Children of Conflict - Afghanistan

Children of Conflict looks at the misery, poverty and never ending internal conflict that is the lot of Afghan children.

Children of Conflict - Afghanistan Part 1



Children of Conflict - Afghanistan Part 2



Source:AlJazeeraEnglish

Country Brief: Pakistan

Enjoy, little brief of Pakistan.





Pakistan

Important Dates:

August 14, 1947 - Indian Independence Act was passed by The British Parliament. As a result, Pakistan and India were born.

October 1947 - First Pakistan - India War. (Reason for War: Pakistan invaded Kashmir). The territorial dispute over Kashmir, has not been resolved yet. (conflict started 62 years ago, and still they're unable to solve it.) It's time to move on.!
learn more about the conflit @:
Kashmir


1971 - East Pakistan broke from Pakistan, to became Bangladesh (independent state).


Government

Pakistan is on the edge of becoming a failed state. However, according to Richard Holbrooke (U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan)
Pakistan Not A Failed State


He argues that the weak gov't of Pakistan, needs US help ($$$) to fight Talibans. Therefore with US dollars Pakistan would not become a failed state.
But wait, as far as I remember, US gave Pakistan $10 billion !!! since 2001. Where did it go? Well, when you give $$$ to the corrupt gov't, it can't be good. One, can't blame Pakistan's officials for taking this aid. US (under Bush), could at least track such large amount of cash, and see if it was used properly. Not this time !.

$6 billion in aid to Pakistan poorly tracked



Geography

Population: ~ 172 mln.

Divided into four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and North West Frontier Province.
- they fight constantly over ownership and distribution of revenues from oil and gas resources.

Punjab province is the largest, (55% of the population lives there)

largest ethnic group: Punjabi (44.7)

Muslim Population: Sunni (85%), Shia (12%)



Military

Army size: over 500000 soldiers

Military of Pakistan supports extremist organizations.

Nuclear arsenal: 80 - 100 weapons.

Pakistan conflict map

According to BBC, 38% of the North Western Pakistan remains under full government control, the rest 62% is controlled by guess who the TALIBANS!.

The UN estimates that about 1.4 million people have been displaced since fighting in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) started at the end of April.

Politcs / Economy

Current President: Ali Zardari

GDP per capita: ~ $2000

GDP $454.2 billion

Sources:

CFR
BBC
NPR
CNN

Brookings Institute: Climate Crisis, Credit Crisis: The Quest for Green Growth

As the global economy struggles to sustain its recovery from the deepest recession in sixty years, another challenge looms large: preventing the Earth from warming more than 3.6 °F, widely considered by climate experts as the acceptable level to reduce the risk of irreversible global damage resulting from climate change. To meet these challenges, we must look beyond our national borders, recognize that we face an uncertain future, and collaborate to ensure our collective well-being. Our success or failure will depend both on our timeliness and resolve—and will shape the fate of our planet for years to come.


Although tentative signs of recovery from the global financial and economic crisis are gaining strength, policymakers around the world are still grappling with the effects of the crisis on the real economy. In the United States, unemployment is still historically high and credit is still constrained. The International Labor Organization predicts that employment levels in those countries with a high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita will not return to pre-crisis levels before 2013. And social protection programs are suffering as nations must find ways to cover budget shortfalls.


Download The Report



Source: Brooking Institute

Inside Iran

Documentary presented by Rageh Omaar which reveals the lives, hopes and fears of the young generation of Tehran, the most intriguing, talked about but least understood city in the world today.

Omaar and director Paul Sapin spent a year arranging the permissions and contacts for the film, who include a renowned female photojournalist, a woman who is the CEO of an international transport company, the editor of a youth magazine, the staff at a drug rehab centre and a pop star.







Also, don't forget to rad Omaar's article, This is Iran, but not as you know it

World’s Worst Polluted Places

The 2009 report presents 12 examples of areas where solutions or cleanups have either been completed or are currently underway. They include 10 programs, alphabetically listed by location, which have been successful in reducing the toll of pollution on human health.

