Stories about Disaster from August, 2008
Morocco: Passengers Set Fire to Plane
The View From Fez reports that angry Royal Air Maroc passengers set fire to their aircraft following over six hours of a delay. The pilot had to make an emergency landing in Barcelona.
Guyana: Hospital Fire
The entire psychiatric ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital was gutted by fire early yesterday morning. Bloggers have been chronicling the story...
Philippines: Humanitarian crisis
Filipino blogger On the 8 Spot insists the more important issue that media should tackle is not the charter change proposal of the national government but the humanitarian crisis in a southern province in the Philippines
Georgia, Russia: Governments Unable to Protect Civilians
Ukrainian journalist Ihor Lutsenko - LJ user igordaily - has just returned from an assignment in Georgia. Below is one the latest posts on his blog, about the plight of both Georgian and Russian citizens currently in Georgia.
Egypt: Did an Egyptian tycoon order the murder of a pop star?
Raed, from the blog Babylon & Beyond, discusses rumours surrounding the involvement of an Egyptian businessman with the murder of Lebanese singer Susan Tamim in Dubai, UAE. Another blogger, Zeinobiya sheds more information on the murder here.
Will Bangladesh drown?
Bangladesh is a nation which is on the front line of the consequence of the climate changes. Being a populous river delta nation it faces the threat of sea level rise due to global warming. This threat is not new as often floods make hundreds of thousands of people homeless,...
African MSM & Sex Workers Voice Concerns and Hopes at AIDS 2008
The AIDS 2008 conference (IAC) in Mexico City drew to a close on August, 8th, 2008. The theme of the conference was “universal action now” and judging by the heavy international attendance, the focus on marginalized communities and the daily newsletter aptly called “Global Voice”, it delivered on the promise....
Mongolia: Day of Fathers to be marked
RML says that Mongolian men work hard, drink hard, live hard, but recently proposed Day of Fathers could be a good step to raise the prestige of being a father, a good husband, and a good provider.
Kazakhstan: Morality Would Frown Upon
Adam posts a shocking story of the raping of a schoolgirl in a distant province and the failure of law enforcement bodies to investigate the case properly. The story was published in a Kazakh-language newspaper.
Tajikistan: Energy crisis repeated
Vadim reports that Tajikistan will not be able to avoid another harsh winter without electricity.
Lebanon: Fires and Global Warming
Summer forest fires have been erupting in what is left of the Lebanese wilderness for years now. And every year, the blame game is played; starting with parties and politicians blaming each other for not being prepared, to blaming each other for intentionally starting the flames. So, what do the bloggers have to say about this?
Japan: Atomic Bombing Anniversary
Yesterday was the the anniversary of the atomic bombing in Japan, Tokyogenso expresses hope for world peace. Martin from Kurashi quotes from the NHK documentary about the effects of atomic bomb to the victims.
Myanmar: Bloggers and Cyclone Nargis
Ashin Mettacara notes that aside from Buddhist monks, bloggers have been consistent in helping the cyclone victims of Myanmar by raising money from blogs.
Ukraine: Political Optimism After Flood Disaster
Ukrainiana comments on the optimism over flood disaster reconstruction expressed by Ukrainian President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Timoshenko, and interprets it as influenced by the upcoming presidential elections.
Ukraine: Chernobyl
Belatedly, a trip report, photos and video from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, by Darkness at Noon – here and here.
Israel: Traffic Awareness for Muslims
From Israel, Not a Fish writes about a traffic course for non-Jewish residents in Israel – aimed at reducing road accidents. A total of 250 Muslim clergymen attended a day of lectures on child safety, accident prevention and the Muslim belief in fate versus personal responsibility. Since the beginning of...
Ukraine: Treatment of Flood Victims
Ukrainiana writes and translates on the treatment of Ukrainian flood victims.
China: Healing through Olympic participation
Susan Brownell at The China Beat recounts a moving story of how she and a few colleagues took a re-enactment of the Olympic Torch relay to one of the hardest-hit parts of the Sichuan earthquake zone, and what positive effect seeing that had on the children there.
