Not on CNN: Nile states hold 'crisis talks'

The talks - held under the auspices of the Nile Basin Initiative - come amid growing regional tensions over the world's longest river.

Egypt is reported to have said it would regard any attempt to alter the Nile status as an act of war.

A 1929 treaty said no work would be done on the river that would reduce the volume of water reaching Egypt.

The Nile is vitally important to the survival of 160 million people who share the basin in which it flows, but to Egypt the river is a matter of life and death, as the country has almost no other source of water.

But the 1929 treaty - signed between Britain and Egypt - is now being questioned.

These are the real issues that are going to come to dominate politics and conflict in the future. The U.S. hasn't shown any form of leadership on environmental issues. Or, if we have, it has been one of exceedingly poor planetary stewardship.

This is another 'red flag' issue.

Yes, I'm well aware that labeling John Kerry as 'the most liberal member of the Senate' is far more important than wrestling with the future health of our planet.

Damned shame.