ARGENTINA
Flooding kills at least 52
At least 52 people drowned in their homes and cars, were electrocuted or died in other accidents as flooding from days of torrential rains swamped Argentina’s low-lying capital and province of Buenos Aires. At least 46 died Wednesday in and around the city of La Plata, Gov. Daniel Scioli said. Six deaths were reported a day earlier in the nation’s capital. Many people climbed onto their roofs in the pouring rain after storm sewers backed up. Water surged up through drains in their kitchen and bathroom floors, and then poured in over their windowsills.
CHINA
Mutated bird flu a worry
In a worrisome sign, a bird flu in China appears to have mutated so that it can spread to other animals, raising the potential for a bigger threat to people, scientists said Wednesday. So far the flu has sickened nine people in China and killed three. It’s not clear how they became infected, and there’s no evidence that the virus is spreading easily among people. But the virus can evidently move through poultry without making them sick, experts said, making it difficult to track the germ in flocks. The findings are preliminary and need further testing.
UNITED KINGDOM
Police extend hate crime to Goths
If you punch a punk in Manchester, it could be a hate crime. Police in the English city announced Wednesday that they will begin recording offenses against members of alternative subcultures in the same way they do attacks based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity. The Greater Manchester force says “Goths, emos, punks and metallers” and members of other alternative groups often endure abuse. Manchester police said the change would enable officers to give more support to the victims of anti-punk or anti-Goth crime.
BRAZIL
Fight likely cause of bus plunge
A police officer investigating a deadly crash in which a bus plunged from a 30-foot-high viaduct onto one of Rio de Janeiro’s busiest thoroughfares said Wednesday he plans to indict the driver and a passenger who allegedly fought just before the accident. José Pedro da Costa Silva said he plans to indict both on involuntary homicide charges in the deaths of seven people in Tuesday’s crash. Eleven people were injured in the accident. A survivor said a passenger became enraged when the bus driver, after skipping several stops, didn’t leave the doors open long enough for him to get off.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Coup thwarts search for Kony
Uganda’s military has suspended its hunt for the notorious warlord Joseph Kony after rebels toppled the president of the Central African Republic, where Kony is believed to be hiding with his Lord’s Resistance Army. Ugandan military spokesman Felix Kulayigye told journalists Wednesday that the ouster of President Francois Bozize by the Seleka rebel alliance had forced a halt to the Kony hunt. “The Seleka rebels have not been cooperating with us since they took over power. We have been forced to suspend operations until further notice,” Kulayigye said.
VENEZUELA
Opposition: Military can’t take sides
Venezuela’s presidential campaign Wednesday veered between warnings of military meddling in the April 14 vote and opposition mirth at the acting president’s suggestion that the spirit of Hugo Chavez visited him as “a little bird” while he prayed. Opposition lawmaker Alfonso Marquina presented a complaint to Venezuela’s elections council, demanding it sanction officers who have publicly backed Nicolas Maduro, who has been acting president since President Hugo Chavez’s death. Marquina has alleged that Defense Minister Diego Molero and National Guard Gen. Antonio Benavides plan to use military resources to intimidate voters.
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