Contents

Agenda Making the news this month

8 Putting the ‘I’ in ecocide 9 Act against ACTA 10 Kimberley Process ‘whitewashes’ blood diamonds 11 Lax law could kill human guinea pigs 12 News in brief this month Plus: Open Window guest cartoonist Crazy Crab from China.

/P a n o s

H a m m o n d i n

R o b

13 Cambodian drug law ‘legalizes’ appalling abuse Plus: Reasons to be cheerful

10

Analysis Adapt or die

28

26 Moves to climate-proof the planet From air-conditioned bus stops in Dubai to Meat

Safety Net programmes in Kenya: what the rest of the world is doing to defend against global warming.

28 The great climate exodus Bangladeshis are melting away from the coast as habitats degrade. Hazel Healy finds new arrivals struggling to adjust to life in Dhaka, the world’s fastest-growing megacity.

14 Ready or not Melting glaciers to the north, rising seas to the south.

Hazel Healy

Can Bangladesh adapt to a warming world? Hazel Healy travelled there to find out.

17 Why climate change poses a major threat for

Bangladesh – THE FACTS 23 Adaptable by nature The most vulnerable, the best prepared. Portraits of the inhabitants of the Jamuna river islands of northwest Bangladesh.

4 ● N ew I n t e r nat i o nal i s t ● A P R I L 2 012

23

l y lH e a

H a z e Argument 34 Should donor nations give aid to countries with poor human rights records? Human rights lawyer Errol Mendes and aid campaigner Jonathan Glennie go head-to-head. What do you think? Join the debate at newint.org/argument/451

Plus: your feedback on last month’s debate, ‘Should assisted suicide be legalized?’ PLUS: Polyp’s Big Bad World cartoon.

Also in Analysis 44 Big bucks from Big Brother Bill Gates’ funding of global health programmes is legendary – but his charity has unpleasant side-effects. Andrew Bowman reports.

Regular Features 6 Letters The challenge of uncomfortable facts; Australia’s role in PNG’s independence; and buying a new suit for the sake of it. Plus: Scratchy Lines cartoon by

Simon Kneebone.

32 Country Profile: Zambia 48 Southern Exposure Chinese artist Sun Ji blends past and present Shanghai in his photo collages.

49 Worldbeater President of Equatorial Guinea,

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo – or ‘the Boss’ for short.

World Economic Forum Under a CC Licence

Arts 39 Home will never look the same again Horatio Morpurgo discovers filmmaker Patrick

Keiller’s unusual way of seeing the world.

PLUS: Vocal magic from Hyperpotamus, Le Havre’s modern-day fairy story, and the personal and political melded in Naomi Benaron’s début novel set in Rwanda.

39

Alternatives 57 Mapping Utopia It’s time for John Jordan and Isa Fremeaux to turn their dream into reality. PLUS: Raise your glass to a sustainable pint.

Action 58 Don’t just sit there! Events to tempt you off the sofa this month. PLUS: a round-up of the anti-cuts protests.

Tristan Metcalfe

50 Letter from Botswana Beauty contests are now big business, but have lost their appeal for Lauri Kubuitsile.

52 Puzzle Page 53 Mark Engler The unpalatable reality of working in the iPad empire.

54 Essay Neither humanity nor nature are commodities. It’s time the old ideology was dissolved, writes Jeremy Seabrook.

61 Josie Long Being nice and doing good – what’s offensive in that?

PLUS: Marc Roberts’ Only Planet cartoon.

62 And finally… Syrian poet

Adonis considers creative reading, individuality, and the Arab world’s biggest problem.

62

Front cover: Chris Stowers / Panos Magazine designed by Alan Hughes, Andy Kokotka and Ian Nixon. All monetary values are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted.

32

Wo r l d j o r i t y

/M a i n b e r g lWe

P a u l i x fj o r d

Bi n

To r s t e

N ew I n t e r nat i o nal i s t ● A P R I L 2 012 ● 5