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Category: World Touch

Petition to Abolish the “Law on Blasphemy”

Christians in Pakistan are working against the controversial law on blasphemy. The Justice and Peace Commission of the Pakistani Bishops’ Conference, has called for the signing of a petition to be presented to the government, calling for an abolition of the law. Specifically speaking, they refer to Articles 295 (b) and (c) and 298 (a), (b), and (c) of the Pakistani Penal Code, which have to do with the laws over blasphemy which are often used against religious minorities like Christians and Ahmadi. The Code condemns “any, who with words or writings, gestures, or visible manifestations, direct or indirect insinuations, insult the sacred name of the Prophet.” The punishment for violating the law is life in prison or the death penalty.

www.fides.org
Asia

An Unprecedented Food Shortage

Asia faces an unprecedented food crisis and huge social unrest unless hundreds of billions of dollars are invested in better irrigation systems to grow crops for its burgeoning population, according to a UN report quoted by the British newspaper The Guardian. India, China, Pakistan and other large countries avoided famines in the 1970s and 1980s only because they built giant state-sponsored irrigation systems and introduced better seeds and fertilizers. But the extra 1.5 billion people expected to live on the continent by 2050 will double Asia’s demand for food, says the report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Bank-funded International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

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East Timor

Justice is Key to Development

Long-term development in East Timor – which celebrated the tenth anniversary of its vote for independence on August 29 – will be “seriously hindered” if justice for past crimes remains undelivered, the international development agency Progressio has warned. Despite a decade of self-rule, East Timor is still the poorest country in the region and one of the least developed nations in the world. An estimated 40% of the East Timorese people live on less than a dollar a day.

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Biofuels

New Vision is Urgently Needed

Massive subsidies and quotas for biofuels are wreaking social and environmental havoc and in many cases actually exacerbating climate change, says a new Christian Aid report. Titled “Growing Pains,” the study demands a radical overhaul of governments’ multi-billion dollar support for biofuels, so that only crops which offer genuine greenhouse gas savings and wider social benefits are encouraged.

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Malawi

50 Cigarettes a Day for 5-Year-Olds

Child laborers working in Malawi’s tobacco plantations are being exposed to dangerous levels of nicotine, tobacco dust, abuse and exploitation, says a new study by Plan, a UK-based international children’s charity, titled “Hard work, little pay and long hours.” According to the report, child pickers are subjected to high levels of nicotine poisoning – the equivalent of 50 cigarettes per day. “You reach a point where you cannot breathe because of the pain in your chest; then blood comes when you vomit,” one child told researchers.

Irin News
World

Rich Countries Have a Huge “Ecological Debt”

Industrialized nations owe the poorer countries a US $2.3 trillion “ecological debt,” said a University of California study, and it should be assessed and penalized by an international court, an ecumenical gathering heard. “Ecological debt keeps growing,” Joan Martinez Alier, a university professor in Barcelona, told the World Council of Churches hearing in Geneva, held during a meeting of the WCC’s main governing body, Ecumenical News International reported. “The demand for economic growth means more use of energy and resources, which produces more waste.”

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Spirituality

Meditation and Prayer Boost Brain Power

Intense meditation alters our grey matter, strengthening regions that focus the mind and foster compassion while calming those linked to fear and anger, according to a new book, “How God Changes Your Brain.” Whether the meditator believes in the supernatural or is an atheist repeating a mantra, says neuroscience author Andrew Newberg, the outcome can be the same, a growth in the compassion that virtually every religion teaches and a decline in negative feelings and emotions, Reuters reports.

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West Africa

Another Stab at the “Resource Curse”

In Africa, billions of dollars from oil, gas and mining revenues go missing, leaving populations dependent on international assistance, according to a new report on natural resource use in the continent. The report, which details resource management in seven West African countries, was released in July at the launching of the West Africa Resource Watch (WARW) Institute in the Senegalese capital Dakar. Established by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), WARW is set up to provide information, training and policy advice – for policymakers and citizens alike – to foster sound and equitable use of natural resource revenues.

Irin News
World

Land Grab is Accelerating at an Alarming Rate

According to The Guardian, the acquisition of farmland from the world’s poor by rich countries and international corporations is accelerating at an alarming rate, with an area half the size of Europe’s farmland targeted in just six months. New reports from the UN and analysts in India, Washington and London estimate that at least 30m hectares are being acquired to grow food for countries such as China and the Gulf states which cannot produce enough for their populations. The land grab trend is accelerating and could severely impair the ability of poor countries to feed themselves.

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Laos

Barn Owls to the Rescue

A burgeoning rodent population is damaging crops and worsening the food security situation for thousands of families across northern Laos, but experts believe the introduction of barn owls could ease the problem. A study by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) proposes introducing barn owls (Tyto alba) to control the rodents. Native to Laos, the owl is a natural predator of rats which make up 99% of its diet.

Irin News
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