An hour after the earthquake jolted the station building in PĂ©tionville near the capital Port-au-Prince, Viau and two reporters — the only three employees left inside — began what Viau calls a "panel discussion" which has barely ceased since. The city has shown its appreciation. Even as hundreds of Haitians arrived at the station with news of problems on specific streets or neighborhoods, many others have brought in plates of food for those working to keep the station running.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
An hour after the earthquake jolted the station building in PĂ©tionville near the capital Port-au-Prince, Viau and two reporters — the only three employees left inside — began what Viau calls a "panel discussion" which has barely ceased since. The city has shown its appreciation. Even as hundreds of Haitians arrived at the station with news of problems on specific streets or neighborhoods, many others have brought in plates of food for those working to keep the station running.
Friday, January 15, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Cellphone users in the United States have contributed more than $10 million to Haitian earthquake relief through text messages in what is being hailed as an unprecedented mobile response to a natural disaster.
Jim Manis, CEO of the foundation helping to manage cellphone donations, said it was receiving up to 10,000 text messages per second, he said. The foundation said more than $10 million has been donated.
Cellphone users can donate $5 to Haiti-born hip-hop musician Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund by texting the word "Yele" to 501501, or they can donate $10 to other nonprofit organizations, such as the American Red Cross, by texting the word "Haiti" to a specified number, like 90999.
The donation is charged to a user's cellphone bill.
A note from the Homeschool Hangout Zone Commentator:
Teen readers with cell phones (like me) who can text (unfortunately, not like me) - DONATE NOW! Don't text your usual $10 worth of texts this week - send it to Haiti instead! The American Red Cross text code is 90999. Give!
Up to 10,000 US troops will be on the ground or off the coast of Haiti by Monday to help deal with the earthquake aid effort, US defence officials say.
Tuesday's earthquake has left as many as 50,000-100,000 people dead.
Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said more than 15,000 bodies had already been recovered and buried, French news agency AFP reported.
The UN has launched a flash appeal for $562m (£346m), saying three million people would need help for six months.
US President Barack Obama described the scale of the devastation as extraordinary and the losses suffered as "heartbreaking".
(Image credit: news.yahoo.com)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Dubai opened the world's tallest skyscraper Monday in a blaze of fireworks, then added a final flourish: It renamed the half-mile-high tower for the head of neighboring Abu Dhabi, whose billions bailed out Dubai amid last year's financial crisis.
Long known as Burj Dubai — Arabic for "Dubai Tower" — the building rises 2,717 feet (828 meters) from the desert. The $1.5 billion "vertical city" of luxury apartments and offices and a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani also plans to have the world's highest mosque (158th floor) and swimming pool (76th floor).
Its backers wanted the skyscraper to be a monument to the boundless, can-do spirit of Dubai — one of a federation of seven small sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates — but the timing could not be worse. Property prices in parts of Dubai collapsed by nearly half in the past year, the result of easy credit and overbuilding during a real estate bubble that has since burst.






