View previous stories
	The U.S. Supreme Court shoots down gun ban by Children"s Defence Fund / New York Times USA   10/07/2008   Protect Children, Not Guns, says the Children''s Defence Fund.   According to the most recent data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 3,006 children and teens were killed by firearms in the USA 2005, the first increase since 1994 and the first rise in gun deaths since Congress allowed the Assault Weapons Ban to expire in 2004.   When 32 people were killed at Virginia Tech and five at Northern Illinois University, the public was outraged. Yet every four days we have the equivalent of a Virginia Tech tragedy that passes unnoticed. The US gun violence epidemic robs children"s lives wastes human potential, and drains resources from the health care system.   What is it going to take to stop this senseless loss of young lives? We need to ensure that those we elect to public office enact legislation that will really protect children by limiting the number of guns in communities, controlling who can obtain firearms and the conditions of their use. Individuals and communities must act to end the culture of violence that desensitises people, young and old, to the value of life.   The number of children and teens in America killed by guns in 2005 would fill 120 public school classrooms of 25 students each.   In 2005, 69 preschoolers were killed by firearms compared to 53 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.   Since 1979, gun violence has snuffed out the lives of 104,419 children and teens in America.   The number of Afro-American children and teens killed by gunfire since 1979 is more than 10 times the number of Afro-American citizens of all ages lynched in American history.   The number of children and teens killed by guns since 1979 would fill 4,177 public school classrooms of 25 students each.   June 27, 2008   The U.S. Supreme Court shoots down gun ban. (NYT)   Thirty-thousand Americans are killed by guns every year - on the job, walking to school, at the shopping mall. The Supreme Court on Thursday all but ensured that even more Americans will die senselessly, with its wrongheaded and dangerous ruling striking down key parts of the District of Columbia"s gun-control law.   In a radical break from 70 years of Supreme Court precedent, Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, declared that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to bear arms for nonmilitary uses, even though the amendment clearly links the right to service in a "militia." The ruling will give gun-rights advocates a powerful new legal tool to try to strike down gun-control laws across the nation.   This is a decision that will cost innocent lives, cause immeasurable pain and suffering and turn America into a more dangerous country. It will also diminish America"s standing in the world, sending yet another message that the U.S. values gun rights over human life.   There already is a national glut of firearms: Estimates run between 193 million and 250 million guns. The harm they do is constantly on display. Thirty-three dead last year in the shootings at Virginia Tech. Six killed this year at Northern Illinois University. On Wednesday, as the court was getting ready to release its decision, a worker in a Kentucky plastics plant shot his supervisor, four co-workers and himself to death.   Cities and states have tried to stanch the killing with gun-control laws. The District of Columbia, which has one of the nation"s highest crime rates, banned the possession of nearly all handguns and required that other firearms be stored unloaded and disassembled, or bound with a trigger lock.   Overturning that law, the court"s 5-4 decision says that individuals have a constitutional right to keep guns in their homes for self-defense. But that"s a sharp reversal for the court: As early as 1939, it made clear that the Second Amendment only protects the right of people to carry guns for military use in a militia.   In this month"s case recognizing the habeas corpus rights of the Guantánamo detainees, Scalia wrote in dissent that the decision "will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed." Those words apply with far more force to his opinion in this case.   In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens was right when he said that the court has now established "a new constitutional right" that creates a "dramatic upheaval in the law."   The gun lobby will now trumpet this ruling as an end to virtually all gun restrictions, anywhere, at all times. That must not happen. And Thursday"s decision still provides strong basis for saying it should not.   If the ruling is held to apply to the states, and not just to the District of Columbia - which is not certain - there will still be considerable dispute about what it means for other less-sweeping gun laws. Judges may end up deciding these on a law-by-law basis.   Supporters of gun control must fight in court to ensure that registration requirements and background-check rules, and laws against bulk sales of handguns - a major source of guns used in crimes - are all upheld. Visit the related web page
