■UNITED STATES
H1N1 claims 51 lives
Fifty-one more swine flu-related deaths were reported this week, bringing the toll to 353 in the country worst affected by the global pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention said 5,514 people have required hospitalization for the A(H1N1) virus. The CDC said it would no longer publish individual confirmed and probable cases or the aggregate total of cases. The “CDC will report the total number of hospitalizations and deaths weekly, and continue to use its traditional surveillance systems to track the progress of the novel H1N1 flu outbreak,” the CDC said.
■CUBA
Party congress postponed
President Raul Castro has indefinitely postponed a Communist Party congress planned for the end of the year, saying the government must focus on the economy, state media said on Friday. The government lowered its GDP estimate from 2.5 percent growth to 1.7 percent. The economy was in a very serious crisis, the president said. Castro was expected to raise the issue at yesterday’s parliamentary session. This year’s party congress was deemed important to chart the country’s political future. The last congress took place in 1997, but the Constitution says it should take place every four years.
■UNITED STATES
Dog thrown from roof
A New York man has been accused of throwing his dog from the roof of a six-floor city housing project, critically injuring the animal. Animal welfare officers arrested 19-year-old Fabian Henderson of Brooklyn on Friday. He has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals and reckless endangerment, both felonies. Joseph Pentangelo, of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said surgeons had to reassemble Oreo’s front legs. The one-year-old terrier mix is able to walk.
■UNITED STATES
Donkeys get in the way
Federal officials said as many as 100 wild donkeys will be rounded up in the Mojave Desert next month and put up for adoption because they keep invading the Fort Irwin Army base in California. The Bureau of Land Management said the donkeys are attracted by natural springs in the area. A fort official said training had to be halted each time the donkeys roamed through live-fire areas. They also affect the habitat of the threatened desert tortoise. There have been two previous roundups of wild donkeys. The bureau said the donkeys are popular and finding homes for them should be easy.
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