Thousands of people have been evacuated from the slopes of Indonesia’s Mount Merapi as lava flows spread further down the slopes of the volcano on Tuesday, officials said. The volcano alert was put on red on May 13 but residents have been particularly nervous since a deadly earthquake rocked the region 10 days ago.
Officials in Indonesia on Monday revised down the death toll from a strong earthquake in Java to nearly 5 800 as new aid supplies helped survivors move forward on the long road to recovery. The United Nations said distribution of food, medicines and water had greatly improved in devastated areas of central Java island.
High-seas pirate attacks have risen in the first three months of this year, and incidents are becoming more violent with the rate of hostage-taking doubling, an international watchdog said on Wednesday. The International Maritime Bureau recorded 61 piracy attacks worldwide in the first quarter of 2006, compared to 56 in the same period last year.
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/ 23 December 2005
The much-hyped concept of ecotourism has lost its way, failing to deliver the promised benefits to the environment, indigenous people or tourists themselves, experts say. So-called eco-lodges, luxury hotels nestled in rainforests and tourist encounters with nature are often merely "green-washed".