Stories about Disaster from May, 2006
China: Rights news roundup
Celia in her China Activist Weekly news roundup this week looks at Kofi Annan's recent visit to China, the media ban on coverage of the fortieth anniversary of the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, another mine collapse trapping at least forty miners and...
Cambodia: What caused Angkor's Fall?
Curzon at cominganarchy.com has a discussion on the latest thinking behind the collapse of the civilisation that built the Angkor monuments in Cambodia.
Haitian Diaspora: Franco-Haitian Solidarity Meeting
CollectifHaitideProvence announces (Fr) they received an invitation by Collectif Haitien de France [Haitian Collective of France] to participate in a series of meetings taking place June 3 and 4. The main themes of the meetings will be humanitarian solidarity and education, development, the problems of Haitian migrants in France, and...
Haiti: New Blog CollectifHaitideProvence
CollectifHaitideProvence [Haitian Collective of Provence, France] is the name of a new French and Creole language blog launched by a Haitian organization of the same name made up of nine organizations that seem to be based in either France, Haiti or both. Their first entry posted yesterday explains (Fr &...
China: Pinyin's persecuted past
Pinyin, the alphabetized version of simplified Chinese which today makes learning of the language so much easier was not, as noted by Pinyin.info blogger Mark Swofford, embraced during the Cultural Revolution as a communication tool, but rather attacked as ideologically incorrect with all traces burnt in the street.
Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis: Soufriere Hills Volcano activity
Georgia Popplewell reports from St. Kitts that the dome of the Soufriere Hills Volcano in Montserrat (sixty miles away) has collapsed and an ash eruption has caused flights in the vicinity to be cancelled, due to reduced visibility. She quotes an activity report from the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (whose website...
Cambodia: Kindness of Strangers
Vutha encounters an accident and goes to help the injured person. This reminds blogger Vanna of a similar incident where he helped an injured stranger.
Russia: Blogger Dies on Mount Elbrus
Aleksandr Antonov (aka LJ user caesar_rb) 1979-2006 Aleksandr Antonov's last LJ post was a very happy one: he was going on a two-week vacation to conquer Mount Elbrus. Here's what he wrote on April 30 (RUS), as LJ user caesar_rb: I'm going to Elbrus! So, my dear comrades, I'm leaving...
Nigeria: Balls of fire
Nigeria: A long and difficult history posts a piece on the recent pipeline fire in Lagos which killed over 200 people with some photos.
China: Typhoon averted
Six hundred thousand people were evacuated, blogs Brian Schwarz at China Challenges, in preparation for Typhoon Chanchu, which swept through southern China this week. More thorough coverage from the GZ Expat blogger writing from Guangzhou, just north of Hong Kong.
Africa: Clandestine Emigration
Seckasysteme would like to see (Fr) “a summit of West African heads of state so that clandestine emigration can be uprooted and so as to find a durable solution to the problem.” “Hundreds have died since the beginning of the year for having simply tried to escape misery,” continues the...
Indonesia: Magic powers
Gunung Merapi, a volcano in Indonesia finally started spewing out dangerous gas clouds. Ktemoc writes about some nearby residents who are refusing to leave citing their magical powers that would prevent any harm to them.
This week in the African women’s blogsphere
As diverse as ever, African women have been writing about a range of issues. 14 May was Mother’s Day in some parts of the world and African women honoured the important women in their lives. Adaure congratulates all mothers and grandmothers and says her mother is the best anyone can...
Suriname: Update on flood relief efforts
At World Wide Help, Angelo Embuldeniya posts a two-part update on the ongoing flood disaster in Suriname from Sharda Ganga, head of Stichting Projekta, an NGO helping to coordinate volunteer relief efforts. “The latest news from Upper Suriname … was that it started raining again. If the rainfall continues, the...
Oil Pipeline Blast in Nigeria as Nigerian bloggers see it
A devastating oil pipeline blast hit Nigeria yet again, last week resulting in the death of over 200 people. I have compiled the perspective of some Nigerian bloggers about the sad event.
Suriname: Emergency SMS
Emergency SMS (short message service) could have helped the situation in Suriname, says Taran Rampersad: “Millions being spent world wide for disaster communication, and nobody wants to go with the cheapest solution that integrates into existing emergency communication and replaces ancient things which, by their nature, are allowing more damage...
Extensive Flooding in Suriname
HEAVY FLOODING has affected more than 157 villages in Suriname over the past 48 hours and 15,000 people have been displaced already. “Operation Falawatra” (Operation “Low Tide”), the government's aid operation currently being carried out by the national army and police, has been hampered because of continued torrential rainfall, and...
Afghanistan: Famous singer & street kids
According to Yadashthaye Adabi, Farhad Darya, a famous Afghan singer, performed among street kids to attract government's attention to children's misery in Afghanistan (Persian).
Afghan Whispers: To Celebrate or not!
Afghan bloggers talk about anniversary of Kabul's fall in hands of Mujahedin. They disagree about whether or not to celebrate. Why should the Afghan people celebrate this day? Did they get freedom, justice or…. The blogger adds this event just brought more war for another ten years (Persian). He says,...
Russia: Expat Living
Nancy Case of Case In Point writes on how tragic events in one part of the world may affect dining plans of American expats living in another part of the world.
Armenia: Armavia Update
Harmick posts the latest on the Armavia crash at Blogrel.
