BEIRUT

Syrian rebels capture a base in south, regain momentum

Syrian rebels captured a military base in the south on Wednesday and set their sights on seizing control of a strategically important region along the border with Jordan that would give them a critical gateway to attempt an attack on the capital, Damascus.

With foreign aid and training of rebels in Jordan ramping up, the opposition fighters have regained momentum in their fight to topple President Bashar Assad.

But the fall of southern Syria might also create dangerous complications, potentially drawing Syria’s neighbors into the two-year-old civil war. The region includes territory that borders Syria’s side of the Golan Heights, along a sensitive frontier with Israel.

LA PLATA, ARGENTINA

Record rains, flooding leave at least 52 dead in two days

At least 52 people drowned in their homes and cars, were electrocuted or died in other accidents as flooding from days of torrential rains swamped Argentina’s low-lying capital and province of Buenos Aires.

At least 46 died Wednesday in and around the city of La Plata, Gov. Daniel Scioli said. Six deaths were reported a day earlier in the capital.

The heaviest rain — almost 16 inches in just a few hours, beating historical records for the entire month of April — hit provincial La Plata overnight.

BEIJING

Bird flu mutates, increasing threat to people, experts say

A bird flu in China appears to have mutated so that it can spread to other animals, raising the potential for a bigger threat to people, scientists said Wednesday.

So far the flu has sickened nine people in China and killed three. It’s not clear how they became infected.

But the virus can evidently move through poultry without making them sick, experts said, making it difficult to track the germ in flocks.

The findings need further testing.

– From news service reports

 

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