From the wire

Notes on images coming off the wire services. The world’s eye is moving a such a fast pace that what is news breaking one minute is pushed out by the next big headline.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 21 October 2013

A thick smog hung over the residents of the city of Harbin, one of China’s largest cities. Visibility dropped to less than 50 meters in some areas of the city, causing the closure of schools, bus routes and Taiping International Airport in Heilongjiang province.

Air pollution in China is an ongoing issue. According to Reuters "An index measuring PM2.5, or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), reached a reading of 1,000 in some parts of Harbin, the gritty capital of northeastern Heilongjiang province and home to some 11 million people. A level above 300 is considered hazardous, while the World Health Organisation recommends a daily level of no more than 20."

For China's residents smog is an ever present reality. This becomes particularly bad during the cold winter months as the country's coal plants are fired up to warm the homes of nearly half a billion citizens in the north.

Credit: Photographer Unknown / Reuters

A traffic policeman signals to drivers during a smoggy day in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, October 21, 2013.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 13 October 2013

The cyclone season poses a severe threat for the thousands living in temporary shelters in the Odisha region, along the Bay of Begal, India. Cyclone Phailin, the strongest storm to hit the state in 14 years, produced winds up to 200 km per hour as it tore across the landscape flattening homes and uprooting trees. 

The death toll, which stands now at 27, has remained relatively low thanks to the early warning evacuation effort to relocate people in the cyclone's path.

Residents that have now returned to their homes witness the extent of damage caused by the natural disaster. The biggest challenge still remains how the government will support people that have been displaced.

"We have been successful in minimising the loss of lives. Now rehabilitation is a very big challenge for us as property worth several crores of rupees has been destroyed. I will see to it that the people are actively rehabilitated," the Odisha region's chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, stated in a press conference in the wake of the cyclone.

Credit: Biswaranjan Rout / AP

October 13, 2013. An Indian woman returns to the cyclone hit Arjipalli village on the Bay of Bengal coast in Ganjam district, Orissa state, India.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 07 October 2013

Italy has stepped up its air and naval patrols following the recent death of hundreds of migrants sailing in overcrowded boats from North Africa.

The country has called on the European Union to assist with the desperate migrants who wash up on the Italian beaches after fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Since Libya's political instability has increased after the civil war, the country has become a thoroughfare for smugglers.

Credit: Roberto Salomone / AFP

October 7, 2013. Unidentified tombs of immigrants inside the cemetery of the Italian island of Lampedusa.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 30 September 2013

Migrants continue to flee raging conflicts in their homelands, risking  everything for the glimpse of a better life in Europe, away from the chaos and destruction that has ravaged their country.

White sheets covered the bodies of the drowned migrants who met their unseen fate lie on the beach in Sampieri, Sicily. Overcrowded boats continue to make the treacherous voyage from northern Africa towards the European frontier.    

The UNHCR released a report earlier this month estimating around 22,000 migrants have arrived on the Italian shores so far in 2013, including almost 6,000 Eritreans and 4,600 Syrians. 

Credit: Gianni Mania / Reuters

September 30, 2013. Bodies of migrants who drowned lie on the beach in the Sicilian village of Sampieri.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 25 September 2013

A band of armed jihadi fighters opened fire on shoppers inside the Westgate shopping mall last Saturday in what became a bloody 80-hour siege at one of Kenya’s high-profile shopping malls. The attackers injured 240 and killed 67 people in the siege.

Credit: Uriel Sinai / Getty Images

September 25, 2013 A cemetery worker looks on as friends and relatives mourn during a funeral service for Selima Merali (41) and her daughter Nuriana Merali (15), who were killed in the attack by gunmen at the Westgate Shopping Centre, in Nairobi, Kenya.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 10 September 2013

Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip continue to live under heavily controlled conditions as Israel and Egypt enforce a land, air and sea blockade on the strip. 

The blockade was imposed during 2007 when Hamas took over control of the Gaza Strip. Smuggling tunnels offer a lifeline to the 1.7 million Gazans that live along the strip bringing in building materials, food, medicine and clothing.

