowed, it also stayed on a westerly track, missing New Orleans in a twist that helped keep it from becoming the monster storm feared just days earlier. But the storm surge kicked up by Gustav tested a levee system still being rebuilt after collapsing during Katrina. A tense vigil followed into Monday night for any sign of the kind of deluge of three years ago when 80 percent of New Orleans flooded and thousands were stranded.

INDIA: Bihar - In the second boat capsize in four days, at least two persons drowned and 10 people went missing when an army boat carrying flood victims capsized in swollen Kosi river in Bihar's Madhepura district on Monday evening. The accident took place when the boat carrying around 15-16 marooned persons from a village in Purnea district was caught in a whirlpool in the river and sank, police sources said. Bodies an old woman and a child have been fished out while around ten others were missing and were feared drowned. The missing persons included an army jawan, sources said, adding four of the occupants were saved. Altogether 20 flood victims were killed when an army boat capsized near Mirganj in Murliganj block of Madhepura district on August 29 during evacuation.

USA: Nevada - An air tanker hoping to drop retardant on a wildfire in the Sierra Nevada crashed on takeoff near Reno on Monday, killing all three crew members on board. The twin-engine P2V air tanker owned by Neptune Aviation of Missoula, Mont., had been fighting a wildfire earlier in the day that had forced evacuations over the weekend in California's Alpine County near Hope Valley south of Lake Tahoe, Reno fire spokesman Steve Frady said Monday night. Names of the three confirmed dead in the crash had not been released, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Preliminary reports from witnesses suggested the tanker lost a piece of its engine or a wing after its 6:11 p.m. takeoff from Reno-Stead Airport before it caught fire and went down about a half-mile away, he said. The crash started a small brush fire that local crews extinguished, Frady said. He said the debris field from the crash covered approximately 5 square miles northwest of the airport northeast of U.S. Highway 395.

DR CONGO: A humanitarian plane carrying 17 passengers crashes in eastern DR Congo, a UN official says.

Subject: Around the World Today - Monday 1st September

GUSTAV / CUBA: Cubans returned from shelters to find 20,000 flooded homes and washed-out roads Sunday, but no deaths were reported after a monstrous Hurricane Gustav roared across the island and into the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico. About 250,000 Cubans were evacuated before Gustav made landfall on Cuba's Isla de la Juventud, then again on the Cuban mainland in the region that produces much of the tobacco used to make the nation's famed cigars. It was just short of top-scale Category 5 hurricane with screaming 140 mph (220 kph) winds as it moved across the island, toppling telephone poles and fruit trees, shattering windows and tearing off the tin roofs of homes.

GUSTAV / LOUISIANA: More than a million people fled Louisiana as killer Hurricane Gustav on Sunday roared toward New Orleans, a fragile US coastal city still deeply scarred by the devastating 2005 Katrina storm. Highways out of New Orleans have been crammed since before dawn as people scurried to escape a monster storm that could slam the Louisiana coast as early as midday Monday. GUSTAV / GULF COAST: Storm force winds and rain from approaching Hurricane Gustav began lashing the US Gulf coast early Monday, soon after nearly two million people fled the state of Louisiana ahead of the killer storm. The exodus is being called the largest evacuation in US history, and officials have also shut down the area's vital oil production facilities.

USA: East Coast - The State Department urged Americans on Saturday to be aware of the risks caused by Tropical Storm Hanna to people traveling to the Bahamas and to the Turks and Caicos Islands

CHINA: A powerful aftershock rocked southwest China's Sichuan province on Sunday, one day after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake left at least 28 people dead and about 350 injured, state media reported. The aftershock, with a magnitude of 5.6, struck the area near the city of Panzhihua, the same region hit by Saturday's deadly quake, the US Geological Survey said. Rescue teams rushed to bring tents, food and water to survivors, as well as to help evacuate more than 30,000 people from Panzhihua after up to 300 aftershocks rattled the area.

INDIA: Bihar - Authorities struggling to provide aid after devastating floods in eastern India said on Sunday they needed more boats and rescuers to help hundreds of thousands of people still marooned in remote villages. Bad weather and heavy rain over the past few days have hampered rescue and relief operations in the worst-ever floods to hit Bihar state in 50 years, officials said.

MISSOURI: Officials in East St. Louis say two people are dead after being exposed to a hazardous material. However, none of the hospitals involved are reporting deaths from the incident. Eight to ten people are hospitalized around the St. Louis area after being exposed to some type of hazardous chemical or material. At least two people are very critical condition. St. Anthonys Hospital in South County and DePaul Hospital in West County both shut down their emergency rooms when victims showed up with blue skin.

USA: Washington - The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that an Ellensburg, Washington, police sergeant died from [a] hantavirus [infection]. Local health officials are still investigating how the officer may have contracted the virus. The officer's death was the 2nd hantavirus infection in Washington in August [2008] and the 1st death this year [2008]. State health officials say a Bellingham resident whose name has not been released was also treated for [a] hantavirus [infection]. The virus spreads through contact with mouse saliva, urine or droppings. On average, 1 to 5 cases of the virus are reported in Washington annually. Of 35 confirmed state cases since 1993, 11 people have died.

RUSSIA: Kray - An outbreak of enterovirus infection has occurred in the city of Vladivostok. About 300 cases have been registered, 269 of whom are children. In half of the cases the disease developed into serous (aseptic) meningitis, which can have serious consequences. Galina Shklyar, the senior infectious diseases specialist in Vladivostok, said that all the infections occurred as a consequence of people swimming in the sea around the shores of the territory.

KENYA: Farmers near the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro have been reporting floods caused by the melting Kilimanjaro glaciers even during the dry season of the year. Local English newspaper The African on Monday quoted a Mwanga farmer as saying that the amount of water from the mountain had been enormous this year to have submerged farms and roads.

SOUTH AFRICA: West Cape - A cold front bringing with it snow, storms and minus degree temperatures to South Africa has cost several people their lieves as well as destroyed thousands of hectares of bush and pasture land, according to local reports Monday. Highland regions of the West Cape Province around Capetown were hit by snow, while three other provinces were plagued by bush fires of several kilometres that were whipped up by strong winds. One official compared the burning areas to a battlefield, saying the fires were out of control. Rescue workers and government officials spoke of between 10 and 15 people dead, including the pilot of water bomber plane that crashed over the weekend. Meanwhile Greek freighter the Nena J was in danger of being run aground near the coastal town of Gaansbai. The ship containing steel destined for Chile was met by waves of up to 10 metres high.

CANADA: Newfoundland - Two adults and two children were taken to hospital to be checked out , after a giant wave hit Middle Cove beach. It happened around 8:30 last night, as sudden large waves swept up the beach and pulled several people into the water. Rolanda Ryan says several dozen people were enjoying bonfires along the beach when a giant wave came out of nowhere and rolled over them.

AROUND THE WORLD TODAY