Good News Agency – Year II, n° 3
Weekly - Year II, number 3
– 9 February 2001
Managing Editor: Sergio Tripi,
Ph. D.
Rome
Law-court registration no. 265 dated 20 June 2000.
Good News Agency carries positive and constructive news from all over the world relating to voluntary work, the work of the United Nations, non governmental organizations, and institutions engaged in improving the quality of life – news that doesn’t “burn out” in the space of a day.
Good News Agency is distributed through Internet to over 1,200 editorial offices of the daily newspapers and periodical magazines and of the radio and television stations with an e-mail address in 18 countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, and it is available in its web site:
It is a free of
charge service of Associazione Culturale
dei Triangoli e della Buona Volontà Mondiale, a registered non-profit
educational organization chartered in Italy in 1979. The Association operates
for the development of consciousness and supports the activities of the Lucis
Trust, the U. N. University for Peace, Radio For Peace International, The Club
of Budapest and other organizations promoting a culture of peace in the ‘global
village’ perspective based on unity within diversity and on sharing. Via
Antagora 10, 00124 Rome, Italy. E-mail: s.tripi@tiscalinet.it
Contents:
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International legislation
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Solidarity
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Human
rights
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Energy
and safety
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Health
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Environment and wildlife
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Economy
and Development
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Culture
and education
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(TOP)
Representatives
of ship owners and seafarers adopt a historic accord on the future development
of labour standards in the international shipping industry
Geneva, 26 January - The 29th session of
the Joint Maritime Commission today announced a major agreement, known as the
Geneva Accord, designed to improve safety and working conditions in the
maritime industry. It also agreed to update the ILO minimum wage for seafarers
from $435 to $450 with effect from 1 January 2002 and to $465 as of 1 January
2003. The ILO minimum wage takes into consideration a formula which reflects
changes in consumer prices and exchange rates against the US dollar in 48
maritime countries and areas.
Participants to the session, including representatives
of shipowners and seafarers, resolved that "the emergence of the global
labour market for seafarers has effectively transformed the shipping industry
into the world's first genuinely global industry, which requires a global
response with a body of global standards applicable to the whole
industry."
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2001/05.htm
From 29 January to 2 February more than 2,000
Government and NGO Representatives participate to the second of three
preparatory meetings for the 2001 UN Special Session on Children, which will
take place September 19-21 in New York. A third preparatory meeting will be
held next June. The first was held in June 2000.
The 2001 UN Special Session on Children in September
will assess global progress on goals set at the groundbreaking 1990 World
Summit for Children. More than 3,000 delegates including Heads of State and a
record number of NGO representatives will also embrace a new agenda for
improving the survival, health, education, development and protection of
children and youth.
www.unicef.org/specialsession/
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/01ma03.htm
Moscow 18/19 January - A
project of the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) to harmonize
legislation in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) culminated in a
Conference held in Moscow at the President's Academy of Sciences, and were
based on the UNEP-developed innovative approach to legal protection of the
environment..
"The CIS countries were
considered as the region with conditions conducive to our innovative approach
that aims at creating a legal system where all norms would be correlated with
ecological imperatives and where the environmental legislation and other laws
regulating the economic and social sectors would function in a harmonized and
mutually supportive manner.", said Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive
Director. "Many branches of legislation were still in a formative stage
and an integrated cross-sectoral approach to harmonization was feasible".
The Conference adopted the
Moscow Manifesto, which calls upon Parliaments, Governments, the judiciary,
civil society and international organizations to pursue environmental
protection and sustainable development. 200 participants were at the
Conference, among them delegations from all 12 CIS Member States. The Republics
of Armenia and Belarus and the Russian Federation were selected as CIS pilot
countries.
http://www.unep.org
http://www.enn.com/direct/display-release.asp?id=3326
(TOP)
20 January - Amina Abubakar,
wife of Nigeria's vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has launched a nationwide
campaign against the widespread trafficking of women to Europe to work as
prostitutes, 'The Guardian' Lagos daily reported on Wednesday.
The newspaper said the
campaign began on Monday in Benin City, capital of the Midwestern state of Edo,
regarded as a major centre of the trade being conducted by highly organised
criminal gangs that often lure the women into bondage on the pretext of finding
them jobs.
