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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Search for Madeira missing begins


Rescue workers are hunting for missing people after torrential rains caused flooding and mudslides on the Portuguese island of Madeira. Around 40 people are believed to have been killed, officials said. Francisco Ramos, the regional government social affairs secretary, said on Sunday that the toll was likely to rise as more emergency teams arrive from the mainland. "We are going to continue to search for bodies, we are waiting for the teams which are due to arrive ... in order to continue working on the ground," he said  There are fears that more bodies will be found in the mud that tore down the Atlantic island's roads, sweeping away people and vehicles, on Saturday. Portugal has sent medical teams, rescue workers, divers and relief supplies to the island, about 1,000km southwest of Lisbon, the capital. 

Taliban resistance fading in Marjah

Taliban resistance to a military offensive in the Afghan town of Marjah has begun to ease amid reports that the group's fighters are running out of ammunition. About 15,000 US, Nato and Afghan troops have been battling Taliban fighters in an attempt to take Marjah and the surrounding areas, but after a week of fighting Afghan sources said the firing had died down. Al Jazeera's James Bays, speaking from Lashkar Gah in Helmand, said that there were "only small-arms engagements taking place" on Sunday. "What we are hearing from Afghan sources is that they believe that the Taliban who have been fighting and putting up their heavy resistance in the north and east of Marjah, are running low on ammunition," he said. "The heaviest battles took place on Thursday. That's the day the Nato forces lost their largest number of troops - six killed on Thursday alone. Since then the battles seem to have died down a little. "They are still getting return fire from the Taliban, but they believe they may be running low. They say that that's because they intercepted some of the Taliban's internal radio messages calling for more ammunition."