In The News

World Water Day Report: African Cities Outgrow Their Water Supplies

March 23, 2011
A limited supply of freshwater could threaten fast economic and population growth for Africa’s cities. Water, so crucial for survival, is taken for granted by many, and March 22 is set aside to mark World Water Day. According to a United Nations assessment, 40 percent of Africa’s 1 billion people live in urban areas with inadequate water supplies and sanitation, reports Environment News Service...

Hungry for Votes

February 11, 2011
In 2008, in the face of rising food prices, G20 leaders founded the Global Agriculture and Food Programme to support research leading to a second Green Revolution and elimination of world hunger. But as food prices rise, pledges to support the program go unfulfilled. Activists and scientists urge sustained attention, yet their pleas fall on deaf ears. Governments slash funds for food research,...

Government Announces Reduction in Cost of ARVs

December 28, 2010
The South African government has negotiated with multinational pharmaceutical companies a plan to reduce prices of antiretroviral drugs by nearly half. The same 10 pharmaceutical firms that supply the medications will continue to do so, but with newly reduced prices, starting in January. Critics question the abrupt drop in price and whether refunds are warranted for previous high prices. With...

The Redistribution of Hope

December 24, 2010
The ability to compare and engage in long-term planning can inspire hope or fear. For the past four centuries, optimism gave Western nations advantages, as citizens embraced technology, progress and global connections. “Now hope is on the move,” suggests the Economist, as the can-do spirit emerges in China and Brazil. The US and UK are moody, hampered by polarized electorates that squabble over...

Cigarette Giants in Global Fight on Tighter Rules

Duff Wilson December 1, 2010
Around the world, giant tobacco companies are increasing spending on advertising and fighting public-health initiatives to regulate the production and sale of cigarettes. As cigarette consumption falls in the West, the multinationals challenge ad limits, health warnings, cigarette taxes and prohibitions on displays throughout the developed world and invest millions into advertising in Asia and...

Cholera, Fear Spread Beyond the Border

Fred Tasker, Frances Robles November 19, 2010
Soon after the earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, world public health officials predicted that poor sanitation and disrupted services could lead to an outbreak of disease. Cholera now spread rapidly throughout the country, killing more than 1000 Haitians and crossing borders into the Dominican Republic and the United States. Thousands more are sickened and violent riots have broken out in...

Beijing's Threat to India's Water Security

Amit Ranjan November 15, 2010
Several of India's major rivers originate in Tibet and China's ongoing dam construction, diverting water away from other nations, raises alarm. “Population pressures and increased economic activity mean demand for water is growing inexorably while the supply is finite,” writes Amit Ranjan. China and India, the word's most populous nations, lack a water treaty, and analysts in India...