Beasts

Hungry dingoes are stalking neighborhoods near the central Queensland, Australia coast in search of food, but the residents are powerless to stop them. Mayor Jim Rundel says local laws make it impossible to do anything: "You can't bait within two kilometers of a residence. . . . You can't shoot in a residential area, plus with the gun laws, no one has a gun anyway."

Earthquakes

Sixty-eight earthquakes registering 5 or stronger on the Richter scale occurred worldwide between June 7 and July 11. The most devastating temblor was a 6.3 quake in southern Turkey on June 27 that was followed by more than 70 tremors. It killed more than 136 people and injured nearly a thousand.

Gambling

Gambling, once confined to Nevada, is now legal in 48 states and is increasingly attracting families to casinos. In Mississippi over the last five years, 30 new casinos contribute to $2 billion in gambling losses annually. Robert Goodman, author of The Luck Business, estimates that each problem gambler costs society $13,200 each year in bankruptcies, fraud, embezzlement, unpaid debts and criminal justice. Others put the figure as high as $30,000/year.

Germany

The percentage of Germans who believe in any god has dropped from 50% to 45% since 1993. The proportion of atheists grew from 20% to 28%. Only 25% of Germans say they believe in Jesus. The Secular Humanist Bulletin says this reflects the trend throughout western Europe.

Health

An Asian mosquito has for the first time been found in an urban area of the U.S. where a disease-causing virus the insect can carry is also found. It is thought that the mosquito was brought into the U.S. in the early 1980s in imported tires. The insect often carries the La Crosse virus, which can cause encephalitis in children.

Marine Life

Researchers say 20 years of warmer water are causing a severe decline in fish, birds, seaweed and mammals all along the U.S. West Coast. The warmer water—about 2° warmer than previous averages—is linked to declines in some temperate species and the wholesale migration into northern waters of tropical fish and animals.

Middle East

Yassir Arafat proposed recently that Jerusalem should be modeled after Rome and the Vatican—one city serving as capital of two states. "We are looking for Jerusalem, the Holy City, to be the platform of the real peace in the land of peace," Arafat said.

Weather

» The Chinese government reported in mid-July that some of the worst seasonal flooding on record has killed more than 1,000 people in southern China. It has destroyed nearly 3 million homes, inundated 22 million acres of crops and caused more than $10 million in economic losses.

» The Federal government approved sending millions of dollars to Texas and 10 other southern and western states that have been reeling under 100°+ temperatures for several weeks. More than 136 deaths in seven states have been attributed to the heat wave. Several billions of dollars in economic losses are expected.