Latest sign of hardship: Families unable to bury loved ones
The economic downturn has left many families across the nation unable to afford burials.
As funeral costs rise and the economy continues to founder, many communities are seeing a rise in unclaimed bodies and funerals for indigent people.
The trend has been seen "everywhere," says Jacqueline Byers, director of research and outreach for the National Association of Counties.
"The reality is, it's gotten worse," she says.
Many coroner's offices report increases in the number of unclaimed bodies, according to a survey of members of the National Association of Medical Examiners. A little more than half of nearly 50 respondents cited an increase, according to the association's data
For article GO HERE
Trains halted after new cable theft
(UKPA) – 17 hours ago
Rail services from London to Stansted Airport and other parts of eastern England have been crippled following the latest cable theft.
There were no trains to Stansted Airport or Cambridge from London Liverpool Street until late Thursday afternoon after the theft shortly before midnight between Harlow Mill and Sawbridgeworth.
A train hit part of the overhead line equipment, smashing the windscreen and bringing down the overhead power lines shortly after cables had been cut and left dangling.
For article GO HERE
S. Africa: Protest against irregular water supply turns violent
Angry residents at Ngodini near White River and surrounding villages threw stones at passing motorists, burnt tyres and blockaded the streets in protest against irregular water supplies.
Police had a tough time trying to disperse the angry crowd and two protesters were arrested for public violence but released later.
A community member, Joseph Nkosi, told The New Age that their water supply was disrupted for four months.
“Water is a source of life, as we all know. We fail to understand how the authorities think we can live without water. Water in this area comes once a month if we are lucky, so we are very tired and angry about the situation,” said Nkosi. The protest caused traffic problems, affecting travel to Nelspruit, White River, Hazyview and other places.
Police had managed to calm the situation by midday and the Mbombela municipality, which services the area, announced through the local radio station that water tankers would be dispatched before the end of the day.
“The question is, why did we have to go to war before we could be given water? This is why I did not even bother to vote,” said a resident, Charlotte Mnisi.
The spokesperson for Mbombela municipality, Joseph Ngala, admitted there had been water shortages “from time to time”.
“We acknowledge the problem but we are working towards solving the problem. We, however, believe the protest was not necessarily related to water shortages but politics,” said Ngala. He said a water project was under way to solve the water problems, from June 2012.
For article GO HERE
Fukushima clean-up may require removal of 100 million cubic meters of soil
A veritable mountain of soil will have to be stripped from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and surrounding areas to remove radioactive materials.
Yuichi Moriguchi, a professor of environmental systems engineering at the University of Tokyo, estimated it could amount to 100 million cubic meters of soil.
That is enough to fill the 55,000-capacity Tokyo Dome, home of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team and a popular concert venue, 80 times.
For article GO HERE
Power outage knocks out traffic signals, leaves 2,000 in the dark in southeast Denver
A power outage in southeast Denver knocked out traffic lights in all four directions at Leetsdale Drive and South Quebec Street this morning, leaving the intersection snarled with morning commuters.
The outage started around 5 a.m. when a transformer exploded, said Gabriel Romero, a spokesman for
.
About 2,000 people in the area between Quebec Street and Monaco Parkway were without power. It took about 45 minutes to restore power to those homes.
For article GO HERE
Computer fault delays Christchurch flights
Flights are being delayed at Christchurch Airport after a network failure crashed the facility's computer system.
Airport chief executive Jim Boult said the network failure had affected the airport's baggage system and JetStar airline's check-in system.
The last international flight of the day had already checked-in before the failure occurred, meaning only domestic flights were affected.
Flights were able to get through, but delays could be expected as baggage details had to "manually loaded" into the system, Boult said.
For article GO HERE
Pakistan: Annual loss of 3-4% GDP due to power shortages
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economy sustains 3-4 percent loss of GDP per annum due to crippling electricity shortages and a subsidy that cause 10 percent increase in unemployment.
Pakistan’s energy experts made this startling disclosure during the Pak-US strategic dialogue on energy, while talking about the impact of circular debt on the economy, Pakistan sector overview, hydropower generation, tariff rationalisation, investment in the energy sector, and decentralisation and the privatisation of electric power distribution and generation companies.
For article GO HERE
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