· April, 2008

Stories about Humanitarian Response from April, 2008

Zimbabwe: Truth and Justice Coalition

There is Truth and Justice Coalition in Zimbabwe: “The Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe (IDAZIM) has initiated, with full support from civil society, labour and legal organizations, the...

28 April 2008

Southeast Asia: Rice and food price crisis

The Southeast Asian region, home to several emerging and developing economies, is also struggling to cope with the global food price crisis. Bloggers discuss the impact of the crisis in the region.

28 April 2008

PangeaDay: Videos to change the world on May 10th

On May 10th 2008 at 18:00 GMT, 24 films will be broadcast during a 4 hour event. What makes this different is that this event, PangeaDay will be broadcast from six locations worldwide in seven different languages worldwide to be viewed through internet, television or cellphones with one unique purpose: to make each other know about the lives of others and focus on what makes us similar, instead of what makes us different and let us work together towards peace.

26 April 2008

Russia: “Chernobyl's Other Victims”

Window on Eurasia writes about “Chernobyl's other victims” – “the thousands of people who exposed themselves to extraordinarily high levels of radiation while taking part in the clean up” and...

25 April 2008

Israel: Modern Day Exodus, on African Refugees and their Right for Medical Care

Around 6,000 African refugees escaped the horrors in their countries, and seek refuge in Israel. Many of them live in harsh conditions and can be spotted shivering cold on the streets of southern Tel-Aviv. The insensitive behavior from the side of the Israeli government comes only tens of years after the holocaust, when Jews came to the same plot of land, seeking refuge from the horrors of Europe, writes Gilad Lotan, who shows us how a group of bloggers are volunteering to draw a smile on the faces of countless of destitute refugees.

24 April 2008

China: Netizens defend Zimbabwe arms sales

As China's latest shipment of weapons and ammunition sits stranded off the coast of southeastern Africa and president Mugabe of landlocked Zimbabwe digs in against accusations of a fixed election, the majority of Chinese netizens are defending their government's arms sales to the country, at the same time accusing the US and its allies of double standards.

23 April 2008

Egypt: Blogger Sharqawi Released

From Egypt, Hossam El Hamalawy announced the release of blogger Mohammed Al Sharqawi – but is concerned about the welfare of other detainees who have gone ‘missing.’ Sharqawi was arrested...

21 April 2008

Egypt: Detainees Update

From Egypt, blogger Hossam El Hamalawy updates us on the conditions of those arrested in the recent Al Mahalla protests and clashes, over inflation and increasing salaries. They include bloggers,...

21 April 2008

AIDS – A Taboo in the Arab World

AIDS, the deadly acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is a taboo word in the Arab world. But the scary word has managed to crop up in many blog posts this week - from Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Bahrain and Yemen.

18 April 2008

Indonesia: Volcanic eruption

The Volcanism Blog reports that Mount Egon on Flores Island, Indonesia, erupted a 4 kilometer ash plume late on Tuesday 15 April, causing the evacuation of hundreds of villagers from...

16 April 2008

Fiji: Catch the Trashers on Camera

Strange Pants posts about a new public service blog, “Fiji Trash“, which aims to “showcase people who insist on ignoring all common sense and who believe that rubbish thrown onto...

16 April 2008

Egypt: Residential Independence

OTV is a private Egyptian satellite TV channel which has attracted the attention of its viewers from the day it was launched, thanks to its liberal approach, the issues it tackles and the way it tackles them, which is different from conservative and traditional TV channels. Tarek Amr writes about how the channel covered the issue of unmarried girls living on their own and how a blogger reacted to it.

15 April 2008

D.R. of Congo: Fifth fatal crash in under a year, food prices the real disaster

News agencies are reporting that 75 were killed when a cargo plane crashed in Goma shortly after takeoff on Tuesday. Du Cabiau à Kinshasa reflects on how a plane crash can bring attention to the DRC, generally ignored by Western media, even though it's reeling from one of the greatest human disasters in a century. But Cabiau thinks the skyrocketing food prices, although less photogenic, are the real disaster in the making.

15 April 2008

Syria: 60 years after Deir Yasin

“As Israel prepares to celebrate its sixtieth anniversary, and as Palestinians reach sixty years of dispossession, we must honor the memory of those who perished in the savage butchery that...

15 April 2008