24 Wednesday Jun 2020
Posted in History
In 1957 a new strain of avian flu emerged in East Asia and quickly spread around the world, killing at least one million people. Sumi Krishna was nine years old when she caught the virus in India. Listen here.
1957 flu in Sweden
03 Wednesday Jun 2020
Posted in History
The memories of a Polish survivor of Nazi atrocities in the final months of the war in Europe.
Towards the end of World War Two in Europe, Polish civilians suffered terribly at the hands of retreating German troops. But many never received any reparations for what they’d been through. Kevin Connolly has been speaking to one survivor who was a child in those final brutal days of the war in Europe.
Undated image of Nazi soldiers travelling by motorcycle and car stop to watch a Polish village burn to the ground. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection).
16 Friday Aug 2019
18 Saturday May 2019
Posted in Economics, Environment, History, news, Research
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The New York Times has reported that U.S. officials and American geologists have found an estimated $1 trillion worth of mineral deposits that have yet to be exploited in the country. The paper said a Pentagon report called Afghanistan potentially “the Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key component in batteries for cellphones, laptop computers and eventually, a plug-in fleet of electric cars.
In December, 2007, China’s state-owned China Metallurgical Group Corp. (MCC) signed a $2.9 billion agreement with the Kabul government to extract copper from the Aynak deposit, one of the world’s largest unexploited copper deposits with an estimated 240 million tons of ore. When MCC entered into negotiations with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, it offered substantial aid for resource development as part of the package.
Of course in order to move the ore Afghanistan needs a rail system. Afghanistan ‘s mining 
minister appointed China Metallurgical Group Corp. to carry out technical studies for two proposed rail lines in the country from Kabul to Turkam in the east, and Kabul to Mazar-e-Sharif in the north. The rail lines are seen as essential to help Afghanistan develop a mining industry that could bring in billions of sorely needed dollars to the impoverished nation.
Naturally China really wants gas and oil and once again Afghanistan’s government signed a deal with China’s state-owned National Petroleum Corporation, allowing it to become the first foreign company to exploit the country’s oil and natural gas reserves.The ministry listed the initial value of the project with CNPC as $700 million. But the total could be ten times greater if more reserves are found and developed.
The government of Afghanistan also granted key gold and cooper licenses to a consortium backed by City of London banker Ian Hannam, former BHP Billiton CEO Chip Goodyear and Poland’s multibillionaire Jan Kulczyk. In addiation Afghan Gold and Minerals, Afghan Minerals Group, and Turkish-Afghan Mining Co. had been picked from a shortlist of 25 bidders to explore and start developing the Balkhab, Shaida and Badakhshan projects respectively. Afghan Gold and Minerals (owned by Sadat Mansoor Naderi) will have copper explorations rights over the Balkhab, northwest of the capital Kabul. Not sure who owns the Turkish-Afghan Mining Co. Also, Afghan Minerals Group was granted Thursday a license to explore the Shaida copper deposit, in the province of Herat, in western Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Turkish-Afghan Mining obtained the license for the Badakhshan gold and copper deposit, in the Badakhshan province, in north-eastern Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s government granted an Indian steel company the right to exploit the Hajigak iron ore deposit which is considered one of the largest iron deposits in the world at 1.8 billion tonnes. The Indian company wants to ship the ore through Pakistan to India, which might seem a bit of a problem but the amount of money to be make by trucking firm and Government fee’s means that the green light will be given.
They are a lot of other businesses (and NGO’s) looking to profit from the Afganie war as well.
China, Not U.S., Likely to Benefit from Afghanistan’s Mineral Riches
China mining giant tapped for Afghan rail project
06 Saturday Apr 2019
Posted in History
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30 Saturday Mar 2019
Posted in culture, discovery, Environment, History
From the BBC: Plans to build a new road in Iceland ran into trouble recently when campaigners warned that it would disturb elves living in its path. Construction work had to be stopped while a solution was found.
From his desk at the Icelandic highways department in Reykjavik, Petur Matthiasson smiles at me warmly from behind his glasses, but firmly.
“Let’s get this straight before we start – I do not believe in elves,” he says.
I raise my eyebrows slightly and incline my head towards his computer screen which is displaying the plans for a new road in a neighboring town. There are two yellow circles marked on the plans, one that reads Elf Church and another that reads Elf Chapel. Petur sighs.
“Ok,” he acknowledges wearily. “But it’s not every day in Iceland that we divert roads for elves. It’s just in this case we were warned that elves were living in some of the rocks in the path of the road – well, we have to respect that belief.” He grins shyly and picks up his car keys. 
“Come on, I’ll show you where the elves live,” he says indulgently. Read More here
