Every year on March 22, people around the globe observe World Water Day in an effort to draw attention to the ongoing and critically important issue of access to clean water worldwide. This year the United Nations is dedicating World Water Day 2010 to the theme of Clean Water for a Healthy World. So true! Water and sanitation is at the root of all life, and should be a basic human right.

It has recently been determined that over one billion people on the planet do not have access to clean water, a travesty that leads to poor sanitation, disease, famine, and death. And not surprisingly, 98 percent of all water-related deaths occur in the developing world.

Our partners at YouthNoise have decided to do their part in calling attention to these staggering statistics by using Twitter to spread awareness and action ideas. Here's what you can do to help:

1. Follow YouthNoise on Twitter. Just go to twitter.com/youthnoise and click "follow." For every new follower, YouthNoise will donate $1 to a water organization of your choice (up to $150). Click here to vote!

1. Retweet any YouthNoise posts tagged #ynwwd. YouthNoise is posting facts, links and other information about World Water Day. For each RT of these water tweets, an additional $1 will go to the cause (up to $150).
2. Spread the word. YouthNoise will donate up to $300 total to support clean water programs, but we need your help to do it! So tell your friends to follow and retweet YouthNoise on Twitter, too.

Thanks for your support!

The crisis in Haiti has been dominating the headlines since Tuesday's earthquake. Link TV has already given you some ideas of how you can help, and your help, particularly in the form of cash, is urgently needed by the aid agencies working to save lives in Haiti. Now, we've put together this list of some of the best sources for information and news on Haiti. Feel free to add more links to the comment section!

1. Democracy Now! on Link TV
Democracy Now! has been providing impressive coverage of the Haiti earthquake and its aftermath at democracynow.org (click here for broadcast times on Link TV). Today's show reveals a Haiti that is growing increasingly desperate for aid. DN! also looks at angles glossed over by the major media networks, such as the decades of U.S. policies that have contributed to Haiti's terrible poverty.

2. Twitter
The microblogging site Twitter is a natural source for real-time news on Haiti. You can search for all posts in the Twitter-sphere on Haiti, or avoid some noise by trying a Twitter list, such as the ones set up by the LA Times or CNN. You can also look back at Twitter posts from individuals -- like this feed from Christian missionary Troy Livesay -- to see a timeline of the disaster from the perspective of one individual.

3. NGOs
Relief NGOs such as Partners in Health and Direct Relief International have updates on the aid efforts in Haiti. See this blog post for more relief organizations on the ground, and to learn how you can help.

4. Boston.com's Big Picture with Photography from Various Sources
These are photos not for the faint-hearted, but they do convey the true horror in Haiti after the quake struck. Boston.com does a nice job with its photo essays as part of its "Big Picture" series.

5. Global Voices Online
Global Voices, an online network of bloggers around the world, has a webpage with special coverage of the Haiti disaster, including a list of Haiti-based bloggers covering the story.

6. The Miami Herald
Miami has a substantial Haitian population, and the Miami Herald is serving its local community well by providing information in Creole (which, along with French, is one of two official languages in Haiti). The Herald's "Haiti Connect" forum includes a gallery for photos of missing loved ones.

7. Ushahidi - "Crowdsourcing Crisis Information"
This open-source web platform aggregates data on Haiti to support the relief effort. The interface is a little tricky to follow, but it's a great use of the web, compiling user-generated incident reports from the ground including reports of missing persons, emergencies and other threats. The incident reports - such as "Collapsed School", "…Stuck Under Rubble" - will break your heart.

8. New York Times Interactive Map
This map is another great visualization from the New York Times' impressive interactive team, complete with photos and audio.

9. NewsTrust.net
The amount of news articles available on Haiti is overwhelming, but NewsTrust curates the best from the mainstream and independent media. You can weigh in on the quality of the news articles with a review of your own.

10. U.S. Geological Survey Podcast
If you're interested in the science behind this horrific natural disaster, check out this podcast with Michael Blanpied of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program. Here's the official USGS report on the Haiti 7.0 magnitude quake.

Iran is slipping off the media radar, finding itself replaced by the global mourning rituals for Michael Jackson, Wall Street's continued decline, and the latest Republican career-ending train wreck. But there is still a story in Tehran, and it's not a happy one.
 
As Nobel laureates call for the release of prisoners and a full investigation into Iran's human rights violations, the Guardian UK has developed an amazing interactive tool to track those killed or arrested in the unrest. And our own Michal Shapiro's World Music blog has unearthed a music video dedicated to Neda Agha Soltan, whose disturbing killing, broadcast on YouTube, made her an unwitting symbol of the crisis.

Iran's youth are at the center of this stalled revolution, and their discontent was apparent well before the first protests began in Tehran. Six months ago, this prescient video was posted to YouTube, proclaiming Iran as a "nation of bloggers":


Of course, technology - and the micro-blogging service Twitter in particular - played a critical role in organizing June's mass street demonstrations. An op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor has even nominated Twitter for a Nobel Peace Prize, as the "megaphone" of Iran's new youth movement. While Mosaic's own Jalal Ghazi is skeptical, arguing well that Iran "cannot be explained in a Twitter feed", Twitter is proving its mettle in the crowded world of news distribution, and is a service that Link TV is using more and more. It remains to be seen whether Twitter can successfully foment true revolution, but we'll continue to keep an eye on Iran's young twittering generation.