COMING NEXT MONTH

Islam in power

Bab ak Sedighi / P anos

Thirty years after the Iranian Revolution, political Islam is at a crossroads. But is the Islamic Republic really Islamic? Writer and broadcaster Ziauddin Sardar explains why he thinks it most definitely is not. Who is funding Islamic extremism? Nafeez Ahmed gives the lowdown on support for ‘our terrorists’ – and it goes beyond the usual suspects.

Next month’s issue also offers dispatches from minority voices in the Muslim world. A gay Iraqi activist traces the changes – from discos to fatwas – in post-'liberation' Baghdad. A feisty Saudi Arabian feminist speaks her mind – and stays put in her own country. A Jewish Iranian embraces both her faith and her homeland.

Look out for the October issue of the New Internationalist. Be prepared to be surprised.

SPECIAL Feature Green Laws In September 2008, Ecuadorians voted in a new constitution with the potential to radically reorder environmental protection regimes across the world – by giving legally enforceable rights to nature itself. This is already being used by indigenous groups seeking to declare proposed mining operations in the country unconstitutional. At the same time, campaigners in Britain and the US are increasingly using the law to help them f ight their corner. So, while the streets are the traditional home of environmental activism, could campaigners soon be just as at home in the courtroom?

RISE OF ANTI-TERROR • copenhagenComing son

Kashmir’s Kan-i-jung: Cry for Freedom

In the strife-torn valley of Indiacontrolled Kashmir, the decades-long conflict continues to take its toll, especially on its young. The undying thirst for independence has been inherited by a new generation, which vents its anger by pelting stones at those in authority. Dilnaz Boga has met some of them. www.newint.org/features/ special/2009/08/06/cry-for-freedom/

The New

Internationalist workers' co-operative (NI) exists to report on the issues of world poverty and inequality; to focus

attention on the unjust relationship between the powerful and powerless worldwide; to debate and campaign for the radical changes necessary to meet the basic needs of all; and to bring to life the people, the ideas and the action in the fight for global justice. The New Internationalist (NI) magazine was founded by Peter and Lesley Adamson in 1970. Together with a range of other publications it is published by New Internationalist Publications Ltd which is wholly owned by the New Internationalist Trust and co-operatively managed: Accounts: Frank Syratt. Administration: Anna Weston, Charlie Harvey. Design: Alan Hughes, Andrew Kokotka, Ian Nixon. Distribution and fulfilment: Bev Dawes. Editorial (Magazine): Vanessa Baird, Dinyar Godrej, Jo Lateu, Jess Worth. Editorial (Publications): Chris Brazier, Troth Wells. Editorial (North America): Wayne Ellwood. Marketing (Magazine): Amanda Synnott, James Rowland. Marketing (North American): Ian McKelvie. Marketing (Publications): Dan Raymond-Barker, Michael York. Production: Fran Harvey.

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© New Internationalist Publications Ltd. 2009 ISSN 0305-9529

PRINTED ONREC

Y C L E D PAPER

The New Internationalist magazine is printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper by a printer who has environmental accreditation. IS0 14001 ContentsNew Internationalist SEPTEMBER Isue 425

I had a lot of help and advice when I was preparing this issue from people who know much more about bees than I’ll ever dream of knowing. One was Charlie Parker, a beekeeper who lives near Beamsville, Ontario, not far from Niagara Falls. Charlie generously gave me a day of his time, drove me to see some of his hives and told me his life story. He started keeping bees when he was 13; he’s now 62. ‘It’s just like a disease, beekeeping,’ Charlie mused. ‘Once you’re stung, you’ve got the bug.’ No pun intended.

NI friend and frequent contributor Mari Marcel Thekaekara, and her partner Stan, also helped by contributing the article on honey gatherers in Tamil Nadu, India. Keeping it in the family, her two sons shot a wonderful sequence of photos to illustrate the article.

Unfortunately, you’re not going to be able to read about Charlie in the pages of this magazine. Nor see all the photos sent by Mari and Stan.

But take heart digital devotees. We will be featuring the full interview with Charlie and all the photos from Mari and Stan on our website when this issue is

posted in a few weeks’ time. So do check it out at www.newint.org

Instead, we’ve added some timely features – including an analysis of the foreign aid debate sparked by the contentious Nigerian academic, Dambisa Moyo. And a pressing piece from journalist Nick Harvey on the situation of Hmong refugees in Thailand.

We’re still not sure if the exploding world of digital media will be our demise or our salvation here at NI. But at least it gives you a chance to read the stuff we couldn’t squeeze into print.

Wayne Ellwood for the New Internationalist Co-operative

main FEATURE

Vanishing bees

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Regular Features 2 Letters When flying is justifiable; jumping

straight into a car-free life; and why we should all work fewer hours. 3 Letter from Cairo ‘Make do and mend’ is a time

WI L D LI FE / P

honoured Egyptian talent, discovers Maria Golia. 27 Currents A breakthrough for LGBT rights in

10 Honey is life Gathering wild honey is an age-old

tradition in South India. Mari Marcel Thekaekara and her husband Stan see

how it’s done.

15 A stressed world Extinction is forever.

Ditmars.

12 Ten ways to help save the bees Illustrated by

14 Backyard beehives A walk on the wild side with Hadani

Scott Ritchie.

the position of the Hmong – both inside Laos and the bleak refugee camps of Thailand. 4 Why are they dying? Wayne Ellwood investigates the case of the missing bees. 8 The Bees’ Knees – The Facts

Can we stop the slide in bio-diversity?

16 Looting of a small planet It won’t be easy but

Philip Chandler argues that beekeepers themselves need to lead a revolution in sustainability.

Crisis Pakistan

22 Why Pakistan's Taliban win

as they lose Pakistan's army offensive has

wrongfooted the Taliban. But the larger war of ideas has yet to be won. Pervez Hoodbhoy explains.

Front cover: Frank Krahmer / Corbis Magazine design: Alan Hughes. All monetary values are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted.SPECIAL Feature18 The aid debate: boon or burden? Some call it 'live aid'. Some call it 'dead aid'. The debate is raging. Vanessa Baird and Jonathan Glennie tell the story so far...

hmong refugees

24 Jungle orphans Nick Harvey reports on

N T OR FI N N / PA N O S

H a r v e y

Nick

India; Afghanistan’s handling of people with mental illness adds to their trauma; and seeing REDD in Papua New Guinea. 29 Only Planet Language may be evolving, but are

humans? ponder Gort and Klaatu in the latest cartoon by Marc Roberts. 30 Big Bad World Mass suicide the CO 2 way in Polyp’s

cartoon. PLUS NI Prize Crossword 31 Interview with

Mike Bonanno The Yes Man

extraordinaire talks about his latest film. 32 Mixed Media Tree-hugging in

Sweden and trainrobbing in Mexico feature in this month’s films, plus a doorstop of a book by Roberto Bolaño which is as hard to put down as it is to pick up. 34 Essay: Why Children Work Jeremy Seabrook

visits Bangladesh to better understand the roots of child labour. 36 Country profile:

Niger

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