World Bank spending on forests fails to curb poverty, auditors claim
Report by World Bank's own evaluators say its investments support logging and do little to help rural poor people
The World Bank's $4.1bn (£2.6bn) investments in forestry over the past 10 years have done little to reduce poverty, improve conservation, tackle climate change or benefit local communities in developing countries, a study by its own inspectors has found.
The 202-page report – a copy of which has been seen by the Guardian – was compiled by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), which consists of senior bank staff and outside consultants. The document says the bank's financial support helped to protect 24m hectares (59m acres) of forest around the world and to classify 45m ha of forest as being on indigenous people's land. But it says the bank mostly failed to address critical social and environmental issues.
Radical Past: Former Associate Calls Morsi a 'Master of Disguise'
By Dieter Bednarz and Volkhard Windfuhr in Cairo
Is Mohammed Morsi a peacebroker or a virulent anti-Semite? A former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, who has known Morsi for 13 years, believes that behind the Egyptian president's veneer of goodwill towards Israel lies a deep-seated hatred.
Mohammed Morsi can be very sympathetic, even toward Jews, as evidenced by an extremely friendly letter the Egyptian president sent to Israel last October. The president had personally written the letter of accreditation, for his new ambassador in Tel Aviv, to his counterpart Shimon Peres, whom he addressed as a "Dear Friend." In the letter, Morsi clearly invoked the "good relations" that "fortunately exist between our countries," and pledged to "preserve and strengthen" them.
Canned air for sale in China, as blanket of smog returns
January 29, 2013 - 2:28PM
John Garnaut
China correspondent for Fairfax Media
Entrepreneur Chen Guangbiao sells canned air to make a point about toll on environment.
Beijing: A Chinese entrepreneur is selling fresh air in soft drinks cans, similar to bottled drinking water, as north China is once again choking in toxic smog.
The concentration of airborne PM 2.5 particulates — the smallest and most deadly — went off the chart in the early hours of this morning for the second time this month, according to pollution gauge at the American Embassy in Beijing.
The Air Quality Index, designed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, cannot cope with levels beyond 500, which is 20 times the World Health Organisation air quality standard.
Rebels torch priceless ancient manuscripts before fleeing Timbuktu
French and Malian troops have sealed off Timbuktu after fleeing rebels torched buildings including a South African-funded prized manuscript library.
Without a shot being fired to stop them, 1 000 French soldiers including paratroopers and 200 Malian troops seized the airport and surrounded the centuries-old Niger River city on Monday, looking to block the escape of al-Qaeda-allied fighters.
The retaking of Timbuktu, a Unesco World Heritage site, followed the swift capture by French and Malian forces at the weekend of Gao, another major northern Malian town which had also been occupied by the alliance of Islamist militant groups since last year.
A two-week intervention by France in its former Sahel colony, at the request of Mali's government but also with wide international backing, has driven the Islamist rebel fighters northwards out of towns into the desert and mountains.
29 January 2013 Last updated at 02:13 GMT
Spain's bumper olive years come to bitter end
Spain is by far the biggest producer of olive oil in the world, accounting last year for around 50% of the total production worldwide.
However farmers in southern Spain believe their crop of olives this year is down by as much as 80%, and some think it is inevitable that the price of this increasingly sought-after commodity will rise.
Wherever you drive in Jaen, part of Spain's southern region of Andalucia, there are olive fields, stretching as far as the eye can see.
The province accounts of around half of Spain's total production.
As the olive harvest draws to a close, farmers in Jaen say their crop could be only 20% of what it was last year.
In aftermath of nightclub fire, some Brazilians question 'culture of impunity'
Safety consultants say the lack of sprinklers, adequate illumination, smoke detectors, and fire exits is tragically common in Brazil.
By Andrew Downie, Correspondent / January 28, 2013
Authorities buried the first victims of the Santa Maria nightclub fire this morning, and while Brazil is still in shock over its worst disaster in more than half a century, some are shifting their focus toward the investigation and future prevention.
There is widespread hope that Brazil can overcome its long-standing culture of impunity and bring those responsible to justice.
Some 233 people died after smoke engulfed the Kiss disco in southern Brazil during the early hours of Sunday morning. More than 100 people are still hospitalized, 80 of them in serious condition, Brazil’s Health Minister Alexandre Padilha said.
Police, based on numerous eyewitness accounts, believe the fire was started on accident by the live band on stage. Over-size sparklers ignited the highly flammable acoustic foam that lined the ceiling and within minutes the club was engulfed in smoke. The vast majority of those who didn’t make it out in time died from asphyxiation.
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