Credit: Eyad Al Baba / APA Images

September 10, 2013. A Palestinian tunnel worker sleeps at the entrance of a smuggling tunnel dug beneath the Gaza-Egypt border in Rafah.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 21 August 2013

The ongoing civil war inside Syria has claimed more than 100,000 lives since the uprising began in 2011. A chemical weapon attack on Wednesday in Duma, a suburb of Damascus, killed 213 people including women and children.

Footage of the victims that have been subjected to nerve agent poisoning has promoted an outcry for an international response to these attacks. 

UN chemical weapons investigators are currently on the ground in Damascus but are unable to gain access to investigate the site. 

Credit: Bassam Khabieh / Reuters

Bodies of people activists say were killed by nerve gas in the Ghouta region are seen in the Duma neighbourhood of Damascus August 21, 2013. Syrian activists said at least 213 people, including women and children, were killed on Wednesday in a nerve gas attack by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on rebel-held districts of the Ghouta region east of Damascus.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 16 July 2013

Malians will go to the poles to vote in next week's presidential elections. The hope is that these elections will end months of political instability after soldiers overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure in March 2012.

The soldiers led by Lieutenant Amadou Konare staged a coup d'état after anger at the government's failure to stamp out a two-month-old separatist rebellion in the north of the west African state.

"We promise to hand power back to a democratically elected president as soon as the country is reunified and its integrity is no longer threatened," Konare said.

France sent its troops in January 2013 to assist in driving out the militants from the north. French and African troops' operation was handed over to a UN peacekeeping force on 1st July to support the Malian army in securing the poll. 

Credit: Joe Penney / Reuters

July 16, 2013. Children walk in front of ripped presidential campaign posters in Bamako, Mali.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 03 July 2013

Egypt's army removed president Mohamed Morsi from power after mass protests erupted across the country calling for the president's resignation. Army chief general Abdul Fattah al-Sisi addressed the country on national TV, stating Mr Morsi had "failed to meet the demands of the Egyptian people".

Mr Morsi became Egypt's first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning 51.7% of the votes in a fair democratic election following the 2011 Arab Spring revolution that topped Hosni Mubarak. 

Credit: Yuri Kozyrev / NOOR

July 3, 2013. Massive demonstrations turned to celebration in and around Tahrir Square as Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the military and taken into custody in Cairo.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 24 June 2013

Former South African president Nelson Mandela remains in a critical condition. The 94 year old has been admitted to hospital three times this year as he seeks to fight off a recurring lung infection.

Credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

June 24, 2013. Children walk past souvenir flags picturing former South African President Nelson Mandela being sold across from the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum in Soweto Township in Johannesburg, South Africa.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 15 June 2013

Chinese authorities seized 213 severed bear paws from Russian smugglers who were entering China through Inner Mongolia. Officials estimate that the seizure of paws was worth around $460,000 on the black market.

Many traditional Chinese medicines contain endangered animal parts. This stimulates demand and flow of illegal animal parts through China's black market. 

Credit: Stringer / Reuters

June 15, 2013. Chinese authorities display bear paws after 213 were seized from two Russian smugglers in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia. Some in China consider the paws a delicacy

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 11 June 2013

A small group of people gathered on 28th May in Istanbul's Taksim Square to protest against the demolition and new development of Gezi Park. The protesters said that the park was one of the few green spaces in Istanbul and opposed the loss of public space for commercial gain. The demonstrations, which continued for several weeks in a row, grew in pubic support throughout the country. Barricades around the square were setup to halt the riot police evicting protesters.

Turkish police sought to deter people from the square using heavy-handed tactics of tear gas and water cannon. These actions saw tens of thousands of Turkish citizens from various social classes taking to the streets in defiance against the government.

Credit: Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP

June 11, 2013. Demonstrators wearing gas masks take cover during clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Taksim Square.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 04 June 2013

Workers were trapped at the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Plant when a fire engulfed the slaughterhouse in Dehui. Initial reports stated that the fire was  sparked by an explosion caused by leaking ammonia, a chemical kept pressurised as part of the cooling system in meat processing plants. 

