Montreal authorities have declared a state of emergency in the Canadian city due to flooding caused by torrential rains and melting snow.
The state of emergency was declared on May 7 and will remain in place for 48 hours, city officials said.
Across the province of Quebec, nearly 1,900 homes have already been flooded across 126 towns and cities, authorities say.
Some 1,200 troops have reportedly been deployed to help evacuate people.
Image source The Canadian Press
Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said: “Our troops are responding quickly and professionally and are already beginning to deliver critical support to Canadians affected by the flooding.”
The state of emergency was declared in Montreal after three dikes gave way in the city’s north.
The town of Rigaud, west of Montreal, has been particularly hard hit and a state of emergency has also been declared there.
Montreal Mayor Hans Gruenwald Jr. has ordered mandatory evacuations in flood zones.
“People had to be evacuated, and we put them in boats and they are crying like babies,” he said.
“I am sorry, they are at a point where now they are not in a position to decide anymore their own future.”
The flooding is not limited to Quebec, and unusually high rainfall has also caused flooding in the province of Ontario.
Lake Ontario has reached a water level not seen since 1993 in southern Ontario, the Canadian Press news agency says.
Warmer temperatures have also caused snow to melt in British Columbia in Canada’s west, combining with the rain to cause flooding and mudslides.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has declared an “economic, social and ecological emergency” as the first victims of the Mocoa landslide were buried.
The president said the government was also putting 40,000m pesos ($13.9 million) towards “addressing humanitarian priorities”.
However, the hunt still continues for any survivors.
The Red Cross told AFP they were still within the 72-hour window where they would hope to find people alive.
Image source Reuters
However, hopes were fading among residents still desperate to find family members swept away in the torrent of mud, rocks and debris which struck the south-western town of 40,000 early on April 1.
The flood came after a night of extremely heavy rain, which raised the water levels of the Mocoa River and three tributaries, sweeping away entire neighborhoods.
Those who remain are now awaiting the arrival of humanitarian assistance.
According to El Espectador, there was at least 40 tons of emergency humanitarian assistance on its way to the town, including 2,000 food kits and 1,000 tents.
Meanwhile, President Juan Manuel Santos said 7,000 blankets and 6,000 mats had just been delivered, El Pais reported.
On April 2, Colombia’s Farc rebel group offered to help rebuild the town, but their involvement has yet to be approved by the government.
President Juan Manuel Santos has vowed investment will be made to make Mocoa better than it was before, and put Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas in charge of the rebuilding of the town.
However the president’s critics said more should have been done to protect the area from such disasters.
Three people have died and thousands have been rescued after “historic” flooding swamped Louisiana.
The National Guard and emergency teams have used helicopters to rescue people stranded in their homes or cars.
Searches are continuing for missing people, as the rain is expected to continue over the weekend.
The heavy rainfall started on August 12 where some areas received more than 17ins of rain.
Neighboring Alabama and Mississippi are also experiencing severe weather.
Photo Wikipedia
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency on August 12.
On August 13, the governor said: “This is an ongoing event. We’re still in response mode.”
John Bel Edwards and his family were relocated after water flooded their basement.
JR Shelton, the mayor of Central City told The Advocate newspaper: “This is a flood of epic proportions.
“When we talk about floods now, we’ll talk about the great flood of 2016. Everything else pales in comparison.”
Several rivers in Louisiana and Mississippi are overflowing. Gov. John Bel Edwards expects some of the rivers will rise 4ft above previous record levels.
Baton Rouge is one of the worst hit areas where as much as 11.3in of rain was reported. New Orleans has reported 2.34in.
While the worst of the rain appears to have passed, the weather system is expected to move north on August 14, hitting central and northern Louisiana.
Louisiana is prone to bursts of extreme weather; thousands of acres in the state were flooded in 2011 to divert water from the flooded Mississippi River and to spare cities, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans, that lie downstream.
In 2005, New Orleans suffered one of the worst natural disasters in US history, when Hurricane Katrina hit the city. Katrina killed nearly 2,000 people and displaced one million. Thousands of homes were flooded and destroyed in Louisiana and along the Gulf coast.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a state of emergency for three months following the failed army coup in Turkey.
