Ralphy Geogers

Africa’s burgeoning middle class brings hope to a continent

briggsy — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 09:12:20 +0000

At the end of another of Kinshasa’s potholed roads, lined with shacks and crumbling matchbox houses, comes a sudden clearing. It is a sandy patch of land surrounded by water in which bare-chested boys in dugout canoes paddle among the hyacinths. A giant pump is working day and night, reclaiming land from the sandbanks and river beds, expanding the city in defiance of nature.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/25/africas-middle-class-hope-continent?newsfeed=true

Brazil overtakes UK as sixth-largest economy

briggsy — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 09:03:33 +0000

Brazil has overtaken the UK to become the world’s sixth-largest economy, according to a team of economists. The banking crash of 2008 and the subsequent recession has relegated the UK to seventh place in 2011, behind South America’s largest economy, which has boomed on the back of exports to China and the far east.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/26/brazil-overtakes-uk-economy

Philippines storm kills hundreds in Mindanao floods

briggsy — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:03:03 +0000

A tropical storm has hit the southern Philippines, triggering flash floods that officials say have killed more than 430 people and left many missing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-16229394

Where in the World? A Google Earth Puzzle

briggsy — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:58:15 +0000

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/11/where-in-the-world-part-2-a-google-earth-puzzle/100197/

How animals predict earthquakes

briggsy — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:54:24 +0000

Animals may sense chemical changes in groundwater that occur when an earthquake is about to strike. This, scientists say, could be the cause of bizarre earthquake-associated animal behaviour. Researchers began to investigate these chemical effects after seeing a colony of toads abandon its pond in L’Aquila, Italy, in 2009 – days before a quake.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15945014

Revealed: true cost of the Christmas toys we buy from China’s factories

briggsy — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:50:29 +0000

With Christmas three weeks away, an undercover investigation has revealed the bleak realities of life in Chinese toy factories serving a market worth £2.8bn a year in the UK alone. Big brands such as Disney, Lego and Marks & Spencer pay only a fraction of the shop price of products to the factories that make their toys. Last summer – as factories geared up to cope with demand for the Christmas period – investigators spent three weeks in the industrial cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/04/chinese-toy-factories-christmas-disney

New Icelandic volcano eruption could have global impact

briggsy — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:46:48 +0000

Hundreds of metres under one of Iceland’s largest glaciers there are signs of a looming volcanic eruption that could be one of the most powerful the country has seen in almost a century

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15995845 Iceland volcano eruption

Canary Island volcano: A new island in the making?

briggsy — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:43:23 +0000

An undersea volcano erupting just south of Spain’s Canary Islands may be the beginnings of a new island, or an extension to an existing one. For some, it’s a colourful spectacle – for others a major blow to their livelihood.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15917740

Rising from beneath the waves: A new Canary Island emerges as underwater volcano hits the surface

briggsy — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:11:28 +0000

A brand new Canary island is emerging from the sea as an underwater volcano bubbles to the surface. Magma off the Canary Island of El Hierro has been spewing 20 metres high as the sea boils with a smell of sulphur. As it grows and gets closer to the surface, more and more debris such as stones start to shoot out of the volcano which, until now, has only shown its explosive power below the surface. It is now just 70 metres from the surface and islanders are already trying to come up with a name for the new island. It is quite close to El Hierro and if it continues to erupt it could eventually meet up with the mainland.

The world at seven billion

briggsy — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:01:18 +0000

Watch seven stories from around the world

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15368276