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An international team of experts sponsored by the United Nations proposed today a detailed, ambitious plan to halve extreme poverty and save the lives of millions of children and hundreds of thousands of mothers each year by 2015. The 74-page report, which synthesizes 3,000 pages of findings by 265 experts, says that drastically reducing poverty in its many guises - hunger, illiteracy, disease - is "utterly affordable." Industrialized nations will need to double aid to poor countries, to 0.5 percent of their national incomes, it said.

An Australian leftie blogger, John Quiggin, has agreed to give AU$1 per comment left on his blog (repeat/spam comments not included) up to a maximum of $1000. A lot of other people have chipped in and promised to pay per comment as well, meaning that each comment is worth about US$3.50... Now I could say "comment so that a bunch of lefties will be forced into paying a hell of a lot more than he thought he would, and we'll see who pays up," but that'd be wrong, wouldn't it? Heh. Anyway, here's the link: http://johnquiggin.com/index.php?p=2140#comments.

Being the world's sole superpower has placed the United States in a unique and rather precarious position. The horrendous tsunami disaster in Asia brings this dilemma to the forefront, yet again. Although the American people feel deep compassion and solidarity with the victims of this disaster, there are many indigenous people who conclude that the United States is acting underhandedly, selfishly and with ulterior motives. When we are extending our hand in relief, most will take it but will curse us behind our backs. Even when, as with the case of tsunami relief, we do our utmost to improve the...

<p>India's ambassador to Washington, Ronen Sen, said yesterday that his country was able to handle its relief effort on its own following last month's tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which hit his country and 11 others, killing more than 150,000 people.</p>

Radical Muslims yesterday vowed to protect Australians and other aid workers helping tsunami victims in Aceh, angrily denying they opposed the foreign presence in the devastated Indonesian province. "If you have come to help people in this disaster, we welcome you and will defend you," said Hilmy Bakar Almascaty, the leader in Aceh of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a group known for smashing up bars and violent support of the jailed cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. Dr Almascaty told the Herald at his tent headquarters in Banda Aceh that foreigners who had come to help the Acehnese were "angels", unlike...

Ex-president Bill Clinton defended the scandal-scarred United Nations on Monday, saying it was still qualified to play a leading role in tsunami relief efforts despite mismanaging the Oil for Food program. The U.N. has done a "good job" in the tsunami crisis so far, he told reporters in New York, while announcing he was partnering with the world body in a brand new fundraising operation that will allow him to solicit tsunami relief cash through his presidential foundation. "No one has questioned the commitment or the integrity or the impact of the United Nation's humanitarian effort, particularly the efforts of...

Some of the massive U.S. aid package earmarked for Indonesian tsunami victims is going to a radical Muslim group with direct ties to al Qaida, including at least one terrorist leader who is accused of helping the 9/11 hijackers. The radical Muslim group Laskar Mujahidin has reportedly dispatched 200 of its members to the hard-hit provincial capital of Banda Aceh, where they were seen Thursday unloading truckloads of aid at the military airport there. According to terrorism experts in the region, Laskar Mujahidin has links to terror groups outside Indonesia, including al Qaida, the Associated Press reported Friday. The group...

Bring on the hate mail. I know I’ll be receiving plenty of it from the people who don’t want to hear what I’m going to say. To begin with, I’m tired of the hard working people in the United States playing Atlas to those who don’t plan beyond the moment or to those who believe that the rest of the world exists to bail them out when they encounter disaster. Government spending of citizens’ hard-earned tax dollars to bail out every victim of disaster, poor business practice, or persons lacking in motive to overcome adversity has led to a greatly...

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CHENNAI, India - In a refugee camp near Chennai, a middle-age woman tells local aid workers that she has ``lost'' her husband in the tsunami. But it wasn't the Dec. 26 monster tidal waves that swept her husband away. Instead, it was the compensation payment from the Indian government. The fisherman took it and walked out of the camp, abandoning his family. snip But they aren't the only ones. Liquor stores have become a haven for demoralized Tamil Nadu fishermen and others who seemingly have nothing to live for, local officials say, forcing the Indian government to enforce stricter supervision...

