Deadly horse virus spreads in Australia
An Australian veterinary surgery was placed under lockdown on Saturday following two fresh outbreaks of the Hendra virus that can be fatal if contracted by humans.Two horses were put down after showing signs of the bat-borne virus in separate cases in Brisbane and in Hervey Bay, 300 kilometres (186 miles) north of the city, which is home to two million people.Hendra is carried by fruit bats (flying foxes) and spread to horses through half-chewed fruit or water and food contaminated by their urine and droppings.Tests were yet to confirm the Brisbane case but chief Queensland vet Rick Symons said it was "likely that it does have the Hendra virus.Ten horses have now died in a month-long epidemic -- the biggest since Hendra was discovered in 1994 -- which has swept from the country's far north to within 500 kilometres of Sydney.No humans have yet been infected but at least 59 people have been exposed to the virus. Four of the seven people to ever contract Hendra have died.Symons said the scale of the outbreak was unusual, with a five-fold increase in the number of samples sent for testing from suspected cases.It could be because of a heightened awareness of Hendra virusThere is clearly a heightened awareness among vets and horse owners about the possibility of Hendra virus infection when a horse becomes sick.The vets' surgery in Hervey Bay was sealed off after tests confirmed it was Hendra.The other case, in the Brisbane suburb of Boondall, is 10 kilomtres from the city's thoroughbred racing precinct and follows a scare at Sydney's Randwick Racecourse earlier this week.Parts of Randwick have been sealed off to keep horses clear from trees frequented by fruit bats and more than 100 racetracks across the country are being inspected for infection risks.Racing Queensland spokesman Jamie Orchard said officials were on alert and urging trainers to take precautions such as covering feed and water and keeping horses indoors at dawn and dusk -- peak feeding times for the bats.But Orchard stressed that racehorses were at relatively low risk of contracting Hendra because they were kept and fed indoors.The risk of a racehorse that is currently training or going to the races contracting Henda is very slim
'Kidnapped' sisters killed by father
Two minor girls allegedly kidnapped from Pipaltari VDC-9 of Parbat district on the night of July 31 were actually murdered by their own father, Krishna Tiwari. Police have established the crime and the motive.A team of the Kathmandu-based Crime Investigation Department of Nepal Police discovered that he pushed his daughters—Namuna, 8, and Nabina, 6—into Modikhola River. The District Police Office, Zonal Police Office and Regional Police Office could not solve the case, and sleuths from the Capital led by SP Sher Bahadur Basnet were roped in. On Friday at a press conference, police showed a video of Krishna admitting to his crime. He said poverty led him to kill them. “I took them to the bridge over Modikhola at 10:15 pm and pushed them off,” he confessed. After the crime, he called his brother Sheshkant at 1 am that very night and said his daughters had been kidnapped. The next morning, Krishna filed a report saying five armed men broke into his house at night demanding Rs 150,000. When he failed to pay up, they took away his daughters. Krishna’s wife Radhika is a migrant worker in Israel for the last four years.source:the kathmandu post
Four injured in ambulance accident
Four people were injured when an ambulance heading to pick up a patient met with an accident at Nepaltar Bazaar in Udayapur district on Saturday morning.
Among the four injured, two—Nirmal Dahal and driver Hari Narayan Yadav—are in critical condition. Dahal’s left leg has been broken and Yadav has sustained deep head injuries, said DSP of District Police Office Narendra Upreti. Dahal has been referred to Kathmandu. Yadav is undergoing treatment at Lahan Nursing Home.
The ill-fated ambulance slid off while ascending and fell 10 meters down the road, police said.
UN sees world security at threat from climate change
Climate change is generating an "unholy brew" of extreme weather events that threaten global security, the UN chief said as the Security Council recognized the issue's potential effect on world peace."Extreme weather events continue to grow more frequent and intense in rich and poor countries alike, not only devastating lives, but also infrastructure, institutions, and budgets -- an unholy brew which can create dangerous security vacuums," Ban told a Security Council debate on the issue.Climate change, he said, "not only exacerbates threats to international peace and security; it is a threat to international peace and security."The Security Council issued a presidential statement in which it "expresses concern that possible adverse effects of climate change may, in the long run, aggravate certain existing threats to international peace and security."There are myriad threats already and their numbers will rise, he said, noting droughts like the one currently afflicting Somalia, floods such as the ones that hit Pakistan, and their implications on the food markets."The scale of the natural disasters will increase exponentially," he added.Two regions of Southern Somalia, hit by a devastating drought, were declared in a state of famine Wednesday by the United Nations, which called it the worst food crisis in Africa in 20 years.The next climate conference will take place in Durban in December.NRB report reveals challenges to good corporate governance
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has said businessmen operating banks posed challenges to ensuring sound corporate governance as they were also the largest borrowers. “Almost half of the directors are from the business sector,” stated the latest supervision report of NRB. “As they are the largest users of funds of commercial banks, it poses challenges to ensuring sound corporate governance in the banking sector.”The central bank said that a situation characterized by a limited number of good borrowers and rising competition had given rise to cut-throat competition. The report has also termed the rapid growth of the banking sector a major challenge as it also increased the risk exposure of commercial banks. “Uneven geographical distribution of banks has further increased the level of competition in urban areas,” it stated. The central bank has currently stopped issuing new licenses and taken stringent measures against upgrading by barring C class financial institutions from upgrading directly to A class. It said that a number of banks were facing the problem of repeated liquidity shortfall and that the asset quality of some banks seemed to be declining due to their exposure to real estate and sharesNews digest
Policewoman’s room burgled:Jewellery worth Rs 42,000 was stolen from the rented room of policewoman Muna Karki posted at the Metropolitan Police Range, Kamalpokhari, while she was on duty. In another incident, Rs 59,000 and a mobile phone set worth Rs 40,000 were stolen from a hotel room in Chhetrapati on Tuesday evening. The room was occupied by a Chinese citizen. Police said the thief entered the room through the bathroom ventilator. Further investigation into the cases is on, police said.