The UN’s top health official has opened a forum in Mexico on combating swine flu by saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is now unstoppable.

World Health Organization head Margaret Chan added that the holding of the meeting in Cancun showed confidence in Mexico, which has been hard hit.
The WHO says most H1N1 cases are mild, with many people recovering unaided.

As the summit opened, the UK alone was projecting more than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer.
As the peak of the flu season approaches in South America, some areas have declared a public health emergency.

BBC News

40 a day could die by end of summer in London

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Those of who who’ve just eaten or are generally of a nervous disposition are advised to look away now, because here is some sewer cam footage captured under Raleigh, North Carolina, and which has been horrifying local citizens for the last couple of days.

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While creating a bunch of plastic trees may not sound like a great way to protect the environment that is the proposal being put forward by a Columbia University professor who is working with the U.S. Energy Secretary.

The fake trees provide more than just an aesthetic though and like their real counterparts they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The difference is that these synthetic trees are 1,000 times faster at collecting CO2 than real trees.

Plastic leaves trap the CO2 and compress it, storing it internally in the trunk as a liquid.

Device Pedia

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North Korea may be about to carry out another nuclear test, the British ambassador in Pyongyang has said.

“We cannot rule out that a further nuclear test will take place,” said Peter Hughes, the British ambassador to North Korea. “I have seen no willingness on their part to re-engage in negotiations whatsoever,” he said.

It test-fired short-range missiles on Thursday. Officials and news reports in South Korea said four short-range missiles had been fired.

ITN News

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Employers in the U.S. cut 467,000 jobs in June, the unemployment rate rose and hourly earnings stagnated, offering little evidence the Obama administration’s stimulus package is shoring up the labor market.

The payroll decline was more than forecast and followed a 322,000 drop in May, according to Labor Department figures released today in Washington. The jobless rate jumped to 9.5 percent, the highest since August 1983, from 9.4 percent.

Bloomberg

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