Credit: Mark Danielson via Flickr Creative Commons

The Air We Breathe is Killing Our Children. Literally

Respiratory illness caused by poor air quality is a major global problem. “Pollution is responsible for one in four deaths among all children under five, according to new World Health Organisation reports, with toxic air, unsafe water and and lack of sanitation the leading causes. The reports found polluted environments cause the deaths of 1.7 million children every year, but that many of the deaths could be prevented by interventions already known to work, such as providing cleaner cooking fuels to prevent indoor air pollution. “A polluted environment is a deadly one – particularly for young children,” says Dr Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO. “Their developing organs and immune systems – and smaller bodies and airways – make them especially vulnerable to dirty air and water.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/2meE1YE)

Here’s the revised ban…”President Trump on Monday signed a revised version of his executive order that would for the first time rewrite American immigration policy to bar migrants from predominantly Muslim nations, removing citizens of Iraq from the original travel embargo and scrapping a provision that explicitly protected religious minorities. The order, which comes about a month after federal judges blocked Mr. Trump’s haphazardly executed ban in January on residents from seven Middle Eastern and African countries, will not affect people who had previously been issued visas — a change that the administration hopes will avoid the chaos, protests and legal challenges that followed the first order.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/2mYCcNC)

Here’s how the revised ban will affect refugees. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2mYAgoo)

What We Mean When We Talk About “Foreign Aid” (Global Dispatches Podcast http://bit.ly/2mXuoeX)