Water Management in Islam, was recently published by IDRC and United Nations University Press. Stephen Dale recently interviewed two of the book's co-editors, Professor Asit K. Biswas and Dr Murad J. Bino, for IDRC Reports Online.

The first international agreement on the conservation of albatrosses and petrels was signed here today by officials from all southern hemisphere nations surrounding the Southern Ocean who pledged to protect these threatened migratory seabirds.

If governments do not act quickly to discourage the building of cities for cars, the international effort to control global warming will become much more difficult, reports a new study by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization.

A novel urban renewal programme in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, has been used at the UN General Assembly's "Istanbul plus 5" special session on human shelter to demonstrate the potential for partnership between communities and local government in improving urban services and amenities.