 India's finance minister has said poverty is fast declining in the country & could be wiped out by 2040. In a BBC interview, Palaniappan Chidambaram attributed this to the fast pace of India's economic growth. "People will have homes, work, food, clothing, access to education & medical care," Mr Chidambaram said. But he also said that some 25% of all Indians or more than 250 million people were still living in "abject poverty", earning less than $1 a day. Mr Palaniappan told the BBC World Service Newshour programme that poverty "will continue to decline" in India. "The faster we grow and the more inclusive that growth is, the decline in poverty will be rapid. "I'm confident we can wipe out poverty by 2040." Mr Palaniappan admitted that the rapid economic growth in India in recent years could have widened the gap between the richest and the poorest in the country. But he said that "at the same time those at the bottom of the pyramid have seen improvement in their lives". ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 18:33:00 02-02-07
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 Worse than we thought · Report warns of 4C rise by 2100 · Floods and food and water shortages likely |
The world's scientists yesterday gave their starkest warning yet that a failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions will bring devastating climate change within a few decades. Average temperatures could increase by as much as 6.4C by the end of the century if emissions continue to rise, with a rise of 4C most likely, according to the final report of an expert panel set up by the UN to study the problem. The forecast is higher than previous estimates, because scientists have discovered that Earth's land and oceans are becoming less able to absorb carbon dioxide. An average global temperature rise of 4C would wipe out hundreds of species, bring extreme food and water shortages in vulnerable countries and cause catastrophic floods that would displace hundreds of millions of people. Warming would be much more severe towards the poles, which could accelerate melting of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets....
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,2005116,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 18:12:00 02-02-07
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| First US officer since Vietnam goes on trial for speaking out Eager recruit turned critic faces military prison after refusing to fight |
On the eve of America's invasion of Iraq, he was heartsick at the prospect that he might not be military material. He even shelled out $800 for medical tests to convince the recruiters that he was fit for duty despite childhood asthma that would ordinarily render him ineligible for service. On Monday, that same eager recruit, now Lieutenant Ehren Watada, faces a court martial for refusing to deploy to Iraq and for making public statements against the war. He is the first officer to be prosecuted for publicly criticising the war - indeed the first since the Vietnam era when an army captain was court martialled for addressing an anti-war demonstration outside the US embassy in London. If he is convicted on all charges, Lt Watada could spend four years in a military prison. In that trajectory from eager recruit through disillusion to dissent is a transformation that mirrors and resonates with an American public at a point when it too has turned against the country's involvement in Iraq...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2005111,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 18:07:00 02-02-07
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| Prodi's Defeat in Parliament Raises Worries on Stability of Italy's Government |
A defeat in parliament for Romano Prodi raised new worries Friday about the stability of Italy's center-left governing coalition and prompted opposition calls for the premier's resignation. The center-right opposition in the Senate passed a motion Thursday praising the government's approval of U.S. military base expansion in Vicenza. It was an odd show of support that was seen as a political blow to Prodi, who was perceived as lacking political support from his own allies on this and other foreign policy issues. Prodi quickly released a statement pledging to call a meeting of majority parties to "reaffirm" the government's foreign policy lines. Former premier and opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi said the defeat should prompt Prodi to resign. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2846133
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Editor - 18:00:00 02-02-07
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| Half-century on, some see Iraq parallels in Algerian war |
First the Pentagon plugged the movie, now President Bush is reading the book. The subject is Algeria's war of independence against France, in which a Western power struggled with an insurgency and international opposition. Some see disturbing parallels between Algeria in 1957 to Iraq in 2007. Others say they are different, but that there are lessons to be learned from the war that hastened the end of France's empire. Bush says he is reading A Savage War of Peace, British historian Alistair Horne's celebrated 1977 account of the war. And shortly after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon was recommending its commanders see Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 movie, The Battle of Algiers. A key difference between the two wars, historians agree, is that the Algerians did not have Iraq's sectarian divisions. Another difference is that France treated Algeria as an integral part of its territory, with almost a million European settlers, most of whom vigorously opposed any French withdrawal....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-02-02-iraq-algeria_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 17:57:00 02-02-07
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| World Renowned Geneticist Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Molesting Employee's Daughter |
World-renowned geneticist William French Anderson was sentenced Friday to 14 years in prison for molesting an employee's daughter who took martial arts classes at his home. Superior Court Judge Michael E. Pastor said Anderson had caused "incalculable" emotional damage to a victim he described as an insecure and trusting immigrant. "Because of intellectual arrogance, he persisted and he got away with as much as he could," the judge said. Anderson, 70, wore a gray sport jacket and white shirt and had shoulder-length white hair. He listened intently throughout the proceedings but showed no emotion and only spoke to acknowledge that he understood his rights. His lawyers said they would appeal....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250038,00.html
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Editor - 17:51:00 02-02-07
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