US to support Haiti police and deliver aid to counter gangs
Washington DC, USReuters The United States on Wednesday said it will boost support for the Haitian police as they battle armed gangs and will speed up delivery of aid to a country suffering from crippling shortages of basic goods due to a gang blockade of a key fuel terminal. Haitian gangs have for a month […]
Gang blockade cripples Haiti fuel supplies, hospitals prepare to close
Port-au-Prince, HaitiReuters A gang blockade of Haiti’s principal fuel terminal has crippled day-to-day activities in the Caribbean nation and now threatens to force the closure of hospitals that rely on diesel generators for electricity. Port-au-Prince gangs in a brazen move this month dug trenches and littered shipping containers at entrances to the Varreux terminal to […]
Cuba brings oil depot fire under control, worst in island’s history
Matanzas, Cuba Reuters Firefighters on Tuesday finally overcame what officials described as the worst fire in Cuba’s history that over five days destroyed 40% of the Caribbean island’s main fuel storage facility and caused massive blackouts. Reuters witnesses reported the raging flames that ravaged a four-tank segment of the Matanzas super tanker port had died […]
Israel re-opens Gaza crossings as truce with Palestinians holds
Gaza/JerusalamReuters Israel reopened border crossings into Gaza on Monday following an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with the militant Islamic Jihad group that ended the most serious outbreak of fighting around the volatile Palestinian enclave in more than a year. At least 44 people, including 15 children, were killed in 56 hours of violence that began when Israeli […]
Crisis-hit Sri Lanka shuts schools, urges work from home to save fuel
Colombo, Sri LankaReuters Troops in Sri Lanka handed tokens on Monday to people queueing for petrol amid a severe fuel shortage in the nation battling its worst economic crisis in seven decades, while schools shut in Colombo and public employees were asked to work from home. With its foreign exchange reserves at a record low, […]
Sri Lankans protest near President’s residence; Catholic bishops call for unity
Colombo, Sri Lanka AP Sri Lanka police fired tear gas and a water canon to disperse several hundred people protesting Thursday near the private residence of the country’s President, demanding his resignation as the Indian Ocean island nation struggles with its worst economic crisis. Protestors demonstrated, shouting slogans condemning the long power cuts and shortages […]
With fuel scarce, Yemen’s forests are next casualty of war
Khamis Banisaad, YemenReuters Yemeni lumberjack Ali al-Emadi spends hours chopping down an acacia tree with an axe as his 12-year-old nephew helps out splitting logs. In a country blighted by war, Emadi had to turn to logging in his northern al-Mahweet region to eke out a living. An economic collapse has wiped out the farming […]
DEVELOPMENT: AID AGENCIES EYE SOLAR POWER TO REPLACE VOLATILE, COSTLY FUEL
LIN TAYLOR, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how aid agencies are increasingly looking to solar power to keep operations, including hospitals, running in countries…
Plant trees in refugee camps to stop forest loss and conflict, UN says
Thomson Reuters Foundation With a record 69 million people driven from their homes by war and persecution, the United Nations this week urged countries hosting large numbers of refugees to plant more trees as deforestation risks denuding landscapes and triggering conflict. Four out of five people who flee their homes rely on firewood for cooking […]