Sea Gates

When the United States cedes control of the Panama Canal on December 31, 1999, a Hong Kong company, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., will begin a 25-year lease to run the canal cargo ports, and some see this as effectively giving the Chinese control of the 51-mile-long waterway. Despite such concerns expressed by U.S. lawmakers, Hutchison's chairman, Li Ka-shing, dismisses them, noting the container ports are for loading, unloading and storing cargo and have no role in operating the canal. Responsibility for its operation will rest solely with the government of Panama. President Bill Clinton says he does not expect any adverse consequences from "the Chinese running the canal." He believes "the Chinese will in fact be bending over backward to make sure that they run it in a competent and able and fair manner."

Health

Iceland is banning aspartame, the artificial sweetener better known as NutraSweet®, after growing concern about a possible link between the sweetener and brain tumors. The compound has been linked to multiple sclerosis and even Gulf War syndrome. Aspartame is consumed by 250 million people worldwide and has been used in low-calorie food and drinks for 20 years. Most soft drinks—20 billion cans of which are consumed each year—contain NutraSweet®.

Runaways

More than 100,000 British children under 16 run away from home every year, and over 18,000 are under 11, according to the Children's Society. It estimates that 77,000 run away for the first time each year, with 14,000 forced out of their home by parents or caregivers. The main reason for running away is family problems, particularly the threat of physical violence. Boys are more likely to leave home at a very young age, but after the age of 14, girls are twice as likely to leave home. Kids living in step-families are twice as likely to run away as others, and those in foster care are five times more likely to leave.

Disease

Triggered by increased resistance to drugs, malaria is spreading uncontrollably across the globe, international health officials warn, and we could soon be left defenseless against it. An estimated 500 million cases of malaria are reported each year. In the past 15 years, the disease has killed nearly 50 million people worldwide, while AIDS has killed about 5 million.

War

There is a deadly new pattern to the world's armed struggles, in which civil wars escalate into regional conflicts while the international community is increasingly reluctant to intervene, according to an authoritative military survey. At least 110,000 people died last year in armed conflicts around the globe, the latest edition of The Military Balance estimates. In the 12 months ending August 1, 1999, 10 international wars and 25 civil wars were fought.

The trend is particularly noticeable in sub-Saharan Africa, where three-quarters of the countries there are engaged in armed conflict or confronted by a significant threat from armed groups. Eleven of the 25 civil wars last year and around 60% of the deaths from armed conflict occurred in the region. One recent Swedish study estimated that in several recent conflicts, up to 84% of the dead are believed to have been civilians.

Hunger

About 790 million people in the world suffer from chronic malnutrition, says a World Food Program (WFP) report, mainly due to armed conflicts and natural catastrophes. This number has declined by roughly 8 million a year between 1990-92 and 1995-97. The WFP notes that while malnutrition declined by about 100 million people in 37 countries, it increased by 60 million in others. Children are especially hard hit by malnutrition—200 million of them, including half of those under the age of 5 in Asia, and one-third of the same age in Africa.