The state of emergency allows the president and cabinet to bypass parliament when drafting new laws and to restrict or suspend rights and freedoms.
Speaking at the presidential palace in Ankara, President Erdogan vowed that “all the viruses within the armed forces will be cleansed”.
Thousands of people have been arrested or sacked since the failed coup.
More than 600 schools have also been closed and thousands of state workers sacked in a crackdown by the president.
Photo Reuters
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after announcing the state of emergency: “This measure is in no way against democracy, the law and freedoms.”
The government will be allowed to rule by decree, with the powers of regional governors increased.
A re-organization of the police, intelligence services and the command structure of the armed forces is also expected.
Critics of President Erdogan have accused him of consolidating power on a scale largely unprecedented since Turkey’s first democratic elections in 1946 and of using the emergency to acquire more power for the presidency.
They say the president normally would need to alter the constitution to create an executive presidency and win back some of the powers he relinquished when his tenure as prime minister ended in 2014.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised those who were killed fighting against the coup as “martyrs”. Some 246 people were killed resisting the attempted coup, according to the government.
He was speaking after holding meetings of Turkey’s national security council and the cabinet in the capital.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier responded to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s speech by urging the Turkish government to maintain both the rule of law and a sense of proportionality in its response to the coup attempt.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed the coup attempt on US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally whose followers run a worldwide network of schools.
He has called for Fethullah Gulen to be extradited to Turkey, but Secretary of State John Kerry said on July 20 that Turkey must provide hard evidence the cleric was behind the coup attempt for any extradition to take place.
Earlier, Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned of further arrests and suspensions to come as Turkish authorities continued to pursue those they believed responsible for the thwarted putsch.
Canadian government has declared state of emergency in the province of Alberta after a wildfire forced all 88,000 residents of Fort McMurray to flee.
According to officials, the fast-moving blaze could destroy much of the city.
The blaze, which broke out on May 1 in the heart on the country’s oil sands region, has gutted 1,600 buildings, including a new school.
The evacuation was largest-ever in Alberta. Oil companies operating in the area have been forced to cut output.
Several companies have shut down some pipelines. This was done to help evacuate non-essential personnel, reports say.
Photo CBC
So far there have been no reports of deaths or injuries in the wildfire, but two women gave birth in one evacuation centre, Reuters reported.
Bernie Schmitte, an official at Alberta’s agriculture ministry, said on May 4 that the “catastrophic fire” had so far “resisted all suppression methods”.
After flying over the burning city, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said the blaze had moved north and east across Fort McMurray.
First Nation communities 30 miles south of Fort McMurray were given mandatory evacuation orders on May 4.
Unseasonably high temperatures and strong winds have combined with dry conditions to leave much of Alberta and neighboring Saskatchewan under an extreme fire risk warning.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said he would send military aircraft to help if they were needed.
Crimea has been left without power after pylons carrying power lines which supply electricity from Ukraine were reportedly blown up on November 21.
According to local reports, all four power lines were cut, leaving the region’s two million inhabitants without electricity.
Images circulated on social media appeared to show Ukrainian flags attached to the damaged pylons.
Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014, but the Ukrainian authorities have continued to supply power to the area.
Crimean authorities said they had managed to partially reconnect the cities of Simferopol, Yalta and Saky using generators.
Photo AFP
Crimea’s Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Sheremet said the peninsula’s hospitals had backup power sources and would not be affected.
The Crimean Emergencies Ministry has declared a state of emergency and put rescue teams on high alert.
“Crimea is completely cut off,” Viktor Plakida, the director of Crimea Energy, told Russia’s Tass news agency.
A local emergency response official told Russia’s Tass news agency that Crimea was “operating in standalone mode”.
Crimea can only produce half the power it needs, Mikhail Sheremet said.
Two of the four main power lines were cut in an earlier attack on November 20, reports said.
Ukrainian authorities said they encountered activists blockading the site when they tried to repair the damaged pylons.
“The nature of the damage shows that it took place as a result of shelling or the use of explosive devices,” Ukraine’s state energy company Ukrenergo said in a statement.
