World news, 17th September, 2015

1. USA- At least 16 people have been killed in flash floods in the US state of Utah with four others missing as of Tuesday night.Four people died in flash floods in Zion National Park, and three were missing after the group went to explore a small, narrow canyon, shortly before heavy rains began, officials said on Tuesday.In a statement, park officials said the group’s vehicle was found at a trailhead on Monday evening in the Keyhole Canyon area, and that a search began on Tuesday morning.

2. MIDDLE EAST

Lebanon’s unprecedented and deadly sandstorm has forced the government to shut schools and public institutions over health concerns.

The sandstorm, which entered its third day on Wednesday, caused the deaths of four people in the country, while sending as many as 2,000 to hospitals due to breathing problems

3. EUROPE

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called on EU countries to agree by next week to share 160,000 refugees, as thousands continued to stream across European borders, fleeing from war and persecution.

4. CHINA

Heavy explosions have hit China’s northern city of Tianjin, leaving at least 44 people dead and hundreds more injured.

Chinese state news said the blasts started late after a container of “hazardous material” exploded in a warehouse shortly before midnight local time on Wednesday night.

The blasts knocked doors off buildings in the area and shattered windows up to several kilometres away.

Hospitals are reported to be overwhelmed with casualties and thousands of people have become homeless and are sleeping in the open air.

5. SIERRA LEONE

Health authorities in Sierra Leone have quarantined almost 700 people as they battled to contain a new outbreak of Ebola which killed a 16-year-old girl.

The teenager died on Sunday in a rural suburb of the city of Makeni in the country’s north that had not recorded a single case of the deadly virus in nearly six months.

“Over 680 people in the village of Robureh are now under a 21-day quarantine,” Amadu Thullah, a spokesman for the local Ebola response centre told AFP news agency on Tuesday.

The centre said those locked down included the girl’s parents, close relatives and classmates.

“They are classified as high risk although they have not exhibited any signs and symptoms of the disease,” health ministry spokesman Seray Turay said.

“The surveillance team of the Ebola response centre have intensified their investigations and is working to nip the issue in the bud.”

6.

Sierra Leone’s Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana has placed himself in quarantine following the death of one of his bodyguards from Ebola, a government spokesman said as the country reintroduced travel restrictions to combat the spread of the virus.

Sumana “has decided to place himself in precautionary quarantine awaiting the results of tests by the health authorities”, the spokesman said on Saturday.

Sumana’s bodyguard, 42-year-old John Koroma, died from Ebola on Friday, medical sources said.

7. NIGERIA

Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau has filed charges against Nigeria’s Senate President, Bukola Saraki, for alleged failure to fully declare his assets.The tribunal’s 13-count charge exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters accuses Mr. Saraki, among other crimes, of improperly using state funds to purchase private assets during his tenure as the governor of Kwara State while he was senator of the federal republic of Nigeria.

8. SPORT