The European Parliament last month adopted a resolution urging a number of reforms upon the Egyptian state. Amongst other things, the resolution called for enhancements of democracy and a greater respect for fundamental human rights.
Egypt practices only the most marginal form of democracy, despite much-touted reforms of the electoral process in 2005. President Hosni Mubarak has held the reins of power since the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981, and appears to be grooming his son Gamal for the nation's top job.
The resolution provoked an angry response from Egypt's government, and elicited mixed responses from its press. Some columnists indignantly evoked emotionally charged episodes of Egypt's past, while others urged a pragmatic approach to the affair.
In the heat of Kenya's political deadlock, other issues facing the nation have receded from the headlines. This footage, acquired by Alternative Channel in the month before the presidential vote that ended in stalemate, returns to the consciousness one particularly grim reality. Recently there have been intensive efforts in African countries to reduce the social stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and thereby to encourage testing. However even where testing and awareness are more socially acceptable, another fear restrains many.
With the knowledge that, if HIV-positive they would be hopelessly unable to afford treatment, many prefer simply not to know.
The release of another update for a device like Apple's iPhone is a cause for alarm if you're struggling to keep your web site compatible with the rapidly changing mobile world.
But no fears this time. Apple's latest iPhone update offers a few welcome features, and only one which really needs your attention:
Webclip icons
iPhone users can now create website bookmarks (called a webclip) on their homepage. It's really easy:
How to create a webclip:
Just click the + button, type in the URL of the site you want to bookmark, and a brand new icon appears on your homepage linking you quickly to your favourite site.
The new icon is a screenshot of the page: while cool, it's not much of an icon. It'd be better if you, as the web designer, could create a custom icon your user would see when they create a webclip from your site.
1. Create an icon of 150 x 150 pixels in PNG format. Some tutorials recommend 57x57 pixels, but we feel 150px is better suited to the high-res iPhone display.
2. Add this to your page header.
That's it! Your website is now iPhone is 1.1.3 compatible.
It is a truly vintage political and theatrical maneuver.
In times of ambivalence and sagging popularity, present yourself to your most immovably dedicated audience. Reap positive PR accordingly.
Except this time Bush has returned not to Texas, but rather to Africa.
One had reason for pause when Bono gave the President high marks for his policies on the continent.
Approval is by no means universal, but the reception Bush has enjoyed this week shows that it extends well beyond the self-raised pedestal of an Irish ex-rocker.
The President has given massively to campaigns against AIDS and malaria that have gained widespread recognition for their progress. Additionally, he has promoted innovative new partnerships to spur economic growth. These new initiatives are founded on trade and investment rather than purely on aid handouts, which many economists feel cannot provide lasting sustainable relief.
As I have sought to highlight in recent posts, there is great debate in international discourse concerning the respective roles of developed and developing nations in the struggle to cut greenhouse emissions. U.S. reluctance to sign on to the Kyoto Protocol is in large part perpetuated, rightly or wrongly, by the failure of other big emitters like India and China to do so. However those skeptical of the U.S. position contend that America is sufficiently wealthy to effect the necessary changes if only there were political will. The economies of India and China continue to expand by volumes and with no end in sight; this expansion often wreaks devastating environmental destruction.
All of this begs one question: must the costs of clean development necessarily be prohibitive for developing nations? The answer, of course, is only maybe. See what Mexico’s state oil producer is doing on this front.
Perhaps the most unnerving aspect of climate change is that its enduring effects are, ultimately, unknowable. The team of scientists whose work was influential in Al Gore’s filmmaking and many others have dedicated much time and many resources to make predictions through the use of models. There is no express reason to doubt their work of its own merits, but to accept it unquestioningly is to deny the infinite complexity of the earth’s natural environment.
For the earth’s environment is a spectacularly tremendous system composed of innumerable variables. The article linked below offers a glimpse into one specific area for concern in which, once again, the experts can only speculate.
How will U.S. environmental and energy policies look in 2009? With the primaries winding down, we're starting to get a better idea. Senator Barack Obama fancies himself on this issue, as on most, a man of vision. Senator Clinton calls above all for accountability. The presumed nominee of the Republican Party, Senator John McCain, has very noble beliefs. Because recent polling shows that environmental issues like global warming aren't at the top of voter priorities, it is doubly important to press candidates about clarifying their positions. So, what are candidates saying now about environmental and energy policies?
We have seen substantial returns of refugees to Iraq from its neighbor Syria. Without a steady stream of income, many of these refugees are reduced to squalid conditions and underground economies of drug trafficking and prostitution. Their condition is hardened by the fact that they are generally unwanted by a Syrian government which is reeling under other pressures.
The ubiquitous and itinerant Josette Sheeran here is in Damascus to showcase a World Food Program effort with two distinct beneficiaries.
We have seen meal-provision regimes improve attendance rates at inner-city schools in the first world (specifically in the United States). Similar efforts can also yield quick results in the developing world.
Rising world food prices, while having a positive buoying effect for millions of impoverished farmers, could pose a mortal threat to millions of others if not monitored properly.
See how something as fundamental as the satisfaction of a biological need can be a step toward the empowerment of young girls through education.
World’s Tallest Building, Indoor Ski Mountain, Manmade Islands and… A Model of Green Design?
The Emirati city of Abu Dhabi is often overlooked, eclipsed in world news by the glitz and glamour of its neighbor Dubai. While the latter certainly provides the more jolting example, in reality both have become experimental playgrounds of architectural extravagance in the oil-rich Middle East.
In perhaps the first foray of this scale by a hydrocarbon-producing state into sustainable energy, groundbreaking was scheduled today for the crowning achievement of Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Initiative. Masdar City, a solar-powered and nearly self-contained community where your produce comes from the greenhouse down the way and your wheels are no good, aims to be home to 50,000 residents by 2016. It is hoped that Masdar will become a "hub for academic and corporate research on nonpolluting energy technologies".
Check out the second link for a virtual tour of Masdar City and an accompanying NY Times blog.
Today’s journals of trade and popular culture are all but awash in the buzzwords ‘sustainable’ and ‘sustainability’. Here, we are obliged to raise the red flag and warn of lurking danger. These diverse and many advocates do a great disservice in more ways than they know.
For in this great sea of ‘sustainability’, which spans business strategies and regimens of weight loss, one all too easily loses sight of the real battle. We know that over-use of a term can have an unintended blunting effect. But the word is so much in vogue, and its employment so overzealous, that it has in many instances become obscured entirely. So, you ask, what is sustainable development? Who are its proponents and antagonists? And, oh yes, why exactly is it to be so desired after all?
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