A number of foreigners have been kidnapped for ransom in the southern Philippines. Areas within the region are used as bases by Islamist militants and rebel groups.
The slow purr of the refrigerator motor is a well known noise to New Yorkers, with the same recognition factor as taxi horns and automated bus announcements.
As deliveries are made they are scanned. Any deviation of more than a few minutes sets off an alarm back at the operations desk, and a human voice calls up the driver wanting to know why there is a delay.
Eyewitnesses said the victim was standing on a platform at the Queens subway station when a woman rose from a bench and shoved him onto the tracks as a train arrived at the station.
And with an estimated 90% of current car accidents thought to be caused by human error, taking people out of the equation is seen by many car companies as a massive boost to safety.
A trial currently underway at Southampton General Hospital's intensive care ward has so far shown that health conditions such as high and low blood pressure do not seem to affect a patient's finger vein pattern to the extent that they become unrecognizable.
As well as being home to everything from whelks to whale sharks, the oceans offer a range of critical services, including acting as a source of food and regulating the atmosphere.
In particular, the oceans are also vital as sponges for green house gases, taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere through two processes - dissolving straight into the water column and also through photosynthesis by phytoplankton.
One said he broke his shoulder and suffered hand and leg injuries. "When the bombardment ended I tried to help the people who were injured," he was quoted as saying.
I feel smugger still as the aroma of fresh coffee heralds the arrival of the drinks service. Swiss friends often tell me, proudly, that their rail service is the best in the world, but recently, the Swiss love affair with their railway has turned a little sour.
This was not as easy as I had hoped, fiddling between credit card and phone with freezing cold fingers, but, by the time I got on the intercity to Geneva I had an e-ticket and I proudly showed it to the conductor.