THE WORLD
From Issue #20
GLOBAL ISSUES
World News Briefs
Read, contemplate, comment, discuss
GLOBAL WARMING - Is It Our Fault?
While it’s clear the world has been getting
warmer, there remains doubt about the cause:
human pollution or regular long-term c
limate patterns.
A joint-statement by the national science academies of
eleven of the biggest polluters (including U.S., China, Russia
and Canada) announced that warming is most likely manmade.
This puts pressure on the Bush government which has blocked
any global plans to reduce greenhouse gases. Some
Canadians and Russians feel that the world’s two coldest
countries could use some warming, but the price could
include loss of native animal/plant species, violent
weather and more tropical diseases.
USA, FLORIDA - Space Shuttles
Fly Again
Two and a half years ago the shuttle Columbia
tragically exploded in mid-air, killing all seven
astronauts on board. The shuttle program was
immediately grounded while safety improvements were
made. After several delays, this summer the space shuttles
will start flying again. The first re-launch will be made by
Discovery, with the other two remaining shuttles, Atlantis and
Endeavour, both expected to be back in service by next year.
Space shuttles have been flying into orbit since 1981; this
summer’s launch will be the 114th mission. As well as the
loss of Columbia in 2003, an earlier shuttle,
Challenger, exploded soon after takeoff
in 1986.
UNITED KINGDOM - Football Fans Outraged
British football club, Manchester United, has been
taken over by American sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer
amid protests by the team’s fans, including American flagburning
incidents at matches this year. Manchester United
(Beckham’s former team) is the most profitable and perhaps the
most famous sports team in the world and many supporters
suspect the American billionaire’s interest in the team is purely
financial. They fear price hikes for tickets and parking spaces
among other things. Glazer is best known for buying the
NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1995 and turning them
into Super Bowl champs in 2003.
PORTUGAL & SPAIN - No Rain on the Plain
While dry conditions this year are leading to
water-rationing in many countries fromAustralia to
Britain, nobody is feeling as dehydrated as Portugal and
Spain. After an unusually dry winter, this is the worst drought
in Portugal in 300 years 
andSpain is drier than it’s been in 60
years. Public pools and fountains are empty, while river water
volumes are down around 35%. Harvests are looking dismal
this year and to make matters worse forest fires are a
constant threat throughout the summer. The heavy
summer tourist season with its 60 million visitors
will put even greater strain on the shrinking
water supplies.
AFRICA - AIDS/HIV Update
HIV/AIDS remains the curse of our generation,
with 40 million people infected worldwide. Africa is
especially being devastated by the disease and millions of
children here are facing the horrors and hardship daily as
AIDS kills off parents, family, friends and teachers at stunning
rates. Of 500,000 children killed by AIDS last year, 9 in 10
deaths occurred in sub-Sahara Africa. Vaccine and a cure have
still not been found and drug treatments which improve
victims chances of living longer are still expensive and
not always effective. The world will need to pull
together over the coming years to beat
this plague.
UZBEKISTAN - Protestors Massacred
Bringing back memories of China’s Tiananmen
Square, the president/dictator of this central Asian
country ordered troops to open fire on protestors in the
town of Andijan, killing hundreds of unarmed men, women and
children. Thousands more fled the region in fear of more
violence. President Islam Karimov noted the protestors included
Islamic “extremists”, a common justification these days when
governments violently crack down on restless minority or
ethnic groups. The dictator is a key U.S. strategic partner
(military and oil industry). Karimov has rejected U.N.
calls for an international investigation into
the massacre.
AFGHANISTAN - America’s Other War
Actually, there are two wars being fought
here: one against the former rulers, the ultra-religious
Taliban, and another war against poppy
flowers and the drugs they produce, opium and heroin.
Here, as in Iraq, the Americans launched a bombing
campaign, invaded the country, toppled the government and
arranged elections to elect a new one. Unfortunately, here, as
in Iraq, there is a growing military campaign to fight the
Americans and their supporters and the bodies are piling up
on both sides. To make matters worse, opium production,
virtually shut down under Taliban rule, is now hitting
record production levels according to the U.N.
AUSTRALIA - Camel Slaughter
Thousands of wild camels in the Australian
Outback will be shot and killed from helicopters over
the next six months. Ranchers argue that the growing
population is competing with their cattle herds for water and
grass. Camels were first introduced into the Australian desert
in the 1880s but were set free with the arrival of trains and
trucks. The wild population has grown steadily since. Animal
welfare groups have condemned the “bloodbath” as
excessively cruel as it is difficult to instantly and
humanely kill moving animals from the air. The
Australian government has carried out similar
culls of wild horses and goats.
