At least two Mozambicans have died and 13 been injured as an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 shook southern Africa. The quake struck central Mozambique at midnight local time and was also felt in several neighbouring countries including Zimbabwe and South Africa. It is the most powerful earthquake in the area for more than a century. The two dead were a child and a sick person in the town of Espungabero in Manica province near the epicentre. Cities escaped serious damage. Traditional houses collapsed in Espungabero says the BBC's Jose Tembe. Further south in the capital, Maputo, one resident living on the 24th floor of a block of flats said he woke to find his building swaying. There are no reports of buildings damaged in Maputo, but 15 people in the city were injured, most of them while trying to get out of buildings in panic. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk censor News |
Editor - 11:27:00 02-23-06 |
Suspected bird flu on French farm |
France has found a suspected case of the deadly bird flu virus H5N1 on a poultry farm, the farm ministry says. If confirmed, it would be the first time a farm bird has been infected in France, where two wild ducks have tested positive in the south-east. Officials in Germany say further tests carried out on a domestic duck thought to be infected with the H5N1 strain have shown it does not have the virus. Meanwhile, Slovakia has found its first H5N1 cases in a wild falcon and grebe. Samples from the two Slovakian birds will now be sent to the European Union laboratory in the UK for further analysis. In other developments:In western India, tests on samples collected from 94 people suspected of being infected with the virus prove negative ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4742536.stm
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Editor - 11:16:00 02-23-06 |
Daughter: 'I felt like a prisoner' Grown kids testify against parents who caged adoptees |
Two adult children of the couple accused of forcing some of their 11 special-needs children to sleep in cages testified against them in the couple's court fight to regain custody of the adopted youngsters.Jenna and Jesse Gravelle testified Wednesday as witnesses for prosecutors trying to persuade a juvenile court judge to place their adopted siblings in the county's permanent care.Earlier, their father and stepmother, Michael and Sharen Gravelle, pleaded not guilty in a separate hearing to child endangerment and other crimes. Their trial was set for September 12.Jenna Gravelle, 31, said her father and stepmother provided little food for her and her brothers and that the couple charged the teens money to live in their home.... http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/23/caged.kids.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us
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Editor - 11:12:00 02-23-06 |
S.D. Closer to Strict Abortion Limits |
South Dakota moved closer to imposing some of the strictest limits on abortion in the nation as the state Senate approved legislation that would ban the procedure except when the woman's life is in danger. The bill, designed to spark a courtroom showdown over the legality of abortion, passed 23-12 Wednesday. On Thursday, it was headed back to the House, where lawmakers already approved similar legislation. Republican Gov. Mike Rounds, a longtime abortion opponent, has said he would "look favorably" on an abortion ban if it would "save life." Under the measure, doctors in South Dakota would face up to five years in prison for performing an abortion. The only exception would be for women who need abortions to save their lives. ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1652944&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
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Editor - 11:10:00 02-23-06 |
'Animal link' in US anthrax case |
A New York-based dancer has contracted respiratory anthrax, apparently after inhaling spores from raw animal hides used on drums. Vado Diamande is in hospital in a stable condition after collapsing during a performance in the state of Pennsylvania last week. Diomande, 44, is said to be a skilled drum tuner, and had recently travelled to Africa to collect skins. Local officials ruled out terrorism and denied any public health threat. "There is no chance of transmission occurring," Pennsylvania Health Department spokesman Troy Thompson told students at Mansfield University, where the performance took place. Five people died when several anthrax-laced letters were sent to US public figures in 2001, weeks after the 11 September attacks. The case remains unsolved. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4743606.stm
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Editor - 11:07:00 02-23-06 |
China warns Hong Kong cardinal |
China has warned Hong Kong's newly-appointed cardinal, Joseph Zen, not to get involved in politics. "We advocate that religious figures should not interfere with politics," said government spokesman Liu Jianchao. Bishop Zen, a well-known critic of China's suppression of religious and political freedoms, said he would stick to his outspoken style. "I am over 70, there are things that will be hard to change," he told reporters in Hong Kong. The cardinal-designate also said he hoped to help establish official ties between the Vatican and Beijing. China only allows its Catholics to worship in state-sanctioned churches, and bans all contact with the Vatican. But it has allowed Hong Kong's 300,000 Catholics to continue to practise their faith freely, in accordance with the high degree of autonomy promised under the territory's mini-constitution when it reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Bishop Zen was nominated a cardinal on Wed, by Pope Benedict XVI, and ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4742834.stm
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Editor - 10:59:00 02-23-06 |
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