Big Drugs Haul
The British Royal Navy says it caught a gang of drug smugglers with cocaine worth $26.9 million in the Caribbean.
In a statement, the Navy said the operation began when a US maritime patrol plane spotted the suspicious-looking fishing vessel in daylight in the Colombian Basin, an area of the Caribbean between Colombia and Panama.
The aircraft alerted British vessel, HMS Manchester, which at the time was 80 miles to the west.
The Navy managed to intercept a total of 240kg (530lb) of cocaine which the traffickers were hurriedly attempting to jettison.
A spokesman said: “It has been a cracking day for HMS Manchester, and a cracking day for the continued campaign against narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean.”
Paula weakens to
tropical depression
Cuba is cleaning up after the passage of Tropical Storm Paula. The storm has weakened to a tropical depression after lashing the island with driving rain and high winds.
There were no immediate reports of deaths, injuries or serious damage. But many areas of tobacco-growing Pinar del Rio and much of the capital Havana awoke without power yesterday after the storm knocked out electricity.
The storm also toppled trees and power lines and flooded streets. Work crews cleaned up the streets of Havana, which were littered with tree debris.
UN mandate extended
The United Nations Security Council has extended the UN peacekeeping mission in earthquake-hit Haiti for a year.
But before doing so, the council expressed concern at increasing insecurity in the country and called for “credible and legitimate” elections next month.
The council said it “strongly condemns the grave violations against children affected by armed violence, as well as widespread rape and other sexual abuse of women and girls.”
The resolution said the UN force in Haiti should “assist the government in these problems.
The Security Council said that the government in Port au Prince must also redouble efforts to make sure the November elections are free and fair. The council extended the peacekeeping force’s mandate until 15 October, 2011.
Focus on tropical diseases
The World Health Organisation has issued its first report on 17 “neglected” tropical diseases such as dengue fever, rabies and leprosy – that affect mainly poor people.
On dengue, the UN health body said the mosquito-transmitted virus already endemic in the Caribbean, was rapidly spreading worldwide. The news wasn’t all bleak. WHO director-general Margaret Chan said some progress had been made in tackling some diseases, such as guinea worm disease.
The WHO said it can substantially reduce the prevalence of the diseases with the help of drug donations from the pharmaceutical industry.
