NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Myanmar landslide: The death toll in a landslide that buried more than a dozen houses in southeastern Myanmar has climbed to 56. The landslide struck a village in Paung township on Friday. Zaw Zaw Htoo, a member of parliament from Paung who arrived at the scene over the weekend, said three more bodies were recovered on Monday, raising the death toll. Apart from the landslide in Paung, houses and a school in other townships were washed away, roads were blocked and villages were submerged by monsoon flooding. Nearly 12,000 people were displaced last week alone, bringing the total number of those in evacuation centers to more than 38,000.
_2 Skydiving deaths: Two members of Colombia’s air force plunged to their deaths wrapped in their nation’s flag when a cable hanging from a helicopter snapped while they were performing a midair stunt. The accident happened Sunday during a parade to mark the traditional Medellin Flower Fair. The airmen had been clinging to a metal cable and waving to the crowd below while carrying a giant Colombian flag through the air before they fell. Colombia’s Defense Ministry is investigating.
_3 Nuclear plant: The Japanese utility company operating Fukushima’s tsunamidevastated nuclear power plant says it will run out of space to store contaminated water in three years, adding pressure on the government to reach a consensus on what to do with it. Three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant suffered meltdowns in a 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan. Radioactive water has leaked from the damaged reactors and mixed with groundwater and rainwater at the plant. The water is treated but remains slightly radioactive and is stored in large tanks. Tokyo Electric Power Co. says it plans to build more tanks but storage is limited.
_4 Missing girl: The search continued Monday for a 15yearold London girl who mysteriously vanished from a nature resort in Malaysia eight days ago, as her parents offered a cash reward and appealed for information. The family of Nora Anne Quoirin, who has learning and physical disabilities, discovered her missing from the Dusun ecoresort in southern Negeri Sembilan state on Aug. 4, in a case that has baffled police and turned up no evidence so far. Police believe the teen climbed out through an open window in the living room of the resort cottage, and have listed her as a missing person but do not rule out a possible criminal element. Her parents believe she was abducted.
_5 Ebola outbreak: Health authorities in Congo have halted an Ebola treatment study early with good news: Two of the four experimental drugs seem to be saving lives. More than 1,800 people have died in the African country’s yearlong outbreak. Health workers are trying to control it with vaccinations, but which experimental treatments are best to use when people get sick hasn’t been clear. The study started last November, and last week independent study monitors took a look at how the first few hundred participants had fared. They decided one of the drugs — made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals — clearly worked better and a second, developed by U.S. government scientists, wasn’t far behind. The makers of the two treatments gave assurances that they could make enough doses to treat all patients. The World Health Organization says the findings should encourage more people to seek care rapidly, even as further study continues.