EMERGENCY crews used sniffer dogs yesterday to search through huge piles of debris for at least four people missing in Madeira after flash floods and rockslides killed 42 people on the Portuguese vacation island.

RUSSIAN navy vessels were patrolling the Atlantic yesterday in search of a Maltese-flagged ship that has been missing for more than two weeks since sailing through the English Channel.

THE Irish navy is set to make history next month when it will count foreigners among its ranks.

A TANKER carrying 20,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas caught fire in Chinese waters east of Hong Kong yesterday, risking a huge explosion, authorities said, though the wind drove flames away from the ship's cargo area.

Portuguese Navy divers were today preparing to brave a river’s treacherous current and feel their way around metal objects detected by sonar that are believed to be sunken vehicles holding at least 60 bodies from a bridge collapse.