This on Andy Sennit's excellent Media Network blog of Radio Netherlands today, which I hope he won't mind me quoting here:

''Burkina Faso’s public radio station Radio Burkina cancelled its lunchtime news broadcast yesterday because it had run out of practically everything needed to make the programme. “We are unable to give you the news because of a lack of petrol, meaning we were unable to make a single report,” the programme’s presenter told listeners. The station was also suffering from a “recurrent lack” of batteries for its recording equipment and even paper on which to write the stories, said the apologetic presenter. Listeners were given half an hour of music instead.''

see http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/ for more.

What a desperately sad situation. As one commentator aptly wrote, it is a terrible indictment on the inequalities in the world. Is it just me or do stories like these really help to put one's own problems in perspective?

Regards,
Giles.