In addition, two initiatives with worldwide impact—the leaded gas phase out and the obsolete chemical weapons treaty—are highlighted here as models of how the international community can work together to make meaningful progress on pollution and health.

* Some projects were chosen because they represent a technology or engineering innovation that has been successful in reducing pollution and improving health indicators.
* Other sites were chosen because they represent a problem that is found in many locations and showcases a successful strategy for implementing the cleanup on a widespread scale.
* There are a few examples, where a policy or a social movement has been the turning point for dealing with a specific toxin, such as the leaded gasoline phase-out.
* The approaches cover remediation, education, legislation and innovation (technological and social).

In each case, it is important to recognize that this is not a ranking based on comparable criteria. Rather, sites were chosen to give us an idea of the way forward, to tackle one of the largest public health threats of our time. The examples are seemingly disparate because the issues are equally as different as they are deadly.


DOWNLOAD THE REPORT


Source:Blacksmith Institute

CFR Special Report - Strengthening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime

Overview

Nuclear technology has long been recognized as capable of both tremendous benefits and tremendous destruction. With this in mind, countries have devised international arrangements intended to promote peaceful nuclear applications while preventing the spread of materials, equipment, and technologies useful for producing nuclear weapons. Today, however, it is clear that this global nonproliferation regime is falling short. North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003 and has since tested two nuclear devices. Iran, while still a party to the NPT, has developed the capacity to enrich significant amounts of uranium; many believe it is seeking to build nuclear weapons or at least attain the ability to do so. In addition, there is the challenge of facilitating the expansion of nuclear energy, something that could help reduce carbon emissions, while preventing countries from using related technologies for military purposes. Finally, the prevalence of nuclear materials only intensifies the fear that terrorist groups could acquire them through theft or a deliberate transfer from a state.

DOWNLOAD The Report

The China Strategy by Edward Tse

1.The China Strategy by Edward Tse


Tse, chairman of Booz & Co., Greater China, offers a comprehensive and worthwhile roadmap for doing business in China, a burgeoning market that can't be ignored. Tse argues convincingly that even companies that are already successfully doing business there will find themselves inadequately prepared for the new China, which is generating great scale change. Business leaders around the world who want to be successful will need a new strategy, which includes devising a long-range development plan for doing business as a global enterprise in which China is a central and integrated component. Tse shows how China has restructured its entire economy within the past few years and offers a holistic, invaluable view of the Chinese business environment, looking at consumers, competitive enterprises, the government, and more. Given the great complexities of the Chinese market, the wealth of knowledge Tse imparts will be indispensable to executives looking to enter in the Chinese marketplace.

Read Chapter one: The China Strategy Chapter 1

Check maps and the interview with Mr.Tse:
China for the World

Frontline - Heat

For years, big business has resisted environmental policy and stifled the debate over climate change. Now, facing pressure from governments, green groups and investors alike, big business is promising to reshape its approach to the environment, fundamentally transforming the politics of the debate. FRONTLINE producer Martin Smith travels the globe to test what big business is really doing to solve one of the most urgent issues of our time.

To watch the documentary click below:

Frontline-Heat

The Foreign Legion - Tougher Than The Rest

Men from all over the world have left their pasts behind to start a new life as elite soldiers in the French Foreign Legion. Director/Producer Elisabeth Nord has been granted unprecedented access to follow this legendary defence force from the inside. The Foreign Legion Tougher than the Rest looks beyond the myths and brutal reputation of the French Foreign Legion, portraying the legionnaires and their lives within the Legion. This exploration reveals the true face of one of the most famous, mysterious and secretive fighting forces in the world.

Unreported World Malaysia - Asia`s Slaves

Critically acclaimed foreign affairs series offering an insight into the lives of people in some of the most neglected parts of the planet. It's a documentary about modern day slavery.

