■ Though some UN officials claim that communication with Sudan's government has improved since it was announced that its leader would be indicted on war crimes charges, others suggest that the recent violence against peacekeepers was conducted at the behest of the government.
■ Just 1% of an estimated 150,000 people in Asia infected with multidrug resistant tuberculosis receive appropriate treatment, which could make the disease spread even faster. Mobility, migration and urban housing all contribute to the spread of the disease in Asia. In China, 1 of every 10 new cases is the more potent resistant strain.
■ In hopes of eliminating the perpetual acrid smog that hangs over the city, Beijing has introduced traffic restrictions that will be in force for the duration of the Olympic Games. Car use among Beijing's millions of drivers will be staggered. New public transportation routes have also been introduced.
■ The global food crisis has left many countries in the Middle East and North Africa struggling to strike a balance between feeding growing populations and preserving valuable water supplies.
■ Though details about the nature of the agreement are still murky, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will meet with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to sign a tentative agreement for moving toward peace. The deal is merely the starting point for substantive talks: It mentions neither Mugabe's future or fate nor addresses specifically the transitional government that Tsvangirai hopes to install.
■ Sassafras oil cultivation for use in the party drug ecstasy is endangering the livelihood of local residents and causing massive ecological damage in the forests of Cambodia, according to Flora and Fauna International. Cambodian sassafras oil is some of the world's highest quality and authorities have had little success stamping out the illegal production.
■ It will be at least 15 years before hydrogen fuel-cell cars will be a viable product for U.S. automobile makers, even if technical hurdles can be overcome and the government provides large subsidies, according to a government-funded report from the National Research Council.
■ More than 1 million Colombians took to the streets Sunday to mark their country's independence and demand an end to kidnappings by Marxist guerrillas. The protests come after the dramatic July 2 rescue of a handful of the hundreds of kidnapping victims, and few participants expected a response from angry rebel leaders.
■ The UN food agency says it urgently needs 222 million US dollars to avert a major food crisis in Ethiopia, where millions are suffering from drought and high prices. The Ethiopian government and the United Nations estimate 4.6 million people will need emergency food aid to help them through to the next harvest in November. The government says 75,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition because of food and water shortages caused by drought.
■ Some 30 outpatients who have been evicted from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) expressed hope that the government would pay serious attention to their plight. The 30 patients were earlier accommodated at the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (LBHI) building but on Sunday, July 20, they were moved to a benefactor`s house on Jalan HOS Cokroaminoto in Menteng, Central Jakarta. The outpatients had been ordered to vacate a "guest house" on the premises of RSCM because the building was to be renovated. Although they were outpatients, the hospital had allowed them to stay in the guest house to make it easier for them to undergo their periodic treatments. Abas Basyuni, a relative of one of the patients from Serang district, Banten province, said the government should pay attention to the evicted patients by providing them with a room at Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital.
