Searing heat broiling most of the United States and melting summer temperature records in Europe has exposed a subtle but significant divide in how American and British meteorological agencies discuss global warming. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has refrained from issuing official public statements linking high temperatures to climate change, despite numerous studies that [...]

“The H5N1 bird flu virus has been found on a poultry farm in Laos, the country’s first major outbreak since 2004, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday. The outbreak occurred on a commercial farm 25 km (15 miles) south of Vientiane where about 2,500 chickens died last week, according to state [...]

“UK drugs firm GlaxoSmithKline believes it has developed a vaccine for the H5N1 deadly strain of avian flu that may be capable of being mass produced by 2007. The vaccine has proved effective at two doses of 3.8 micrograms during clinical trials in Belgium, BBC business editor Robert Peston has learned. It is the size [...]

Over 120 people are feared dead after a 2 meter high tsunami struck the south coast of Indonesia.  The tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck off the town of Pangandaran at 0819 GMT. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii had issued tsunami warnings for parts of Indonesia and Australia.  Surges [...]