Crimean Tatars, an ethnic group native to the peninsula who oppose Russian rule, held a protest at the site of the broken power lines in Kherson region, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.
Mali has declared a 10-day state of emergency following the attack on Radisson Blu Hotel by suspected Islamist militants in the capital, Bamako, in which gunmen killed 19 people.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has also declared three days of mourning.
Announcing the death toll, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said two militants had also been killed.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliate, al-Murabitoun, said they carried out the attack.
More than 130 hotel guests and staff were freed when Malian Special Forces, French Special Forces and off-duty US servicemen stormed the Radisson Blu hotel on November 20 to break the siege.
Photo Reuters
Among those killed were three Chinese business executives, and China’s President Xi Jinping has called the attack “cruel and savage”, Reuters news agency reports.
An American was also killed, and President Barack Obama said the attack was yet another reminder that the “scourge of terrorism” threatened many nations.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said Mali would “do everything to eradicate terrorism” in the country.
Earlier reports said at least 27 people had died.
A UN official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 12 bodies were found in the basement and 15 on the second floor.
It is not clear how many gunmen too part. Eyewitnesses said up to 13 entered the hotel shooting and shouting “God is greatest!” in Arabic – however the company that runs the hotel, Rezidor Group, said on November 20 that only two attackers were involved.
There is as yet no established link with the attacks in Paris one week ago that killed 130 people last week.
A 30-day state of emergency has been lifted early in the Maldives after “important progress” in an inquiry into a blast on President Abdulla Yameen’s boat.
The state of emergency was declared on November 4 to aid security forces after what the government said was a plot to assassinate Abdulla Yameen.
Abdulla Yameen narrowly escaped injury when a blast struck his boat last month.
US investigators said they had not been able to find any evidence that the blast was an assassination attempt.
Photo Reuters
“We are pleased that this matter has been dealt with so swiftly. We are looking forward to getting the country back on a more normal footing,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Dunya Maumoon.
The state of emergency gave wider powers to police and armed forces to arrest suspects and suspend freedom of assembly and movement. Members of the country’s military patrolled the streets while it was in effect.
It came two days before a planned protest by the country’s main opposition, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
The Maldives, a popular destination for honeymooners and other tourists, has been rocked by political unrest in recent months. VP Ahmed Adeeb was impeached earlier this month, accused of involvement in the alleged boat assassination plot.
Ahmed Adeeb, whose predecessor was also impeached in July, is accused of high treason, a charge he denies.
Chad has declared a state of emergency after Boko Haram attacks in the Lake Chad region.
At least two people were killed in a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomb attack.
Ministers say sweeping powers to control people’s movements are needed because the area, which borders Nigeria, is targeted by Boko Haram.
Chad has been instrumental in helping Nigeria retake most of the areas Boko Haram had seized in northern Nigeria.
In the last few months, the militant group has intensified attacks in remote areas around Lake Chad.
Boko Haram is suspected of involvement in the killing of at least two people in a village in Chad on November 8 and three Nigerian refugees in northern Cameroon on November 9.
The state of emergency will give the governor of the region the authority to ban the movement of people and vehicles, search homes and recover arms, the government announced following an extraordinary cabinet meeting.
Aside from Chad, Boko Haram attacks have spread from north-eastern Nigeria, its traditional stronghold, to the neighboring countries of Niger and Cameroon.
Chad is also host to a new regional force set up to tackle the Nigeria-based militant Islamists.
Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria agreed to establish the 8,700-strong force, but it has yet to start operations in earnest because of reported funding difficulties.
According to Amnesty International, at least 17,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since 2009, when Boko Haram launched its violent uprising to try to impose Islamist rule in northern Nigeria.
Maldives President Abdulla Yameen has declared a 30-day state of emergency ahead of a planned anti-government rally.
The president’s declaration gives security forces sweeping powers to arrest suspects.
The move comes two days before the planned protest by the country’s main opposition, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
MDP leader Mohamed Nasheed was jailed in March after a widely criticized conviction under anti-terror laws.