	Global Corruption Report 2008 - Corruption in the Water Sector by Transparency International   June 25, 2008   Water & Corruption: a destructive partnership.   The water crisis is undeniable and the corruption challenge it faces is urgent. More than 1 billion people worldwide have no guaranteed access to water and more than 2 billion are without adequate sanitation. It is estimated that by 2025 more than 3 billion people could be living in water stressed countries.   When corruption is part of the equation, the consequences for development and poverty reduction are dire. Corruption can increase the cost of connecting a household to a water network by more than 30 percent, raising the price tag for achieving the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation by a staggering US $48 billion, according to expert estimates in the Global Corruption Report 2008.   Households pay with their health, as poor quality or non-existent water supplies increase their vulnerability to deadly diseases: in developing countries 80 percent of health problems can be linked to inadequate water and sanitation.   Corruption opens water policies to manipulation by powerful stakeholders. Bid-rigging and kick-backs inflate the cost of water infrastructure, bribery and embezzlement divert irrigation water away from small farmers and drain irrigation budgets. Corruption leads to unchecked water pollution and overuse, putting water supplies at risk – today and for future generations.   Irrigation consumes 70 percent of the water that humans take out of nature and helps produce 40 percent of the world’s food. Expanding irrigation systems is key to addressing the current global food crisis. Governments and donors throughout the world have announced massive new investments for this purpose.   Corruption stands to critically undermine these efforts. To illustrate, in India, a country at the centre of the food crisis, corruption is estimated to add at least 25 percent to irrigation contracts and contributes to a system of political handouts and compromised oversight.   Climate change, political stability and governance   By 2020 it is estimated that between 75 and 250 million people in Africa alone will be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change. As water becomes scarce and more precious, corruption becomes more lucrative and likely. Less water and more corruption is a lethal combination and the poor are likely to be the hardest hit. Conflicts such as in Darfur, Sudan are increasingly linked to corrupt governance and local water shortages intensified by climate change.   Corruption also impairs our ability to adapt to climate change. Changing weather conditions and rising sea levels will demand massive new investment in water infrastructure and resettlement programmes, both identified as hot spots for corruption by the 2008 Global Corruption Report.   Risking energy with corrupt water   One-sixth of the world’s electricity comes from hydropower, making it a central issue in the debate about a sustainable energy future. The investment expected in this sector is huge: approximately US $1.9 trillion between 2005 and 2030. As the 2008 Global Corruption Report documents, corruption can be found at all stages of the hydropower dam project cycle, from project design and assessment to construction and operation phases.   As well as undermining the long term viability of dam projects, the costs of corruption are considerable for people and the environment. With up to 80 million people displaced by dams in the last decades, resettlement programmes are also a rich seam for corruption, and take a particular toll on poor displaced communities. The Report provides ample evidence of resettlement schemes in many countries being manipulated by powerful interests and money not reaching the intended beneficiaries due to corruption.   Stemming the tide of corruption   Rising to the corruption challenge in the water sector is essential to both human development and environmental sustainability. It is a fundamental part of meeting the Millennium Development Goals and an issue for all regions of the world. The Global Corruption Report 2008 presents a wealth of promising initiatives with demonstrable results that point the way for strengthening integrity in the sector. Recommendations for change inlcude:   • Establish transparency and participation as guiding principles for all aspects of water governance: Transparency and participation need to be embraced more firmly in all areas of the water sector. Transparent budgeting, participatory policy-making, public mapping of water pollution, social audits of projects and public access to contract terms and performance reports can all help to improve the integrity of water projects.   • Strengthen regulatory oversight: Government and the public sector continue to play the most prominent role in water governance. Institutional reform and capacity-building are essential to bring oversight in water up to the standards already achieved in other sectors.   • Ensure fair competition and accountable implementation of water projects: All stakeholders have a role to play. Contracts should incorporate anti-corruption measures. Governments and contractors should enter into agreements for fair public procurement. Lenders and donors must strengthen anti-bribery provisions in their due diligence requirements. Visit the related web page
	View more stories