Burma - Inside the Secret City

Burma - Inside the Secret City



Burma’s new capital of Naypidaw is one of the most mysterious cities in the world. Few foreigners have been inside and now there are signs a chain of underground bunkers are being built nearby. Buried deep within the remote jungle is Naypidaw, Burma’s new capital. The Generals are so paranoid about it they’ve imprisoned journalists for trying to do what our reporter did: film the city being built. Foreigners are banned from the nearby city of Pyinmana where sources say the military are building a network of underground bunkers. Tremors are often felt at night. Since moving the capital, the army has intensified its battle against the Karen, clearing out surrounding villages in an attempt to dominate the area. Nearly 3,000 Karen villages have been destroyed in the past decade and a million people displaced. Those who speak out risk imprisonment or torture. “The situation of people all over the country gets worse by the hour”, laments journalist Ludu Sin Wein. “The whole country is sitting on a power keg that can explode at any time.” But there are signs of resistance. Half a million Burmese residents signed a petition calling for the release of their political leaders. As Burmese reporter Ludu Sin Wein states: “Someone has to take risks to let the world know what’s going on.

Source:Journeyman Pictures

Al-Jazeera People Power North Korea

A documentary made by the North Korea government showing what it is like to live in there country under the rule of Kim Jong Ill II.

Foreign Exchange: Global Water Crises

Nearly 1 billion people around the world lack access to clean water and sanitation. On a special edition of Foreign Exchange this week, Jon Sawyer, Executive Director of the Pulitzer Center, highlights some of the sustained Pulitzer Center water coverage, from the massive desertification of north central China to river pollution in India, from the repercussions of melting glaciers in the high Himalayas to the Carter Center's work in Ethiopia to combat water-borne diseases. Jon discusses the Water Wars initiative as a whole -- a new form of journalism that works across multiple media platforms to engage the broadest possible public. Pulitzer Center journalist Alex Stonehill also joins the show to discuss his reporting from East Africa and India. Find out when and where to watch.

Last November Foreign Exchange aired the first special edition highlighting the Pulitzer Center's work on water issues and the interactive Water Wars Gateway, designed to engage the public, and in particular students and educators, throughout the world. The "Your Stories" feature of the Water Wars Gateway now includes 170 short videos that capture the perspective of experts, journalists and individuals on how water affects our lives.



Source:PulitzerCenter

SANTA'S WORKSHOP - Inside China's SLAVE labor toy factories

ONLY A SHORT SEGMENT IN THE BEGINNING HAS ENGLISH SUBTITLES, THE REST IS SPOKEN ENGLISH* SANTA'S WORKSHOP takes you to the real world of China's toy factories. Workers tell us about long working hours, low wages, and dangerous work places. Those who protest or try to organize trade unions risk imprisonment. Low labour costs attract more and more companies to China. Today more than 75% of our toys are made in China. But this industry takes its toll on the workers and on the environment. The European (and American) buyers blame bad conditions on the Chinese suppliers. But they say that increasingly hard competition gives them no option. Who should we believe? And what can you do to bring about a fairer and more humane toy trade.

President Bill Clinton - Global Citizenship: Turning Good Intentions into Positive Action

The Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California Berkeley is pleased to present President Bill Clinton, Founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States of America. In his second visit to campus President Clinton speaks to Students, Faculty, and Staff about "Global Citizenship: Turning Good Intentions Into Positive Action.



Source:UCBerkeleyEvents

China's Unnatural Disaster: Tears of Sichuan Province (banned in China)

Sichuan, China. In the aftermath of the massive earthquake that rocked this central region of China, several communities are in mourning for the children they lost. At Fuxin Primary School, where 127 students died, families place framed photographs of dead boys and girls in a makeshift memorial next to the rubble, burning incense and symbolic paper currency to honor them. A boy survivor cries, remembering his lost classmates. A father tells us how his son was the top student in four subjects. A mother wipes the glass on her portrait inside the memorial, explaining, "I have to clean your face before I leave."

