Archives

28.02.2007 Thousands of scientists are joining forces to make a detailed study of the Earth's polar regions, where climate change is having a dramatic impact on ice formations that have been stable for millennia.

27.02.2007 A leading development charity says it is delivering relief aid to more than 20,000 people living in one of the worst affected areas of Mozambique where floods have displaced 170,000 people and killed at least 45.

27.02.2007 The International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has presented evidence alleging that a former Sudanese minister and a leader of the Janjaweed militia jointly committed war crimes against the civilian population in Darfur.
From the ICC
* Crisis in Darfur

27.02.2007 Nothing less than a crash program for energy independence will lead the US out of economic and political danger. Diverse organizations have been building consensus around ways to diversify fuel sources and bring efficient technologies to consumers.

27.02.2007 Equipment used for torture - including wall handcuffs and spiked batons known as "sting sticks" - could still be traded out of the EU, according to a new report that condemns new EU regulations as weak and full of loopholes.

27.02.2007 The cloistered, fetid world of United Nations negotiation over Iraq convinced Carne Ross of the need for more open, accountable global diplomacy.

27.02.2007 Poor communities displaced by a World Bank-funded US$123m dam remodelling project in Pakistan started an indefinite hunger strike yesterday in protest at the Bank’s refusal to set up an independent inquiry into the dam’s environmental and economic impact.

27.02.2007 The U.S. Minerals Management Service says the project would not cause 'undue or serious harm or damage to the human, marine or coastal environment'. Environmental groups are outraged.

26.02.2007 Religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq are facing unprecedented levels of violence, and in some cases risk being eradicated completely from their ancient homeland, according to a new report.
From Minority Rights Group International.

26.02.2007 How do we face the climate challenge while ensuring that everyone has access to energy? This e-Parliament hearing came up with some useful ideas.

26.02.2007 Norway has withdrawn from a controversial scheme that funds consultants to advise poor countries on the privatisation of public services including water, after a damning report by two NGOs.

26.02.2007 Fairtrade is beginning to move from an "optional extra" to a "must-do", Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation, will say at the launch of Fairtrade Fortnight in London today, as UK sales of Fairtrade products hit a record £300m a year.

26.02.2007 Britain’s new Freedom of Information Act is facing a double threat, only two years after coming into effect, say journalists and press freedom campaigners.

25.02.2007 Prospect magazine in the UK asked writers and thinkers to answer the question: Left and right defined the 20th century - what's next? The pessimism of their responses is striking: almost nobody expects the world to get better in the coming decades, and many think it will get worse.

25.02.2007 Some glaciers in the Andes are melting ten times faster than they did just 20 years ago. And iconic Kilimanjaro's glaciers are melting so quickly that the mountain lost nearly a quarter of its ice from 2000 to 2006.

25.02.2007 Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf recently travelled to Washington, DC. One year into her presidency, Sirleaf reflected on her government’s achievements, and the many challenges her country must still confront.

25.02.2007 Armed clashes in Mogadisu have increased in frequency and intensity in February, leaving dozens of people dead and many wounded and driving civilians from their homes, the Red Cross has warned.

23.02.2007 A campaign is being organised to pressure British Chancellor Gordon Brown to use his international influence to stop "outrageous and immoral vulture funds", through which companies buy developing countries’ debt cheaply and then try to reclaim much more money when the country is in better shape.
* Stop the Debt Vultures

23.02.2007 Each time Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Africa, he leaves a bigger Chinese footprint on the continent. This February, Hu made his most visible push yet for settlement of the Darfur crisis.

23.02.2007 Single-minded pursuit of exports has helped China reach record economic growth figures. But millions of Chinese have been left behind, and this growth has severe environmental costs. These are indicators that India must be wary of copying China's Special Economic Zones-approach.