Niger: Military officers learn about international
humanitarian law
1
February - In cooperation with the Niger armed forces' General Staff, the ICRC
gave presentations on international humanitarian law in the military zones of
Niamey, Agadez, and Zinder from 15 to 23 January 2001. These were attended by
the 90 officers of the zones' military command.
The
sessions were opened in Niamey by the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff, and in
Agadez and Zinder by the regional commanders. In parallel, the ICRC presented
the army Chief of Staff with an initial 4,000 copies of the "soldier's
handbook", with the national colours of Niger on the covers, to be
distributed to the rank and file by the officers in attendance.
The General Staff declared themselves in favour of a
national programme to promote humanitarian law. They also proposed that
instructors be trained in cooperation with the ICRC, and that humanitarian law
be included in the programmes of the officer-training school and the
armed-forces instruction centres.
The
ICRC presentations relaunched the promotion of international humanitarian law
in the Niger army, where it had been suspended for nearly two years following a
coup d'état.
http://www.icrc.org/icrceng.nsf/
(TOP)
UNEP
and IAEA exploring the possibility of sending depleted uranium missions to
Bosnia-Herzegovina, The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Iraq
Vienna/Nairobi
– 25 January - Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director-General of the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), have agreed to consider ways and means to
respond to requests for fact-finding missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Iraq where depleted uranium (DU) was used during
military conflicts. The two organizations will co-ordinate their action with
the World Health Organization, which has recently decided to send a team to
study the health effects of depleted uranium in Iraq, as well as with other
relevant UN system organizations.
http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Press/P_release/2001/prn0103.shtml
UN
Drug Report sees hope on horizon
Vienna, 22 January – The global drug problem – often characterized as hopeless – is neither unstoppable nor irreversible, according to
the UN's new World Drug Report.
World Drug Report 2000 – the work of the Vienna-based United Nations Office for Drug Control and
Crime Prevention – sees the most significant progress in the downward trend in production
of the world's two main problem drugs: cocaine and heroin, with coca leaf and
cocaine manufacture falling some 20 per cent between 1992/93 and 1999, and with
opium production dropping more than 17 per cent in the past year alone. In
conjunction with these trends, the main consumer markets have stabilized or
even experienced a decline in numbers.
http://www.undcp.org/press_release_2001-01-22_1.html
European
launch of UN Millennium World Drug Report
Vienna, 25 January -- The Executive Director of the
United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention Pino Arlacchi began
a round of high-level meetings in European capitals, to launch the millennium
edition of the World Drug Report (WDR), by visiting London on 22 January. Mr Arlacchi will return to London in late
March, at the invitation of the British Government, to participate in the
"UK Conference on the Global Economy of Illegal Drugs".
http://www.undcp.org/press_release_2001-01-25_1.html
Aids now core issue at Un
Security Council
UN Body discusses epidemic
for fourth time in a year
New York, 19 January – The fourth meeting of the
United Nations Security Council on the issue of HIV/AIDS in a year signals that
the epidemic’s threat to peace and
security is as real as ever. "The simple fact that the Security Council
regards AIDS as a significant problem sends a powerful message: AIDS is a
serious matter for the global community," said Dr Peter Piot, Executive
Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), speaking
to the Council today.
Today’s public meeting was convened to follow-up on UN
Security Council Resolution 1308, adopted six months ago to intensify the fight
against AIDS – calling on countries to
address HIV/AIDS in the context of human security. The Resolution targets armed
forces and peacekeepers for education, training and prevention efforts, and
urges voluntary and confidential HIV/AIDS counselling and testing for all
national uniformed forces, especially troops deployed internationally.
http://www.unaids.org/whatsnew/press/eng/pressarc01/newyork_190101.html
Fewer pills help the
medicine go down for TB patients and combat a deadly epidemic
17 January - Patients
suffering from tuberculosis now have an alternative form of treatment involving
far fewer pills — currently up to 16 a day — to cure their disease. Experts writing in the
January issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization say the
new treatment, which reduces the number of tablets to as few as three or four
per day, will also combat the spread of drug-resistant forms of the deadly
disease, especially in the world's worst-affected countries.
