high alert. because of worries that political turmoil in lebanon could spill over to renewed violence on their shared border. the lebanese government collapsed wednesday after the iranian backed militant group hezbollah resigned. floodwaters are started to recede in australia, following one of the country s worst ever natural disasters. more than two dozen are dead and scores more are missing tonight many towns are still under water. mark jeffrey of global radio news has the latest from brisbane. as the river begins to recede, the toll is being counted this brisbane, australia, following a week of massive flooding. the death toll stands at 25, and a further 51 people are missing. 11 ,900 homes were tote totally inundated. they have 27,000 homes affected by the flooding. queensland premier, equivalent to the u.s. governor was
nearly two months are finally back on dry land now. the boys, drifting on a tiny boat for more than # hundred miles before the crew of a fishing boat just happened to see them waving frantically yesterday afternoon. all three had been presumed dead. now, their families, of course, overjoyed to have them back home. we re so happy they arrived. we re so happy. everyone is so happy. we re so happy. what a story. jon: dorothy wickham is on the phone with us from the solomon islands, she is a reporter for global radio news. so these three boys got in this little tiny aluminum practically a canoe, i guess it had an engine on t. right, they set off, were going to go to a nearby island and something went wrong. do we know what happened? reporter: well, i think
imagine, 50 agonizing days in a small boat that had drifted more than 800 miles. they were presumed dead, their families even held a memorial service for them. the crew of a fishing boat saw the boys waving frantically yesterday afternoon, obviously hungry, dehydrated, but very much alive and happy to finally be safe. on the telephone to join us right now from the solomon islands is dorothy wickham, a reporter for global radio news. dorothy, the obvious question we must begin with, how did they manage to survive? what did they do for food and water? reporter: well, they told rescuers that they survived by catching fish and eating a sea gull that landed on their boat. gregg: and what about water? well, that was why they were very fortunate, because they had just told the
agreeing to take part in nato missile defense system in europe he said he ll promise to stand cooperation. president obama reacting to frustrated travelers concerned with the new security screening at some airports. he says the current procedures are the only ones security officials consider most effective to guard against terrorism. new orleans mayor is ordering more than 300,000 people to boil their water until sunday afternoon. the order is coming as a precaution after it was a power failure at the city s main treatment plant. rick: poisonous gasses are delaying rescue teams from entering a coal mine and reaching 29 trapped miners. a powerful blast trapping the miners on friday. rescuers will stay on stand-by until it s safe. family members clinging to hope. joining us is a correspondent o for global radio news. roger, what was the last time
24 hours ago now. they are still observing is to see if there is a risk of further eruption there. the last person i spoke to says they really don t know what is going to happen next. that was really quite spectacular last night. we ve had at least 29 people killed there. more than ten thousand have actually fled from the slopes of the volcano and are now living in temporary tents. those who didn t leave in time, some of them were injured on the way down and some that didn t leave were actually killed on the slopes of the volcano, including one man who is the spiritual keeper of the volcano who thought that it wouldn t erupt and he turned out to be wrong so him and a number of people died there in the village that was totally destroyed on the volcano s edge. jenna: thank you so much, global radio news correspondent covering the three natural disasters, jon in indonesia, quite a lot to handle. jon: in the midwest the danger continues, a powerful storm tearing through several states, and