Sri Lankan health officials said today that the country is at high risk for a bird flu outbreak and falls short on resources aimed at prevention.

State-run Oil India Limited today protectively shut down 30 oil wells in India’s remote north-east as a fire continued to rage in a nearby oil well for the sixth day.

The European Commission will provide 1.7 billion rupees (€40.7m) to improve health services in the earthquake-hit western Indian state of Gujarat, an official said today.

The death and damage estimates from the earthquake that ravaged the western Indian state of Gujarat in January have been dramatically scaled down - and local officials now say they don’t need £377m in emergency loans.