Clipmarks | petercasier's clips

UN internal report on Algeria bombing accuses 7 individual staff members.

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:39:06 GMT

clipped by: petercasier

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

An internal UN report assigns blame to at least seven UN officials for one of the organization's greatest security breakdowns ever - the Dec. 11 bombing of UN headquarters in Algeria - in which 17 UN staff died

Tags: un, algeria, terrorism

Millions, Billions and Trillions: Zimbabwean Confusion.

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:23:22 GMT

clipped by: petercasier

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

A few weeks ago, the Zimbabwe National Bank dropped 10 zero's from the Zimbabwe Dollar (ZWD).

Blogger "This is Zimbabwe" is in despair and describes some of the confusion between old and new currency.

Tags: zimbabwe, inflation, africa, news

Dubai builds the world's tallest tower (again)

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:10:01 GMT

clipped by: petercasier
clipper's remarks: Over one kilometer tall. Would you want to live on the top floor?

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

Currently, the world's tallest structure is the soon to be finished the Burj Dubai, which is rumoured to stand at 818 meters. Today, Dubai revealed its successor, the Nakheel Tower, to be "over one kilometre" high and have more than 200 floors.

Tags: dubai, emirates, uae, building, tallest tower, records, world records, middle east

How much is $700 billion really? A humanitarian perspective

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:38:57 GMT

clipped by: petercasier
clipper's remarks: $700 billion is easy said... Let's put it into perspective....

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

The arguments for a bailout to avoid systemic collapse are of course genuine and persuasive, but so are the arguments for aid and against standing by and allowing a child to die every 3 seconds, or a woman to die in childbirth every minute.

Tags: humanitarian, activism, poverty, news

Humanitarians are more targeted than ever before.

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:19:31 GMT

clipped by: petercasier

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

United Nations staff and humanitarian field workers are being deliberately targeted for attack by extremists and armed groups at an alarming rate.

Tags: un, news, aid workers, aid, humanitarian

Water Crisis: Every Drop Counts

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:49:33 GMT

clipped by: petercasier
clipper's remarks: A full overview of the Global Water Crisis, its issues, misunderstandings and solutions

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

Thanks largely to unsafe drinking water, more than 2 million children die of diarrhea each year. Six hundred million subsistence farmers lack irrigation water and are mired in poverty. Wetlands have been decimated in Europe, North America, and Asia, and fish populations are collapsing. Drought caused a more than 50 percent drop in Australia’s wheat production in 2007 and sparked a ten-year peak in global wheat prices.

Tags: water, development, pollution, environment, global warming

China in Africa: Slavery or Development?

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:47:54 GMT

clipped by: petercasier

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

In a thought provoking article, Peter Hitchens describes his first hand experiences of the unsavoury practices of Chinese businesses in Africa. BUT at the same time, he asks the question if all the aid and good intensions in the world have not helped in the past forty decades, maybe the "Chinese" approach might...

Tags: china, africa, slavery, development, aid, humanitarian, politics, news

Can Bill Gates help Africa feed itself.

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:35:21 GMT

clipped by: petercasier
clipper's remarks: A new approach to food aid.

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

Last week Bill Gates and Howard Buffett (Warren's oldest son) announced their private foundations will plow more than $75 million into helping small farmers in Africa and Latin America to sell their crops as food aid — a move which could potentially overhaul the decades-old global food aid system.

Tags: aid, humanitarian, news, bill gates, advocacy, hunger, poverty, development

Billions 'wasted' by aid system.

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:46:07 GMT

clipped by: petercasier

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

Billions of dollars will be wasted unless there is a radical overhaul of the system of giving aid, a report from Care International warns. It states too much money is being spent on short-term fixes during emergencies, rather than on longer-term prevention work.

Tags: aid, development, humanitarian

Church states Darwin’s theory compatible with Bible. No apology, though.

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:23:14 GMT

clipped by: petercasier
clipper's remarks: Well, better late than never.

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

Today, the Vatican said the theory of evolution is compatible with the Bible but planned no posthumous apology to Charles Darwin for the cold reception they gave him 150 years ago.

Tags: vatican, darwin, evolution

Desmond Tutu: "Israel raid could be war crime"

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:47:11 GMT

clipped by: petercasier

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

A report to the UN Human Rights Council on Israel's shelling of Beit Hanoun in Gaza almost two years ago says it may have been a war crime. The report compiled by Archbishop Desmond Tutu casts doubt on Israel's explanation that the shelling resulted from a flawed artillery firing system. It calls on Israel to pay compensation to the victims, 19 of whom were killed.

Tags: war, war crimes, human rights, israel, palestine, un

UN Peacekeepers - sexual misconduct scandals continue...

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:16:11 GMT

clipped by: petercasier

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

The United Nations confirmed last month that an internal investigation had uncovered credible evidence that members of an Indian unit stationed in North Kivu province “may have engaged in sexual exploitation and abuse”.

Tags: un, undpko, peace keeping, drc, congo, sexual abuse

Climate change: the struggle of the poorest

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:15:08 GMT

clipped by: petercasier
clipper's remarks: Climate change is no longer a question of 'how to avoid it', but 'how to cope with it'.

Unfortunately the poorest in the world will have a hard time to adapt. For them, though, it will be 'adapt or die'... they have no choice.

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

When industrial polluters in emerging markets cut emissions, they are rewarded through Kyoto. But the poorest are not rewarded for the big contribution they could make towards reducing emissions, which is the better management of tropical forests. That is because forests were excluded from Kyoto, to the chagrin of the poor. (Full)

Tags: climate change, pollution, environment

Fidel Castro wins humanitarian award

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:42:04 GMT

clipped by: petercasier

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

South Africa gave its 2008 humanitarian award to former Cuban president Fidel Castro for his contributions to "humankind beyond boundaries."

Tags: cuba, humanitarian

Dutch chicken shit to power 90,000 homes.

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:47:17 GMT

clipped by: petercasier

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

Dutch agriculture minister Gerda Verburg unveiled the world’s largest biomass power plant to run exclusively on poultry manure. The plant will convert a third of the nation’s chicken waste into energy while running at a capacity of 36.5 megawatts - enough to power 90,000 homes.

Tags: environment, pollution, biofuel