In Syria, thousands of troops are assaulting the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour where the government claims 120 of its soldiers and police were killed last week. Leaving aside exactly how they died, the government in Damascus is making it lethally clear that in future its opponents, peaceful opponents or not, will be treated as if they were armed gunmen. An extraordinary aspect of the Syrian uprisings is that people go on Read more…
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Archive for June, 2011
Fighting threatens civilians in Sudan’s Kordofan region
June 13, 2011
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Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, center, waves to the crowd during a visit to North Kordofan state Feb. 8. Celebrations for a new nation rippled throughout Southern Sudan as election officials confirmed that nearly 99 percent of voters in the referendum had chosen independence. (CNS photo/Reuters)
A major humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan’s oil-producing South Kordofan state, with church and humanitarian officials saying some 300,000 persons are trapped, cut off from relief aid and unable to flee fighting between forces of the Sudanese government and members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, the former rebel group based in Southern Sudan.
In recent days, there have been growing reports of civilians fleeing to the Nuba mountains in South Kordofan, where officials of the Sudan Council of Churches say civilians are, according to one source, “being hunted down like animals by Read more…
Categories: Sudan
civilians, Darfur, Omar al-Bashir, Southern Kordofan, Sudan, violence
Ash Cloud Spreads From Erupting Nabro Volcano In Eritrea
June 13, 2011
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Nabro volcano, Eritrea, next to the border with Ethiopia. Credit: ESA/NASA
The Anabro (Nabro) volcano in the Northern Red Sea Region of Eritrea has erupted sending an ash plume more than 13.5 kilometres into the sky and disrupting air traffic across eastern Africa.
Part of the Afar Triangle, the stratovolcano is one of many volcanic caldera complexes in the north easternmost part of the East African Rift valley region. Nabro is located in the Danakil Depression, close to Eritrea’s border with Ethiopia and north of Djibouti, and has not erupted in at least 150 years. It is the most prominent of 3 large volcanoes (Nabro, Dubbi, Mallahle) in the region, each containing a large summit caldera.
The volcano erupted at 2103 GMT Sunday evening. The Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) said Monday that the 5,331 ft volcano has resulted in a large ash plume of up to 13.5 kilometres (8 miles) high. The scale of the eruption, compared to the ongoing eruption in Chile and 2010′s eruption at Eyjafjallajökull in Read more…
Categories: Eritrea, volcano
Afar Triangle, Africa, Chile, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, Nabro volcano, plume, Red Sea, volcanoes
Hopes for democracy fade as civil wars grip the Arab world
June 13, 2011
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A Syrian soldier on a military bus near Jisr al-Shughour, where authorities said 120 soldiers and police were killed
The Arab awakening is turning into the Arab nightmare. Instead of ushering in democracy, the uprisings in at least three Arab states are fast becoming vicious civil wars. In the past 10 days, crucial developments in Syria, Libya and Yemen have set these countries spiralling into violent and intractable struggles for power.
Categories: Middle East
Ali Abdullah Saleh, Bahrain, censorship, civil war, Egypt, Libya, middle east, protests, Saudi Arabia, Sunni, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen
US intercepted N. Korea ship over arms fears
June 13, 2011
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North Korean cargo ship Kang Nam I docks at Thilawa port, south of Myanmar’s commerical capital Yangon (AFP/File, Khin Maung Win)
SEOUL — The US Navy intercepted a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missiles or other weapons to Myanmar and made it turn back, a senior US official said Monday.
The comments by Gary Samore, special assistant to President Barack Obama on weapons of mass destruction, confirmed reports of the incident, which happened last month, in The New York Times and South Korean media.
The New York Times said the ship was intercepted south of the Chinese city of Shanghai by a US destroyer on May 26.
In an interview with Yonhap news agency, Samore identified the cargo ship as the M/V Light and said it may have been bound for Myanmar with military-related contraband, such as small arms or missile-related items.
“We talked directly to the North Koreans. We talked directly to all the Southeast Asian countries including Myanmar, urging them to inspect the ship if it called into their port,” he was quoted as saying.
“The US Navy also contacted the North Read more…
Categories: North Korea
missiles, Myanmar, North Korea, United States
Locusts Invade Russia and China, Threatening Food Supply
June 13, 2011
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Millions of Locusts Invade Russia
June 9, 2011
MSNBC – Giant swarms of locusts are said to be threatening the food supply for nearly 20 million people in the region.
Locust Plague Ravages NW China
May 5, 2011
Xinhua – Large swarms of locusts have laid waste to vast tracts of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, with authorities expecting the plague to worsen as the weather heats up.