“President Yameen has declared (a) state of emergency to ensure the safety and security of every citizen,” his spokesman Muaz Ali tweeted.
Attorney-General Mohamed Anil said a cache of firearms and explosives had recently been discovered, as well as plots to use dangerous weapons.
On November 2, authorities said they had defused a bomb planted near the presidential palace.
“The military and police found weapons and an explosive from two locations,” Muaz Anil said.
“Because these would be a threat to the public and the nation, the National Security Council has advised to take immediate steps to protect the people of Maldives,” he added.
The Maldives has been rocked by political infighting in recent weeks, with Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb arrested in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate the president by blowing up his boat.
Abdulla Yameen narrowly escaped injury but his wife was hurt when a blast struck the boat, which he was using to return home from the airport last month.
Ahmed Adeeb has been charged with treason.
The FBI in the US investigated the blast and said it found no evidence that it was caused by a bomb.
The city of Ferguson has declared state of emergency amid protests marking the first anniversary of the death of black teenager Michael Brown.
Ferguson is reported to be tense after another black teenager, Tyrone Harris, was critically wounded in a gun battle with police on August 9.
Tyrone Harris, 18, was later charged with assaulting police officers.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has appealed for protests to remain peaceful.
Michael Brown was shot in August 2014 by white police officer Darren Wilson, who was later cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury and the DoJ.
The 18-year-old’s death triggered a wave of protests over alleged racism and the use of excessive force by police officers.
On August 10, police arrested several protesters who blocked a traffic lane on West Florissant Avenue – the site of previous unrest. Witnesses said some people in the crowd threw water bottles at officers but there were no reports of violence.
Photo Getty Images
Police also arrested about 50 protesters – including civil rights activist Cornel West – who staged a sit-in outside the main courthouse in St Louis.
Other protesters also briefly blocked a major highway – Interstate 70 – during the afternoon rush hour and a number of arrests were made.
The demonstrations were part of a day of civil disobedience called by activists in St Louis and other major US cities.
The state of emergency was issued on Monday afternoon by St Louis County Executive Steve Stenger and authorized county Police Chief Jon Belmar to take control in and around Ferguson.
Sunday’s shooting came after a day of peaceful and somber commemorations in memory of Michael Brown.
According to police, a gunfight erupted between two rival groups in West Florissant Avenue and a suspect, whom they identified as Tyrone Harris, then shot at plain-clothes police who returned fire.
Police Chief Belmar said those who had opened fire on the officers “were criminals, they weren’t protesters”.
However, Tyrone Harris’s father described the police account as “a bunch of lies”, saying his son had been unarmed and was “running for his life”.
“As we have seen over the recent months and years, not only does violence obscure any message of peaceful protest, it places the community, as well as the officers who seek to protect it, in harm’s way,” she said.
There have been a number of high-profile shootings of unarmed black men in US cities in recent months.
The most recent case involved 19-year-old Christian Taylor who was shot dead by a white police officer after he was spotted on surveillance footage vandalizing cars in Arlington, Texas, on August 7.
Governor Jerry Brown has declared state of emergency in southern California after a pipeline leaked tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara.
Officials said the pipeline was running at full-capacity when it broke on May 20.
While it has now been switched off, it is unclear how long the clean up will take.
Earlier estimates said a single slick had formed, stretching only four miles.
Emergency workers have been fanning out across Refugio State Beach to remove oil that is stuck to sand and rocks.
It is estimated about 21,000 gallons of oil have reached the ocean.
California Governor Jerry Brown declared the state of emergency on May 21 to help the state “quickly mobilize all available resources”.
“We will do everything necessary to protect California’s coastline,” Jerry Brown said.
Darren Palmer, an official with Plains All American Pipeline LP, who owns the pipe, said it was running at a rate of about 84,000 gallons an hour when it broke.
The pipe was built in 1991 and had been tested a few weeks ago, he said.
Darren Palmer said the company takes responsibility for the spill and will pay for the cleanup.
Environmentalists are concerned that the oil may harm wildlife including birds and whales.
The alarm was first raised on May 20 when authorities received reports of a foul smell near Refugio State Beach around midday.
