Yahoo! News: World News

Hong Kong isolates hotel after 1st swine flu case (AP)

Posted: 01 May 2009 06:52 PM PDT

AP - Hong Kong quarantined hundreds of hotel guests and workers Friday after a tourist from Mexico tested positive for swine flu, Asia's first confirmed case of the disease.

Swine flu may be less potent than first feared (AP)

Posted: 01 May 2009 06:50 PM PDT

AP - The swine flu outbreak that has alarmed the world for a week now appears less ominous, with the virus showing little staying power in the hardest-hit cities and scientists suggesting it lacks the genetic fortitude of past killer bugs. President Barack Obama even voiced hope Friday that it may turn out to be no more harmful than the average seasonal flu.

Tamiflu stockpiles vary widely throughout world (AP)

Posted: 01 May 2009 01:19 PM PDT

AP - Poor countries likely to suffer most in a swine flu outbreak have the smallest stockpiles of antiviral medicines to fight it.

Britain chooses first-ever female poet laureate (AP)

Posted: 01 May 2009 09:17 AM PDT

AP - The centuries-old post of British poet laureate, bard to kings and queens, has been held by William Wordsworth, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Ted Hughes but never, until Friday, by a woman.

Mexicans turn to humor, creativity to endure flu (AP)

Posted: 01 May 2009 11:18 AM PDT

AP - Televisa is cutting all "nonessential" kisses from its soap operas. A song called the "Influenza Cumbia" is climbing the charts. Cringe-worthy swine flu jokes are spreading faster than the illness ever could.

Couple arrested for sex on lawn at Windsor Castle (AP)

Posted: 01 May 2009 06:06 PM PDT

AP - Queen Elizabeth II was at home at Windsor Castle, the sentries who guard her were on duty, and the large park surrounding the magnificent building was full of tourists on a Sunday afternoon. So it didn't take long for people to realize that something was out of order when an inebriated couple arrived from a nearby restaurant and began having sex on a grass bank outside the castle, according to witnesses.

April deadliest month for US in Iraq in 7 months (AP)

Posted: 01 May 2009 06:43 PM PDT

AP - The U.S. death toll for April rose to 18, the military said Friday, making it the deadliest in seven months for American forces in Iraq. The sharp increase from the previous month came as a series of bombings also pushed Iraqi deaths to their highest level this year.

Mexico's swine flu death toll at 16 (AP)

Posted: 01 May 2009 06:42 PM PDT

AP - Mexico has raised its confirmed swine flu death toll from 15 to 16 and says the total number of confirmed cases of the virus had risen to 397.

Darfur refugees urge AU to pursue Beshir arrest: report (AFP)

Posted: 01 May 2009 11:00 AM PDT

AFP - Sudenese refugees urged a high-level African Union mission to speed up the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for President Omar al-Beshir for war crimes, Chadian state radio said Friday.