Researchers fan out to find bird flu in Alaska. The first migratory birds from Asia are showing up in Alaska, where the federal government is spending millions to detect H5N1, the strain of avian influenza many fear could mutate into a deadly form that can spread among humans. [News Source]

Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Situation Update (Government of Canada News) The Public Health Agency of Canada continues to closely monitor and report on occurrences of avian influenza H5N1, or "bird flu", in humans and in birds. [News Source]

Risk assessment: predicting asbestos’s fallout. A century ago, asbestos seemed a material ideally matched to the needs of increasingly industrialized and motorized Western societies. [News Source]

New Orleans vote coming down to race. The election that will decide who will lead New Orleans in its time of crisis comes down to black versus white. [News Source]

Australia not ‘a climate change outcast’. Green critics believe Australia will struggle to maintain credibility while it continues to expand its greenhouse emissions. [News Source]

WHO probes bird flu cluster. An international team of health investigators arrived on the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Thursday to determine whether an unusually large cluster of human bird flu cases indicates that the highly lethal virus has mutated. [News Source]

Doctor: States unprepared for bird flu. Bird flu will hit the United States -- it's only a matter of time -- and not all states are ready to respond to the deadly virus, the Homeland Security Department's top doctor warns. [News Source]

5 bird flu deaths in Indonesia not linked to human exchange. WHO officials said that the 5 avian flu deaths confirmed this week on Sumatra were probably not a result of human-to-human infection and did not suggest that the virus had mutated into a more deadly form. [News Source]

States unprepared for bird flu. Bird flu will hit the United States — it's only a matter of time — and not all states are ready to respond to the deadly virus, the Homeland Security Department's top doctor warns. [News Source]

First case of lethal H5N1 bird flu found at Danish poultry farm (Islamic Republic News Agency) Germany - Health - Bird Flu The first case of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was detected at a poultry farm on the Danish island of Fuenen, DPA cited the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA)as saying on Friday. [News Source]

Indonesia vows transparency over bird flu (Independent Online) Indonesian officials have promised that there will be no cover-up if human-to-human transmission of bird flu does occur. Their message came after five members of one family were confirmed to have died from the H5N1 avian flu virus. [News Source]

Execs mull over bird flu strategy (Jamaica Gleaner) AS AVIAN influenza (bird flu) continues its rapid spread across the world, government and health officials as well as execu-tives of the poultry industry, gathered in Kingston yesterday to discuss the steps Jamaica needs to take to prevent an outbreak... [News Source]