Watching the World

“Close to six million children every year​—one every five seconds—​die because they didn’t get enough to eat.”​—JAMES T. MORRIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

◼ The official death toll for Hurricane Katrina, which struck the southern United States in August 2005, is more than 1,300.​—THE WASHINGTON POST, U.S.A.

◼ The earthquake that hit northern Pakistan and India in October 2005 took more than 74,000 lives.​—BBC NEWS, BRITAIN.

◼ One report suggests that “nearly 1.2 million people die on the world’s roads each year.”​—SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL JOURNAL, SOUTH AFRICA.

Troublesome Treasures

Roman Catholic Church authorities are in a quandary as to how to protect colonial-period art treasures that adorn Peru’s churches. Over the past six years, 200 churches have been targeted by thieves. During the past 15 years, in Cuzco alone some 5,000 works of art, mainly valuable oil paintings, have been stolen. No one knows exactly how many pieces have been lost nationwide. To combat pillagers, some churches have hidden their artwork, but in unsuitable conditions. One parish had part of its collection of oil paintings eaten by rodents.

Finland’s Labor Market Crisis

The industrial and service sectors in Finland desperately need skilled laborers who have completed basic vocational training, such as carpenters, plumbers, welders, bricklayers, mechanics, machinists, and nurses. Why? Emphasis has been put on higher education, explains the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. “It is absurd to turn an entire generation into doctors and masters of arts and sciences,” states Heikki Ropponen of the Federation of Finnish Retailers. “Vocational training should be more highly valued.”

Favorable Court Ruling in France

On December 1, 2005, the Paris Court of Appeal ordered France’s interior minister to grant Jehovah’s Witnesses access to police documents used to blacklist them as a “cult” in 1996. The list was prepared in closed hearings, and the contents of the documents were kept secret on grounds of ‘State and public security.’ The court found, however, that the “assessments of the effects” of the Witnesses’ activities as found in the documents were of a “trivial nature.” Even so, the list has been used repeatedly to justify prejudicial treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses in France.

The “Green Great Wall”

Overgrazing, drought, deforestation, and overexploitation of water resources are turning vast areas of China into a dust bowl. Hence, Chinese authorities have begun “the biggest ecological project the world has seen,” says New Scientist. “Under this programme, which has become known as the ‘green great wall,’ trees have been planted on an unprecedented scale to create a barrier that will halt the dust in its tracks.” Grasses and shrubs are also being planted to stabilize dusty soils. Begun in 1978, the project is almost halfway to its goal of covering 86 million acres [35 million ha] of land with trees and drought-tolerant plants.