Posts Tagged ‘August’
Pakistan’s forgotten flood survivors are still being found
Tens of thousands of Pakistanis cut off by flooding in August have still not received any aid. In Sindh Province, floodwaters are slowly receding and whole communities of desperate people are being identified for the first time. Jill McGivering visited one village in the north-west of Sindh which aid agencies only managed to reach in the past few days…
The small village of Abdul Aziz Chachar barely makes a mark on the landscape. It is a bare expanse of mud, surrounded by floodwater.
Two brick houses and one mud house are still standing. The other 16 houses were washed away, along with the village school and mosque.
A pile of bamboo and tree branches is the only evidence that they ever existed…
In all that time, the villagers received nothing from the outside world.
No tents, no plastic sheeting, no building materials for basic shelters, no clean drinking water and no food, apart from one parcel retrieved from an early aid drop.
Just a few days ago, a local aid agency established contact with them for the first time…
RTFA. Wonder how much aid has yet to flow from the government of Pakistan, how much from benevolent allies of Pakistan?
How about diverting military aid to civilian refugee aid? After four months, eh?
Get the most out of the meteor show
This year’s Perseid meteor shower is shaping up as a beaut. The big night is next Thursday, but anytime now is a great time for skywatching – not only to see shooting stars, but to see the planets as well.
The Perseids are among the year’s best-known meteor showers, especially for mid-northern latitudes. Here’s why: The show begins ramping up in late July and hits its peak around Aug. 12-13, when it’s usually pleasant to hang around outdoors in the northern hemisphere. Perseid meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, which is high up in the sky at about 3:30 a.m. in northern latitudes – prime time for meteor watching.
But the big attraction comes down to how many shooting stars you can see: During this time of year, Earth plows through the trails of space grit that have been laid down by Comet Swift-Tuttle as it makes its 130-year orbit around the sun. When those particles of grit zip through the upper atmosphere, they heat up and create those bright streaks we all know and love.
Fortunately for meteor-watchers, there’s a lot of grit out there…
Skywatchers have tracked the Perseids for centuries….The sky conditions are nearly ideal for this year’s show, because the moon will be just a few days past its new phase. When the moon is full, its glare overwhelms the meteor flashes in the night sky, making viewing problematic. But this year’s crescent moon will be far below the horizon by midnight, when the meteor show enters prime time.
I’ve already seen one phenomenal fireball. It was an evening with a solid – but high up – overcast. A beautiful red fireball dropped from the bottom of the overcast and followed a visual track just as if it was a flare dropped from an airplane. Which meant it was proceeding directly away from me.
Stayed solid and glowing red till it disappeared beyond my sight line. Over the apparent horizon which, in my case, was a line of hills less than 10 miles away. Outstanding.
All World Cup players for France dropped for Norway friendly
Shh. Don’t tell Thierry Henry!
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission
New France coach Laurent Blanc Friday has punished the country’s farcical World Cup squad by dropping each of the 23 players for a friendly against Norway next month.
Blanc’s decision to take action was approved by the French Football Federation’s federal council after a meeting with Raymond Domenech’s successor in Paris.
France suffered a miserable World Cup campaign in South Africa, marked by striker Nicolas Anelka’s expulsion after his foul-mouthed tirade at Domenech, infighting, and the players’ refusal to train.
‘Les Bleus’ returned home in ignominy after failing to win any of their first round games, with Domenech refusing to shake South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parriera’s hand following the final defeat to the hosts…
France football has endured a woeful year, with Thierry Henry’s controversial handball which put France into the World Cup at the expense of Ireland in the play-offs, their pitiful display in the competition itself, and then the scandal involving international stars Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema who this week put under investigation on charges of having sex with an under-age prostitute.
Phew! How to start a new job, eh?
