Abject poverty across Iraq is fuelling an illegal trade in human organs.Hundreds of people are believed to have sold kidneys and other organs through dealers in the capital, Baghdad, over the last year.Karim Hussein made the long journey from Amara, a province in the south of Iraq, to Baghdad because he was desperate for the $3,000 he would get from the sale of a kidney there. "I have taken a loan to build my house," he told Al Jazeera. "I thought I would be able to get work in order to be able to pay my debts back, but the daily amount I am getting is not enough to feed my family, I have eight children."About 23 per cent of Iraqis live in poverty, meaning that they are forced to survive on $2.2 a day or less, according to government figures.Unemployment is also high, with at least 18 per cent of the population out of work, UN and government reports suggest. Unofficial estimates have put the figure as high as 30 per cent.
"I thought I would be able to get work in order to be able to pay my debts back, but the daily amount I am getting is not enough to feed my family, I have eight children."About 23 per cent of Iraqis live in poverty, meaning that they are forced to survive on $2.2 a day or less, according to government figures.Unemployment is also high, with at least 18 per cent of the population out of work, UN and government reports suggest. Unofficial estimates have put the figure as high as 30 per cent.
Costa Rican president Óscar Arias Sánchez, the mediator in the Honduran crisis, has warned of civil war in Honduras after talks broke down between the two sides. Representatives of the de facto rulers on Sunday rejected a proposal by President Arias that ousted leader Manuel Zelaya return as president in charge of a "reconciliation" government. This prompted Mr Arias, who has won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work resolving conflict in Central America, to warn that Honduras was on the brink of "civil war and bloodshed". Backers of the acting Honduran president, Roberto Micheletti, were unhappy at the use of the term "civil war". Deputy Foreign Minister Martha Lorena Alvarado accused the Costa Rican president of "taking us towards a situation of near-panic".
Costa Rican president Óscar Arias Sánchez, the mediator in the Honduran crisis, has warned of civil war in Honduras after talks broke down between the two sides.
Representatives of the de facto rulers on Sunday rejected a proposal by President Arias that ousted leader Manuel Zelaya return as president in charge of a "reconciliation" government. This prompted Mr Arias, who has won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work resolving conflict in Central America, to warn that Honduras was on the brink of "civil war and bloodshed".
Backers of the acting Honduran president, Roberto Micheletti, were unhappy at the use of the term "civil war". Deputy Foreign Minister Martha Lorena Alvarado accused the Costa Rican president of "taking us towards a situation of near-panic".
The elderly population is growing in every part of the world and will double to 14 percent from 7 percent of the global population within the next 30 years, according to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of people older than 65 was estimated at 506 million as of mid-2008 and will reach 1.4 billion by 2040, according to the report, "An Aging World: 2008," commissioned by the U.S. National Institute on Aging. The most rapid rise in the elderly population is in developing countries, where the increase in the number of people 65 and older more than doubles the rates in developed nations. Last year, 313 million, or 62 percent, of the world's elderly lived in developing countries. The number is projected to rise to more than 1 billion, 76 percent of the world's 65-and-older population, by 2040, according to the report.
The number of people older than 65 was estimated at 506 million as of mid-2008 and will reach 1.4 billion by 2040, according to the report, "An Aging World: 2008," commissioned by the U.S. National Institute on Aging.
The most rapid rise in the elderly population is in developing countries, where the increase in the number of people 65 and older more than doubles the rates in developed nations. Last year, 313 million, or 62 percent, of the world's elderly lived in developing countries. The number is projected to rise to more than 1 billion, 76 percent of the world's 65-and-older population, by 2040, according to the report.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agreed Monday to erase California's $26 billion deficit by cutting broadly across state government, shifting costs into the future and taking funds from cities and counties. <snip> The budget includes $6 billion in new cuts to K-14 schools, as well as $3 billion in cuts to higher education, some of which colleges can offset with federal stimulus dollars.
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The budget includes $6 billion in new cuts to K-14 schools, as well as $3 billion in cuts to higher education, some of which colleges can offset with federal stimulus dollars.
See. Told you it was no big deal, other than the helpless getting screwed again. Nothing to see here. Move along. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
