Pestilence

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's government ordered today that all kindergartens and primary schools be closed for two weeks amid a flu outbreak, shutting down classes for more than a half million students.

War

BAGHDAD -- Three American soldiers were killed in a rocket attack today in southern Iraq, the U.S. military said.

Homosexuality

NEW YORK - The first openly gay Episcopal bishop announced he will have no official role in a meeting this summer of world Anglican leaders, saying restrictions that organizers wanted to place on his involvement had caused him "considerable pain. New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson had been told last year that he could not fully participate in the once-a-decade gathering in England, called the Lambeth Conference, as the world Anglican Communion sat on the brink of schism over his 2003 election.

Drought in Israel

The past winter's meager rainfalls and sharp rise in domestic water consumption have brought Israel to the most acute water crisis in the past decade. The country's main water sources are expected to drop below the safe minimum levels by the end of the summer, which threatens the water quality. The Water Authority will have to take conservation measures while drilling for water in an effort to increase the supply.

The Water Authority's operating committee is to meet next week to discuss the crisis. The Water Authority's Hydraulic Service predicts that the levels of Lake Kinneret, the western Mountain Aquifer (Yarkon-Taninim) and Coast Aquifer will plunge below the safe minimum by the end of the year. The Kinneret's surface is expected to drop to 214.2 meters below sea level, more than a meter below the safe minimum.

Pestilence

CHICAGO - At least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, or more than 3 million teens, according to the first study of its kind in this age group.

Violence

BAGHDAD (AP) Violence killed at least 42 people Tuesday, including 16 bus passengers caught in a roadside bombing in southern Iraq, after the deadliest day for U.S. troops in precisely six months.

Gog and Magog/B>

MOSCOW (AP) Russia's envoy to NATO today warned against putting Georgia on track to join the alliance, saying that would deepen the divides within that former Soviet republic and bolster two separatist regions' bids for international recognition.

War

Three other troops and an Iraqi interpreter were also injured in the blast, an army statement said.

The attack is one of the deadliest against US forces in the Iraqi capital since last summer's US troop surge.It came hours after a leader of a Sunni tribal alliance fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq was killed in a suicide bomb attack at his home in northern Iraq.

Gog and Magog

Russia announced last week it was lifting trade restrictions on Abkhazia which then called for recognition of its self-declared independence.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said there was a "growing pre-occupation and anxiety" that Moscow was planning recognition.

Pestilence

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Only a month after authorities declared bird flu was under control in eastern India, veterinary workers began culling thousands of chickens on Monday to contain a fresh outbreak in poultry.

The outbreak was reported from West Bengal's Murshidabad district where 900 chickens and ducks died over the last two weeks, officials said.

Perilous Times

A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.

To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.

Israel in Last Days

The al-Aqsa mosque was never the site of a Jewish temple, Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, said Monday during a press conference he convened in Jerusalem to respond to voices calling for the expulsion of Israeli residents of the city who participate in terror activities against Israel.

"Those calling for the expulsion of Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem are hysterical and stupid and belong in the trash can," Salah said at the conference.

Mystery Babylon

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of "new" sins such as causing environmental blight.

The guidance came at the weekend when Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the Vatican's number two man in the sometimes murky area of sins and penance, spoke of modern evils.

Strange and Fearful

A beautiful pinwheel in space might one day blast Earth with death rays, scientists now report. Unlike the moon-sized Death Star from Star Wars, which has to get close to a planet to blast it, this blazing spiral has the potential to burn worlds from thousands of light-years away.

"I used to appreciate this spiral just for its beautiful form, but now I can't help a twinge of feeling that it is uncannily like looking down a rifle barrel," said researcher Peter Tuthill, an astronomer at the University of Sydney.

Weather Woes

Forecasters have warned the public to stay indoors tonight as Britain braces itself for the worst storm of the winter.

Winds of up to 80mph, heavy rain and hailstones are forecast to hit the country from midnight. The storm is expected to disrupt transport networks and power supplies, with airports and ferry companies warning of possible delays and cancellations.

Innocent Blood

The number of late abortions in Britain has reached a record level, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

Almost 3,000 were carried out on women who were at least 20 weeks pregnant, according to the latest annual figures in England and Wales, representing a 44 per cent increase in less than a decade.