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The number of orangutans in Indonesia and Malaysia is in rapid decline, above all, because of illegal deforestation and the expansion of palm oil plantations. The ape risks extinction within a few years, if adequate measures are not taken, says a study that has appeared in the scientific journal Oryx.
There is a “right to water,” based on the dignity of the human person, and it is not simply an “economic good,” the Pope affirmed in a message to the international exposition on “Water and Sustainable Development” under way in Zaragoza, Spain. The Holy Father, who sent his message through Cardinal Renato Martino, the Holy See’s representative at the expo, stated: “Because of the […] pressure of multiple social and economic factors, we must be conscious of the fact that today water must be considered a good that must be especially protected through clear national and international policies, and used according to sensible criteria of solidarity and responsibility.”
More than 14 million people located in the Horn of Africa are in need of urgent food aid and other humanitarian assistance. This was what a report from the Regional Humanitarian Partnership Team said. The crisis is being caused by the drought conditions in the area and the rising food prices.
“The structural solution to the problem of world food security is an increase in productivity and production in the low-income food-deficit countries. This would require, in addition to official development assistance, innovative new solutions. To this effect, it is necessary to develop partnership or joint-venture agreements between, on one hand, those countries that have the financial resources and, on the other, those that possess land, water and human resources”, writes Jacques Diouf, director-general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
The Christian communities of southern Iraq launched a campaign for the restoration of churches that have been damaged due to negligence and the war.
International tourism is undergoing very rapid changes. New traveling habits, an increased awareness of price, short notice and short-term holidays – and the wish for more flexibility and individuality as well as rising energy prices are constantly creating new challenges for the tourism industry. Unpredictable incidents have added to this: terrorist attacks (New York, Bali, Djerbra, Morocco, Egypt, Istanbul, Madrid, London), risks of epidemics (SARS), and regional wars. However, in the future, one factor in particular will affect the tourism industry in the long term: climate change.
Asia’s growth is threatened by spiraling inflation from higher food and fuel costs, an Asian Development Bank executive warned, and called on governments to tighten monetary policies to deal with the scourge. The Bank is reviewing its growth forecast of 7.6% this year for Asia, excluding Japan, amid concerns inflation will widen income inequality and cause more people to plunge into poverty, said its managing director general, Rajat M. Nag. This comes after Asia’s growth last year hit a two-decade high of 8.7%.
Till the end of October, dissidents in Shanghai are prohibited from speaking with foreign journalists, leaving the city, protesting, or petitioning the government. Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) criticizes China for “politicizing” the passage of the torch through Tibet.
At the end of 2007, there were 11.4 million refugees and 26 million internally displaced people forced to flee their home by conflict or persecution, this according to figures released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). These numbers indicate that after a five-year decline between 2001 and 2005, the number of refugees has risen for two years in a row, about half of them Iraqis and Afghans.
Corruption, on all levels of society, is an extremely widespread evil in the Asian continent and forms the root and primary cause of the poverty in which millions of people live. Effectively fighting it is the main path to development. This was affirmed in the UN Report recently presented in Jakarta (Indonesia) that touches on a sore point that affects many Asian nations and that constitutes one of the “worst evils” in modern society.
