Dalai Lama, Uma Thurman to share dias

Petra (Jordan), June 20 (AFP) Nobel laureates and celebrities including the Dalai Lama and actress Uma Thurman are to gather this week in Jordan to mull ways of transforming the world's challenges into opportunities.

Nobel laureates and celebrities including the Dalai Lama and actress Uma Thurman are to gather this week in Jordan to mull ways of transforming the world's challenges into opportunities.

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After an informal dinner today in the ancient city of Petra, King Abdullah II and Nobel Peace laureate Elie Wiesel will hunker down with their guests for two days of soul-searching solutions to the world's woes.

Some 25 Nobel laureates in chemistry, economics, literature, medicine and peace along with 30 celebrities will seek, for the second year running, to deal with some of the world's most intractable problems tomorrow and Thursday.

"In the 21st Century, humankind must find new ways of dealing with emerging threats and develop a deeper understanding about the connections between them," organisers said.

"Petra II- A World in Danger, provides a forum to reflect on both old and new problems, and propose novel strategies for transforming challenges into opportunities," they said.

According to the programme of this year's forum, the delegates will focus on four key issues- non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons, education, health and poverty, and economic empowerment.

"The international community needs to work in unison to counter mounting threats to peace and stability," the organisers said in a statement, referring to the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

"More effective measures are needed to control nuclear stockpiles and create disincentives to uranium enrichment and reprocessing of weapons grade material," it added.