| Mulling the Impact of China's Snowstorms
China's worst snowstorm of the century, which started in January, has raised alarm bells particularly related to the potential impact on the mainland's already problematic infrastructure and inflation. But some are saying the threat to the mainland's economy is manageable. Tao Dong, chief regional economist at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, notes that power shortages and transport disruption have been the biggest casualties of the snowstorm. Around 78% of China's power is derived from coal-fired plants. Without trains to deliver coal freight, the National Power Grid says its latest coal inventory has fallen to just 16.58 million tonnes an all-time low that's just barely sufficient for seven days worth of production. The snowstorm has also toppled 330 major power lines and 96 electricity transmission towers, worsening China's persistent power shortage woes.
Angelina Heads to Iraq to Talk Humanitarian Aid, Not Babies
For the second time in the past seven months, Angelina Jolie is visiting Iraq to meet with top officials and, apparently, share a little lunch with the troops. She is there on a humanitarian mission to talk about getting aid to the thousands of people displaced by conflict. She sat down with CNN to talk about her reasons for returning to the area, the problems she sees, and what she hopes to accomplish through her work with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees). You can watch her whole interview below, but what got cut off is that the interviewer couldn't help but try to ask about those pregnancy rumors. Whoops. In the full transcript you can see how Angelina responded: Damon: There are reports out of Hollywood that . . .(laughs) Jolie: Oh don't.
Zimbabwe: Adopt Hospital, Farmers Challenged
Farmers in Mashonaland Central have been called to adopt Bindura Provincial Hospital. Bindura Ward 2 Councillor Theresa Mutandadzi made the call yesterday during a stakeholder meeting convened to find ways of helping the health institution. The hospital faces a critical water shortage among an array of other problems such as insufficient linen, detergents and food for patients. Cde Mutandadzi said farmers who benefited from the land reform programme had an obligation to support the health institution. "As farmers, we should organise ourselves and ensure we support the hospital. Before the land reform, this hospital was on its wheels because of commercial farmers who used to assist. .
Aid campaign to Haiti is area artist's personal mission
In 2002, college professor and artist Anne Jordan-Reynolds of Montgomery established a school in Coco, Haiti, for children from remote northern villages, a place where for decades the concept of education simply didn't exist. She's also helped struggling artists on the port of Cap-Haitien and taught about the risk of HIV to a population with the highest AIDS incidence outside sub-Saharan Africa. Having built the school and made personal bonds with so many people, she continues to travel regularly to Haiti, a country on the island of Hispaniola that is roughly the size of Maryland and only 600 miles southeast of the tip of Florida. "It has reached a serious crisis," Jordan-Reynolds said after her most recent trip, in January. "I just returned, and things are the worst I've ever seen them." While some people grouse that mere handouts only create more dependency among Haitians, Reynolds contends that her work is aimed at creating self-supporting communities.
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