Emergency responders found a half-mile slick in the ocean, Santa Barbara County Fire Captain Dave Zaniboni said.
They traced the oil to a ruptured onshore pipeline that was spewing oil into a rain water drain which ran to the ocean. The pipeline was shut off about three hours later.
The area has been closed to recreational and fishing activities. It is not clear if the area will be open for the coming Memorial Day weekend.
Baltimore has declared a state of emergency amid violent protests linked to Freddie Gray’s death.
The African American man was fatally injured in police custody.
A week-long curfew has been announced and as many as 5,000 National Guard troops could be deployed.
After dark, a community building that was under construction was engulfed in flames.
On April 27, dozens of people were seen confronting police, and 15 officers were injured.
Freddie Gray, 25, died on April 19 after a week in a coma. The justice department is investigating exactly where and when his spinal injuries were sustained.
Officials have suspended six police officers who were involved in the case.
Monday’s clashes began hours after Freddie Gray’s funeral.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said it was very clear there was a difference between the “peaceful protests of those who seek justice” and the “thugs who want to incite violence”.
Authorities were “deploying every resource possible to regain control of the situation”, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.
Later, following violence, looting and fires in various spots across the city of more than 620,000 people, she said: “This destruction we’ve seen this evening is heart-breaking.”
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has ordered a week-long curfew from 22:00 to 05:00 starting on April 28. Public schools are to be closed on Tuesday.
National Guard commander Linda Singh said that up to 5,000 troops could be put on the streets.
“We will be out in massive force,” she said, adding that armored vehicles would be used, but Baltimore would not be under martial law.
Extra police officers are also being drafted in from the Mid-Atlantic region.
Earlier, President Barack Obama said his administration would provide whatever assistance was needed.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued an executive order to “protect the lives and property of citizens being impacted by this public emergency”.
Larry Hogan said calling in the National Guard was a “last resort” and that he had “not made this decision lightly”.
Capt. Eric Kowalczyk of Baltimore Police said the 15 injured officers were wounded by thrown objects including bricks and bottles. Two remain in hospital.
Police made at least 27 arrests.
On April 27, fire broke out at a newly constructed community building near a church in eastern Baltimore.
Kevin Harris, a spokesman for the mayor, said the fire was at the Mary Harvin Transformation Centre, described online as a community-based organization that supports young people and families.
Before nightfall, scenes included a blaze at a CVS chemist, stores being looted and police vehicles being burned and vandalized.
Baltimore’s Major League Baseball team the Orioles cancelled Monday night’s game against Chicago’s White Sox as a result of the violence.
Freddie Gray’s death is the latest in a string of high-profile cases where black men have died after contact with the police.
Cyclone Pam had destroyed most buildings in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila, including schools and clinics, said President Baldwin Lonsdale.
A state of emergency has been declared in the tiny Pacific state of 267,000 people, spread over 65 islands.
At least eight people are reported to have been killed.
However, it is feared the toll will rise sharply as rescuers reach outlying islands.
Thousands of people spent a second night in shelters.
Cyclone Pam, with winds of up to 170mph, veered off its expected course and struck populated areas when it reached Vanuatu early on March 14.
The authorities in Vanuatu are struggling to gauge the extent of the damage across the country because communications are down and fallen power lines and trees have blocked roads.
Meanwhile, the first deliveries of aid have arrived on air force planes from New Zealand and Australia.
The UK, France, UN and European Union have also promised help.
A UN disaster assessment team is due to arrive in Vanuatu in the coming hours.
Chloe Morrison, an emergency communications officer with World Vision in Port Vila, said residents had woken to much calmer weather on March 15.
She said it would have been a “very, very tough time” for anyone not in a secure shelter during the cyclone.
Speaking from Japan, President Baldwin Lonsdale made an impassioned plea for international help earlier.
“I am speaking to you today with a heart that is so heavy,” he said at the UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.
“I stand to appeal on behalf of the government and the people to give a helping hand in this disaster.”
The extent of the devastation is unlikely to be known for several days, said Tom Skirrow, Save the Children’s Vanuatu country director.
