And in the Rest of the World…

THE world is hit by weather woes. The current El Nino phenomenon – affecting countries across multiple continents – is one of the strongest in history; hence, more funding is needed to address its enormous challenges. This was the alarm sounded by United Nations (UN) Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’ Brien, on April 26.

According to the UN, El Nino is the abnormal warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The UN stated that while it is a “natural recurring phenomenon every several years”, it is also exacerbated by climate change. This warming results in periods of droughts or excessive rainfall, in regions like East and Southern Africa, South and Southeast Asia, the Pacific islands, and Central America. It has also raised key questions at home, in Singapore.

“On Friday (April 22), the water level at Linggiu Reservoir fell to yet another historic low of 35 per cent,” reported TODAY, in an article published a day after. This reservoir allows Singapore to reliably draw water from the Johor River. El Nino is suspected to have caused this. It forces Singapore to re-examine some key issues.

Supply

Currently, Singapore has four “national taps”: Local catchment water, NEWater, desalinated water, and imported water. The challenge? Increasing our water supply. In the TODAY article, experts suggested various ideas revolving around “water technology and management”:

First, new desalination technologies, like electrodeionisation and techniques involving biomimetic and biomimicry – they produce more water using less energy. Second, expanding or deepening current reservoirs. Third, decentralised water-treatment systems that collect and treat water at the same place. Fourth, a new “national tap” of “drawing on naturally occurring aquifers and groundwater in western and eastern Singapore” – think: water wells.

Demand

How can Singapore reduce its water usage? Currently, Singapore uses around 50 per cent more water than European cities like Barcelona and Zaragoza, the TODAY article reported. It added that some experts suggested increasing prices; others disagreed, as its effect are minimal, since water bills form a small fraction of people’s household income. But using more technology, reducing water imports will raise the cost of producing water; prices need to reflect this increased cost. And then, of course, there’s education.

Competing goals

But new technology or change in policy, reported TODAY, requires a balancing of three “competing goals”: energy usage, freshwater security, and effects on the climate. The example: Desalination can draw from endless supplies of seawater for processing, but this requires a lot of energy and has a considerable carbon footprint.

Competing countries

And then there’s geopolitics. In another TODAY column, published on April 29, Professor Brahma Chellaney said: “Water-sharing disputes between countries or provinces are becoming increasingly frequent because of the proliferation of dam projects that can adversely affect downstream flows.” He added that “China is the main culprit”, heavily damming rivers that flow into South East Asia.

Use the world map to see this week’s reports of weather woes experienced by other countries, and then check out the selection of quotes relating to other world news.

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Saudi Arabia’s 29 million people

“We have developed a case of oil addiction in Saudi Arabia…”

— Mohammed Salman, Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, on new plans to transform the economy

Monday (April 25), “Saudi Vision 2030” was announced by Saudi media. Prince Mohammed Salman rolled out a plan to rid the kingdom off its dependence on oil revenues. Five per cent of state oil company Saudi Aramco will be sold in an Initial Public Offering (IPO), raising capital for the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund. A new education curriculum, privatisation of sectors like airports and health care, attracting foreign investments, producing half of military equipment internally, increased women’s workforce participation – these were some of the changes announced. Some social initiatives like the development of historic sites were also mentioned, though the much anticipated call to permit women to drive was not.

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Firefighters and plant workers at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

“The issue of the consequences of the catastrophe is not resolved.”

— Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine, on the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

Tuesday (April 26), Ukraine held memorial services on the 30th anniversary of the catastrophic nuclear accident in Chernobyl. The nuclear reactor exploded, spewing clouds of radioactive material into the air, and displacing tens of thousands of people from their homes. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the former Soviet Union enlisted more than half a million of its people to clean up and contain the nuclear fallout. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, 31 plant workers and firefighters died. But in the decades since, thousands more have died from cancer and other radiation-related illnesses.

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Doctors, nurses, patients at medical facilities in Aleppo

“We are outraged by… airstrikes in Aleppo on the Al Quds hospital supported by both Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross”

— John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State, on the bombing of Al Quds hospital

This week, two medical facilities in a rebel-held neighbourhood in Aleppo, Syria, were destroyed. On Wednesday (April 27), the Al Quds hospital was struck by a missile fired from a fighter jet, killing at least 50 people, according to Doctors Without Borders in the Middle East. On Friday (April 29), the Al Marjeh Primary Health Centre was bombed, but was fortunately closed for the weekend during the time of the attack, said the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations. Both Syria and Russia have issued statements denying that their planes were behind the attacks.

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Kim Dong-Chul, American detained in North Korea

“…he is old and may repent of his faults, witnessing for himself the true picture of the prospering DPRK.”

— Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea’s state news agency, on why Mr Kim’s “defence council” requested for a lighter sentence

Kim Dong-Chul, 62, a Korean-born naturalised American citizen, was sentenced to 10 years of hard labour for espionage and other offences. The North Korean Supreme Court handed out this sentence on Friday (29 April). Last October, KCNA said Mr Kim was arrested in Rason, a special economic zone, with a USB stick on him containing military and nuclear data. According to KCNA, the prosecution had argued for a 15 year sentence, but Mr Kim’s “defence council” had asked for leniency, citing Mr Kim’s old age. Just a day before the sentencing, North Korea test-fired two missiles. But, according to the US Military, both failed.

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Fatou Bensouda, prosecutor at the International Criminal Court

“… a wake-up call that the era of impunity for grave human rights violations in Burundi is over.”

— Géraldine Mattioli-Zeltner, international justice advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, on the investigations into violence in Burundi

The International Criminal Court has opened preliminary investigations into the year-long political crisis and violence in Burundi. This was announced by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on Monday (April 25). According to the U.N. human rights commissioner, at least 430 have died, 3,400 arrested, and 230,000 forced to seek refuge in nearby countries. The crisis began when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced, last year, he would be running for a third term in office. His opponents accuse him of violating the constitution; his supporters cite a court ruling in the President’s favour.

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Dennis Hastert, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives

“I’m sorry to those I have hurt.”

— Dennis Hastert, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, on allegations of sexual misconduct

Wednesday (27 April), 74-year-old Dennis Hastert, former Speaker for the US House of Representatives, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for evading banking rules. But during the trial, he admitted to molesting and sexually abusing children when he was a high school teacher, before joining politics. A “serial child molester” – that was how US District Judge Thomas Durkin described the former Speaker. But he wasn’t charged with sexual abuse, because the statute of limitations (generally, the deadline for filing a lawsuit after the civil wrong or crime has been committed) had expired.

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Featured image earth-map-big by Flickr user Charles Fettinger. CC BY 2.0. 

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