At Hanwang Primary School, 317 students died. Standing amidst the ruins, a father still hasn't found his daughter: "After ten days I haven't seen her face." Another man explains that local leaders said "we weren't hit hard, we can handle ourselves." Young voices that cried out from under slabs of concrete are silent now, as heavy machinery tread lightly on the ruins to avoid dismembering bodies. Back at Fuxin, parents remember hearing how the buildings were unsafe, but nothing was done. "Who inspected and built the building?" asks one. "Where is the government?" In a field behind their home, the parents of a victim show pictures of their son, and visit the mound of soil where they were forced to bury him. "We want justice to prevent future tragedies," says the mother. "This is a lesson of blood." Even more children - 438 - died at Xinjian Primary School. A woman shows off a class photo with some 30 or 40 students. All but one student and the teacher died. Parents here rail about the school building's "shoddy construction," complaining that the mortar and concrete did not meet standards. Likewise, in Hongbai Schools, where 430 children died, questions about the quality of building construction are raised over the sound of sobs. China has a strict one-child policy, and most of these parents lost their only child.

In Mianzu City, protesters vent their complaints with a director from the Board of Education. "Where did the school money go?" asks a man. Next to the wreckage we see an intact warehouse building that survived the quake; it used to be a school, and students would have been safe here. Instead, a parent shows us an official letter of compensation: $317 for each dead child. A father plays us a song his daughter recorded on his cell phone. He and his wife show us the forest in which they buried their child, along with many others. Back at Fuxin, parents examine the fallen building's bricks, dumbfounded by the lack of cement on them. "If children are the flowers of our country, is this where you plant them?" asks a mother. The lack of response from local officials has caused parents here to begin a 70-mile march to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. They start off full of resolve, jostling a Party Secretary and breaking through a line of police officers. Chants accusing officials of negligence and wrongful deaths abound. One woman recounts how, after being denied use of an overcrowded crematorium, she was forced to personally carry the body of her daughter home, first by motorcycle and then (when the bike stalled) by foot.

Eventually, parents are pressured to board buses to a nearby government office in the regional capital of Deyang. After officials promise to visit the Fuxin school the next day, parents return home to await government inspection. Inspectors and engineers from the Architecture Institute finally arrive, as promised, with some admitting that the construction of the school was faulty. Eventually, officials shoo away most of the onlookers and camera crews, explaining that "Starting tomorrow, only a select group of parents can be here." Eventually, the government bans gatherings of more than three parents at school sites, warning villagers that protesting is unpatriotic. One protesting mother is berated by other villagers, who remind her that the Communist Party has done a lot of good in the wake of the disaster, and who lecture her for speaking with foreign filmmakers. She returns to her farming, which had been neglected in her grief, and laments how she'd hoped her daughter would be cultured and highly educated. It turns out that compensation is tied to a pledge to "obey the law and maintain social order." With the implication that the protests will cease, parents are offered $8,800 per dead child. Later, 58 parents from Fuxin Primary School file a suit seeking additional damages and a public apology. Their lawsuit is rejected.

CREDITS: Directed by Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill; Produced by Jon Alpert, Peter Kwong, Michelle Mi, Matthew O'Neill & Ming Xia; Edited by Adam Barton; Editor & Colorist: John Custodio; Cinematography & Audio: Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill. For HBO: supervising producer, Jacqueline Glover; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.






Source: o0thelonetiger0o's YT Channel

Women on the Frontline - Democratic Republic of Congo

Women on the Frontline is a video documentary series, presented by Annie Lennox, that shines a light on violence against women and girls. The series takes the front to homes, villages and cities around the world where a largely unreported war against females is being waged.

Broadcast on BBC World for seven weeks in 2008, the series covers: Nepal, where thousands of women are trafficked each year; Turkey, where killing in the name of honour continues; Morocco, where women political activists who have survived torture and imprisonment testify before a government truth and reconciliation commission; the DRC, where women bear the brunt of a 10-year war in the eastern provinces; Colombia, where women have been tortured in the shadow of a guerilla war; Mauritania, where women who have been raped may go to prison; and Austria, where, under a new law, perpetrators of domestic violence are forced to leave home.

