Global Hand Washing Day today

Yes, that's what it is today. The thing is that so many of the people this global message is aimed don't even have water to drink, let alone wash their hands. But then, the 'first world' is more concerned by things like there being fecal bacteria on one's mobile phone, in the UK anyway, though there's no reason to suppose it's any different here - that's caca in your ear, OR MOUTH! Or that those wretched cucumbers that  were supposed to have had E.coli on them but didn't. (Memo to monkeys: This is an unpleasant subject! Just make sure you wash your hands every time you ... Jeeeez!)

Photos of the eclipse

Some of the best pictures of the year's first eclipse of the sun are published in the world media, many of which you will be able to see if you click on the Intenationl Press widget on the sidebar that will take you to the world's top newspapers. On a more local level, though, today's online edition of Europa Sur, the Campo de Gibraltar's 'newspaper of reference', has a good selection of them, one of which is the photo that illustrates this item.

Thousands protest against global warning

Thousands of people all over the world, including Spain, have been mounting demonstrations against global warming to coincide with the top-level talks now being held in Copenhagen (which, according to reports are about to fail to meet any agreement among 128 nations - unsurprisingly). However, we feel that the most significant protest of all may be the one in our illustration (Thanks, Sheila!), though we're not absolutely certain where exactly it was held. Probably not in Jimena, where it is in't cold enough, is it? (On a more serious note, see a BBC News report on the talks below>)