Starting today, we’ll be doing a weekly roundup of some of the headlines that have caught our attention over the past 7 days. They all relate to our core areas of work – emergency response, first aid, refugee services, volunteering, and resilience – but they don’t necessarily reflect our own views on the subjects covered.

Feel free to leave your own thoughts on these topics in the comments.

Pakistan flood damage at $9.5 bln

“Pakistan’s recent floods inflicted $9.5 billion in damage to property, crops and infrastructure, according to an Asian Development Bank and World Bank assessment, Finance Ministry officials said on Wednesday.”

Senegal takes in Haitian student refugees

“It is one of Africa’s poorest countries, with simmering discontent over power cuts and unemployment with nearly half the population living in poverty. But Senegal has made good on a promise to give free homes and education to a group of Haitian students who lost everything in January’s devastating earthquake.”

Global hunger index: see how the world compares

“Is global hunger getting worse? According to the 2010 Global Hunger Index (GHI), published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in many countries nothing has changed over the last decade.”

7/7 bombs acts of ‘merciless savagery’, inquests told

“The 52 victims of the 7 July 2005 bombings were “murdered” in acts of “merciless savagery”, the inquests into their deaths has heard.”

Child asylum-seekers targeted in Home Office budget cuts

“Thousands of child asylum-seekers are to be removed from Britain under savage budget cuts being drawn up by the Home Office ahead of this week’s comprehensive spending review.”

We will need ‘2 Earths’ to sustain our lifestyle

“Our take up of food, land, natural minerals and animals has doubled in under 50 years, says new research.”

International Day for Disaster Reduction 2010

“This year a number of major disasters have captivated the attention of the public and media: the January earthquake in Haiti, the massive earthquake in Chile one month later, the summer heatwave and wildfires in Russia and months of continued flooding in Pakistan.”

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