Unconfirmed reports on March 14 said 44 people had died in Penama province in the north-east of Vanuatu, according to the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination for Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA).
Cyclone Pam had already caused major damage on other Pacific islands, including Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has formally lifted the state of emergency that he had declared in Ferguson last month.
Jay Nixon had declared state of emergency on August 19, following demonstrations against the killing of black teenager Michael Brown by white policeman Darren Wilson.
Michael Brown, 18, was shot dead after being stopped for jaywalking.
Jay Nixon said people were “getting back to their normal routines” and the order was no longer needed.
“This progress is a testament to the efforts of community and faith leaders, working alongside state and local law enforcement officers, to bring peace to the streets of Ferguson and much-needed stability to its citizens,” the governor said in a statement.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has formally lifted the state of emergency that he had declared in Ferguson last month (photo Reuters)
Michael Brown was killed on August 9 after white police officer Darren Wilson stopped him and a friend for walking in the middle of the street.
Eye-witnesses have said Michael Brown raised his hands in a gesture of surrender before he was shot multiple times by Darren Wilson.
Police accounts have disputed this, saying there was a struggle between Michael Brown and Darren Wilson which led to the shooting.
Many local residents saw the crime as an example of white police brutality.
Ferguson’s police force is more than 90% white, while its population is more than 60% black.
Protestors say police officer Darren Wilson, who has been place on administrative leave, has not been adequately punished.
A St Louis County grand jury has begun hearing evidence about the killing and will decide whether or not to charge Darren Wilson with a crime.
The US Justice Department has opened its own investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown.
Last week, the Ferguson police began using body cameras to record interactions with the public.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency in Ferguson, the St Louis suburb where black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by police last week.
Jay Nixon also said a curfew would run from midnight local time until 05:00 AM in Ferguson.
The move comes after a week of violent clashes between heavily armed local police and protesters.
Michael Brown, 18, was shot dead on a street in Ferguson on August 9.
Governor Jay Nixon said that although many protesters were making themselves heard peacefully, he would not allow a handful of looters to endanger the community.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency in Ferguson, the St Louis suburb where black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by police
“We must first have and maintain peace. This is a test. The eyes of the world are watching,” he said.
“We cannot allow the ill will of the few to undermine the good will of the many.”
Jay Nixon also said the Department of Justice was bolstering its investigation of the shooting.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, who is in charge of security in Ferguson, said 40 FBI agents were going door-to-door to gather information about the incident.
Ron Johnson gave a joint press conference with Governor Nixon at a church in Ferguson, where they were repeatedly interrupted by angry locals.
On Friday, police released CCTV footage that it said showed Michael Brown stealing from a convenience store and intimidating its owner.
Michael Brown’s family said they were “beyond outraged” by the video, criticizing what they said was a police attempt to “justify the execution-style murder”.
Police later said that the officer who shot Michael Brown did not know he was a robbery suspect.
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has declared the outbreak of Ebola “a national emergency” and approved more than $11 million to help contain it.
The move comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) said the spread of the virus in West Africa was an international health emergency.
WHO says 961 people have died from Ebola in West Africa this year, two of them in Nigeria.
The total number of cases stands at 1,779, the UN health agency said.
In a statement, President Goodluck Jonathan called on Nigerians to report any suspected Ebola cases to the nearest medical authorities.
Goodluck Jonathan also urged the public not to spread “false information about Ebola which can lead to mass hysteria”.
Nigeria has declared the outbreak of Ebola a national emergency
Nigeria became the fourth West African country involved in the outbreak when a dual US-Liberian citizen infected with Ebola arrived in Lagos after flying from Liberia via Togo on 20 July.
He died five days later and eight people who came into contact with him were also later diagnosed with Ebola. One of them, a nurse, died on Tuesday.
Nigeria’s state oil company said on Friday it had shut down one of its clinics in Lagos following a suspected case.
US health authorities said on Friday they were sending extra personnel and resources to Nigeria.
“We are starting to ramp up our staffing in Lagos,” US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention spokesman Tom Skinner told AFP news agency.
“We are really concerned about Lagos and the potential for spread there, given the fact that Lagos – and Nigeria for that matter – has never seen Ebola.”
