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1.
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Lesotho: Pay at the tap: Pre-paid water meters put the poor at risk
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Author: Christian Johannessen, Geneva
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Date Written: 15 May 2008
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Primary Category:
Ecology
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Document Origin: Media release - World Council of Churches
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Secondary Category:
Southern Region
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Source URL:
http://www.oikoumene.org
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Key Words: Lesotho, water meters, South Africa
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Summary & Comment:
Devices that restrict consumers to only use water that they have paid for in advance are being promoted as a way to fund better water infrastructure. This problematic approach endangers the poorest of the poor’s access to an indispensable necessity of life, according to church leaders. AB
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2.
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Sudan: Chinese companies contract with government to heighten Blue Nile dam
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Author: staff
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Date Written: 2 May 2008
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Primary Category:
Ecology
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Document Origin: China Digital Times
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Secondary Category:
Sudan
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Source URL:
http://chinadigitaltimes.net
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Key Words: Sudan, China, Blue Nile, dam,
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Summary & Comment:
Sudan has contracted with two Chinese companies to raise the height of Sudan’s Roseires Dam. The Roseires Dam supplies more than 70 percent of Sudan’s hydropower. China has been criticized for ignoring Darfur, human rights abuses, and the environmental consequences arising from Sudan’s dam projects. Heightening Roseires Dam will double the electric . . .
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3.
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Sustainability as a smokescreen - new Friends of the Earth Europe report
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Author: Friends of the Earth
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Date Written: 26 April 2008
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Primary Category:
Ecology
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Document Origin: Friends of the Earth: Europe
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Secondary Category:
Africa General
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Source URL:
http://www.foeeurope.org
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Key Words: biofuels, agriculture, food security
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Summary & Comment:
Certification alone cannot guarantee that agrofuels are being produced sustainably. Creating sustainable levels of demand is the only way of guaranteeing sustainable production. The discussion of biofuels in South America may be helpful in the African context. Attempts to use certification schemes to reduce widespread environmental and social probl . . .
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4.
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Scramble to dam the Congo keeps Africans in the dark
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Author: Terri Hathaway
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Date Written: 23 April 2008
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Primary Category:
Ecology
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Document Origin: Panafrican Press Association
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Secondary Category:
Resource Extraction
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Source URL:
http://newsletterappa.over-blog.com
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Key Words: Democratic Republic of Congo, hydropower, Congo River, Grand Inga Project
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Summary & Comment:
The proposal by the World Energy Council for the world’s largest hydropower installation on the Congo River called the Grand Inga project raises questions on who will benefit from this development? Electricity for who? Will the story be similar to the developments of Inga 1 and Inga 2? AB
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5.
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Zimbabwe: New food security tool first for the region
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Author: IRIN, Johannesburg
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Date Written: 23 April 2008
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Primary Category:
Ecology
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Document Origin: IRIN News
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Secondary Category:
Zimbabwe
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Source URL:
http://www.irinnews.org
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Key Words: Zimbabwe, food security, IPC,
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Summary & Comment:
Zimbabwe will be the first country in Southern Africa to adopt a new food security analysis tool developed in Somalia in 2004. Work with this analytical tool has also begun in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and North and South Sudan. AB
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6.
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Madagascar: Despite odds, country saves more trees
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Author: IRIN, Port Louis
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Date Written: 22 April 2008
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Primary Category:
Ecology
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Document Origin: IRIN News
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Secondary Category:
Southern Region
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Source URL:
http://www.irinnews.org
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Key Words: Madagascar, forestry, climate change
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Summary & Comment:
A good news story from Madagascar. Despite a demand for more agricultural land, poverty-stricken Madagascar has managed to reduce deforestation by almost half, environment groups say. AB
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7.
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Botswana: Water for tourists in the Kalahari, but not for Bushmen
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Author: various
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Date Written: 21 April 2008
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Primary Category:
Ecology
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Document Origin: Survival International
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Secondary Category:
Resource Extraction
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Source URL:
http://www.survival-international.org
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Key Words: Botswana, water, tourists, Kalahari, Bushmen,
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Summary & Comment:
The government has invited Afro Ventures Botswana and the Safari Adventure Company to tender for concessions to run tourist lodges at three sites in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. One is very close to the Bushman community of Molapo. Several boreholes have already been sunk in the reserve in preparation for Gem Diamonds’ $2.2 billion diamond mi . . .
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