Q&A: Obama stimulus plan

Mr Obama has made the stimulus plan his priority

The US Senate has agreed a slimmed-down economic stimulus plan worth about $780bn (£528bn) aimed at boosting the US economy.

President Barack Obama, who proposed the package, has repeatedly warned that the US could face an economic disaster if radical action is not taken.

Why has such a big stimulus plan been proposed?

The US economy is entering its sharpest downturn since before World War II, according to many economists.

Supporters of the measures say that without the stimulus, the downturn that began at the end of 2007 could last well into 2010. The slump has already cost three million jobs.

President Obama has made passing the stimulus package his priority, saying that millions more jobs could be lost during the recession.

As US interest rates are already approaching zero, it is clear that other policies must be considered to revive the economy.

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Riding Tunisia's information superhighway by bus

By Sylvia Smith BBC News, Ain Ek Misha

A luxury coach heading in the direction of a remote, picturesque village in Tunisia is not an unusual sight.

But the bus on its way to Ain Ek Misha is not in the business of moving tourists about - its purpose is to educate rather than transport.

This bus, like many others, has been transformed into a mobile internet centre, and it travels around Tunisia teaching students of all ages how to log on, surf the net, and obtain information electronically that can help them in their studies and in finding jobs.

These buses bring the internet to remote villages not tourists

The coach is accompanied by an auxiliary pick-up van, carrying the satellite dish and stand.

Technician Yusuf Saeed is installing the dish just behind the bus.

He says that there are occasional natural barriers which can cause problems.

"When we encounter mountains, then it can take quite a bit of manoeuvring to get the connection."

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The water vendors of Nigeria

By Andrew Walker BBC News, Abuja, Nigeria

The government has failed to provide water, so the private market steps in

Isa earns a hard living pushing a heavy water cart around the rutted streets of the suburbs of Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

He is one of tens of thousands of water vendors who deliver jerry cans full of water to houses built without any kind of sanitation.

"Kai! it is hard work, pushing my cart," the 20-year-old says.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, and according to analysts has made over $1.1 trillion in revenues from the oil industry over the last 30 years; but most Nigerians still rely on people like Isa for their water.

He and a dozen of his friends sleep in a makeshift shelter behind a small household goods shop.

They wake before dawn to queue up at a nearby borehole, where they fill 14 yellow 25-litre jerry cans on their handcarts before setting off around the streets looking for customers.

Heavy load

Fully loaded, the carts weigh at least 350kgs.

The roads they push them over are dirt tracks, rocky and pitted, with sewers running down the middle.

"In the future I want to get another job, but at least I make enough money to live doing this," Isa says.

The urban poor pay more for water than the urban rich

Prices for water from private boreholes vary in the suburbs.

Isa pays around 10 naira ($0.07, £0.05) per jerry can at the borehole and sells for double that.

He makes around 700 naira a day ($4.70, £3.20), to cover food and living costs.

A large Nigerian family may need around 10 of these jerry-cans every day, customers say.

That adds up to about $486 (£339) every year, a massive pressure on a country where the average person lives on $2 a day.

This is a pattern repeated around the world, according to the UN Development Programme.

The urban poor in developing world cities including Abuja pay much more for their water than citizens of rich cities such as New York or Tokyo, precisely because the poor have to depend on private providers rather a piped municipal supply.

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