(Publishers: UNFPA, dev.tv, Austrian Development Cooperation, UNIFEM; Year of Release: 2008)

Inside Story - Nuclear energy in the Gulf

While nuclear giants Russia and the US agreed to reduce their stockpiles of weapons, some of the brightest minds in nuclear science have gathered in Bahrain to discuss the future of nuclear energy in the Gulf and how to avert nuclear catastrophe.

Blood, Oil and Gas: The Struggle for Central Asia's Natural Resources

Talk by freelance journalist Pepe Escobar sponsored by the Central Eurasian Society at the University of Toronto. Mr. Escobar discusses what has often been called the Great Game of the 21st century, how the reigning superpower US and the rising regional powers like China, Russia, Iran, and the non-state actors have maneuvered against each other for access and control of the vast oil and natural gas reserves of the region.

Human Right Watch: 2010 World Report

This 20th annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. It reflects extensive investigative work undertaken in 2009 by Human Rights Watch staff, usually in close partnership with human rights activists in the country in question.

Every government is at times tempted to violate human rights, but the global human rights movement has made sure that abuse carries a price. Still, some governments cannot resist trying to minimize that price by attacking human rights defenders, organizations, and institutions. The aim is to silence the messenger, to deflect pressure, to lessen the cost of committing human rights violations.

These efforts have yet to succeed, but the campaign is dangerous. Human Rights Watch calls on governmental supporters of human rights to help defend the defenders by identifying and countering these reactionary efforts. A strong defense of human rights depends on the vitality of the human rights movement now under assault.


Download Full Report [PDF, 4 MB]

Source:HRW.

China 2020

“China 2020” presents three alternate future scenarios based on different trajectories China might follow out to 2020: “Fragmentation,” the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) faces escalating demands from a range of actors who have slowly chipped away at its legitimacy and capacity, placing the very survival of the CCP in question; “Strong State,” having engaged its best and brightest to successfully address the many challenges faced by China, the CCP remains highly autocratic, making extensive use of technology to improve government performance and suppress dissent; and “Partial “Democracy,” the CCP is able to maintain a powerful position only by accommodating greater popular demand for openness and participation in shaping China’s political and economic agenda. The narratives were developed based on insights shared by some of the most knowledgeable China observers in the field, at an intensive, daylong workshop convened at the CGA in October 2009.

China 2020 Scenerio


The China 2020 workshop and report included input from several leading minds in Chinese and global policy, including Daniel Ahn, Director of Macroeconomic and Portfolio Strategies Research, Louis Capital Markets; Nayan Chanda, Director of Publications, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization; David Denoon, Professor of Politics and Economics at New York University; John Frankenstein, Associate Professor, Brooklyn College, City University of New York; Taylor Fravel, Cecil & Ida Green Career Development Associate Professor of Political Science, MIT; Dru Gladney, President, Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College; François Godement, Professor of Political Science, Institut d’Études Politiques, Paris; Roberto Herrera-Lim, Director, Asia Practice, Eurasia Group; Nazrul Islam, Senior Economics Affairs Officer, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations; Cheng Li, Director of Research, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution; James Mulvenon, Director, Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, Defense Group, Inc; Stephen Orlins, President, National Committee on United States-China Relations; Dudley Poston, Professor of Sociology, Abell Endowed Professor of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University; Adam Segal, Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow for China, Council on Foreign Relations; Julian Wong, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for American Progress; Geng Xiao, Professor at the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing; Qiang Xiao, Director, China Internet Project; and Wei Zhang, Lecturer in Chinese Economy, University of Cambridge, England.


Source: NYU

MASSIVE RIOT CIVIL UNREST: Kryzgystan

Kyrgyzstan's opposition has taken over government headquarters, the site of deadly rioting on Wednesday, and appears to be in control of the capital Thursday. The government of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev appears to have fled.The Health Ministry says the death toll from the anti-government rioting is now 68, with 400 people hospitalized. Opposition leader Rosa Otunbayeva has declared herself head of an interim government of this Central Asian nation housing a key U.S. air base. The opposition has called for the closure of the U.S. air base outside the capital, which is a transit point for supplies to the war in Afghanistan. U.S. military officials said Kyrgyzstan officials halted flights for 12 hours at the Manas air base on Wednesday.


