11.   Prime Minister Bill Skate said Tuesday after again touring the stricken region that he has little hope of the missing being found alive.

12.   Senior officials from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group have voiced initial support for a U.S. proposal to strengthen social safety nets in the economically stricken region.

13.   Taiwan has used its financial strength to make subtle diplomatic gains in the stricken region, and Siew visited Indonesia and the Philippines earlier this year.

14.   The Ardennes, in eastern France, was the worst stricken region and the Meuse river was at record levels.

15.   The earthquakes, about three months apart, highlighted severe public health problems that already existed in the remote poverty stricken regions of Afghanistan.

16.   The earthquake also cut water supplies to the area and water tankers were sent from Mashhad to the stricken region.

17.   The stricken region is a stronghold of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed guerrilla group fighting to dislodge Israeli occupation troops from south Lebanon.

18.   German army relief experts went to the stricken region Tuesday to coordinate assistance and assess the damage.

19.   Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani cancelled a planned trip to the stricken region because of the heavy snow, fog and winds affecting the area since Monday.

20.   A team of German relief experts is already in the stricken region to coordinate assistance and assess damage.