Category:April 20, 2006

Hello and welcome to Audio Wikinews Newsbriefs, at 0900 UTC, April 19, 2006.

New Zealand, Australia fly in extra personnel to help quell Solomon Island riots

The New Zealand and Australian Governments are to send reinforcements to the Solomon Islands following an written request for help from the Solomon Islands government. A contingent of 110 Australian soldiers and 80 Australian federal police officers left for the islands today. Thirty New Zealand Police and twenty five New Zealand Army personnel will leave on a Royal New Zealand Air Force plane on Thursday morning. The violence began yesterday when protestors took to the streets of the capital Honiara, protesting the election by parliament of Snyder Rini as the new Prime Minister. The streets of the capital witnessed arson and widespread looting.

Sudan reports first bird flu case

In Sudan, one farmer and about 100,000 chickens were diagnosed with the first appearance of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. The samples will be sent abroad to the World Health Organization for further testing. Most of the infected poultry has already been disposed of. H5N1, which has spread throughout Europe, northern Africa (including neighboring Egypt), central Asia, and the Middle East, has already killed about 100 people. There is no word yet on the man's identity or condition.

Greenpeace report says Chernobyl death toll has been underestimated

A report published by Greenpeace questions an estimate made by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that 4000 deaths have resulted from the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Greenpeace claims that this estimate is 'a gross simplification of the breadth of human suffering' and that over the last 15 years, 60,000 have died in Russia because of the accident, and estimates that the total death toll for Ukraine and Belarus could be another 140,000. The IAEA has not yet responded to the report.

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