GENEVA - THE Red Cross said on Monday it will have built more than 55,000 houses for people hit by the devastating 2004 South Asian tsunami by the end of 2009, when most major construction work should wind down.

'Almost all major construction programmes are due to be completed by the end of 2009, when about 90 per cent of funding will have been spent,' said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in a statement.

CALCUTTA - THE deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in samples taken from dead chickens in eastern India, authorities said on Monday.

It was the second outbreak of bird flu in India's West Bengal state and came as several thousand birds have been slaughtered in the neighboring state of Assam, where authorities have been battling an outbreak for several weeks.

NEW DELHI - THE militants who attacked India's financial centre last month, killing 179 people, also stole credit cards, money and mobile telephones from their victims, Mumbai's top police officer said on Monday.

The stolen goods and currency included thousands of rupees and dollars found on the bodies of the nine gunmen killed by police during the three-day siege in Mumbai. A 10th gunmen survived and was captured by police.