By Tim Craig1 February 2014 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Washington Post) – Ramesh Iqbal lives in one of the Pakistani capital’s middle-class neighborhoods and attends college. But on a recent day, he and two friends emerged from a wooded area, their arms full of the logs and branches they had to gathered to warm their homes. “We […]
4 January 2013 (MercoPress) – Argentina sanctions power companies for repeated outages that affected millions Federal Planning Minister Julio De Vido said the government of President Cristina Fernandez will not give in to “companies’ pressure’ that seek to reach a tariff hike. “The system failed where there was no investment,” the minister affirmed accusing Edenor […]
By MASAKAZU HONDA4 January 2014 URUMA, Okinawa Prefecture (The Asahi Shimbun) – Yoshitatsu Uechi recalls with disgust the disregard for worker safety, the makeshift plans and the cost-cutting measures, including the use of adhesive tape on key equipment, at his job last year. He said an emphasis on saving time and expenses was clear when […]
30 December 2013 (BBC News) – Main roads to the Argentine capital Buenos Aires have been blocked by people protesting against power cuts. They are demanding government action on shortages that have been affecting many parts of the city. Residents set fire to rubbish bags and tyres on the roads, causing long traffic jams as […]
18 November 2013 (World Bank) – Since the 1980s, there has been an upward trend in disaster losses. During the 1980–2012 period, estimated total reported losses due to disasters amounted to US$3.8 trillion. Weather-related or hydro-meteorological disasters accounted for 74% (US$2.6 tril- lion) of total reported losses, 87% (18,200) of total disasters, and 61% (1.4 […]
By Mari Saito and Antoni Slodkowski30 December 2013 SENDAI, Japan (Reuters) – Seiji Sasa hits the train station in this northern Japanese city before dawn most mornings to prowl for homeless men. He isn’t a social worker. He’s a recruiter. The men in Sendai Station are potential laborers that Sasa can dispatch to contractors in […]
29 December 2013 (M24 Digital) – The Mayor of Buenos Aires Mauricio Macri, declared on Saturday a state of “emergency” in the city of Buenos Aires as a result of power outages and called the nation to form a committee to “monitor the crisis” and work to solve the problems. In a press conference, Macri […]
By Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry11 December 2013 BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese authorities have told pilots who fly to Beijing they must be qualified to land their aircraft in the low visibility bought about by smog, state media said on Thursday, as the government tries to reduce flight delays due to pollution. Beginning January […]
By Antoni Slodkowski5 December 2013 NAHA, Japan (Reuters) – Storage tanks at the Fukushima nuclear plant like one that spilled almost 80,000 gallons of radioactive water this year were built in part by workers illegally hired in one of the poorest corners of Japan, say labor regulators and some of those involved in the work. […]
By Nina Chestney; Editing by Louise Heavens18 November 2013 WARSAW (Reuters) – Global economic losses caused by extreme weather events have risen to nearly $200 billion a year over the last decade and look set to increase further as climate change worsens, a report by the World Bank showed on Monday. A United Nations’ panel […]
