US southeast in tri-state water-scarcity conflict; coal becoming increasingly popular as petroleum costs escalate...

28 October :: US southeast caught up in political conflict over scarce water resources; PhysOrg reports "Hoping to guarantee no one will go thirsty, Georgia authorities want to drastically reduce the outflow from a reservoir that supplies drinking water to three million people. But neighboring Alabama claims that would have devastating economic effects on its population, while Florida says a reduced flow would threaten fragile ecosystems"... Sky-high oil and natural gas prices driving coal boom, making dirtiest fossil fuel a fashion for future development, major threat to climate stability, with new track being laid in Wyoming and Montana, and mining operations across Africa expanding; "An average of 13 Chinese miners die every day in explosions, floods, fires and cave-ins. Toxic clouds of mercury and other chemicals from mining are poisoning the air and water far beyond China's borders and polluting the food chain"... A study from Sept. 2006, available at PhysOrg.com found babies born via elective Caesarian in women considered "low-risk" for infant mortality 3 times more likely to die within 1st month of life as babies born via vaginal delivery with low-risk mothers... Antarctic krill is being overfished in order to feed growing demand for farmed salmon; krill scarcity could harm penguin populations, endanger fragile ecosystems... Assassination of reggae star Lucky Dube in alleged car-jacking incident has brought issue of crime-reduction to forefront of South African politics and popular debate; Dube killing seen as "emotional tipping-point" in society nursing still young democracy with twin problems of mass street crime, HIV-epidemic; trade union leader has said "This atrocity highlights the grim reality of the daily carnage on our streets, the main victims of which are working people and the poor"... CSM reports al-Qaeda-linked groups from Iraq to Lebanon appear to be showing "signs of weakness", less able to mount guerrilla attacks, even as sectarian violence, civilian deaths spread in Iraq, that al-Qaeda-of-Mesopotamia —group commonly referred to as "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq"— "simply is gone" from Sunni-controlled Anbar province, other hotspots...