Quoted: About four million birds have been culled in Saudi Arabia since 12 November, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. A Saudi Health Ministry official confirmed ...

Quoted: Pre-emptive evacuations. Provincial governors in coordinated with local officials activated local disaster coordinating councils to conduct “pre-emptive evacuation” of residents in threatened areas, particularly in ...

"There is a fear that La Niña could have a delayed impact on the rainy season, which starts in March 2008; the worst may be yet to come. National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of the region will be providing regular updates as the phenomenon develops," Apuuli said.

La Niña is characterised by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, recorded every three to four years, which cause a ripple effect felt across the globe, making wet regions wetter and dry ones drier.

El Niño is characterised by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. The system oscillates between warm El Niño and neutral or cold La Niña conditions every three to four years on average.

Pete, I think you will find this interesting...although the future strategy is debatable!

Over 70 percent of Yemen’s 21 million inhabitants still live in rural areas, but rapid urbanisation is fast emerging as a considerable challenge for this largely desert nation - one of the driest, poorest and least developed countries in the world.

Quoted: Sanaa today extends well beyond the ancient clay walls. In 1975, the city’s population was 135,000. Today it is over two million and, according to government estimates, growing at a rate of 7 to 8 percent a year. At around 3.5 percent, Yemen’s population growth rate is one of the highest in the world today.

“Now it is only the government who can prevent further displacement and inter-ethnic tensions between people of the hills and the Terai,” said Pradeep Jha, protection officer from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Quoted: “The situation is very serious. The new displacement is not being publicised and could have serious humanitarian consequences,” Vincent Omuga, humanitarian affairs officer with the ...

The US Geological Survey, which has been monitoring the tremors, said the information available was "not sufficient to determine if the current activity reflects a geologic process that might lead to a change in the eruptive behavior of Ol Doinyo Lengai". The last major eruption of the volcano was in 1966

Quoted: Full-screenOl Doinyo Lengai, Tanzania: Last erupted in 1966Imagery ©2007 DigitalGlobe, Map data ©2007 Europa Technologies - Terms of UseMapSatHyb The US Geological Survey, which has ...