BUENOS AIRES: Argentina plans to keep in place for now a ban on incoming flights from Mexico as the South American nation copes with the H1N1 swine flu scare, the health ministry said. Argentina's Health Minister Graciela Ocana told reporters that chief of staff Sergio Massa "informed me that it has been decided that the suspension of incoming flights from Mexico will continue." On Monday Argentine officials are to assess how long the ban will remain in place. Ocana said the virus was not spreading in Argentina, which has so far no confirmed cases of the disease, although the number of suspected cases rose from 17 to 29 according to daily figures reported by deputy health minister Carlos Soratti.Ocana added that 203 Argentines are to arrive on a special flight from Mexico early Monday and would face immediate checks by doctors at the airport. The ban on incoming flights was put in place on Tuesday after a high-level crisis meeting.
BAGHDAD: Nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives started shifting to southern Afghanistan."We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban."We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
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