Third World

To say Ryszard Kapuscinski was an adventurer would not be the whole truth, but it was some of it. The most celebrated of Polish journalists, whose work earned international acclaim, he covered, by his own count, 27 revolutions, rebellions and coups d'etat during more than four decades on the front lines of Third World movements. He was beaten and nearly set on fire by soldiers in Nigeria.

JUSTICE Eta, 14 months old, held out his tiny thumb. An ink spot certified that he had been immunized against polio and measles, thanks to a vaccination drive supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But polio is not the only threat Justice faces. Almost since birth, he has had respiratory trouble. His neighbors call it "the cough." People blame fumes and soot spewing from flames that tower 300 feet into the air over a nearby oil plant.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday made good on his pledge to appoint a woman from the developing world as deputy, choosing Tanzanian Foreign Minister Asha-Rose Migiro. Ban called Migiro "a highly respected leader who has championed the cause of developing countries," and said he planned to delegate much of the U.N.'s management and administrative work to her. She will also oversee socioeconomic affairs and development issues. The deputy secretary-general is a relatively new U.N.

An Orange County judge is expected to toss out a class- action lawsuit that blames Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for alleged sweatshop conditions in five Third World countries that supply the retail giant. U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford, who heard arguments Monday and said he would issue a decision later, indicated that he would dismiss all claims against Wal-Mart.

Immigrants in multicultural Miami had the final word Wednesday in a monthlong battle with Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo: Adios. A speech by Tancredo to the Rotary Club of Miami scheduled for today was canceled after the Key Biscayne restaurant that hosts the group's weekly lunch meetings announced that the congressman critical of immigration was not welcome there.

Bribery demands from police and other officials is a major problem across the developing world and even in European Union countries such as the Czech Republic and Greece, a corruption watchdog said Thursday. "Corruption has infiltrated public life and burrowed in," said Robin Hodess, policy and research director at Transparency International.

Nonita Kalra remembers the frustration of shopping for cosmetics on the streets of Mumbai a decade ago, when three or four local companies sold a few basic products. Today, the executive editor of the Indian edition of the fashion magazine Elle can buy top-end brands such as Shiseido, Givenchy and La Prairie in her hometown. And she's not the only one in India who's become fashion-conscious. "If red lips are in internationally, you will find it" in India, Kalra said.

While people in wealthy suburbs of Africa use water to maintain lush lawns and fill swimming pools, many slum dwellers struggle to obtain the crucial resource and pay much more per gallon for what little of it they can get, according to a United Nations Development Program report calling for an end to "water apartheid." At the same time, dirty water is the second-leading cause of death among children globally, after respiratory infections. It kills 1.

Re "Out of steam," editorial, Nov. 1 Your editorial reflects the truth. The most interesting part is, "Part of the Republican playbook consists once again of conveniently confusing the war in Iraq with the post-9/11 war on terror. The disingenuous formulation remains: Criticize the war in Iraq and you're a Bin Laden sympathizer." It is the same technique used by Third World dictatorial regimes and rulers: They label you as anti-state and a traitor if you oppose government policies.

Re "Oil at any cost," editorial, Oct. 27 Curious that The Times blames China for snaking Third World oil resources out from under our own predatory companies. The Times should expose Chevron, which helped General Motors kill electric cars and shows $5 billion in after-tax profits per quarter. Chevron refineries pass off to the public the healthcare costs of their nocturnal flaring emissions. Chevron should be forced to pay for parks, cleanups and other benefits for breathers downwind of its noxious oil refineries, and it should be billed at unsubsidized rates for the huge amounts of potable water, electric and natural gas supplies those refineries consume.