International companies are also taking protective measures and the world’s largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, says it has begun evacuating some workers at its iron ore mines in Liberia.
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have already declared national emergencies over the spread of the virus.
WHO said on Friday that 68 new cases and 29 deaths were reported over the course of two days this week.
They included 26 new cases in Sierra Leone and 38 in Liberia, but no new cases in Guinea, where the outbreak began.
The agency said a co-ordinated response was essential to reverse the spread of the virus.
“The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus,” WHO said after a meeting on Friday.
The Ebola virus was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. Experts say this outbreak is unusual because it started in Guinea, which has never before been affected, and is spreading to urban areas.
Two US citizens infected with Ebola while working in West Africa are currently being treated at a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Both have been treated with an experimental drug.
Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has declared a state of emergency over the Ebola outbreak.
Speaking on national television Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said some civil liberties might have to be suspended.
The Ebola outbreak has also hit Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, killing more than 930 people.
World Health Organization (WHO) experts are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss a response to the outbreak.
The two-day meeting will decide whether to declare a global health emergency.
Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has declared a state of emergency over the Ebola outbreak
Ebola, a viral hemorrhagic fever, is one of the deadliest diseases known to humans, with a fatality rate of between 55% and 90%. It is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of Ebola patients showing symptoms.
A WHO statement on Wednesday said 932 patients had died of the disease in West Africa so far, with most of the latest fatalities reported in Liberia, where at least 282 have died of the virus,
Announcing a state of emergency for 90 days, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said in a statement that the government and people of Liberia required “extraordinary measures for the very survival of our state and for the protection of the lives of our people”.
She said that “ignorance and poverty, as well as entrenched religious and cultural practices, continue to exacerbate the spread of the disease”.
Observers say the Ebola crisis in Liberia has got worse because many people are keeping sick relatives at home instead of taking them to isolation centers.
In a surprise move, the WHO said on Wednesday it would convene a meeting of medical ethics specialists next week to decide whether to approve experimental treatment for Ebola.
Some leading infectious disease experts have been calling for experimental treatments to be offered more widely to treat the disease.
The aim of the WHO’s emergency committee meeting is to focus solely on how to respond to the Ebola outbreak.
If a public health emergency is declared, it could involve detailed plans to identify, isolate and treat cases, as well as impose travel restrictions on affected areas.
Egypt’s government has decided to lift the state of emergency and the night-time curfew.
The move came two days earlier than expected, after a court ruling.
The state of emergency and the night-time curfew were introduced on August 14 after security forces forcibly ended sit-ins in support of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.
The measures had been due to last a month, but the government extended them for two more months on September 12.
The state of emergency and the curfew were lifted with effect from 16:00 local time.
Egypt’s government has decided to lift the state of emergency and the night-time curfew
This followed the ruling by the administrative court that said the decree extending the measures should only be effective for two calendar months.
The army-backed government said it would abide by the verdict.
The state of emergency and the 01:00-05:00 curfew had allowed the authorities to make arrests without warrants and search people’s homes.
Many people had also blamed the curfew for a fall in business in Cairo – at a time when the government was trying to create jobs and revive the economy.
The measures were introduced after hundreds of people died following the clearing of the pro-Morsi camps in the capital.
Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president, was ousted by the army in July following widespread demonstrations against his rule.
Egyptians lived under a state of emergency – which gives extra powers to the security services – for more than three decades, until President Hosni Mubarak was forced from power amid mass protests in 2011.
Peru’s government has decided to extend to nine more regions a state of emergency called to cope with unusually cold weather and heavy snowfall.
Until now, at least two people have died and 33,000 others have been affected by the cold spell, local officials say.
Tens of thousands of animals have frozen to death over the past week.
Tens of thousands of animals have frozen to death in Peru over the past week
President Ollanta Humala has travelled to Apurimac, one of the worst-hit areas, to oversee the distribution of emergency aid.
The state of emergency would be in place for 20 days, an official statement said.
The heaviest snow fall to hit Peru in a decade has killed tens of thousands of llamas, alpacas, cattle and sheep, and left farmers destitute.
