Students lead move to rid campuses of bottled water

Star Tribune JENNA ROSS , Star Tribune St. Ben’s and Macalester join a nationwide move to ban the eco-unfriendly plastic bottles at schools. Americans currently spend about $12 billion annually on bottled water. When you give up a 12 pack a week you’d save about $75 a year and the savings in natural resources are [...]

Prayer for Non-Violence – October 2, 2011:

USG/UISG Secretariat for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation   October 2 is International Day for non-violence.  The prayer service prepared two years ago is still available on the internet in several languages. For copies of the prayer in,

Wangari Maathai: Reclaiming the Earth

Pambazuka Horace Campbell The implantation of British rule was brutal across the continent, particularly in Kenya. Out of this brutality has emerged a society that is continuously seeking to repair itself and repair Africa. This is the promise and numerous Africans have stepped forward to keep this promise. Kenyans have used many forms of struggle [...]

Push on to get Trafficking Victims Protection Act reauthorized

Catholic News Service Dennis Sadowski U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are urging Congress to reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act first passed in 2000. The agencies teamed up under the Catholics Confront Global Poverty campaign to take their message to advocates across the country in a webcast Sept.28. Last authorized in 2008, the act expires [...]

Brazil judge halts work on Belo Monte Amazon dam

BBC A judge in Brazil has ordered a halt to construction of a multi-billion-dollar dam project in the Amazon region. Judge Carlos Castro Martins barred any work that would interfere with the natural flow of the Xingu river. He ruled in favour of a fisheries group which argued that the Belo Monte dam would affect [...]

Can Peru’s new government continue to make progress on child nutrition?

The Guardian It’s thriving economically and benefits from a state nourishment scheme, but Peru has yet to overcome chronic infant malnutrition.  For Dr Carlos Acosta, who has overseen important work on child nutrition in Peru over the past five years, the new government’s motto of “social inclusion” can only be a good thing. Acosta, the [...]

NIGERIA: We will not be Intimidated, says Archbishop

ABUJA September 27, 2011 CISA The Church in Nigeria says it will not be cowed by growing insecurity sparked by the Boko Haram sect.  ”Life continues normally, at least here in Abuja. Let us not be frightened by these threats or warnings. We will continue our usual life, trusting God”, says His Exc. Mgr. John [...]

Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai dies in Nairobi

Daily Nation Prof Wangari Maathai, a world icon for conservation, died at Nairobi Hospital on Sunday, September 25, 2011. In Summary President Kibaki said the world has not only lost a renowned environmentalist and but also a great human rights crusader. Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete celebrates Maathai, describes her as a great woman and an [...]

A rocky electoral road

Africa Confidential Polling looks almost certain to be postponed but President Kabila’s opponents may try to test their support on the street The 25 November presidential and parliamentary elections were always going to be difficult but the violence has already begun. On 5 September, a crowd of supporters of President Joseph Kabila’s Parti du peuple [...]

Impunity rules during Zimbabwe’s “transition”

HARARE, 20 September 2011 (IRIN) – Earlier this month Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe was telling MPs in parliament – to loud cheers from both side of the house – that there would be “zero tolerance” of political violence, while outside the building, supporters of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were [...]