Disasters

Near Geneva, Switzerland sits a 27-kilometer particle accelerator, the largest the world has ever seen. When it is finally switched on and makes it past the warm-up stages, it will create conditions that haven't existed since the beginning of the universe. This, naturally, scares the bejesus out of people, some taking it to the courts to stop its activation. Foreign Policy reported one group's fears:

"There is a real possibility of creating destructive theoretical anomalies such as miniature black holes, strangelets and deSitter space transitions. These events have the potential to fundamentally alter matter and destroy our planet." -Walter Wagner, LHCDefense.org

The Large Haldron Collider (LHC) at the CERN Lab has yet to reach full operation, but it will later this year. That is, unless something crazy happens...like, for instance, a CERN researcher being arrested for suspected links to al-Qaeda!

This is pretty scary to begin with, but even scarier is the fact that the man's brother was also arrested; he works at the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

The suspect has been linked to the Algerian chapter of al-Qaeda, and suggested targets in France. After being under surveillance for 18 months, the French decided to bring him down, luckily before the Death Star LHC was turned on.

CERN says the suspect was never involved with any elements that could be used for terrorist purposes; he mainly worked on data analysis.

FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, and his her office released two reports on violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2008, citing "possible war crimes and crimes against humanity" by the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), a rebel group formerly led by Laurent Nkunda and backed by the government of Rwanda.

Talk about your diplomatic understatement. The crimes involved dozens of killings and rapes. But for those following the DRC this statement has to seem kind of weak. There have been all sorts of atrocities in Eastern Congo for years, and the only questions really are which militia was guilty in which case. Possible? The U.N. head of mission in the DRC called the attacks war crimes immediately after they happened. 

Reuters reporters shrewdly dig into the problematic fact that while Nkunda was later arrested by Rwandan forces, it was his lieutenant, Jean Bosco Ntaganda (shown above), nicknamed "The Terminator" who was commanding the CNDP forces at the time of the November killings. Guess where he is? 

Ntaganda, who is being sought by the International Criminal Court on separate war crimes charges, wasintegrated into Congo's army in January along with other members of the Tutsi-dominated CNDP...

"We know he is there. We are aware of it. He was integrated. He wasgiven a role. And according to our partners, he does not play a role inthe operations that MONUC is supporting," said Kevin Kennedy, MONUC's head of communications.

"But it isn't our job to investigate the role of Bosco Ntaganda in the (army)," he told journalists in Kinshasa.

One other question for other Congo watchers out there. Doesn't a lot of focus seem to be just on the CNDP, when the Hutu FDLR militia has been committing terrible massacres for years? In fact, wasn't a key reason--along with grabbing minerals--for Rwandan support of Nkunda that he was protecting Congolese Tutsis from the marauding FDLR, many of whom were genocidaires? Maybe I've just missed it or Nkunda made such a good media character. Is the FDLR getting as much U.N. heat?

Update: This post originally mistook the gender and misspelled the name of U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem, or Navi, Pillay. 

LIONEL HEALING/AFP/Getty Images

Maybe it was bound to happen. The Save Darfur Coalition says its mission is "inspiring action, raising awareness and speaking truth to power on behalf of the people of Darfur."

You'll be relieved to find out that this $12.00 thong is not an official product of the Coalition, but the sales description promises that it can be used to do all of these things:

"Toss these message panties onstage at your favorite rock star or share a surprise message with someone special ... later."  

Admittedly, this description is the same for the thong regardless of which logo is chosen. But I'm still cringing.

The dealer, CafePress, gurantees that "100% of the profits will be dontated directly to the Save Darfur Coalition (www.savedarfur.org)." And the deal goes beyond just thongs. Save Darfur pet bowls and beer steins are among the other items on offer. 

Judging by some early reactions, raising funds or awareness like this might not exactly help mend divisions among Darfur activists or get policymakers to take them seriously.

In fact, even though they didn't make it, I'll be surprised if the Save Darfur Coalition doesn't distance themselves, given that they are featured as the recipient. On the other hand, if the Save Darfur Coalition's "millions of everyday citizens" all sent a thong to the White House, someone would have to pay attention. 

In the aftermath of the earthquake that's killed at least 250 people and displaced a total of 28,000 from their homes (17,000 of whom are taking refuge in tents and group camps, some even sleeping in their cars). And in an attempt to offer...comfort, Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has gone and stuck a big old boot in his mouth, again.  

While touring makeshift shelters in L'Aquila, the city most devastated by the quake and its aftershocks, Berlusconi remarked: 

Of course, their current lodgings are a bit temporary. But they should see it like a weekend of camping."

Yes, there's merit in the sunnier outlook of "when you have lemons make lemonade," but Berlusconi's comment -- made as rescuers continued their desperate search for survivors -- was grossly off color. 

Though the prime minister did change his position on accepting foreign aid, saying that other countries would be welcome to help rebuild cultural sites.  

Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images

Last night, NBC late-night comedian Jay Leno -- hosting U.S. President Barack Obama this week -- riffed extensively on the international implications of the increasingly catastrophic AIG bailout during his monologue:

[The AIG executives] bankrupt the company, took $170 billion of our dollars and they're giving out bonuses. You know the main thing they want to reward their people for? Convincing the Treasury Department to give $170 billion dollars to a failing company, so they can give out bonuses for a job well done. You know what "AIG" stands for -- anybody know? Adventures in Greed.

They don't have to account for any of us. Now it turns out they gave $35 billion -- not million, $35 billion -- of our money to bail out European banks. See, this is how a global economy works. Our hard-earned tax dollars are used to bail out German banks for making bad investments in American companies that shut down because the Japanese owners moved the whole thing to India, China, and Mexico. Boy, you thought St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland? Let's send him down to Wall Street!

Turns out, Leno's right. This week, AIG released a document listing the "financial counterparties" who received $101 billion directly from the U.S. government's "emergency loan." AIG used more than of half the Treasury funds to pay down money owed for things like credit default swaps -- most of which went to foreign companies' coffers. Using data BusinessWeek broke down, we made the above chart.  

Funny how the comedians are besting the finance experts now, huh?

Think Pat Robertson et al. are uniquely American? Think again. Here's an item in the Sydney Morning Herald about the leader of a fringe church in Australia:

The Pentecostal church's leader, Pastor Danny Nalliah, claimed he had a dream about raging fires on October 21 last year and that he woke with "a flash from the Spirit of God: that His conditional protection has been removed from the nation of Australia, in particular Victoria, for approving the slaughter of innocent children in the womb". [...]

Pastor Nalliah said he was helping to co-ordinate fire relief, including providing trucks to distribute clothes and food and giving his own blood, but he said he must tell "the truth".

Asked by the Herald if he did not believe most Australians would regard his remarks as being in appallingly bad taste, he said today: "I must tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear."

He said it was no use "molly-coddling" Australians.

Asked if he believed in a God who would take vengeance by killing so many people indiscriminately - even those who opposed abortion, Mr Nalliah referred to 2 Chronicles 7:14 to vouch for his assertion that God could withdraw his protection from a nation.

"The Bible is very clear," he said. "If you walk out of God's protection and turn your back on Him, you are an open target for the devil to destroy."

TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP/Getty Images

The century-old building housing Egypt's upper house of parliament, just a few blocks from my old apartment in Cairo, has gone up in flames:

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images

The BBC has the story:

At least 13 people have been hurt in a fire at the upper house of the Egyptian parliament in Cairo, officials say.

The cause of the blaze is unclear, but officials say it could have been caused by an electrical short-circuit.

Elijah Zarwan relays word that newspaper Al-Badil was banned for its coverage of the blaze. You can download a compressed PDF of the paper here.

Here is a video of the fire:

The Arabist comments:

Several times last night as I went out to see the blaze I heard people make jokes about how they hoped the senators where still in there (especially Safwat al-Sherif, the head of the Council) or how this was revenge for the highly unpopular new traffic law.

JOSE CENDON/AFP/Getty Images

With Zimbabwe's political turmoil and Burma's humanitarian woes grabbing most of the headlines on Africa and Asia lately, it might be easy to forget about another crisis that threatens millions of people on both continents: HIV/AIDS. In its recently released annual report, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Foundation (IRFC) recommended that the epidemic be classified a "disaster" in certain Asian and African countries, breaking with its usual focus on natural catastrophes like cyclones. The IRFC backed up its argument on HIV/AIDS with some scary statistics (PDF of the report):

• Some 2.1 million people died of AIDS in 2007
• At least one adult in ten is living with HIV in nations that include Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe
• Around 15 million children are currently orphaned as the result of AIDS

Perhaps the most chilling figure is this one: 25 million. That's how many people are estimated to have died of AIDS worldwide since 1981. In comparison, the tsunami that ravaged Indonesia in 2004 killed around 232,000 people.

Like natural disasters, AIDS can be a comprehensive threat, stressing healthcare systems and fueling poverty. AIDS can also worsen the impact of environmental catastrophes. Nine major natural disasters of 2007 occured in countries with generalized AIDS epidemics, according to the IRFC, meaning that people with HIV/AIDS had to contend with interrupted care. With AIDS treatment often requiring daily drug cocktails, even a minor interruption in drug availability poses major health risks.

So what can the world do to confront the epidemic? Throwing money at the problem won't make it go away. Billions have already been spent on general AIDS education and awareness programs worldwide, but the number of people living with AIDS keeps increasing in several areas, including Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and even parts of Western Europe. The IRFC says that the world won't make major strides against the disease until governments begin targeting their at-risk populations -- including sex-workers and intravenous drug users -- for prevention and treatment. Until this is done, AIDS will continue to wreak havoc, far worse than any single tsunami or earthquake could.