Fresh floods threaten 2,000 people in Croatia
ZAGREB, Croatia – Croatian authorities say about 2,000 people need to be evacuated from fresh floods that have hit the Balkans.
Heavy rainfall caused rivers to overflow Saturday in Croatia, flooding houses and roads in the same areas of the Balkans that were devastated in May by the worst floods in 120 years.
Authorities say 2,000 people are threatened by surging river waters in the region of the central Croatian town of Karlovac, where hundreds of people have moved to upper floors of their flooded homes.
Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, who toured the area Saturday, says “the whole of Croatia is in danger.”
More than 50 people died in the floods in May in Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia.
Dozens rescued from Philippine ferry
MANILA, Philippines – Rescuers saved at least 34 of the 84 people on board an inter-island ferry that is believed to have sunk late Saturday after encountering engine problems in bad weather in the central Philippines, officials said.
The skipper of the M/V Maharlika II ordered its 58 passengers and his 25 crewmen to abandon the ferry after it began to list in choppy waters and strong winds midway through its trip off Southern Leyte province, Office of Civil Defense director Blanche Gobenciong and coast guard personnel said.
A ship deployed by the company that owned the Maharlika rescued 34 people, and two passing foreign vessels, including a fuel tanker, saved a still-unknown number of passengers and crew, according to Philippine coast guard officer Noel Torralba in the central city of Surigao, where the survivors were being taken.
Scots nationalists tell opponents: No grudges
GLASGOW, Scotland – Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has sought to calm fears that there would be repercussions against opponents of independence if the Yes campaign wins the upcoming referendum.
He spoke Saturday after former Scottish National Party deputy leader Jim Sillars told supporters there would be “a day of reckoning with BP and the banks” after the oil company and financial institutions voiced warnings last week about independence.
Saturday marked the biggest day of political campaigning Scotland has seen, including a peaceful march of 15,000 pro-unionists through Edinburgh and 35,000 Yes volunteers staging events across the country.
Polls suggest the race is extremely close ahead of Thursday’s vote, which will determine whether Scotland remains part of the United Kingdom or becomes an independent country in 18 months.
Sierra Leone requests Ebola evacuation funds
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The World Health Organization said Saturday it could not meet a request from Sierra Leone to evacuate a doctor who contracted the deadly Ebola disease.
Dr. Olivet Buck is the fourth doctor from Sierra Leone to come down with Ebola, which has been blamed for 2,400 deaths in West Africa, according to the WHO. Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have recorded the vast majority of cases.
Sierra Leone requested funds from WHO to evacuate the doctor to Germany on Friday.
A letter from President Ernest Bai Koroma’s office said he had approved Buck’s evacuation to a hospital in Hamburg, Germany, “where they are in readiness to receive her.”
Buck, a citizen of Sierra Leone, would be the first doctor from one of the countries hit hardest by Ebola to receive treatment abroad. The other three doctors from Sierra Leone died in the country.
A total of 301 health workers had become infected with the disease as of Sept. 7 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the WHO. Of that tally, which included suspected and probable cases in addition to confirmed ones, 144 had died.
Associated Press
