Copyright 2006, Reuters AlertNet http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/rss/blogs.xml en-gb Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:27:26 +0000 5 http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/rss/blogs.xml http://www.alertnet.org/images/rtrfndn_alertnet_new_tr.gif http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/29542/fc4807275840c0c266287c5782233eba.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/29542/fc4807275840c0c266287c5782233eba.htm Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:57:30 +0000 Sailani says that in response to continuing threats to the foreign staff in Afghanistan, it now appears that a decision has been made to withdraw about six hundred UN international officers from Kabul.

]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/29542/0aca5fba69238fbbe0ed26c126e9ff0c.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/29542/0aca5fba69238fbbe0ed26c126e9ff0c.htm Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:41:40 +0000 Nick Fielding reviews the most recent report on the security environment in Afghanistan, which says that the situation has deteriorated since 2005, affecting all aspects of the reconstruction operations.

]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/60714/2009/10/6-153701-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/60714/2009/10/6-153701-1.htm Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:37:00 +0000 BARCELONA - With U.S. legislation on reducing carbon emissions caught up in political wrangling and many other nations waiting to see what the United States does before making their own firm commitments, prospects are fading that a legally binding new pact to limit climate change will be signed at Copenhagen in December.

That has caused immense frustration at climate talks in Barcelona this week, the last negotiating sessions before Copenhagen.

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]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/54445/2009/10/5-003527-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/54445/2009/10/5-003527-1.htm Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:35:00 +0000 For those of us who admire Antoni Gaudi's architecture, it is fitting that the latest round of international climate change negotiations (before the big ones in Copenhagen) are being held in Barcelona.

Gaudi loved nature, and he was inspired by the shapes and forms that only nature can create. Yet he believed firmly that architecture, or at least differences in architectural styles, were influenced and underpinned by society and politics.

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]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/54648/2009/10/4-210209-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/54648/2009/10/4-210209-1.htm Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:02:00 +0000 The dialogue is changing. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scot Marceil visited Burma and held talks with Burmese officials and Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi. It is the highest-level visit to Burma in more than a decade, and follows the State Department’s September announcement of its Burma Policy Review, which began shortly after President Obama took office.

Though the rest of the U.S. review largely endorses existing policy, this is a notable opening of dialogue with the Burmese government. It is also representative of a notable change in the debate around all things Burma â€" including humanitarian assistance.

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]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/29542/28091c82ed073c4e0c19c5f874bc4b6d.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/29542/28091c82ed073c4e0c19c5f874bc4b6d.htm Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:24:32 +0000 A charity concert will be held in Vientiane, Laos this Friday to raise funds for the typhoon victims in the southern provinces of Saravane, Sekong and Attapeu.

]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/57939/2009/10/3-143627-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/57939/2009/10/3-143627-1.htm Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:36:00 +0000 Much of the talking at climate change negotiations ahead of a big gathering in Copenhagen in December has been focusing on emissions, prompting campaigners at this week's Barcelona meeting to point out that water is also critical to the success of any efforts to adapt to the impact of climate change.

The way that water is managed in and between countries is a vital component of future planning. Water is also crucial to many mitigation activities, including hydropower, agriculture and forestry projects.

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]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/53806/2009/10/3-095952-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/53806/2009/10/3-095952-1.htm Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:59:00 +0000 By Lisa Abu Shanab, World Vision JWBG

Cows moo softly behind us and olive trees, stone houses, and fields surround us in the village of Aboud in West Ramallah. In any other place the cows standing side by side in the small building structure that serves as a housing shed would not be anything out of the ordinary. But here in Aboud, these cows represent so much more than just the milk they produce.

Sitting and standing with us in the housing shed are some of the 20 women responsible for the cow farm, supported by World Vision's West Ramallah Area Development Programme. Both Christian and Muslim, their presence represents the hope and co-existence that is found here.

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]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/55943/2009/10/2-110213-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/55943/2009/10/2-110213-1.htm Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:02:00 +0000 Abdullahi is 14 and lives in Wajir, in north east Kenya. Every day after school, on an empty stomach, he chisels through 20 feet of rock to try to build a well and save his family from drought.

It's a race against time to reach water and irrigate some of his family's small-scale farm. As he does this, the children of his village die around him. This is Abdullahi's story.

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]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/29542/62d7b9bbdcdcea32db4a3652ab140cb2.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/29542/62d7b9bbdcdcea32db4a3652ab140cb2.htm Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:53:49 +0000 Updates on the flu situation in Ukraine, at Greetings From Kyiv - here and here, and at Ukrainiana - here.

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