<B> JOHANNESBURG. Rain, snow strands motorists in S. Africa.</B> Heavy rains and snow fell in South Africa’s southern region yesterday, blocking roads and prompting authorities to launch rescue efforts to save stranded motorists. Cars and trucks littered snow-dusted roads in the northern part of Eastern Cape, while steady rains made driving conditions in the Transkei perilous, SABC radio reported. A rescue mission was launched to save those trapped by snow in mountainous Lesotho. No deaths were reported, although authorities said they feared that roofs of houses and businesses could collapse under the weight of the snow in several South African towns. The wintery blast – not out of the ordinary for southern Africa at this time of year – was the second significant storm to hit the region this month. A cold front two weeks ago wreaked havoc in Lesotho and the Eastern Cape, killing a handful of people.

<B>BEIJING. Drought in southwestern China worst in 50 years.</B> Parts of southwestern China are enduring the worst drought in more than 50 years, a newspaper said yesterday, as the southeast reels from the strongest typhoon to hit in half a century. China’s state meteorological bureau has reported the most severe drought conditions in over 50 years in the southwestern region of Chongqing, and neighbouring Sichuan province. Sustained high temperatures and low summer rainfall have also brought drought to parts of southwestern Guizhou province, the central province of Hubei and in northwest Ningxia region and Gansu province, the Beijing News said. In Chongqing alone, 7.5 million people lacked adequate drinking water and economic losses have been estimated at 2.5 billion yuan ($313 million), the paper said. The scorching weather has prompted state fire prevention authorities to issue fire warnings across the southwest, the paper said, with more than 70 forest fires reported in Chongqing this month.

<B>COLOMBO. War with the Tamil Tigers affecting Sri Lankan economy.</B> As Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tigers traded artillery fire again, analysts and executives say the worst fighting since a 2002 truce is delaying investments in the $23 billion economy. Three weeks of fierce fighting that many regard as a new chapter of a two-decade civil war, coupled with an assassination and two car bombs in the capital in a week, have sent shudders through the investment community.

<B>LAPAZ. Philippines battles major oil spill, fishermen suffer. </B>Rescue workers battled on Wednesday to stop a huge oil spill from further polluting the central Philippine coastline as fishermen, smeared in the foul-smelling sludge, returned to shore with empty nets. “It’s just like an abscess, a medical problem. If you don’t remove it, more tissues are destroyed,” Guimaras Governor Joaquin Carlos Nava told a news conference. Fishing grounds, dive spots and a national marine reserve were contaminated and the livelihood of thousands of people threatened after a tanker carrying 2 million litres of bunker fuel sank off the coast of central Guimaras island on Friday. The provincial government has declared the tropical resort island a disaster zone and officials have warned that the spill, the largest to afflict the Southeast Asian country, could take three years to clean with over 200 km of coastline affected. Officials have estimated that about 200,000 litres of fuel seeped from the submerged tanker, chartered by the Philippine’s largest refiner Petron, producing a 20 nautical mile wide spill.