President announces measures to combat poor air quality and curb spread of diseases transmitted by rodents fleeing the fires

Smoke from dozens of nearby forest fires have blanketed the Chilean capital, leading authorities to issue a health alert.

The fast-spreading fires reached a peak over the weekend. They have caused more than $100m in property losses and forced the 7 million residents of Santiago to breathe the worst air in 15 years.

On Wednesday, strong winds carried a thick blanket of smoke over Santiago, where 40% of Chileans live. Firefighters have been struggling with the blazes as the wind has reignited several of them.

President Sebastian Piñera announced the health alert for four regions at a press conference late on Wednesday. Piñera said the more than 70 forest fires over the past weeks had affected more than 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of land.

Stuart Gillespie was investigating a strange noise coming from the vent when the baby reptile dropped through the roof onto the bathroom floor

A New Farm Loch man had a frightening start to the new year when a snake fell through his bathroom vent.

Stuart Gillespie was investigating a strange noise coming from the vent when the baby reptile - named Lou by the SSPCA - dropped through, falling six feet onto the bathroom floor.

Stuart's partner Jan Bryan said: "I was at the front door saying bye to my daughter on January 2, when I heard Stuart shouting that there was a snake in the bathroom.

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Stuart was chalk white.

"I refused to go upstairs until it had been removed, but my daughter's partner managed to get a couple of pictures.

"It's not what we were expecting at new year, but it will be one we'll never forget."

The family, of Grant Place, were advised by the SSPCA to check with neighbours to see if anyone was missing a pet snake.

When Brisbane software developer Chris Baine went to the toilet on Monday night he encountered something he never expected to.

A 1.5m carpet python was curled up in the toilet bowl, but that was not the end of the story.

Despite his wife Carly's advice to leave it alone, Mr Baine tried to grab the serpent with a towel before it disappeared down the bowl.

"It was about 11.30pm when Chris went to the bathroom, we had both used it an hour before and there was nothing there so it was a complete shock," Mrs Baines said.

"When he lifted the lid he screamed out "holy s**t, come and look at this" and I said no way, not until you tell me what it is.''

Mrs Baines, who works at a veterinary hospital, called her boss to make sure they had identified it correctly.

"He told us to try to use a hook shaped implement to take it out, but Chris decided to go with a towel and a pair of garden gloves,'' she said.

But the saga did not end there. The python reappeared early the following morning when Mrs Baines went to the bathroom.

Endangered tigers, red pandas and lions in the country are succumbing to infection caused by canine distemper virus (CDV), a disease common in domestic dogs.

The scientists at Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly found the presence of CDV in the blood samples of dead animals.

"Since last one year we have found many blood samples of dead tigers, red pandas and lions, who were positive for CDV. The disease has been found in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Patna Zoo and many areas of West Bengal and Darjeeling," said AK Sharma, principal scientist and in charge of Centre for Wildlife, IVRI.

CDV affects different systems of the body including nervous and respiratory system in these animals. It breaks down the immunity system and causes various secondary bacterial infections which leads to their death.

"As this disease damage the brain, it badly affect their decision making power. Due to this, the animals go beyond their natural habitat and enter human settlements. It leaves them an easy prey for poachers," Sharma said.

The source of CDV among tigers, lions and red pandas is the direct contact like licking. Even these animals are eating dogs infected with the virus. The disease is also spreading through infected material such as drinking water from same source. Sharma said, "If all the dogs are vaccinated in the buffer zone of forest, it could stop the spread of disease."

Researchers believe that many more species could have been exposed to this virus in the country. "We can say about the status of disease only after we collect blood samples of different species of animals from various areas of India," said Gaya Prasad, assistant director general, animal health, Indian Council of Agriculture Research and acting director, IVRI.

Residents described a fiery scene after train carrying crude oil and propane derailed in northwestern New Brunswick.

"On our balcony, we can just see flames. Every now and then, there's a huge fireball, as if there was an explosion," said Carol Jarvis, who lives in the village of Plaster Rock near where the derailment occurred around 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Jarvis lives about five miles from the site of the train derailment, which happened in Wapske, about five kilometres outside the village of Plaster Rock.

"There's several sort of fireworks, explosions there now. We saw there was in fact a fairly large fire."

Another Plaster Rock resident said that her husband went down to the scene shortly after it happened.

"He went as far as he could. It was blocked off," the woman said. "He said he could see flames shooting in the air from quite far away. He could see it very clearly. It was about 50 to 60 feet he told me he could see."

Plaster Rock Mayor Alexis Fenner said residents have been told not to get near the scene.

She said three fire services and a hazmat team are on scene.

