JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia – The road to Mecca for Islam’s annual hajj is littered with needles this year. Before you even leave your country of origin you have to get vaccinations for meningitis, seasonal flu, yellow fever, and for the lucky, the H1N1 vaccine. 

Our trip started in Cairo, where Egyptian authorities are keen to prevent their residents from catching the H1N1 virus during the yearly pilgrimage and bringing it back home. 

They insisted on a complete physical, including blood tests, chest x-rays and electrocardiograms to make sure we were healthy enough to travel before we were even allowed to get the H1N1 vaccine, which Egypt requires of all hajj pilgrims. China, Turkey, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and others also are mandating the H1N1 vaccine.

Why are they so afraid? For at least five days, more than three million pilgrims from 160 countries are assembling in one place at one time, worshipping, eating and sleeping next to each other. For Muslims, it is the spiritual voyage of a lifetime; but for the H1N1 virus, it is the opportunity of a lifetime to hitch a ride on hosts that will deploy to the four corners of the earth.

Saudi Press Agency via EPA

Hajj pilgrims wear protective face masks ahead of the start of the hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.

That is why the Saudi government, in conjunction with the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been hard at work for several months reviewing every possible step of the pilgrims’ journey – from pre-departure, arrival, pilgrimage, departure and post-departure – to limit the spread of the virus and its chance to mutate.
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By Adrienne Mong, NBC News Correspondent
BEIJING – Five months after violence broke out in the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang, the area still remains under tight control. International calls are barred to and from Xinjiang. There is no Internet access available to the general population. And the government is in the midst of waging a “Strike Hard” campaign.
Earlier this month, nine people were executed for taking part in the July 5 riots, which official reports say killed…(read more)

Esha Momeni, an Iranian-American student who was taken into custody for protesting Iran’s elections, talks about her participation in the protests and the time she spent in prison. NBC’s Ali Arouzi reports.

VIDEO: Iranian-American goes from grad student to government threat …(read more)

KARACHI, Pakistan – No one is exactly sure how old Taimur Muslim is.

A soft-spoken, lanky lad with a chipped front tooth and eyes undecided between green and gray, Taimur told me that school is his favorite part of the day, that he hates having to watch over his younger siblings at home, and that he wants to join the Army when he’s older.

“I’m not very good in classes,” he said through a shy smile. “But I don’t want to be a loafer. Teacher says we musn’t be loafers.”

Taimur told me he was 10 years old. But on that point, his voice was a little unsure. It’s an estimate – based on the fact that he began to work for a tailor full-time when he was 7 years old. He worked there for about three years, but stopped because of back problems. That’s when he came here and started kindergarten, just two months ago.

VIDEO: Schools offer hope for lucky few in Pakistan

Taimur is a student at a private school in Machar Colony, a slum housing 700,000 residents on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city. The school is tucked away in the narrow, trash-lined, labyrinthine streets and sits behind high walls and a guarded entrance gate. It was built and continues to be run by a Pakistani charity organization called the Citizens Foundation. 

Afshan Tabassum, the school’s principal, said Taimur’s story is typical for children in the area.  Parents were wary of the school at first; they were skeptical of a system that kept their children from working for part of the day and contributing to the family’s income.

But within a few months, Tabassum said, the idea caught on. Parents were lining up to enroll their children, eager to give them the education they themselves never had. Most of the students, she said, work during the half-day they don’t attend classes, and few have any idea how old they really are. The taller ones claim to be ten – mainly because that’s the age they think they should be.

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TEL AVIV – Israelis this week were shocked to hear that starting in January 2010, their monthly water bill will cost 40 percent more.

Being in an extremely arid climate, every school age child in Israel is constantly reminded that water scarcity is a critical national issue. The slogan “Every Drop Counts” is repeated over and over in schools and by the media. Water supplies have gotten so low that now Israelis will not only need to stop watering their gardens and take shorter showers, but will also have to pay more for every drop.

VIDEO: In Israel ‘every drop counts’

But the issue has created a great catalyst for private Israeli companies to develop innovative ways to recycle wastewater, desalinate water and irrigate more efficiently.

The Water Technologies, Renewable Energy and Environmental Control (WATEC) exhibition in Tel Aviv this week showcased companies from all over the world working on water issues.

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