A few things have caught my eye in the news recently, a mix of good and tragic:
Toilets in India: The BBC reported last week that the Indian Supreme Court have ordered that every school have clean water and suitable sanitation facilities within six months. If this is obeyed, and goes hand in hand with appropriate hygiene training it could lead to many positive results, as outlined on the Tearfund Just Policy Blog.
Saving Lives From Space: The BBC have an interesting audio slide-show in which they discuss the importance of remote sensing images in disaster relief and recovery. Dr Alice Bunn from the UK Space Agency talks about the way in which the Disaster Charter is applied, and can result in images taken by a Nigerian satellite helping the US post-disaster. A great, and informative piece by the BBC that communicates well how both the tool and the political willpower can make a real difference.
Landslide in China: Finally, a very sad story from China. Nineteen people have been killed in a landslide in the south-west of China. This includes 18 children who were buried in a school. They were attending an extra lesson on a National Holiday when the landslide occurred. The lesson had been scheduled due to classes that were missed during a recent earthquake event. Dave Petley comments on The Landslide Blog about the high possibility of more landslides in the area affected by the September earthquakes.
