D Monday, December 21, 2009 METRO 13 METRO World austria: Skiers with a nose for survival are snapping up packets of smelly dog biscuits to boost their chances of being rescued by sniffer dogs in an avalanche. The Happy Dog treats are selling well after safety experts urged skiers to make sure they were better-equipped on the slopes. Police and Maoists clash during a general strike in Kathmandu Nepal yesterday Picture: AP ENGLaND: A Christian teacher dismissed from her job after offering to pray for a sick pupil said yesterday she felt she had been treated like a criminal. Maths teacher Olive Jones was let go from her job teaching children who were too ill to go to school after offering to pray for the child. She was told that sharing her faith with a child could be seen as bullying. I am amazed that a country with a strong Christian tradition has become one where it is hard to speak about faith, Mrs Jones said. NEPaL: At least 30 people were injured and 67 arrested as former Maoist rebels clashed with riot police, attacked vehicles and blocked roads nationwide to enforce a three-day strike. The Maoists accuse President Ram Baran Yadav of acting unconstitutionally after he overturned the previous governments decision to fire the army chief, who had refused to incorporate the fighters into the military. iraQ: Iranian troops have withdrawn partially from a disputed oil well claimed by both Tehran and Baghdad, raising hopes of defusing a border feud straining the two countries delicate ties. The border flare-up kicked off a storm of emergency meetings that have led to requests for clearer demarcation of border posts between the two nations. But Iranian troops have yet to pull back 50m from the well. iraN: Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazer, the spiritual father of Irans reform movement and its most senior dissident cleric, died yesterday. The 87-year- old (pictured), who had said a dictatorship had been created in the name of Islam, had been suffering from arteriosclerosis. israEL: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) is urging the Polish government to track down the Arbeit macht frei gate sign stolen from the Auschwitz death camp memorial. Mr Netanyahu said the sign, stolen on Friday, is of the deepest historical importance to Jews. MaLaWi: Two strong earthquakes hit the north of the country as well as southwestern Tanzania early yesterday. Initial reports indicated no serious damage or injuries. A 6.2-magnitude and a 6-magnitude quake followed a series of tremors in the uranium-rich Karonga district, which has experienced several quakes this year and forced 3,000 Malawians into makeshift shelters. MaCau: A protest march urging the government to fight corruption followed the territorys marking of ten years under Chinese rule yesterday. Protesters chanted anti-corruption slogans after new chief executive Fernando Chui was sworn in by Chinese president Hu Jintao (pictured). Apes at risk of primate changeIT MAY not seem likely this week as most of Europe freezes, but some species of monkeys and apes are in danger of being wiped out by global warming, say scientists. A new study suggests many of the animals will not survive if temperatures around the world rise by just 2C. The study, published online in the journal Animal Behaviour, pinpoints which primates are threatened by climate change gorillas and colobine monkeys are most at risk. The researchers coupled climate models with an analysis of behaviour, diet and group size of different primate species. African monkeys and apes with leafy diets are vulnerable because their habitats are restricted to a narrow region of the equator. One surprising factor affecting survival was the extent to which monkeys and apes took siestas to conserve energy. The amount of time the animals spent resting depended on the percentage of leaves in their diet, temperature variation and average temperature.At risk: Gorilla Death toll mounts as storms cover EuropeBy MichAel holdeN Winter woe: A eurostar train slowly crosses a viaduct in Kent, southern england, during heavy snow Picture: AFP SNOWSTORMS and sub-zero conditions across Europe have killed at least 50 people and caused continent-wide travel chaos. At least 47 people, mainly homeless, froze to death in Poland alone, according to police reports, as temperatures fell as low as -20C in some places over the weekend. In Austria, two people froze to death as they tried to make their way home after evenings out in the southern province of Styria. Two homeless men died sleeping rough in Marseille, France, and in Mannheim, Germa- ny. Europes airports, airlines and rail services were also fighting a losing battle to get pas- sengers away for the Christmas holidays as snow continued to fall and rail tracks froze. French authorities cancelled 40 per cent of flights out of Pariss Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports yesterday afternoon. Minimum temperatures hovered close to record lows in some areas overnight, with the minimum reading in the Jura department of eastern France reaching -23C. Belgiums three biggest airports were also shut, along with Dsseldorf airport in Ger- many. The Eurostar rail service was suspended for a second day yesterday after six trains carry- ing more than 2,500 passengers were stuck for up to 16 hours overnight at the weekend, five in an undersea tunnel linking Britain and France, due to technical faults caused by the wintery weather. Passengers were stranded in the dark without food, water or air condition- ing after the breakdowns. Up to 50,000 people are estimated to be af- fected by the cancellations. Eurostars execu- tives have offered apologies, refunds and free travel to those forced to seek alternative routes and say normal services will resume as soon as possible. Almost all international train travel was halted to and from the Netherlands, where the meteorological service issued a storm warn- ing. Trains were also delayed in Poland be- cause of frozen points and damaged rails. In Germany, a week of freezing tempera- tures and this winters biggest snowfall led to hundreds of road accidents. Englands Gat- wick and Luton airports were shut for hours during the weekend, and there were cancella- tions at Manchester because of snow and ice on the runway. In Bulgaria, more than 220 villages and towns were left without electricity, and top- pled trees cut power in several mountainous suburbs in the capital Sofia. The effects of the cold snap have been no- where near as bad as on the US east coast, where more than half a metre of snow was ex- pected and dozens of lives have been lost. US STORM MOVES NORTH A SLOW-moving storm that blanketed swathes of the US east coast with half a metre of snow heading northward yesterday, continuing its assault after causing fatalities, crippling travel and leaving stores normally crammed with holiday shoppers empty. The storm caused flooding in Florida and knocked out electricity for more than 85,000 customers in North and South Carolina on Friday. At the weekend, New Jersey saw its highest single-storm snowfall totals in nearly four years. Around New York City, the brunt of the storm is expected to hit Long Island, with up to 45cm and wind gusts of up to 80kmh forecast. The 25cm forecast to fall on New York City could make the storm the worst the city has seen since February 2006 when 66cm fell in Central Park. Transit workers in the city have been fighting an uphill battle to clear subway tracks and platforms overnight. Airports in the North-east have seen flights cancelled, including those at Dulles and Reagan International in Washington, Denver, Philadelphia International, New Yorks three major airports, Logan Airport in Boston and all of Chicagos airports. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html