Walking Precariously on Uncertain Water

Around a billion people already face scarcity of fresh water, and the problem is expected to grow in the future, with pollution, over-population and climate change affecting water supply, experts say.

HIDDEN WATER

“Future generations, I am certain, will think of us and bless us for our farseeing patriotism, and it will be said of us, as Isaiah said of old, ‘they made a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desertÂ'” (Premier John Forrest, 1903).[1]

CHINA: Dubious Confucian Answer to ‘Clowns’

The Chinese boycott of the Nobel Peace Prize, which this year was awarded to a jailed Chinese dissident, has evoked unflattering associations with brutal regimes that imprisoned political opponents and refused to acknowledge their popular sway.

PHILIPPINES: Cash Grants Get Youngsters Back into School

Give the poor cash and they will spend it on things other than their most basic needs. Or with no thought for their future, let alone their children’s, they just might indulge in wasteful spending. Right?

Mideast Peace Key to Countering Iran, Arabs Told U.S. Diplomats

Gleeful Israeli leaders and their neo-conservative supporters here have spent much of the past week insisting that the State Department cables published by Wikileaks prove that Sunni Arab leaders in the Middle East are far more preoccupied with the threat posed by an ascendant and possibly nuclear Iran than with a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

CHILE: Flood of Criticism for “Retrograde” AIDS Campaign

"It’s much more fun to die of old age than to die of AIDS. And if you die with your lifelong partner, so much the better. Avoid AIDS: be faithful" is one of the controversial TV spots in this year’s edition of the annual anti-AIDS campaign by Chile’s Health Ministry.

Q&A: Revitalising Agriculture Starts in a Small Field

In countries around the world, small farmers are trapped in a vicious circle - hard-pressed governments don't invest enough money in local agriculture, and local producers find themselves driven off their lands and into urban slums, where they sink even deeper into poverty.

WEEKLYLEAKS

The revelations contained in the wave of WikiLeak documents that have taken the world by storm are an indictment not only of US diplomacy but of today's diplomacy in general. What kind of ludicrous language is this, so focused on the pathology of mainline media discourse? It is negative and concentrated on individual actors, usually from the elites of elite countries. It is immature gossip, the kind of "analysis" of power typical of adolescents. Where is the analysis of culture and structure which is far more important than actors who come and go? Nowhere; they are incapable of it. Where are positive ideas? Where are the ideas about how to convert the challenges, such as climate change, into cooperation for mutual and equal benefit? Like water distillation projects using solar energy at Israel's borders with Lebanon and Palestine? Like positive US-Iran cooperation on alternative energy?

Judge Declines to Rule on Targeted Killings of U.S. Citizens

A federal judge Tuesday dismissed a court challenge to the policy of the administration of Barack Obama to target and execute U.S. citizens outside combat zones who do not pose an imminent threat.

OP-ED: Stimulate the Green Race to Tackle Climate Change

While negotiators in Cancún are struggling to make progress, there is something interesting happening in the world. And, it is good news. Countries have started to recognise and act upon the economic value in meeting the demand for green technology.

WEST AFRICA: New Vaccine For Mass Campaign Against Meningitis

More than 20 million people will be vaccinated between now and the end of the year in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger as a mass vaccination campaign using a new conjugate vaccine unfolds across West Africa. Manufactured in India, MenAfriVac offers health authorities a powerful weapon against a deadly disease.

DR CONGO: Lack of Funds Reverses Vaccination Gains

Health officials' fears that insecurity and a lack of resources could lead to fresh outbreaks of preventable diseases are being proved painfully accurate in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Polio - thought to have been eradicated in DRC five years ago - has made a frightening reappearance in Central Africa.

Latin America Puts Bamboo’s Climate Virtues to the Test

While a global agreement to fight the climate crisis may be off the table for now, many activists and experts are focusing on options for mitigating climate-changing gas emissions and the impacts of increasingly extreme weather. One such alternative is bamboo.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Protesters Say “No” to Climate Market

The short-cuts that the United Nations system is offering companies to profit from strategies against global warming were the target of loud protests on the Day of Action for Climate Justice.

SENEGAL: Funding Could Weaken Campaign Against Maternal Mortality

Senegal's efforts to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality are hampered by a lack of health centres and poor care in those that do exist. But the government faces a major financial hurdle in financing the Bajenu Gox initiative - a community health programme intended to address this.

Time Runs Short for Progress on Iran Nuke Talks

The first meeting between Iran and the world's major powers in more than a year ended Tuesday with little to show apart from a vague promise to meet again next month in Turkey.

AFGHANISTAN: For HIV Care, Cross Over to Pakistan

After testing positive for HIV, which caused him to be deported from the United Arab Emirates, Nazarullah probably found little reason to feel fortunate.

Cuba Commutes Sentences; Only One Person Still on Death Row

Human rights activists are pleased with the decision by Cuba’s Supreme Court to commute to 30 years in prison the death sentences of two Salvadoran men convicted of terrorism. But dissidents continue to call for complete abolition of the death penalty.

SENEGAL: Maternal Care Not Up to the Mark

The Gaspard Kamara maternity centre in Dakar was not especially full on Nov. 25, but the medical staff seemed overwhelmed. Midwives, nurses and gynecologists rushed in all directions dealing with women in difficult labour.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Juggling Carbon Consumption and Social Gains

The economies of Latin America are caught on the horns of a dilemma: how to reduce their carbon consumption without sacrificing economic and social development. Subsidies for the development of renewable energies and for learning new technologies need to be increased urgently, experts say.

BHUTAN SAYS YES TO BIOPLASTICS, BEFALLS AND HAPPINESS

A decade ago the Queen of Bhutan Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, visited the ZERI pavilion at the World Expo in Hannover, the largest bamboo building in modern times, constructed with a German building permit. The pavilion demonstrated new emerging business models proven to work in Colombia, Brazil, Namibia, and Sweden. As the driving force behind these innovative development models, I was invited by the Queen to come to Bhutan.