Watch the video:




From AP:
Protests escalated in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday, where demonstrators stormed the main government building and state television station in the capital of Bishkek, and there were scenes of violence in other cities in this central Asian nation.



Read:
Kyrgyzstan's "Analog Revolution"

BBC:Kyrgyzstan unrest



Sources: AP,BBC,Foreign Policy.

Blood Diamonds - The True Story

This instalment examines the little-known truth about how the worldwide diamond trade has funded wars across western and central Africa, leading to the deaths of millions of people.


Blood diamonds, often called conflict diamonds, are mined in war torn African countries by rebels to fund their conflict. The rebels grossly abuse human rights, often murdering and enslaving the local populations to mine the diamonds.

Blue Gold: World Water Wars DVD

In every corner of the globe, we are polluting, diverting, pumping, and wasting our limited supply of fresh water at an expediential level as population and technology grows. The rampant overdevelopment of agriculture, housing and industry increase the demands for fresh water well beyond the finite supply, resulting in the desertification of the earth.

Corporate giants force developing countries to privatize their water supply for profit. Wall Street investors target desalination and mass bulk water export schemes. Corrupt governments use water for economic and political gain. Military control of water emerges and a new geo-political map and power structure forms, setting the stage for world water wars.

Watch the trailer:



Blue Gold World Water Wars Official Website

Fighting Hunger in Africa: Gebisa Ejeta

Dr. Ejeta’s personal journey would lead him from a childhood in a one-room thatched hut in rural Ethiopia to the height of scientific acclaim as a distinguished professor, plant breeder, and geneticist at Purdue University. His work with sorghum, which is a staple in the diet of 500 million people living in sub-Saharan Africa, began in Ethiopia in the 1970s. Working in Sudan in the early 1980s, he developed Hageen Dura-1, the first ever commercial hybrid sorghum in Africa. This hybrid variety was tolerant to drought and out-yielded traditional varieties by up to 150 percent.

Dr. Ejeta next turned his attention to battling the scourge of Striga, a deadly parasitic weed which devastates farmers’ crops and severely limits food availability. Working with a colleague at Purdue University, he discovered the biochemical basis of Striga’s relationship with sorghum, and was able to produce many sorghum varieties resistant to both drought and Striga. In 1994, eight tons of Dr. Ejeta’s drought and Striga-resistant sorghum seeds were distributed to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Yield increases were as much as four times the yield of local varieties, even in severe drought areas.





2009 World Food Prize Laureate Gebisa Ejeta

Top 5 Recomennded Books

1.Samuel P. Huntington - The Clash of Civilizations



World politics is entering a new phase, in which the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of international conflict will be cultural. Civilizations-the highest cultural groupings of people-are differentiated from each other by religion, history, language and tradition. These divisions are deep and increasing in importance. From Yugoslavia to the Middle East to Central Asia, the fault lines of civilizations are the battle lines of the future. In this emerging era of cultural conflict the United States must forge alliances with similar cultures and spread its values wherever possible. With alien civilizations the West must be accommodating if possible, but confrontational if necessary. In the final analysis, however, all civilizations will have to learn to tolerate each other.


2.Fareed Zakaria - Post American world



In his new book, “The Post-American World,” Mr. Zakaria writes that America remains a politico-military superpower, but “in every other dimension — industrial, financial, educational, social, cultural — the distribution of power is shifting, moving away from American dominance.” With the rise of China, India and other emerging markets, with economic growth sweeping much of the planet, and the world becoming increasingly decentralized and interconnected, he contends, “we are moving into a post-American world, one defined and directed from many places and by many people.

