WORLD & NATION
N EWS IN
SEPTEMBER 23, 2011
Stories by Becca Heller
Graphic by Alicia Hanchock
On Sept. 20, Japan evacuated
OVER 1.2 MILLION CITIZENS IN
A PREVENTATIVE MEASURE AS
Typhoon Roke approached
ITS SHORES. According to the
Washington Post, the typhoon,
which has been measured with
sustained winds of 89 mph, has
prompted concerns of flooding and
landslides. The weather agency
reports that Japan could suffer as
much as two inches of rain per
hour, and western and central
Japan are most vulnerable, after
having suffered Typhoon
Talas earlier this month,
which was reported to
^ kill over 67 people.
As Brazil prepares for the 2014 World Cup, the
GOVERNMENT IS BALANCING OUT CELEBRATIONS WITH
INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIRS. On Sept. 16, President Dilma
Rousseff, accompanied by soccer star Pele, launched a
celebratory event at the Belo Horizante stadium. According
to BBC, Rouseff also addressed concerns regarding Brazilian
infrastructure. "Investing in infrastructure is a way of
saying no to the international crisis affecting countries in
the Eurozone and the U.S.," Rousseff said to CBS News.
As Brazil sets up for the World Cup, it is also looking
forward to hosting the 2016 Olympic Games. Brazil is
currently viewed as a rising global economic power, and
the coming tournaments will showcase their new role in the
international community.
A recent case of fraud has opened up UBS, a major bank
IN Switzerland, to an estimated loss of $2.3 billion,
according to BBC News. The loss has been charged to
trader Kweku Adoboli, who was pressured into admitting
to the losses on Sept. 15. According to a hearing on
Sept. 22, Adoboli admitted to filing false accounts from
October 2008 to September 2011. These findings have
led to more intensive investigations within the bank's
personnel, according to Teresa Nielsen, analyst at the Swiss
bank Vontobel. "We believe that yesterday's event could
have personnel consequences on senior management level,
which in turn could lead to adjustments to UBS' business
portfolio," said Nielsen to the BBC.
On Sept. 18, an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 hit northeast
India, sending devastating shock-waves across the
Himalayas. At this point the death toll has reached 81, but
as rescue operations develop, authorities fear the confirmed
death toll could rise significantly, CBS News reports. Due
to the isolated nature of the area surrounding the epicenter,
many communities remain cut off from support, and
Indian military helicopters have begun dropping food and
humanitarian supplies to Sikkim, the worst-hit Indian state.
Following the initial quake, many residents have fled their
homes and taken shelter in neighboring villages, sleeping
outside in the cold.
Pakistan in state of emergency after flooding disaster
By Casey Morgan
Staff Writer
When it rains, it pours.
Recent floods in Pakistan have caused
massive amounts of damage, and over
350 people have died. Five million people
have been directly affected, 1.7 million
acres of farmland have been inundated
with floodwater, and 1.2 million homes
have been washed away, according to the
country's National Disaster Management
Authority.
Upwards of four million people have
become homeless as a result of the recent
rains, reports Pakistan's local TV channel
Express.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Syed Yousaf
Raza Gillani was quoted as saying that
the recent rains in the country's southern
Sindh province were 142 percent above
normal in the area. He said that 4,000
medical camps have been set up, which
can accommodate 150,000 of the four
million displaced people.
"While the government had mobilized
all national resources, the severity and
magnitude of the floods had created a
humanitarian emergency requiring
support from the international
community," Pakistan's Foreign Office
said in a statement.
Despite the enormity of the flooding,
international assistance is only trickling in.
"The level of international aid is
pitiful, even measured against the
limited assistance donated in other recent
disasters," said Irfan Mufti, a reporter in
Islamabad.
However several countries have
responded to Gillani's appeal for aid.
The U.S., China, Iran, and even Japan —
still reeling from its own natural disaster
— have pledged support. So have the
U.N., the European Union, and several
non-government agencies.
"There are several reasons why the
international community might have acted
slower than it should have," Assistant
Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies
Amal Khoury said in an email interview.
"The challenge to reach those people in
the affected areas" plays a role, said Khoury,
adding that additional factors include
"the existence of a fatigue syndrome after
they have assisted the victims in the 2005
earthquake and the 2010 floods, and lack
of trust in the Pakistani government."
Currently, the military is working
alongside the government to organize
relief efforts, with few external agencies
providing any assistance.
"The cold response comes not from
donor fatigue," say observers, "but
from questions being raised over the
government's ability to raise a portion of
the funds," The Express Tribune reported.
In addition, aid agency Oxfam accused
Pakistan's government of failing to invest
in prevention measures after severe floods
affected over 20 million people last year.
All of these factors have contributed to
the limited aid that Pakistan has received.
Monsoon rains continue, destroyed
railway and road networks impede relief
efforts, and a lack of funds has left many
without assistance.
But in addition to the destruction,
Pakistanis now have to worry about
dengue fever, a water-borne illness spread
by mosquitoes.
"Property damage is catastrophic,"
said Angie Moore, associate professor of
geology. "But many times, particularly with
countries without established sanitation
systems, the most harmful things to come
out of a flood of this magnitude can be a
lack of safe drinking water and a surge of
water-borne diseases."
Mosquitoes proliferate in standing
water and Pakistan has seen an outbreak
of fatal dengue disease in the wake of the
flood. More than 5,000 people have been
infected, and the disease has claimed at
least 36 lives, according to Islamabad's
provincial health department.
The unprecedented rain spells that have
caused the flooding and dengue outbreak
are caused by climatic changes and will
only continue, according to Prime Minister
Gillani.
Moore agrees.
"Data sets show that natural disasters
are occurring with higher frequency and
intensity," she said.
While Pakistan works
infrastructure and clean
floods, the country also
for food scarcity and a
of its economy. Flooding
farmland, orchards, cattle, and major cash
crops.
As a result, even if the country manages
to raise enough capital for immediate
rescue and response, it faces a looming
economic crisis once the floods recede.
to rebuild its
up after the
must prepare
major setback
has destroyed