Proposed by the World
Health Organization (WHO) in the mid-1990s but not yet adopted by all
countries, the new treatment has recently become cheaper and therefore more
accessible even to people in the poorest countries.
http://www.who.int/inf-pr-2000/en/pr2001-02.html
26 January - Uganda's health
ministry has declared the western district of Masindi to be Ebola-free, Ugandan
radio announced on Wednesday. It quoted a press release from the health
ministry as saying that 40 days had passed since the last case of Ebola was
confirmed in the district. The ministry thanked the people of Masindi for the
"job well done in controlling the disease".
WHO also reported on Wednesday
that as of 14 January there had been no new Ebola cases in Gulu District in the
northwest. It said the cumulative total of cases remained at 396 cases, with
150 deaths. The total number of cases in Masindi remained at 27 cases, with 19
deaths, it added.
(TOP)
21 million dollars to help village communities in
Senegal
Rome, 16 January 2001 - The International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Republic of Senegal signed a loan
agreement today on highly concessional terms, with a view to financing Phase II
of the Village Organization and Management Project, an IFAD initiative with a
total cost of USD 21.5 million. The agreement was signed at IFAD headquarters
in Rome by its President, Mr Fawzi Al-Sultan, and H.E. Mama Balla Sy,
Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal to Italy. The IFAD loan is for USD 13.7
million, or 64% of the total programme cost. The contribution of the Government
of the Republic of Senegal will be about USD 2.7 million (12.5%), and the
beneficiaries of the project will provide the equivalent of USD 3.1 million
(14.5%). The West African Development Bank is planning to cofinance the village
infrastructure component for a sum of USD 2 million (10%).
The general objective of Phase II of the Village
Organization and Management Project is sustainable improvement in the living
conditions and income of rural inhabitants. In pursuit of this aim, the project
will provide capacity-building support to village organizations. It will also
encourage sustainable agricultural systems and diversified profit-making
activities through technical support, management assistance and improved access
to markets and financial services.
http://www.ifad.org/press/2001/01-03e.htm
20 January - UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday welcomed the creation of the new
association of East African countries, calling the newly established regional
body a "building block" for a future African Economic Community
(AEC). "The UN supports the strong commitment of African countries to
multilateralism, and initiatives such as the AEC that strengthen Africa's
capacity to meet the challenges of globalisation," a spokesman quoted the
Secretary-General as saying in his statement.
The AEC, which comprises of
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, is the latest of many efforts of groups of African
countries to integrate their economies more effectively and to collaborate more
actively in the design and implementation of their economic and social
policies.
Dhaka, January 29 - Bangladesh has completed its fourth decennial census, which is expected to show further gains in the South Asian nation's impressive birth control programme. Final results of the headcount, which ended Jan. 27, will be known after seven to nine months. The national population is projected to exceed 130 million, according to junior Minister for Planning,
Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir. The last census in the year 1991 counted 114.5 million people. The current, annual population growth rate of 1.34 percent is the lowest in South Asia. It is the result of big gains in maternal care, contraceptive use and reductions in infant mortality.
Some 250,000 enumerators collected a range of personal
information that will enable national planners devise better schemes to raise
living standards in one of the world's lowest income nations. Citizens were also
asked if they worked, where they got their drinking water, had health problems
and quizzed on other relevant aspects of their lives. The first person to be
counted was Bangladesh President Shahabuddin Ahmed.
The five-day population census will be followed by a
separate economic census in March.
By Tabibul Islam from Inter Press
Service, featured on news.oneworld 1 February 2001
http://www.oneworld.net/news/this_week/index.html
Porto Alegre, Brazil, Jan 30 - The World Social
Forum drew to a close Tuesday in this southern Brazilian city with an ''appeal
for mobilisation,'' indicating that the mosaic of ideas and struggles of
thousands of civil society organisations is beginning to coalesce.
The Porto Alegre Appeal for Mobilisation, signed by
representatives of 144 organisations from around the world, summarises the
ideas and proposals adopted by consensus during six days of debate. The
document is an exhortation to fight ''the hegemony of finance, the destruction
of our cultures, the monopolisation of knowledge and of the mass communications
media, the degradation of nature and the destruction of quality of life.''
These negative actions, according to the text, are carried out ''by
transnational corporations and anti-democratic policies.''
Delegates to this first-ever World Social Forum, a
global gathering of trade unions, social movements, non-governmental
organisations and progressive-minded intellectuals decided that the event will
be held in Porto Alegre again next year.