A man died when the roof of his hut caved in under the weight of the snow in southern Carabaya province but the circumstances of the second death were unclear.
Three people were rescued on Saturday from the same region after their home was cut off by snow.
Rescue workers said the three, two girls and an elderly woman, were suffering from frostbite and snow blindness.
The cold front has also hit Peru’s south-eastern neighbor, Bolivia, and Paraguay, where a combined total of five people have died.
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in three states after a spate of deadly attacks by Islamist militant groups.
In a televised address, the president said he had given the military powers to take over security in the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
Goodluck Jonathan also ordered more troops to be sent to the north-eastern states.
Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for most of the violence, killing some 2,000 people since 2010.
Nigeria is also affected by a spate of conflicts over land, religion and oil.
In the latest violence, 53 people were killed and 13 villages burnt in central Nigeria’s Benue state on Tuesday.
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in three states after a spate of deadly attacks by Islamist militant groups
The conflict, which started last week, is said to have been caused by a long-running dispute over land ownership between cattle herders and farmers.
In a pre-recorded address broadcast on Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan said: “What we are facing is not just militancy or criminality, but a rebellion and insurgency by terrorist groups which pose a very serious threat to national unity and territorial integrity.”
Referring to recent attacks by “insurgents and terrorists” on government buildings and killings of officials and other civilians, the president said that “these actions amount to a declaration of war”.
“We will hunt them down, we will fish them out, and we will bring them to justice,” he said.
At the same time, Goodluck Jonathan stressed that – despite the state of emergency – politicians in the three states would remain in their posts.
Goodluck Jonathan also admitted that the government was not in control of the whole country.
This is not the first time President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency, but this is a clear admission that far from being weakened by the army offensive, the threat of the Islamist militants is growing.
Last week, Goodluck Jonathan had to cut short a trip to South Africa to deal with the growing violence.
Burma has imposed a state of emergency in Meiktila following three days of communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims.
A statement announcing the decision on behalf of President Thein Sein was broadcast on state television.
Thein Sein said that the move would enable the military to help restore order in the riot-hit town, south of Mandalay.
At least 20 people are reported to have been killed since the violence began, but exact figures are unclear.
Meiktila MP Win Thein said scores of mostly Buddhist people accused of being involved in the violence had been arrested by police.
He said that he saw the bodies of eight people who had been killed in violence in the town on Friday morning.
Burma has imposed a state of emergency in Meiktila following three days of communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims
The disturbances began on Wednesday when an argument in a gold shop escalated quickly, with mobs setting mainly Muslim buildings alight, including some mosques.
Fighting in the streets between men from rival communities later broke out.
Meanwhile people in Meiktila said they are affected by food shortages because the main market in the town has been closed for the last five days.
A severe winter storm that whipped up tornadoes in the southern US has brought heavy snow to the Midwest and threatens disruption in the east.
At least six people have been killed and authorities have told people to stay at home rather than brave freezing temperatures and treacherous roads.
A state of emergency has been declared in Mississippi and Alabama after the storm downed power lines.
Hundreds of flights have been grounded by snow and blizzards.
More delays are expected as the storm moves towards New York state and Maine, where as much as 18 inches (46 cm) of snow is expected in the next 24 hours.
The National Weather Service has warned of near-zero visibility in Buffalo, New York, where heavy snowfall is predicted to combine with high winds.
Weather warnings are in place from Florida and the Gulf Coast all the way up to New England.
A severe winter storm that whipped up tornadoes in the southern US has brought heavy snow to the Midwest and threatens disruption in the east
Little Rock, Arkansas, saw its first snow on Christmas Day in 83 years, while in neighboring Oklahoma seven inches of snow was blamed for a 21-vehicle pile-up on an interstate highway outside Oklahoma City.
Thirty-four tornadoes were reported in the southern states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Tuesday. A large section of a church roof in Mobile, Alabama, was ripped off by a twister.
Falling trees claimed the lives of two people in Texas and Louisiana. Deaths were also reported on the roads in Oklahoma and Arkansas.
More than 200,000 people are said to be without power.
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