Russ McBee

Of all the humanitarian aid organizations in the world, Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) stands head and shoulders above the rest. They go where the Red Cross and others dare not. In the face of murderous assaults on aid workers, in which three of their own staff members were killed, the organization refuses to give up on Somalia ...

Global Issues has published a run-down of recent statistics on global poverty. Among the startling findings: Half the world -- nearly three billion people -- live on less than two dollars a day. [...] According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they ''die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far ...

One of the under-reported consequences of global warming is the inevitable spread of infectious diseases, such as malaria, schistosomiasis, dengue fever, and many others. The World Health Organization has been predicting for several years that climate change will probably cause significant spread of these and other diseases into areas where ...

In today's NYT (via TruthOut), Frank Rich says: Iraqis are clamoring to get out of Iraq. Two million have fled so far and nearly two million more have been displaced within the country. (That's a total of some 15 percent of the population.) Save the Children reported this month that Iraq's child-survival rate is falling faster than any ...