Dengue outbreak has killed 47 in Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

An outburst of dengue has killed at least 47 people — and perhaps twice that — in Rio de Janeiro state this year, officials said Thursday, announcing a hot spot in a hemispheric outbreak that sickened nearly 1 million people in 2007.

State officials said 51 cases are being reported every hour as the outbreak strains public hospitals' capacity.

Brazil had more than half of the 900,782 cases of dengue in the Americas last year, according to the Pan American Health Organization. Of the hemisphere's 317 deaths, 158 came in Brazil, including 31 in Rio state.

Islamabad, Pakistan

Car bomb kills 5 Pakistani soldiers

A suicide car bomb killed five Pakistani soldiers and wounded nine others near the Afghan border on Thursday, the military said.

The bomber attacked security forces in South Waziristan's main town of Wana, a military statement said.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Workers charged with infecting kids

Fourteen health professionals in Kyrgyzstan will face trial for allegedly infecting children with HIV, prosecutors said Thursday.

Health workers in the southern Osh region were charged with negligence while administering injections and blood transfusions after 41 toddlers and eight adults were infected with HIV, the prosecutor general's office said.

The spate of HIV infections shocked the impoverished Central Asian nation, deepening concerns over conditions in medical facilities and the quality of health workers.

Dublin, Ireland

Financier charged with laundering

An Irish financier was charged Thursday with trying to launder millions in a daring 2004 robbery of a Northern Ireland bank, a record-setting theft that authorities blamed on the outlawed IRA.

Ted Cunningham, 59, offered no plea after being charged with 10 counts of handling more than $6 million in money stolen from Northern Bank in Belfast.

The charges included accusations that Cunningham — who until 2005 ran three ill-regulated companies specializing in investment advice and money-lending — knew that the money had been stolen from the bank. He also was accused of successfully laundering more than $1 million through property purchases.

Also

Arrests: Yemeni police have arrested five suspects in a Tuesday mortar attack that American officials say targeted the U.S. Embassy but instead struck a girls high school next door, an Interior Ministry official said Thursday.

Death: American Barbara Sue Fojtasek fell 65 feet to her death this week during a zip- line ride through the jungle on the Caribbean island of Roatan, police said Thursday.

Seattle Times news services