Archive
Reuters blog archive
from Oddly Enough Blog:
Is a plane that different from a forklift?
Blog Guy, I'm planning a dream vacation to China, but I'm worried. I read that China has found that nearly 200 pilots have falsified their resumés . Please assure me that's all been taken care of now.
Of course it has. Some of those pilots lost their licenses.
Some? What about the rest of them?
It turns out they're back on the job after "remedial action."
Are you kidding me? They lied about their flight experience and now they're working again? Why on earth were they hired in the first place?
There was a perfectly good reason. According to China's official news agency, with the rapid expansion of the aviation sector, "airlines turn a blind eye to fake records since they are happy to see more pilots..."
Pilot: We're in a tough spot, Lamar! You'll have to take 'er down.
Copilot: ME? Who do I look like, Sully Sullenberger? You're the pilot!
Pilot: Oh, about that. I do have a forklift license that expired four years ago. How about you?
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
Down the River: What Is To Be Done?
On Friday, Sept 3, a boy stands outside a house destroyed by flood waters that swept through Mehmood Kot a month ago. Residents of Mehmood Kot have been waiting a month for relief aid, which they say they have not received. (REUTERS/Chris Allbritton)
After three days traveling the flood path down the Indus River Valley, from Nowshera in the northwest down to Multan and to the confluence of the Indus and Pakistan’s other major rivers, it’s clear the devastation is as great as everyone feared.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
We’re crashing? Can I still get Duty Free?
There was an incredible story last week, which I can't get out of my mind.
British Airways apologized after an emergency message was played in flight by mistake, warning passengers they might be about to crash into the sea.
The plane was bound from London to Hong Kong at the time. The cabin crew realized the error, and reassured the terrified passengers.
from Photographers Blog:
A hurricane named Katrina
While covering Hurricane Katrina ripping through New Orleans five years ago, it struck me how the individual events that unfolded in the aftermath echoed similar tragedies I had photographed around the globe.
It was like several stories in one - a hurricane of course, but there was little typical hurricane damage in the city. In fact, before the levees broke and it turned into a flood story I was close to leaving to move further east along the coast to cover the near-total devastation in Mississippi.
from Photographers Blog:
Disaster deja vu
“Zhouqu” in Tibetan means the Bailong River, which runs across the once peaceful county. Surrounded by hills, this small settlement was where just over one week ago, a landslide charged through the main street. 1100 people were killed and more than 600 remain missing - who are presumed dead.
Having returned from covering this disaster, I find it difficult to resume my normal life. I think back over the last 7 days, and I cannot stop feeling how similar the towns of Zhouqu and Beichuan are. (Beichuan was almost entirely destroyed during the 2008 earthquake that left more than 86,000 people dead, and over 12,000 missing). Both these towns are similar in the following respects: landform, residents, architecture, and the arrival of thousands of rescue workers and soldiers. I can say this, because I have now been in both places covering similar disasters. The only difference is, horribly and sadly, the number of victims.
from Photographers Blog:
Spitting into the sinkhole
It's not the first sinkhole the size of an entire block in Guatemala City.
I had covered an even bigger one in 2007. Two seemingly bottomless, perfectly round holes, swallowed up an intersection and buildings, and in one case a family eating dinner at their dinner table. They both happened at night, both in the rain. On May 29, 2010 I was transmitting late night pictures from the last two sleepless days, covering a volcanic eruption that blanketed the city and country with a cloud of black sand-like ash. Then came Agatha, the first tropical storm of the season, which pounded Guatemala with so much rain that hillsides collapsed on villages and overflowing rivers washed houses away. More than 150 people are counted as dead so far, but they are still searching, digging through the mud to find more.
The night the hole was created, it was still raining heavily. We kept the news blaring on the radio. "A giant hole has opened up in Ciudad Nueva!" Again? This time it was closer to my house -- less than 2 miles according to the city map. I jumped on the back of my wet motorbike. It would be tough to stay dry. I was there quickly but the police line was already up.
from Photographers Blog:
Oil from all angles
From the moment the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico made headlines, Reuters has provided extensive coverage. Below are accounts from six of our photographers who have been sent at various times to document the story.
LEE CELANO
Covering the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster as a still photographer for Reuters has brought unique challenges. Although the volume of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico is huge, relatively small patches of oil have landed along coastal Louisiana. It's like a monster who hides most of the time and lashes out quickly, withholding its full strength. But it has been important to show that oil is in fact having an ecological impact here, and to find areas with visible proof.
from Photographers Blog:
Chile: The earthquake picture I never sent
Caption for an unchosen picture:
Constitución, March 1 - An earthquake survivor carries the dog that he rescued from the ruins of his home, along a street devastated by the earthquake and tsunami.
“Take my picture with the dog,” the survivor tells me. I take it as if ordered to, and see that his face shows tremendous pain. “I lost my home, the sea took my son and my wife, and this is all that was left. I can’t leave the dog here. He was my son’s.” He pauses. “I found my wife (alive), but my boy is still missing.” Before he finishes speaking I lower my camera and cry. I walk together with him thinking what to say to lessen his suffering, but there is only silence.
from Photographers Blog:
Slow change in Haiti
In the weeks since I arrived in Port-au-Prince to cover the earthquake, the streets have been cleared of debris and thousands of bodies have been removed from the rubble. But in many ways, the changes seem incremental.
In Cite Soleil a small improvised camp looks a lot the same, only it's grown in size. Thousands of families continue living under blue plastic tarps, and they receive food from aid groups fighting against time as the rainy season approaches. When I left, on March 1, the food distribution at least was much more organized, watched over by American soldiers. The food just goes to women now, in an attempt to get aid to nuclear families instead of those who shove the hardest.
from Photographers Blog:
Rescue amid destruction
"Train crash in Halle" read the sms snap from a local newspaper we received on Monday morning. I called photographer Thierry Roge who was not too far from the scene and managed to arrive there within 15 minutes, while I organized a helicopter flight over the scene of the crash. Thierry had the initiative to jump over a wall beside the tracks and start walking straight to the train, on the track itself. For 10 minutes he was free to take pictures without being stopped by police who were busy rescuing people. Thierry and a Belgian TV crew were the only ones so close to the train at that time.
Emergency crew work on the site where two trains crashed near Halle February 15, 2010. REUTERS/Thierry Roge