The fire broke out during the shift change where 350 workers were in the plant. The fire was China's deadliest industrial accident in the last five years and highlights continuing neglect for workers safety. 77 workers were injured and 120 people died in the blaze. 

Credit: Stringer / Reuters

June 04, 2013. A victim of a fire at a poultry processing plant in northeast China received treatment. At least 120 people died, a toll that rivalled some of the worst accidents in China's notoriously unsafe mining industry. 

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 25 May 2013

The coalition of opposition and civil society Let's save Togo marched on the streets of Togo's capital Lome to protest against the death in detention of an opposition member and to demand the release of others.  Opposition members had been arrested in connection with the fires that took place at two of the city's markets in January. The markets' blazes had caused millions of dollars in damage.

Togo's president Faure Gnassingbe issued a statement on state television accusing protesters "to attack public and private properties".

The photograph taken by Daniel Hayduk was shot on the fourth day of protest. 

Authorities have banned all further protests in Lome.

Credit: Daniel Hayduk / AFP

May 25, 2013. An opposition supporter masks his face to hide his identity late as protesters clashed with police in the Kodjoviakope neighbourhood of Lome, Togo. Authorities have banned all protests in the capital after violent clashes this week.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 20 May 2013

The Arab Spring marked its second anniversary in January. In Bahrain clashes continue to erupt daily as the people voice their anger against the regime. These remain largely unnoticed outside the region amid the information blackout imposed by the government.

In 2011, 100,000 protesters filed into Manama's Pearl Roundabout to demand freedom, democracy and equality for the Shias and Sunnis, the movement was instigated by Bahrain's Shia majority who was tired of their second-class status from the Sunni-ruled monarchy.

Whilst the Arab Spring seems to have been all but forgotten by the world, Bahrain remains a potential flash point as tensions rise among the people. Protesters call for Prime Minister, Sheik Khalifa ibn Salman al-Khalifa, who has served for more than 40 years, to stand down to allow the people to elect a new parliament.

Credit: Mohammed Al-Shaikh / AFP

May 20, 2013. Bahraini protesters hold pictures of Abdul Wahab Hussein, head of the Shiite Wafa Islamic Movement, during a rally marking his temporary release from prison in the village of Nuwaidrat, south of Manama. Hussein, who was released briefly for his mother's funeral, was to return to prison later, the main Shiite opposition group Al-Wefaq said. He is serving a life sentence with six other opposition leaders and activists after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the monarchy.

[fromthewire]

From the wire: 12 May 2013

Access to clean, fresh water continues to be a major talking point as to what the future holds once the planet's resources become more exhausted. Residents in the Dala township wait for Burmese authorities to open access to the Yazarthingyan lake to collect water. Over a 1,000 people have waited to collect water from the lake, the officials open the water source to locals once every three days.

The Yazarthingyan lake is the only remaining fresh water source available to the people of the Dala township so they have no alternative but to wait for the 1 hour collection period.

Credit: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

May 12, 2013. People line up to collect water at Yazarthingyan lake in Dala township, near Yangon. Dala township is located near the sea and the only source of freshwater is from the inland lakes which have all dried up, with the exception of Yazarthingyan lake.

[fromthewire]

From the wire 03 May 2013

The city of Aleppo has been one of the hardest hit since Syria’s bloody civil war began two years ago. Citizens remain caught in the cross fire between the Free Syrian Army and president Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Roughly 1.4 million Syrian refugees have fled the on-going fighting to seek shelter in neighboring Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and in camps within Syria’s own borders. An estimated 80,000 have died, and countless others have been injured.

Credit: Narciso Contreras / Polaris

May 3, 2013. Veils used as cover from sniper fire are seen at Sheikh Maksoud front line, a majority-Kurdish neighborhood took by opposition fighters since weeks ago, and targeted by Syrian army aircraft bombardments and heavy shelling, forcing thousands of residents to flee into safe areas outside of Aleppo City.