The mayor of Plaster Rock has confirmed the train derailment, but other reports of fire and/or injuries are still unconfirmed. #nb

- Emily Baron Cadloff (@EmilyBat) January 8, 2014

Residents describe the stench of rotting carcasses littering the streets

While blistering cold continues to punish most of North America, here is your friendly annual reminder that summer is in full swing down in Australia.

Unfortunately for residents of several towns scattered across the north-east state of Queensland, enjoying all that wonderful sunshine may be a bit difficult, especially when surrounded by the rotting, noxious corpses of thousands of dead bats.

Several newspapers report that over the weekend, 100,000 of the winged creatures have seemingly fallen out of the sky, littering trees, yards, and sidewalks with dead or dying animals

The culprit in this case is apparently a scorching summer heat wave, which can wreak havoc on a bat's fragile anatomy. "Anything over 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) and they just fall," says Louis Saunders, a local conservation worker. "It's a horrible, cruel way to die."

- Twenty six states under federal warnings for severe wind chills

- Montana recording a record-making wind chill of -52C (-61F)

- Live blog: life-threatening cold hits North America

Millions of Americans from Montana down to as far south as Alabama are being warned that their lives are at risk if they venture out for any length of time into brutally cold conditions that are driving temperatures to their lowest in 20 years.

Severe weather warnings from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for Minnesota and Wisconsin said that wind chills caused by gusts of up to 30 mph were causing temperatures to plummet to between -37C (-35F) and -46C (-50F). "Exposed flesh will freeze and cause frost bite in only five minutes," the warning observed, adding that such dangerous conditions were likely to last until at least Tuesday afternoon.

Twenty six states continue to be under federal warnings for severe wind chills as bitterly cold air is swept down from the Arctic, with Montana recording a wind chill of -52C (-61F). The severe weather has already caused havoc in the Northern Plains and is expected to reach the north-east on Tuesday, extending disruption to airports and travellers. More than 3,000 flights were cancelled on Monday and Chicago's O'Hare International airport has been particularly badly affected.

Investigation to take a few days

AltaLink is investigating reports about dozens of dead ducks near one of its transmission lines in southwest Alberta.

McIntyre estimates the deaths may be in the hundreds based on a 10-minute walk along the line he took on Dec. 31.

Judging from the damage to ducks, he thinks they may be hitting the line in bad weather when they can't see it.

The company is sending workers to an area near Pincher Creek and may install "flappers" to help make the lines more visible.

Director Scott Schreiner says it appears it happened near an existing line and not near one of the new transmission lines under construction.

"We've sent a team of environmental experts from AltaLink and external providers down to investigate.

Mysterious mass starfish deaths along the Pacific coastline have marine biologists scratching their heads and scrambling to find a cause.

They're also worried about how seastar wasting syndrome will affect ecosystems spanning Alaska to California, including those in the Greater Victoria area.

"We've seen it all along the Saanich Inlet, we've seen it around the Gulf Islands, it started in Howe Sound," said marine biologist Paula Romagosa, curator of Sidney's Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre.

"It's quite serious. Nothing like this has been seen before, not to this extent."

Just what it is that's wiping out about 30 per cent of the coast's observable starfish is still unknown.

"I'm quite scared, to be honest. We can't figure out what it is, so there's no way to control it - or know if it'll affect our food sources like fish."

Affected populations including sunflower, sun, basket, leather, pink, common purple, vermillion, and blood stars are dying.

Biologists still do not know what caused the deaths of either of two True's beaked whales that washed up over Sunday and Monday.

Biologists at the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation have come across two rare cases of True's beaked whales turning up dead on Long Island beaches.

Just before 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, the Riverhead Foundation was contacted about a large dolphin thrashing in the surf near Flying Point Beach in Southampton. Using photographs sent from the scene, biologists identified the creature as a rare True's beaked whale. A passerby attempted to push the whale back into the water, but it beached itself a second time near Gin Lane and was found dead when the Riverhead Foundation arrived.

The female whale was about 15 and a half feet long, and weighed an estimated 2,000 pounds. The Highway Supervisor for the Village of Southampton, John Brostowski, helped the members of the Riverhead Foundation transport the deceased whale back to the Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center, where a necropsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

Before biologists could even determine what killed the True's beaked whale - a whale that many biologists on Long Island never see - a call came in about a second whale of the same species that washed up on a beach in Bridgehampton. The second whale, a male, was approximately 9 feet long and weighed an estimated 400 pounds.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), True's beaked whales prefer the deep warm temperate waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, making it odd that they would appear in the colder waters around Long Island. True's beaked whales are difficult to observe and identify at sea due to a low profile at the surface, and few of these whales have ever been spotted alive in the water.

Officials at the Riverhead Foundation will be performing necropsies on both of the whales.

Source: Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, NOAA