Health & Science

• Thursday, February 28th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Light plane crashes in Santiago killing eleven

  

  A small instruction plane belonging to Chile's Carabineros (uniformed police) crashed Wednesday morning into a recreational complex in the capital Santiago's Peñaloén borough. The accident left at least 11 people dead and a number of others injured.

• Thursday, February 28th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Wildfires in Patagonia threaten centuries old trees

  

  Wildfires raging at a national park in Argentina's Patagonia region since last Sunday are threatening to destroy trees up to thousands of years old and the government has called for residents in the area to evacuate homes and farms.

• Wednesday, February 27th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Quake shakes Britain, second largest since 1984

  

  An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale shook England early on Wednesday morning.

• Tuesday, February 26th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Anti yellow fever vaccination campaign reaches Buenos Aires

  Buenos Aires health centres have begun to vaccinate against yellow fever in support of a national campaign to prevent the spread of the viral mosquito transmitted disease following serious outbreaks in Brazil and Paraguay, both neighboring countries with Argentina reported Buenos Aires City authorities.

• Friday, February 22nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentina and Bolivia tighten yellow fever controls

  Argentina and Bolivia have taken further steps to prevent the spread of the mosquito transmitted yellow fever outbreak in neighboring Paraguay which so far has caused at least seven confirmed deaths, another 39 almost certain cases and an overall atmosphere of panic in the country with people in urban areas desperate to be vaccinated.

• Friday, February 22nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Plane with 46 on board crashes in Venezuela

  A commercial airliner with 46 people aboard disappeared in southwestern Venezuela on Thursday, and authorities feared it had crashed after residents reported hearing a thunderous noise in the mountains.

• Thursday, February 21st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Paraguay: near panic as yellow fever deaths confirmed

  

  A state of panic has taken over the inhabitants of Asunción, capital of Paraguay with thousands queuing for vaccines following the confirmation of seven fatal cases of jungle yellow fever and four more clinically compatible but still undetermined.

• Wednesday, February 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Climate change promotes shift to “green economies”

  

  More and more companies are embracing environmentally-friendly policies and investors are pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into cleaner and renewable energies, according to a new publication released Wednesday by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP.

• Monday, February 18th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Undercover video forces massive recall of beef in California

  

  The United States Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of approximately 64.000 tons of beef from a Southern California slaughterhouse that is the subject of an animal-abuse investigation.

• Monday, February 18th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  First fatal victim of yellow fever in urban Paraguay

  

  A 17 year old allegedly is the first fatal victim of a yellow fever outbreak in Paraguay, a disease which reappeared after 34 years, according to the country's sanitary authorities. However controversy has emerged following a press report saying that the death toll caused by the mosquito transmitted disease is seven.