Stories about Humanitarian Response from May, 2010
MENA: Rage after Israel Attacks Gaza-bound Flotilla
Emotions are running high across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), after Israel attacked a peaceful flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza - and the Twittersphere is ablaze. Also, are tweets commenting on the situation being censored?
Israel: The Freedom Flotilla – PR Stunt or Humanitarian Act?
Nine ships sailing from various destinations, including Ireland, Turkey and Greece, are headed towards the Gaza Strip, with the goal of breaking the Israeli maritime blockade. Gilad Lotan takes a closer look at reactions from the Hebrew blogosphere.
Ghana: Our first batch of refugees
Togo's Security Minister is quoted by the BBC saying that 3,500 refugees have crossed into Northern Togo from Ghana following ethnic conflict and land disputes. Ghanaian blogger and journalist Ato Dandzie discusses the issue in his post titled Our First Refugees.
Causes of Hatred in the Russian Blogosphere
Lj-user blondycandy received [RUS] more than 400 comments on the question “Why there's so much hatred in the Russian blogosphere”? Evgeny Gorny summarized [RUS] the most often suggestions: general ‘offline’ unhappiness, inferiority complex, impunity, lack of education, envy, specific ‘Russian mentality’ and so on.
Palestine: No Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza
Sherine Tadros, whose location is listed as Jerusalem/Gaza, tweets: “The israeli army head responsible for #gaza just told me there is ‘no humanitarian crisis’ in the strip. 80% poverty apparently not a cr…”
China: Dying young in FoxConn
SACOM, a NGO in Hong Kong which concerns about labour rights issue, posted an investigative report on the 10 consecutive suicide cases in FoxConn, one of the I-phone subcontractor in China.
Japan: Can Twitter help to prevent suicides?
Considered the dramatic increase of young victims who decide to commit suicide every year, some bloggers debate on the use of twitter to promote dialogue and help in suicide prevention.
Australia: Bob Geldof Rouses Aussie Rich
Aid celebrity Bob Geldof caused a stir on a visit to Australia this week by saying that "Australia is economically stupid for importing labour while Aboriginal talent goes to waste." Bloggers react.
Sri Lanka: Emergency Flood Relief
In Sri Lanka thousands of people are affected by the recent heavy rains and flashfloods especially in the western, southern and Sabaragamuwa provinces. Sarvodaya blog has the situation reports and information about relief, aid and assistance.
Egypt: No Longer Jewel of the Nile
Four of the seven upstream Nile Basin Initiative countries have decided to sign a new Nile deal. Despite strong Egyptian and Sudanese opposition, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia signed a new water-sharing agreement. Egyptian bloggers react to the news in this post by Marwa Rakha.
Bahrain: Why was Al Jazeera's Office Shut Down?
Bahrain temporarily shut down the office of Al Jazeera Satellite Channel for "violating professional conventions." Bloggers and tweeps react to the development in this post - especially after rumours surfaced that the Qatari station's bureau was closed because of a report it aired on poverty in Bahrain. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera says it doesn't even operate an office in Bahrain so what exactly is going on?
ICT for Development News in Japanese
“ICT for Development.JP” provides regular and comprehensive coverage of ICT4D news and project updates from around the world in Japanese. It is run by Maki and Tomonari, who started this blog as a response to the lack of centralized resources for this topic in Japanese.
Niger: Saving lives with text messages
Niger is currently experiencing food crisis that threatens more than half of the country's 14 million people. The United Nations has called for urgent humanitarian action. One blogger for Concern US blogs, Amanda McClelland, reports about a program using text messages to distribute emergency cash to the most vulnerable women in 160 villages in the country.
Colombia: The Displaced People of Ituango
Due to paramilitary and guerrilla hostilities, the people in the surrounding areas of the Colombian town of Ituango have had to abandon their lands and seek shelter in the town. Bloggers from the town write about the situation.
Haiti: Walking the Talk
For Inside Disaster, Emmanuel Midi covers two walks that recently took place in Port-au-Prince.
Djibouti: Food insecurity in Djibouti
A blogger based in Djibouti writes about food insecurity in the country: “Food instability is about to hit Djibouti. The rainy season ends in a month and there hasn’t been much rain this year. Meaning, an estimated 120,000 people will need food assistance through December. Meanwhile the lazy overweight woman...
Haiti: Sign Online
Haitianalysis.com blogs about “an online petition to demand that U.S., international and NGO officials provide more transparency and efficiency in the distribution of millions of dollars of international aid to Haiti.”
Singapore: Euthanasia debate
Rachel Zeng from Singapore is in favor of legalising active euthanasia.
Images from Japan's Largest Slum
The DJMICK blog posts select images by photojournalist Androniki Christodoulou of Japan’s Largest Slum in Kamagasaki, Osaka.
Niger: Niger back in the news?
Is Niger back in the news because of reports of famine? Not really: “Niger isn’t in the headlines. It’s barely ever been in the headlines. It got a couple of weeks of coverage in mid-2005, courtesy of a BBC camera crew who visited an MSF feeding centre in the east...