3.Joshua Kurlantzick - Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power Is Transforming the World



This book is the first to examine the significance of China’s recent reliance on soft power—diplomacy, trade incentives, cultural and educational exchange opportunities, and other techniques—to project a benign national image, position itself as a model of social and economic success, and develop stronger international alliances. Drawing on years of experience tracking China’s policies in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, Joshua Kurlantzick reveals how China has wooed the world with a "charm offensive" that has largely escaped the attention of American policy makers.

4.William Langewiesche - The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor




The end of the Cold War heralded the end of the superpowers' monopoly on nuclear arms, and recent technological advances have made them more affordable for Third World countries aspiring to join the "Nuclear Club." Journalist William Langewiesche examines the advent and implications of nuclear proliferation and provides an in-depth account of the relative ease with which terrorists might acquire the raw materials necessary to assemble a nuclear bomb. He also follows the career of Abdul Qadeer Khan. Dr. Khan is a Pakistani Scientist and metallurgical engineer widely regarded as the founder of Pakistan's nuclear program who stole nuclear secrets from the West and used them to establish a nuclear program in his native Pakistan before selling the information to North Korea, Iran, and Libya. "The nuclearization of the world has become the human condition," Langewiesche concludes, "and it cannot be changed.

5. Jeremy Scahill - Blackwater:The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army




On September 16, 2007, machine gun fire erupted in Baghdad's Nisour Square leaving seventeen Iraqi civilians dead, among them women and children. The shooting spree, labeled "Baghdad's Bloody Sunday," was neither the work of Iraqi insurgents nor U.S. soldiers. The shooters were private forces working for the secretive mercenary company, Blackwater Worldwide.

This is the explosive story of a company that rose a decade ago from Moyock, North Carolina, to become one of the most powerful players in the "War on Terror." In his gripping bestseller, awardwinning journalist Jeremy Scahill takes us from the bloodied streets of Iraq to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans to the chambers of power in Washington, to expose Blackwater as the frightening new face of the U.S. war machine.

U.N: Nearly 1 billion hungry people in world

The number of hungry people in the world could soon hit a record 1 billion, despite a recent drop in food prices, the U.N. food aid organization said Wednesday.

The recent financial crisis, though it has helped bring global food prices down, has also led to falling trade and lower development aid, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization's general director, Jacques Diouf.

As a result of the crisis, an additional 104 million people were likely to go hungry this year — meaning they receive fewer than 1,800 calories a day, Diouf told reporters after a two-day meeting in Paris between the FAO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

"We have never seen so many hungry people in the world," Diouf said.

The number of people considered hungry increased last year as well, by 40 million, and in 2007, when 75 million more people joined the ranks, Diouf said.

If the projection for 2009 proves accurate, that would mean that approximately 1 billion people — or roughly one-sixth of the world's population — will hungry by the end of the year, he said.

High food prices
Despite a 30 percent drop in food prices from June 2008, overall food prices still remain above 2006 levels, Diouf said.

He noted that in the developing world, food prices have dropped only 12 percent to 14 percent since June 2008.

Surveys show that prices of basic staple foods in many poor countries have barely registered any drop.

Diouf and other experts at Wednesday's conference called for more development aid to be spent on agriculture, saying it was crucial to preventing acute food shortages.

Source: U.N: Nearly 1 billion hungry people in world




Also watch "Inside Story - World hunger" by AlJazeeraEnglish.

Part 1



Part 2



AP, MSNBC.

Africa-Americas New Oil Target

As world oil reserves decline, the US and other world powers are competing for African oil. US energy and foreign policies have now merged: they militarise choke points and oil-producing countries that can be loyal to the US. Currently 14% of US oil comes from Africa, while experts predict that America's own national oil supply will run out in eight years. Thus securing an energy supply is a top strategic priority in an oil-hungry world, which explains the sudden interest from America, Europe, China and Japan for Africa. Under the guise of the wars against �terror' and �poverty' the US is setting up military bases in West Africa and planning for a possible conflict with Europe and China.



Watch Africa-Americas New Oil Target in Educational  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com