· April, 2011

Stories about Disaster from April, 2011

Colombia on Red Alert After Heavy Rains

  29 April 2011

Colombia is on red alert due to heavy rains. Residents of 28 departments suffer extreme hardship: flooding, landslides and sudden increase in rivers and streams have left more than three million five hundred thousand victims.

North Korea: Rumors and Superstitions Surrounding Former US President Carter

  29 April 2011

Former US President Carter visited the North Korea to resolve the country's nuclear issues, but failed to meet North Korea's reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il. A North Korean insider report, Open Radio for North Korea wrote about superstitions surrounding Carter and how he gained “an inauspicious individual” status in the North.

Execution Tunnels in North Korea

  29 April 2011

There are strong claims that tunnels in North Korea have been adapted for mass-executions of political prisoners if the regime ever be threatened, according to local reports. Alec Macph shared links to North Korea's human rights violation cases in the Harry's Place blog .

Colombia's Harsh Winter

  27 April 2011

Global Voices author Lully Posada writes in equinoXio [es] about winter in Colombia and the strong rains that have left more than 3 million victims.

North Korea: Three Films Denouncing Kim Jong-il Regime

  26 April 2011

Three films which give a rare glimpse inside the North Korea have been introduced during the North Korea Freedom Week, an annual event jointly held in Seoul and Washington hosting lectures and film screenings focusing human rights abuses in the North. Mike Paarlberg posted a detailed introduction to the films in...

Mexico: Northern States Hit by Wildfires

  25 April 2011

Alejandro Ortiz Sotomayor in Vivir México [es] shares a photo by Jorge Alberto Mendoza Mariscal which shows the work of Mexican firefighters as they try to control a “Spring” wildfire in northern Mexico.

Belarus, Ukraine: “Chernobyl: The First Month”

  23 April 2011

At OpenDemocracy.net, Barys Piatrovich, a Belarusian writer and journalist, recalls the first month after the Chernobyl catastrophe of April 26, 1986: “It was difficult for me to write this text. I've been working up to it for over twenty years. More than once I have started to write but given...

North Korea: North Korean Defectors’ Remittances to Families in North

  22 April 2011

North Korean expert Andrei Lankov, wrote about the remittances from North Korean defectors on the East Asian Forum site. Despite their economic struggle in capitalistic South Korea, they send money to their starving families in the North, a basically illegal act according to both South and North Korean law.

Chile: Nurse Expedites Organ Transport Using Twitter

  21 April 2011

Cristina Bizama, a nurse at Talca hospital in Chile, has devised a way to speed up the transport of organs from the city of Talca to the capital, Santiago, some 260 kilometers away. Everything started with one tweet: "Incredible! There is no way to transport 5 organs to [Santiago]."

Lebanon: Seven Estonian Hostages Appeal for Help

  21 April 2011

On March 25, Estonian YouTube user HelensVlogs reported on the kidnapping of seven Estonian tourists two days earlier, as they were cycling in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. On April 20, the seven hostages appeared in this video, pleading for help. (More info, on BBC News – here and here.)

Kazakhstan: Bloggers Keep an Eye on Floods as Official Media Keep Quiet

  20 April 2011

Two large cities in Kazakhstan are suffering from major floods, situated in the centers of two provinces – Uralsk in the western part of the country and Ust-Kamenogorsk in the east. Official media and many private publications have not provided a full picture of the disaster, and the real scope of damage is not being told. Bloggers have led the coverage of the situation, taking field trips with photo and video cameras, and providing assistance to the people.

Ukraine: “Crumbs From the Table”

  20 April 2011

Foreign Notes reports that a Ukrainian MP Rinat Akhmetov has bought a penthouse in London for £136 million ($222 million), and intends to donate $1 million for the construction of the new containment structure at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant; Akhmetov's fellow Party of Regions MP Mykola Lisin died in...

Brazil/Japan: Bridge Blogging Post-Earthquake News

  19 April 2011

“I read a post from a japanese blogger, I found it truly interesting and I decided to translate part of it”, said [pt] Satou Mihoko, who has decided to bridge japanese news to the portuguese speaking  community, following the earthquake. Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside of...

North Korea: Starving People Welcome Big Forest Fires

  19 April 2011

A recent NASA satellite photo showed a number of forest fires in North Korea. Free North Korea Radio, an internet-based news media founded and runs by North Korean defectors, reported [ko] that starving North Koreans welcome the news since the fire will clear land for farming. (Read translation here)

Japan: “Nuclear Power Mafia”

  17 April 2011

An anoymous user published on Nichannel (2ch) some pages from the manga titled Hakuryu Legend – Nuclear Power Mafia [ja] (by Tennoji Dai and Watanabe Michio), whose publication was suspended [en] after the earthquake. The story is about a journalist who conducts an investigation on a power company called Toto...