News headlines in March 2012, page 32

The Arab world is talking about a revolution; not just out on the streets but in films, in newspapers, in songs — using any means necessary to document events, expose the horrors of war and explore the struggles and possibilities that lie ahead as the Arab Spring feels the wintry chill of post-revolutionary democratic challenges.

A global scramble for land and mineral resources fuelled by billions of investment dollars is threatening the last remaining wilderness and critical ecosystems, destroying communities and contaminating huge volumes of fresh water, warned environmental groups in London Wednesday.

Though Vitoria-Gasteiz, capital of the Basque Country, was elected the European Green Capital of 2012 — an award presented by the European Union to promote and reward efforts to mitigate climate change — Spain still has a long way to go to earn the label of ‘sustainable’ for others cities around the country.

Tucked against the rolling hills of South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, a small rural school has been turning its kitchen scraps, and agricultural and human waste into methane gas for cooking, and nutrient-rich fertiliser, and is even recycling its water.

After three years of frozen relations between North Korea and the United States, the two longstanding adversaries are on the verge of a thaw.

The Earth's life support system, which generates the planet's air, water and food, is powered by 8.7 million living species, according to the latest best estimate. We know little about 99 percent of those unique species, except that far too many are rapidly going extinct.

The Brazilian government is stepping up South-South aid, to strengthen the South American giant’s status as a donor country and its international clout. It now provides assistance to 65 countries, and its financial aid has grown threefold in the last seven years.

Governments and civil society organisations in Central Africa are slowly developing strategies in response to global warming. But specialists say the steps being taken seem hesitant in the face of emerging realities.

Guinea faces acute problems in the supply of clean water and electricity to its citizens, slowing the country's economic development. A major project to address this is now under way, but some Guineans are sceptical of its promises.