KENYA: People Dying Because of Lack of Anaesthetics

One person dies weekly in Kenya due to a shortage of anaesthetics and the situation is worse in slums and rural areas across the country.

ZIMBABWE: The Impossible Search for a Hangman

For over four years now, Tendai Dzingirai * has lived each day afraid that it may be his last. Dzingirai is one of almost 60 inmates on death row in Zimbabwe’s prisons. But like the other prisoners, Dzingirai does not know when he will finally meet his fate – especially since the country has not had an executioner for the last six years.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Biopesticides Combat Malaria in Africa

An integrated anti-malaria program being carried out in a number of African countries with Cuban biological products and technology is yielding good results, according to the Cuban state-run pharmaceutical company Labiofam.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Virtual Encyclopedia of Amazon Biodiversity

The Brazilian National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) has partnered with U.S. computer giant IBM to create Wikiflora, a collaborative website that will serve as a digital encyclopedia of biodiversity in the Amazon region.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Micro Hydro Dam Project Planned

The government of Honduras and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are studying the construction of 50 micro hydroelectric dams over the next five years.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Invading Snails Advance 100 Kilometers a Year

The carefully landscaped grounds of dozens of condominiums in the northern Venezuelan city of Lechería, on the Caribbean coast, are suffering an invasion of giant African land snails (Achatina fulica), which are now found throughout almost all of South America and on Caribbean islands like Barbados, Guadalupe, Martinique and Saint Lucia.

Major Efforts Still Needed to Clean Up Lake Titicaca

Peru and Bolivia have made little progress in binational initiatives to promote sustainable development in Lake Titicaca.

MIDEAST: Gaza Flotilla Move Sinks

The besieger is besieged, such is the forlorn fact emanating from the order by Greece to block the ships docked at its ports from setting sail to the Palestinian strip of land, and that fact seems to have sealed the Flotilla's fate.

MIDEAST: Israel Denies Healthcare to Refugees

Medication and pillboxes fill two white bookcases, lining the wall behind a volunteer Israeli doctor. He talks to a patient in Hebrew about the man’s medical condition, as another man is examined behind a curtain that divides the small office. In the next room, at least 40 people – mainly of Eritrean and Sudanese origin – sit quietly on plastic chairs, waiting for their turn to be seen.

Do more than talk say gender activists

Gender activists at the fifth SADC water dialogue, in Swaziland, say the time for talking about gender and poverty reduction is past; they say action is now needed to address the needs of the poor in Africa.

Strauss-Kahn’s Accuser Doubly Vicitimised, Advocates Say

Despite questions about her credibility, the Sofitel maid who is accusing former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault is still a victim and should be treated as one, according to her attorney.

U.S.: Floods and Wildfires Trigger New Fears over Nuke Safety

Just 100 days after a deadly earthquake and tsunami devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, concerns are being raised about several U.S. nuclear stations that are facing natural disasters of their own.

Africa’s Biggest Market Lies Within

Global demand for African oil and precious metals has fuelled a continental surge in exports, helping some of the world’s poorest countries rebound from the 2009 economic shock.

AFRICA: African Union Divided over Libya

As African heads of state gather to discuss the future of the youth of the continent, Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is a noticeable absentee at the African Union (AU) summit in Equatorial Guinea.

GREECE: Public Outrage over Austerity Plan

The mass protests in Greece swelled by the hour as parliament voted this Thursday to implement the social and economic adjustment plan approved Wednesday, including measures for privatisation, tax hikes, spending cuts and mass lay-offs in the state sector.

ZIMBABWE: “Blood Diamonds” Slip Through Watchdog’s Cracks

Following a recent procedural breakdown of one of the world's leading "blood diamond" watchdogs, experts warn that controversial stones from the Marange fields of Zimbabwe may soon find their way into the hands of unknowing consumers.

DEVELOPMENT: Partners, Not Donors Needed For Africa

On an unusually hot Belgian afternoon, Thoko Kaime, leans back in his chair and explains how ‘township’ actually means ‘slum’ in his home country of Malawi.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Water Sources Need to be Protected

Seventy-five-year-old Verdiana Protas is worried that the 20 cattle she bought with her pension money will soon die because the 10-kilometre-long river in her village in northwest Tanzania has been dry for two years now and finding alternative sources of water is getting more and more difficult.

Mario Lubetkin – IPS Award 2008

 

Mario Lubetkin – Tierramerica

 

Lula – IPS Award 2008