Disasters

The nations of the world, private individuals and organizations have pledged over $3 billion to rush relief to southern Asia's earthquake and tsunami victims. Now the challenge is turning those pledges into cash and that cash into humanitarian aid. What do officials need to do to help the estimated 500,000 plus people injured, 1 million homeless and 2 million left in need of food by the disaster? (Photo by Richard Freeland/DOD via Getty Images)
A week after the tsunami disaster in south Asia, relief workers say the response has finally turned a corner -- and now involves helping survivors rather than assessing damage. A Northfield, Minnesota, native who now works for the Twin Cities-based American Refugee Committee in Thailand spoke with MPR's William Wilcoxen.
Contact information for those wishing to contribute to agencies dealing with the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia.
The United Nations reports that the estimated number of people dying of hunger has gone up for the first time in nine years. One Twin Cities non-profit group is trying mightily to improve the situation.
A former resident of Marshall who survived Sunday's earthquake and tsunami in Malaysia saw "this big white line in the distance" as he looked out to the ocean and seconds later was swept away by a wave of water 6 feet over his head, he wrote in an e-mail to his parents.
Wreck divers are part of a romantic breed of explorers who take risks to satisfy their and our curiousity. A new book describes the adventures of two divers on a mysterious wreck off the coast of New Jersey.
The forest fire in Voyageurs National Park near International Falls, Minnesota continues to burn because of dry conditions. Lightning started the fire on July 8. Minnesota Public Radio's Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Mike Johnson, fire information officer for Voyageurs National Park.
Chilling radio transmissions by the Sept. 11 hijackers from the planes they commandeered were played publicly for the first time Thursday, providing a vivid and horrifying portrait as they unfolded on that fateful day before confused air traffic officials and military personnel. Midmorning was pre-empted by coverage of the 9/11 Commission hearing
The terror strikes of Sept. 11, 2001 overwhelmed all immediate efforts at response or even full comprehension, a bipartisan commission reported Thursday, and spread confusion to the point that Vice President Dick Cheney mistakenly thought U.S. warplanes shot down two aircraft. Midmorning was pre-empted for coverage of the hearing
Bluntly contradicting the Bush administration, the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks reported Wednesday there was "no credible evidence" that Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaida target the United States. In a chilling report that sketched the history of Osama bin Laden's network, the commission said his far-flung training camps were "apparently quite good." Midmorning was pre-empted to allow coverage of the 9-11 commission