* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
By Tim Large
Editor, Thomson Reuters Foundation news services
As the weekend beckons, here’s a quick look back at what we learned this week as Thomson Reuters Foundation correspondents reported on humanitarian issues, women’s rights, corruption and climate change for our AlertNet and TrustLaw news services.
Washington plans to let U.S. spy agencies scour Americans’ finances
"It's a war on money, war on corruption, on politically exposed persons, anti-money laundering, organised crime," one expert told us of U.S. government plans to give intelligence agencies full access to a massive database containing financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country.
In this world exclusive, TrustLaw correspondent Stella Dawson teamed up with Reuters colleagues Emily Flitter and Mark Hosenball to unveil a proposed plan to spot and track down terrorist networks and crime syndicates by bringing together financial databanks, criminal records and military intelligence. It’s all permissible under U.S. law, but privacy advocates won’t like it one bit.
Syria’s war is creating a “lost generation” of children
As Syria’s conflict enters its third year, an entire generation of children are paying the heaviest price with millions uprooted, schools destroyed, homes reduced to rubble and health clinics shattered, according to the U.N. children’s agency. Of the four million people directly affected inside Syria, almost half are children – many of them witnesses to or victims of killings, sexual violence, torture, arbitrary detention or recruitment by the warring sides, writes Katie Nguyen.
A simple tweet can stop corruption in its tracks
The next time some petty official asks you for a bribe, here’s an effective come-back: whip out your mobile phone, take a picture and Tweet it to the world. That’s what British blogger Richard Barrow did in Bangkok when a dodgy official refused to release his tax documents unless he forked out 1,000 Bhat for “lunch money”.
It worked. His tweet went viral and 26 minutes later the panicked official backed down. “Success against corruption,” Barrow then tweeted. “Price for my tax documents has gone down from 1,000 Baht to 260 Baht with receipt.” Alisa Tang tells the story in a must-read blog on TrustLaw.
India and Bangladesh are running out of water
In fact, three out of four countries in Asia and the Pacific are facing a serious lack of water, and some are in danger of a crisis unless steps are taken to improve water management, a report by the Asian Development Bank and the Asia-Pacific Water Forum revealed.
Blame more frequent floods and droughts caused by climate change, pollution of rivers and lakes, urbanisation, over-extraction of ground water, expanding populations and demand for electricity from hydropower dams. The consequences are dire. Only 35 percent of the region's population have a secure water supply. Nita Bhalla has the story for AlertNet.
Meanwhile, U.N. agencies have called on governments to start reacting more quickly to warnings of drought and put in place national policies to prepare for longer and worse droughts. It’s an open and shut case – preparing for drought is a lot cheaper than waiting for the inevitable, reports Megan Rowling for AlertNet.
Up to 200,000 girls are at risk of female genital mutilation in the United States
Think the brutal practice of FGM is a problem restricted to the developing world? Think again. Despite laws against the practice at home and abroad (“vacation cutting”), girls living in America are increasingly at risk, according to new research. Lisa Anderson’s TrustLaw report and factbox make disturbing reading.
Meanwhile, some good news in the fight against FGM. A continent away, two members of a powerful Liberian secret society who kidnapped a mother of eight in northwest Liberia and forced her to undergo female genital mutilation have been sentenced to three years’ jail, Emma Batha reports. Liberia – unlike many other African countries – has not banned FGM
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has rejected a U.N. declaration to fight gender violence
Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood has strongly criticised a draft U.N. document aimed at combating violence against women, saying it clashes with Islamic law and values and is a threat to the institution of the family, reports Maria Caspani for TrustLaw. The Islamist movement opposes the document's points on the rights of women to access contraception and abortion and to report their husbands for rape and sexual harassment
The death of the main accused in India’s gang rape case could affect the outcome of the landmark trial
That’s a concern expressed by some women’s rights activists and lawyers following the death in jail of Ram Singh, the driver of the bus in which a 23-year-old woman was raped by a group of men and fatally injured in December, reports Nita Bhalla for TrustLaw. Not only does it deny the family true justice, they say, but Singh’s death in custody sends the wrong message about how seriously India takes sex crimes.
"This will certainly impact the trial,” said Supreme Court lawyer Ravi Kant. “The others accused in this case will now take the opportunity to say that Ram Singh was the main conspirator and they were forced into it and as a result they can get lighter punishments. They are all booked for the same offence, but if the main accused is not present, he can be used as a scapegoat."
Natural disasters have never been so expensive
Economic losses from disasters have exceeded $100 billion for three years in a row, the first time this has happened, according to the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. The high costs are due to a huge increase in the exposure of industrial assets and private property to disasters. Economic losses caused by disasters were $138 billion in 2012, $371 billion in 2011 – a large proportion due to the Japan earthquake and tsunami – and $138 billion in 2010. Megan Rowling has the story for AlertNet.
Climate change could lead to a collapse of Arctic fish stocks
Vanishing Arctic sea ice is good news for Inuit fishermen, but could spell long-term disaster for one of the world’s most promising yet fragile fisheries as fishing fleets head north, reports Ali Morrow for AlertNet Climate. As more fish flow into warmer Arctic waters, the fear is that there will be too many hooks in the sea vying for fish of an unknown quantity, size and age – with possibly dire consequences for conservation and food security.
Conditions for Rohingya exiles are deteriorating fast
Displaced Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar face a “catastrophic” situation if water and sanitation is not improved soon in camps set up after last year’s sectarian clashes between Buddhist Rakhines and stateless Rohingya Muslims. The violence displaced more than 110,000 people in Rakhine State, the vast majority of them Rohingya.
Our reporter has been all over this story in recent days, highlighting threats and intimidation faced by aid agencies trying to help the Rohingyas and the killing of at least two Rohingya Muslims by the Thai navy as they fled Myanmar by boat.
Rights activists aren’t convinced Queen Elizabeth is a champion for gay rights
“Queen fights for gay rights,” declared Britain’s conservative Mail on Sunday newspaper, referring to Queen Elizabeth’s signing of a new Commonwealth charter that seemed to signal the monarch’s first expression of support for gay rights in her 61-year reign. But campaigners gave mixed reviews, with some pointing out that the new charter doesn’t include any specific mention of discrimination based on sexual orientation.
“While I doubt that Elizabeth II is a raging homophobe, she certainly doesn’t appear to be gay-friendly,” wrote gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell on his website. “Not once in her 60-year reign has she publicly acknowledged the existence of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.” Read Astrid Zweynert’s story on TrustLaw for more.
Poverty is genetic (maybe!)
Careful. Nobody is saying individuals are poor because it’s in their genes. But controversial research suggests the genetic mix of populations as a whole may have something to do with economic development.
The findings, called “highly tendentious” by some academics, are that an optimal level of genetic diversity within a population group fosters the sort of competition and innovation that leads to prosperity – not too much diversity as in Africa, and not too little as in Bolivia, but something more akin to the mix in Europe and Asia. Stella Dawson reports on the controversy.
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