Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Heavy rains and flooding hit Miyi County in Panzhihua, in the southwestern part of Sichuan Province, in China on Sunday killing 22 people. Thirty-eight others were injured and at least 7 others are still missing.

The strong storm dropped 177 mm of rain between 21:50 on July 26 and 8:00 a.m. on the next day. Over 100,000 people were affected. About 17,500 residents had to be evacuated from Jiangxi province where rain fell for four days.

At present, emergency rescue and disaster relief work is being carried out. Rescue workers are providing blankets while financial aid is being devoted to the area. In total preliminary estimates set damages at ¥225 million yuan (US$33 million) as houses, roads, bridges, and farmland were destroyed.

Last spring the province was hit by a 7.9 earthquake which left 68,636 dead and nearly 375,000 injured.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

This year, four breeds of dogs are competing for the first time in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, United States.

The new breeds making their Westminister debuts this year, are the Plott, a hunting hound originally bred by two German immigrant brothers in North Carolina; the Tibetan Mastiff, once described by Marco Polo as “tall as a donkey with a voice as powerful as that of a lion.”; the Beauceron, a herding dog originally bred to herd flocks of sheep in France, later used to sniff out landmines and send messages during the World Wars; and the Swedish Vallhund, a breed dating back to the time of the Vikings, used on farms to catch vermin, herd cattle, and as a guard dog, noted for its double coat and harness markings.

This brings the number of unique breeds competing in the famous dog show to 169.

The Plott, the Beauceron, and the Vallhund were shown on Monday. The Tibetan Mastiff will be shown tonight as part of the Working Group.