By Mario Osava from Inter Press
Service, featured on news.oneworld 31 January 2001
http://www.oneworld.net/news/this_week/index.html
(TOP)
27 January - The US Department
of Defence and its European Command have approved US $300,000 for the
rehabilitation of dams damaged by floods in 1999, the Ghana News Agency
reported on Thursday, quoting the US ambassador. It said 10 dams, most of them
in the north, were to be repaired. They were selected on the basis of the
extent of the damage and the impact of floods on area residents.
27 January - The World Food
Programme has agreed to give Mali US $1.9 million in food to reduce its
vulnerability to famine and alleviate existing food shortages in various
areas.
27 January - The Organization
of African Unity has given Sierra Leone US $75,000 toward the repatriation of
refugees from Guinea, the state-owned news agency, SLENA, reported on Monday
from Freetown.
20 January - Over 300 children
at the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital and the Jui Transit Camp for
Returnees - 14.5 km southeast of Freetown - have received assorted food and
non-food items from a local NGO, the Sierra Leone news agency, SLENA, reported
on Monday.
The items included milk,
sugar, garri, rice, toys, exercise books, pencils and crayons and were donated
by the Women's Movement for Peace in collaboration with the movement's chapter
in New Jersey, USA.
20 January - The International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Senegalese Red Cross have distributed
38,952 kg of food to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ziguinchor,
southern Senegal. Each of the 4,869 IDPs were given five kg of rice and three
kg of millet over a four-day period that ended on Thursday. The IDPs were
forced from their homes in the Casamance area by an armed conflict between the
state and the Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance which has been
fighting for independence for Casamance, an area in southern Senegal wedged
between The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
The distributions, which end
on Thursday, are the first in Casamance for 2001. Last year, the Red Cross
provided 105 mt of food in April, July and August to Casamance IDPs.
20 January - The European
Commission has earmarked nine million euros (US $8.5 million) for supplies to
Sahrawi refugees living in camps in the Tindouf region of Algeria and to assist
in selected rehabilitation activities, the EU announced on Thursday. The camps'
occupants remain largely dependent on international aid, and foodstuffs form a
major component of the assistance. In July 2000, the Commission allocated
humanitarian aid worth just over 4.9 million euros ($4.6 million) in response
to a food crisis in the camps. The latest funding is being directed through
five NGO partners of the European Commission Humanitarian Office.
(TOP)
29 January - The first
widespread application of hydrogen fuel-cell technology might not be in cars
but in vacuum cleaners. Industry giant
Electrolux said last week that it is close to developing a fuel-cell
vacuum that would be lighter than conventional models, much quieter, and, of
course, free of a power cord. Big advances in pollution reduction are expected when automakers and
energy companies begin using fuel cells
on commercial scale, but such changes might be 10 years down the road. In
one test project in Portland, methane
collected from the decomposing waste from a sewage plant is providing
hydrogen to power a fuel cell that creates enough electricity for more than 100
homes a year.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/521465.asp
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/SeattleTimes.woa/ http://www.gristmagazine.com
26 January - Withstanding
pressure from automakers, air quality officials in California voted 9-0
yesterday to move forward with a mandate requiring that 3 million electric and
low-polluting vehicles be sold in the state over the next decade. The
vote by the California Air Resources Board automatically triggers similar
mandates in Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York, and affects six of the
largest auto manufacturers -- DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda,
Nissan, and Toyoto. The mandate is far less progressive than what was
originally proposed 10 years ago, requiring more low-polluting vehicles on
balance and fewer zero-emissions vehicles. Still, enviros were pretty dang
pleased with yesterday's outcome.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010126/t000007610.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/
Boeing Chairman Phil Condit
says that by May they will give the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) a
comprehensive plan for replacing the nation's radar-based air-traffic-control
system - which is straining to handle the 93,000 aircraft that fly daily in
U.S. airspace - with a satellite-based one that could squeeze perhaps 50
percent more flights into available airspace and improve air safety.
