Pakistan: Humanitarian situation in northwest deteriorating - rights group
23 July 2008 - About half a million people in the Kurram Agency along the border with Afghanistan, which has seen fierce fighting between rival groups of militants in the past few months. Asma Jahangir, head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), told IRIN the fighting had intensified over the past year and that the government had 'lost its writ' in the area. The situation of ordinary people was grim, as the fighting was sectarian in nature, he said, with militias made up of Sunni Muslims (Pakistan's majority sect) fighting Shias, who make up around 42 per cent of the population in Kurram Agency. (more)

Squandered oil wealth leaves Nigeria in dark age
23 July 2008 - With oil prices at record highs, government coffers in the world's eighth biggest oil exporter are swollen to unprecedented levels. Yet the vast majority of Nigeria's 140 million people live in no better conditions than their neighbours in West Africa, the least developed region of the world's poorest continent. The same is true of many of Africa's major oil producers -- including Angola, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea and Chad -- but Nigeria's sheer size and 2-million-barrel-per-day output make the poverty-wealth contrasts more striking. Nigeria has earned the equivalent in today's terms of nearly $1.2 trillion from oil production over the past four decades. But its four state-owned refineries are not fully operational, largely due to mismanagement and vandalism, its distribution network is chaotic, and it relies heavily on fuel imports, which cost around $4 billion each year. Healthcare is virtually non-existent, the roads are potholed, unemployment and crime are on the rise, and Nigeria is suffering from spiralling food prices. (more)

US: Agricultural greenhouse bred bees spread disease to wild bees
23 July 2008 - Disease spread to wild bees from commercially bred bees used for pollination in agriculture greenhouses may be playing a role in the mysterious decline in North American bee populations, researchers said on Tuesday. Bees pollinate numerous crops, and scientists have been expressing alarm over their falling numbers in recent years in North America. Experts warn the bee disappearance eventually could harm agriculture and the food supply. The 'spillover' of disease from commercial colonies may be a factor in the decline of bee populations in North America. (more)

US: Researcher says Gulf dead zone bigger than ever
23 July 2008 - A 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas-Louisiana coast this year is likely to be the biggest ever and last longer than ever before, with marine life affected for hundreds of miles, a scientist warned. The phenomenon is caused when salt water loses large amounts of oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia that is typically associated with an area off the Louisiana coast at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The fresh water and salt water don't mix well, keeping oxygen from filtering through to the sea bottom, which causes problems for fish, shrimp, crabs, and clams. (more)