Top stories:
We said “Never again…”
Are
the international community and the media repeating the same mistakes
in Sudan that failed to prevent the Rwandan genocide?
In April 2004, the world marked the ten-year anniversary
of the Rwandan genocide with a chorus of mea culpas. “800,000
dead in just 100 days…and the world stood by and did nothing,”
said one headline. “Genocide: We just ignored it,” said
another. World opinion agreed: “Rwanda’s genocide could
have been prevented”. Yet, as the international community engaged
in its public hand-wringing, a similar catastrophe was unfolding in
silence in Sudan’s western province of Darfur.
Read more...
Saving Mother Ganga
For
twenty years, a group of priests, scientists and concerned citizens
has been fighting to clean up India's holiest river.
The morning light
struggles through the hazy atmosphere of the Indian plains, warming
and welcoming the teeming thousands who already line the banks of
the River Ganges at Varanasi. Pilgrims stand waist-deep in the dark
water, a gentle mantra fluttering on their breath as their hands cup
together and offer water to the rising sun. Men scrub themselves from
head to toe in soap as their wives preen their silken hair and share
a little gossip. Legions of dhobi-wallahs pound lumps of sodden cloth
with sticks, or whirl wet saris through the air like samurai weapons.
Each of them considers it a privilege to purify themselves in the
water of India’s holiest river; little do they know, they may
also be endangering their lives. Read
more...
Is Bush right to ignore climate change?
Even
the Pentagon thinks global warming and climate change are a threat
to US national security, but still Bush refuses to honour the Kyoto
protocols. Why?
George W Bush’s reason for pulling out of the
Kyoto agreement in March 2001 was that it “would cause serious
harm to the U.S. economy”. In doing so, he made clear that monetary,
not environmental concerns would guide his policy on global warming.
But is Bush right? Will staying outside any emissions reduction treaty
and effectively ignoring climate change benefit the US economy?
Read more...
Low nutrition news.
Does
poor foreign reporting give viewers a distorted impression of the
developing world?
An earthquake in Iran leaves 40,000 dead. Two-hundred
people are trampled to death in Mecca. Cyclone Heta destroys the tiny
Pacific Island of Niue. December and January were just another couple
of months of death and disaster in the third world. Hardly seems out
of the ordinary. After all, it’s always bad news down there,
right?
Read more...
Shifting sands and caravans.
A
camel safari in India's Thar desert
“In the desert, it’s very important to be friends with
your camel. If your camel doesn’t like you, he’ll make
lots of problems.” Those were the first words that Kuba, my
desert guide, said as we approached four intimidating beasts gathered
in the shade of a small tree. “This is Tendulkar, you’ll
ride him,” he said, pointing to the largest camel with his stick.
“Don’t worry. Indian camels are the best in the world.
Now make friends!” With that, he gave Tendulkar a firm whack
on the flank with his cane, sending him into a fit of bellowing and
snorting, very nearly showering me in a torrent of foamy saliva. This
was a bad sign. Read
more...