The United States has the
largest and busiest aviation system in the world.. In 1999, U.S. airlines
carried 694 million passengers on 13 million flights. Last year, one in five
flights arrived late, with each delay averaging of 55 minutes, and nearly 1.5
million flights were delayed or cancelled. Runway incursions - incidents that
create a risk of collisions - have increased almost 61 percent, a rise called
as "alarming."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/SeattleTimes.woa/wa/gotoArticle?zsection_id=268466359&text_only=0&slug=boeing31&document_id=134263987
January 30, 2001-
A Boeing Co. official reported U.S. Air Force Delta 2 carried a new NAVSTAR Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) into
space into a constellation of 27 GPS satellites - first launch of 2001 from
Cape Canaveral - providing a world-wide positioning system for aviation,
shipping and even hikers. This newest GPS satellite was one of seven now in
orbit as a replacement for an earlier generation of the satellite.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/01/30/satellite.launch.reut/index.html
(TOP)
Nairobi, 23 January - The year 2001 has been
proclaimed the United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations. It aims to
demonstrate that the present globalization process does not only encompass
economic, financial and technological issues, but also the human cultural and
spiritual dimensions of society and their interdependence.
UNEP's recently released Global Environment Outlook
2000 report (GEO 2000) concludes that as we enter the new millennium
globalization has become a dominating factor aggravating the threats to
ancestral cultures and indigenous communities.
"It is a well established
fact that without an understanding and tolerance for one another's cultural and
spiritual dimensions, peace will remain elusive. However, we have to recognize
that respect for nature and the preservation of the ecological balance of our
planet are essential for the achievement of international peace and security.
The environmental dimension of the concept of peace and security cannot be
ignored any more" says Mr. Klaus Toepfer,
Executive Director of UNEP.
http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=189&ArticleID=2748
UNEP hosts global youth retreat in Mombasa
Nairobi, 23 January - Thirty-two youth leaders from 25
countries will meet in Mombasa from 29 January to 4 February 2001 for the
second Global Youth Retreat, to be hosted by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP). The youth will discuss meaningful ways of strengthening
existing collaboration between UNEP and youth organizations worldwide. They
will review youth involvement in local and international environmental
initiatives and negotiations. A vital topic for discussion will be the upcoming
session of UNEP's Governing Council and ways through which youth can actively
participate in it.
The main outcome of the Retreat will be the election of the UNEP Youth Advisory Council - a body that liaises with youth organizations worldwide and advises UNEP on better ways of involving youth in its activities. The Council also represents youth in inter-governmental and international environmental negotiations.
http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=189&ArticleID=2750
25 January - Sweden's
Environmental Minister Kjell Larsson yesterday said that his country -- which
currently holds the European Union presidency -- would push hard during its
term to make the E.U.'s regulations on toxic chemicals much tougher. Sweden
itself is already taking steps to ban chemicals that accumulate in the body,
and Larsson thinks the entire E.U. should adopt such a policy. Earlier in
the week, Larsson announced that Sweden would cut its greenhouse gas emissions
by 2 percent below 1990 levels by 2010, even though the Kyoto treaty on climate
change allows the country to increase its emissions by 4 percent.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/scandinavia/01/24/
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9608
Toronto 2001-01-25 - "We
acknowledge that the mining industry has made improvements in reducing
emissions of heavy metal poisons. However, a great deal still needs to be
done," said Burkhard Mausberg, executive director of The Canadian
Environmental Defence Fund, an independent organization dedicated to
environmental justice, “Ottawa meeting will explore a national plan for the
metals industry to reduce emissions over the next eight years and beyond”.
Inco Inc.said
its environmental plans to cutback on toxins at its smelters through 2008 had
been approved in 1999 by the same environmental and mining stakeholders that
will meet meeting in Ottawa.
"We are
currently working on a program, and have already spent C$60 million, to reduce
those emissions by another 50 percent within the next two, two and a half
years," Noranda Inc. spokesman
Denis Couture told.
http://www.planet.ark.com.au/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9602
WWF
identifying particularly sensitive seas areas
Gland, Switzerland, 24 January
- In the wake of the recent oil spill in the Galapagos Islands, WWF, the
conservation organization urged the Ecuadorian government to urgently approve
and apply a series of regulations that would ensure effective implementation of
the Special Conservation Law for the archipelago. "The Special Conservation Law was a great achievement of the
Ecuadorian Government, but it is simply not being applied," said Peter
Kramer, WWF's Network Relations Director, and former President of the Darwin
Foundation for the Galapagos Islands
At a global level, WWF is also
calling on national governments to identify Particularly Sensitive Seas Areas
(PSSAs) in their waters. PSSAs are marine areas that need special protection
through action by the International Maritime Organization because of their
ecological, economic, cultural or scientific significance, and their
vulnerability to harmful impacts from shipping activities.
