SRI LANKA: The ICRC calls for exceptional precautionary measures to minimize further bloodshed in “no-fire zone,” calling the situation catastrophic.

SUDAN: The ICRC is responding to a meningitis outbreak in Darfur. 

BURKINA FASO: The Burkinabe Red Cross Society has deployed 900 volunteers to inform communities about how to protect against the simultaneous meningitis and measles epidemics sweeping the country. 

COMOROS ISLANDS, PANAMA, MALTA, and KAZAKHSTAN: The Empress Shôken Fund is granting more than $130,000 for Red Cross/Red Crescent Society projects aimed at supporting blood donation in the Comoros Islands, helping migrants in Malta, preparing people for disasters in Panama, and strengthening finance management in Kazakhstan.

INDONESIA: Nearly 500 young people are learning to earn a living after losing nearly everything in the 2004 tsunami. They’re enrolled in this vocational training program provided by the American Red Cross and the Indonesian Red Cross.