JAKARTA, January 7 (Itar-Tass) - A Russian Emergencies Ministry Il-76 cargo plane delivered the first batch of relief cargoes to Indonesia on Friday. The earthquake and tsunami death toll in Indonesia has exceeded 113,000 people as of this Friday. The plane delivered 18 tonnes of necessities, including water purifying equipment and diesel electric generators for the population of the most severely hit province of Aceh, Russian Consul Vladimir Marchukov told Itar-Tass. He was at the airport in North Sumatra when the plane arrived. The plane flew out from Ramenskoye airport, the Moscow region, in the morning on January 5...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia warned aid workers Sunday that separatist rebels had infiltrated camps sheltering survivors of the Dec. 26 tsunami as fears escalated that the stricken area's long-simmering insurgency could hamper efforts to help victims of the 2-week-old disaster. Violence in tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka also revived security fears for aid workers setting up operations there. Christians and Hindus clashed in the eastern part of the country, where a massive aid effort is underway. At least three people were killed and 37 injured. In Banda Aceh, gunfire echoed through the main tsunami-hit city on Indonesia's Sumatra island Sunday....

The United Nations fritters away money while the American military steps in to help the hopeless in southeast Asia.IF YOU'RE GETTING OVER being steamed at Norwegian U.N. apparatchik Jan Egeland, who a week ago thought the U.S. response to the tsunami "stingy," then you need to check in at The Diplomad, a tremendous blog run by a State Department careerist serving abroad and which has done more for the reputation of State among conservatives in the past few months than 20 years of Council of Foreign Relations meets and greets. Short summary: Your worst fears about the United Nations are...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — An extremist Islamic group with alleged Al Qaeda (search) links has set up a relief camp on Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Sumatra island, raising concerns it could stir up sentiment against U.S. and Australian troops helping distribute aid.

"U.S. helicopters fly to places which haven't been reached for the whole week and drop food... No talking but action. European countries are until now invisible on the ground." "U.S. Navy flying aid missions, Bundeswehr still looking things over," said the headline Jan. 3rd in the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel (the Mirror). "While advance teams of the Bundeswehr (German army) are still camping in three tents at the Banda Aceh airport, Americans, Australians and New Zealanders have already flown tons of aid packages into disaster areas." At least the Germans were on the scene. On Jan 3rd, Canada's Disaster Assistance...

I was awakened just after dawn by the person who had duty that morning telling me there had been an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale in the Indian Ocean, and that a tidal wave had already hit some coastal areas. I was told that about over 1,000 people were reported dead. An 8.9 earthquake is an extraordinary event. We knew that there had been a tidal wave. We also knew that first reports in major disasters normally underestimated casualties. The reason is simple. In a really bad disaster, the first thing to go down are communications. The areas...

China fails the tsunami test Big power ambitions, bit player when the chips are down By Michael Moran Brave New World columnist MSNBC Updated: 2:32 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2005 As the ships, aircraft and crews of the Australian, New Zealand, Indonesian and Indian navies rushed to the aid of a region scoured by a tsunami, joining a large American flotilla and various British, Thai, Japanese and Malaysian units, the Chinese fleet remained in port. In fact, the only significant statement from China’s defense ministry in the days following the tsunami was a Dec. 27 announcement that China and Russia...

WHEN THE EARTH MOVES Israeli aircraft carries U.S.-collected supplies Campaign continues to stockpile food, supplies for tsunami relief Posted: January 6, 2005 By Aaron Klein © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com An Israeli aircraft departing from Los Angeles arrived today in Thailand with food collected in the U.S., while a four-day nationwide campaign continues to successfully stockpile food and supplies in Israel. An El-Al cargo plane loaded with over 3,000 pounds of baby food, medicines and other emergency supplies donated by California residents arrived in Bangkok, with the supplies being transferred to the hardest hit areas of Sri Lanka. The chartered jet was...

The Immorality of Government Tsunami Relief by G. Stolyarov II While the attention of the world is occupied with distress at the calamity of the recent tsunami devastating Southeast Asia, my attention is aimed at a critical issue overlooked by most in addressing this tragedy. While private relief agencies, such as the American Red Cross and groups affiliated with the Catholic Church, have been diligently and effectively working to provide assistance to victims, undertaking actions fully in accord with the stated purpose of these organizations, the forthcoming involvement of a new player in the relief effort is far less desirable....

Hot, sweaty, pink-skinned and carrying a large green holdall, you can tell that Ian Archer has just stepped off the plane when he arrives at the volunteer centre in Phuket town hall. And as soon as he opens his mouth, you cannot help but be impressed by the good intentions of a man on a mission to help people he has never met in a land he is visiting for the first time. "I've only been here an hour. I have flown in direct so that I can muck in," said the builder from Swanley in Kent. "I've never done...