WWF has
been supporting conservation programmes in the Galapagos for 40 years and
contributed to the development of the Special Law. It has now offered its
technical help to the government of Ecuador in order to enforce this legal
instrument.
http://www.panda.org/news/press/news.cfm?id=2187
http://www.panda.org/news/features/dgstory.cfm?id=2129
The seasonal climate model
being developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center - Oceanographer Dr. Adamec's model is a virtual one, designed to
simulate complex climate systems in cyberspace - uses real-world sea surface
temperature measurements to set its simulated weather patterns in motion.
Accurate analysis of total soil moisture is a major tool for understanding the
nature of overall seasonal change.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=4571
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/2001/200101254414.html
http://nsipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Primary investigative pursuits
for MODIS - Terra's Worldwide Biosphere Instrument -include the study of
surface temperature (including fire detection), ocean sediment and
phytoplankton concentrations, vegetation maps, pollution, snow cover, and more.
http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov./
By making nearly 200,000 daily
measurements, the TOMS instrument - an
Orbiting Ozone Observatory - can survey nearly the entire planet on a regular
basis offering scientists a powerful tool for measuring and mapping ozone.
The
number of countries that signed the Montreal Protocol has grown from 24 to 175
in an effort to further protect the atmosphere from chloroflurocarbons. (CFC
and halons). Montreal Protocol vas formulated at 09-16-1987, really an
historycal step from the International environment politics on protect ozone.
CNN.com
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/
Gland, Switzerland - 29 January, World Wetlands Day - The Algerian
government have recognized the benefits of sustainable freshwater and designate
ten desert wetland sites - known as gueltas and oases - totaling about 600,000
hectares -the largest block of wetlands to be conserved by a Mediterranean
country - as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands. Thus, Algeria will be the first African country to designate
oases, and the first country in the world to designate gueltas. Wetlands play a
crucial role in the supply of freshwater: acting as giant sponges, they absorb
rainfall and slowly release it over time, while helping to purify water and
control floods.
"Responsible governments
should already be planning to secure the water supply for future generations.”
said Denis Landenbergue, Wetlands Campaigner for WWF’'s.
A total of 80 million hectares
of wetlands are protected under Ramsar around the world.
http://www.panda.org/news/press/news.cfm?id=2190
(TOP)
UNESCO Director-General in Davos
says education and cultural diversity are key to bridging digital gap
Paris, January 29 – UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura spoke of
the importance of education and of respecting cultural diversity in seeking to
bridge the digital divide at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in
Davos (Switzerland) today.
In an address at a Special Session on the Global
Digital Divide Initiative, Mr Matsuura described bridging the digital divide as
“one of the
central challenges of our time […] in order to build knowledge societies.” Highlighting UNESCO’s human concerns in its work in education, the
sciences, culture and communication, the Director-General cautioned: “If the knowledge societies are ever to take proper
root and gain global acceptance, we must look beyond the technical and gadget
appeal of ICTs [information and communication technologies] and home in on the
human dimensions of the digital divide: cultural and linguistic diversity of
contents, empowerment of civil society, privacy and ethical issues, and access,
especially by safeguarding the public domain.”
http://www.unesco.org/opi/eng/unescopress/2001/01-13e.shtml
by Robert Muller
We must not forget the important historical role
played by the nation-state to get us out of the tribal situation and warfares
in which humanity lived so long. But nations must have no illusions: they
cannot survive if they cling to their obsolete belief in national sovereignty
which is contrary to our henceforth global and planetary requirements. If they
want to survive, they must create new communities and form of world
cooperation, and strengthen immensely the universal United Nations. A true
quantum leap is needed at this point of our evolution. If not, we will see much
more disasters, waste, crisis and human despair on this planet. May God inspire
leaders of nations to make the drastic necessary quantum leaps into the third
millennium, eliminating incredible errors, wastes and dangers to this planet.
From the nation-state we must
now move to regional unions on the model of the European Union and to a
well-conceived, well organized World Union.
(Idea no. 319)
http://www.worldpeace2000.org/ideas/
Robertmuller@worldcitizens.com
*******
Next issue: 23 February.
(TOP)