The locust plague began in the pastureland of the Ili River Valley and Read more…
Categories: China, disease and pestilence, Russia
China, disease and pestilence, food, Food Crisis, Locusts, Russia
Rules eased on snooping by the FBI
June 13, 2011
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WASHINGTON — The FBI is giving significant new powers to its roughly 14,000 agents, allowing them more leeway to search databases, go through household trash, or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention.The FBI soon plans to issue a new edition of its manual, called the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide, according to an official who has worked on the draft document and several others who have been briefed on its contents.
The new rules add to several measures taken over the past decade to give agents more latitude as they search for signs of criminal or terrorist activity.
The FBI recently briefed several privacy advocates about the coming changes. Among them, Michael German, a former FBI agent who is now a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, argued it was unwise to further ease restrictions on agents’ power to use potentially intrusive techniques, especially if they Read more…
Categories: GOVERNMENT
FBI, government, privacy, Surveillance, United States
Sprouts to Blame for E. Coli Outbreak
June 10, 2011
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Despite no positive findings of Escherichia coli on sampled produce, German officials have determined that bean sprouts are the source of the deadliest outbreak in recent European history.
“It’s possible to narrow it down. It’s the sprouts. However, it’s not yet been possible to detect the pathogen on this product,” said Reinhard Burger, chief of Germany’s national disease control center, during a press conference in Berlin on Friday.
Burger said that the pattern of the outbreak, which has sickened 3,082 and killed 31, has led them to conclude that the source of E. coli is an organic farm in Bienenbuettel, Germany, which is about 70 miles south of Hamburg, the epicenter of the outbreak.
It is possible that no traces of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) will ever be linked to the outbreak, as most of the suspected sprouts have been consumed or thrown into the garbage after spoiling, German officials said. However, the hunt for the bacterium is not over.
“Of the 18 samples taken [from the organic farm], eight Read more…
Categories: disease and pestilence, Europe
cucumbers, disease and pestilence, E. coli, Escherichia coli, Europe, lettuce, sprouts, vegetables
Rare Snowfall Blankets African Desert
June 10, 2011
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Namib-Naukluft Park as it normally looks and as it appeared this week. Images Wiki and The Namibian
Parts of the south-west Africa nation of Namibia usually associated with heat and dust have been blanketed in snow.
A storm brought sub zero temperatures and snow to the Namib-Naukluft Park this week, which local forecasters have described as an extremely rare event. The average overnight temperature, measured from Tuesday 18h00 until 06h00 Wednesday, was a record low of 2.1 degrees Celsius.
According to namibiaweather.info, the lowest temperature recorded by weather stations on Tuesday was Read more…
Categories: Namibia, Strange Events
desert, Namib Desert, Namibia, snow, strange, strange weather
Hawaii Volcano May Overflow As Lava Levels Rise
June 10, 2011
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Rising lava levels at the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii are being monitored closely by scientists.
Video released by the US Geological Survey showed a stream of orange molten rock gathering at the volcano’s Halema’uma’u vent.
It represents a natural phenomena scientists call a pyroclastic flow, with lava surging into a lake where temperatures can rise as high as 700C.
The lake, which is believed to have formed in the later part of 2009, has been reported to resemble an above-ground swimming pool.
But there are concerns the lava level could overflow the rim – while there was also new activity at the Puu Oo crater, which appeared to be draining lava until recently.
The Water Crisis in African Cities
June 10, 2011
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Access to running water remains in a state of crisis for a huge number of people across Africa, writes Michel Makpenon. With growing urbanisation across the continent, African cities will need the political determination to ensure sustainable water resources based on social need rather than commercial concerns, he stresses.
The water issue is a major problem for people in sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, the water situation in sub-Saharan Africa remains characterised by the difficult access to this resource, the poor supply management of watering places and the high costs of water network connections. For instance, in Benin one household in three doesn’t have access to drinking water, and the problem is much more acute in rural areas.
Households having access to drinking water are considered as households who have drinking water at home or within 200 metres from home: running water from the company’s distribution network, fountain water, water from the village pump, water tank and water from protected wells.
Various consultations led with the populations have indeed confirmed that the water issue is a major problem for them. The concerns, as raised by the populations, focus on the difficult access to water and the poor management of the watering places, the difficulties to call for the financial participation of the population for the creation and the management of watering places and the borehole characteristics which are Read more…
Categories: Africa, water
Africa, agriculture, Benin, Cotonou, drinking water, gasoline, Kenya, Lagos, Nairobi, Nigeria, water crisis
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