Sahel facing major food crisis in 2012, warns EU aid commissioner
Humanitarian aid chief urges immediate action as 7 million face food shortages ahead of further anticipated shortfalls
Africa's Sahel region faces a severe food shortage next year because of erratic rainfall and localised dry spells, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid crisis response has warned.
Kristalina Georgieva said investing in the Sahel now was not just the ethically and morally right thing to do, but would be less expensive than waiting for disaster to strike, as was the case in Somalia.
Seven million people are already facing shortages in Niger, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, with major shortfalls in food production in many areas. The figures point to a massive problem of food availability next year, according to the European commission.
Journey into the uncharted voids of the Milky Way
Nasa's Voyager 1 spacecraft is about to become the first man-made object to leave the Solar System
After a voyage lasting more than 34 years, a spacecraft that has travelled further than any man-made object is on the verge of leaving the Solar System and entering the mysterious region of interstellar space, where nothing terrestrial has gone before.
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Scientists at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) said that the Voyager 1 space probe, which has travelled about 11 billion miles since its launch in 1977, has entered the cosmic equivalent of the doldrums, where the high-speed solar winds die down at the very edge of the Solar System.
irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Wednesday, December 7, 2011, 06:19
Protests continue in Russia
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Moscow for a second successive day to demand an end to Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule, defying a crackdown by tens of thousands of police reinforced by crack Interior Ministry troops.
Police said they had detained about 250 people in central Moscow when they tried to stage an unapproved rally and held about 200 more in St Petersburg, where opposition forces have also been emboldened by the prime minister's worst election setback since he took power in 1999.
The future of the planet is at stake, warns UN chief
FARANAAZ PARKER AND AFP DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - Dec 07 2011
"Without exaggeration, we can say: the future of our planet is at stake -- people's lives, the health of the global economy, the very survival of some nations," Ban told environment ministers at the start of a four-day meeting.
The conference under UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has until Friday to determine the fate of the Kyoto Protocol, the only legally binding treaty for curbing dangerous greenhouse gases, but the negotiations have been characterised by pessimism over prospects that the world's biggest carbon emitters will extend emission limits set by Kyoto in 1998.
Govt bows to Oppn pressure, puts FDI in retail on hold
Dec 07, 2011 |
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Bowing to intense pressure from within and outside, government on Wednesday announced suspension of its decision to allow FDI in retail, bringing Parliament back to business after nine days of logjam.
The breakthrough in the standoff came at an all-party meeting this morning where the government made the offer to put on hold the Cabinet decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail and the Opposition agreed to it.
Soon after, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee made an announcement in the Lok Sabha that the government has decided to put on hold the decision on FDI till all stakeholders were consulted.
A similar statement was made in the Rajya Sabha by commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma.
'Silent coup' rumors swirl as Zardari leaves Pakistan
By Msnbc.com staff and wire services
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has traveled to Dubai after falling ill, fuelling rumors Wednesday of his possible resignation.
Close associates of the president told the Associated Press he is currently "unwell," but did not provide specifics. His condition did not appear to be life-threatening, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Zardari's office said he was undergoing routine medical tests and a check-up "as planned." However, Reuters cited a source in Dubai as saing that Zardari had suffered a minor heart attack.
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