Twenty-three people have been killed in a blaze at a firecracker factory, an Indian news agency said today.

BRITAIN is the 13th EU country to be affected by bird flu.

Health workers slaughtered thousands of chickens in dozens of western Indian villages today to contain the country’s second bird flu outbreak, a senior official said.

The US government is getting ready for the possible arrival of bird flu, and has held “significant planning sessions” in case of an outbreak, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said yesterday in Berlin.