Civil war in DR Congo has claimed 5.6 million lives in 10 years, 45,000 die per month; peace deal signed in eastern DR Congo bet. rival factions...

23 January :: DR Congo death toll since 1998 now stands at 5.6 million, with 45,000 still dying each month in 10-year ongoing civil war; Democracy Now! reports that "Amidst the deadliest conflict since World War II, hundreds of international corporations have reaped enormous profits from extracting and processing Congolese minerals", speculation has long weighed the possibility that neighboring gov'ts are eager to maintain factional rivalries in order to keep DR Congo's natural resource markets open... In eastern DR Congo, a peace deal has been signed between pro-government Mai Mai militia and rebel general Laurent Nkunda's faction; gov't has sanctioned deal which BBC reports "includes an immediate ceasefire and the deployment of UN peacekeepers in 13 key locations"Hamas agents have broken through Egypt-Gaza border wall to permit flow of refugees in search of food, supplies, as border closure continues to strain territory; Bloomberg reports "Hamas militants blew 15 holes in a security fence separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt, enabling thousands of Palestinians to leave the blockaded enclave to search for food and supplies"... US Federal Reserve Bank cuts interest rates a sharp 0.75%, leading to criticism from economists at the Davos Economic Forum; FT reports "Economists at the meeting warned that the monetary easing announced on Tuesday would not succeed in boosting a sickly US economy. Moreover, they said, by reacting to turmoil in equity markets, the Fed seriously risked creating the impression that it was most concerned with ensuring investors did not lose money"...

Doctors without Borders reports 10 most underreported humanitarian crises of 2007

The top ten most underreported humanitarian crises worldwide are, according to Doctors without Borders (MSF), "Displaced Fleeing War in Somalia Face Humanitarian Crisis; Political and Economic Turmoil Sparks Health-Care Crisis in Zimbabwe; Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Spreads As New Drugs Go Untested; Expanded Use of Nutrient Dense Ready-to-Use Foods Crucial for Reducing Childhood Malnutrition; Civilians Increasingly Under Fire in Sri Lankan Conflict; Conditions Worsen in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo; Living Precariously in Colombia’s Conflict Zones; Humanitarian Aid Restricted in Myanmar; Civilians Caught Between Armed Groups in Central African Republic; As Chechen Conflict Ebbs, Critical Humanitarian Needs Still Remain".

The official press release goes on to explain that "The DRC and Colombia, both wracked by ongoing civil conflict and massive internal displacement of civilians, have dominated the list over the past decade, each appearing a total of nine times. The humanitarian consequence of war in Chechnya has appeared eight times. Somalia has appeared seven times, most recently because renewed fighting centered in Mogadishu in 2007 has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, only to endure disease and extremely precarious living conditions.

According to Andrew Tyndall, publisher of the online media-tracking journal, “The Tyndall Report,” the countries and contexts highlighted by MSF on this year’s list accounted for just 18 minutes of coverage on the three major U.S. television networks’ nightly newscasts from January through November 2007. This figure does not include coverage of Myanmar or tuberculosis; both generated significant media attention, but very little of it focused on the medical humanitarian aspects of either context. Chechnya, Sri Lanka, and CAR—where many villages were burned to the ground in fighting between government forces and rebels and tens of thousands of people fled into inhospitable forests seeking safety—were never mentioned."

China to spend $14 bn to clean up toxic lake; FEMA apologizes for sham press briefing...

27 October :: China plans to spend $14.4 billion to clean up Lake Tai, 3rd largest fresh-water lake in country, affected by direct toxic dumping, rampant algal bloom that cut off drinking water to Wuxi, a city of 2.3 million; according to IHT "Lake Tai, known as China's ancient "land of rice and fish," is a legendary setting, once famous for its bounty of white shrimp, whitebait and whitefish. But over time, an industrial buildup transformed the region. More than 2,800 chemical factories arose around the lake, and industrial dumping became a severe problem and, eventually, a crisis"... FEMA has apologized for staging a sham press conference; the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave reporters from around the country only 15 minutes' notice to attend, then had its own public affairs personnel pose questions... DR Congo, US leaders meet to discuss the humanitarian, security situation, as well as economic policies, political viability; fighting in far east of sub-Saharan nation of major concern, rebels say they are fighting to protect the population from outsiders who fled Rwanda after their campaign of genocide there was ended... Georgia Supreme Court orders 21-year-old man freed who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex at 17 with 15-year-old, saying the extreme sentence violated Constitutional protection against "cruel and unusual punishment"; court found the sentence "grossly disproportionate", that the activity considered criminal by then state law "did not rise to the level of culpability of adults who prey on children"... CNN reports "An eastern Kentucky school district with one confirmed case of antibiotic-resistant staph infection plans to shut down all 23 of its schools Monday, affecting about 10,300 students, to disinfect the facilities"; drug resistant bacterium suspected of infecting 90,000 Americans per year...

Gingrich mulls run for presidency, wants to stop Clinton; Greenspan says Bush admin. ideological on fiscal policy...

16 September :: Former US Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, has said he is contemplating a late run for the presidency, to help Republican party overcome "chaos" in primary field; some see possible run as attempt to take on old foe Hillary Clinton... UK gov't faces criticism over policy of deporting political asylum-seekers back to DR Congo, where it says they face no imminent peril; new report says opposite, with testimony for former DRC security forces operative says such political refugees and dissidents face detention, truly brutal torture, rape and murder at hands of regime... In his new book, Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve for nearly two decades, criticizes Bush admin. for ideologically-driven fiscal policy; of the Republican-controlled Congress, he reportedly writes they "lost their way", adding "They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither"; media reports suggest Rove's political apparatus had excessive influence over economic policies, Rove met with Greenspan briefly, only once or twice...