Amidst ‘Dire’ Humanitarian Crisis, U.S. Urges Ceasefire in South Kordofan

As the date for South Sudan’s long anticipated Jul. 9 secession inches closer, on-going violence in the Northern state of South Kordofan threatens to destroy the country’s hopes for peace.

Pew Survey Reaffirms Pakistanis Hostility Toward the U.S.

The Pakistani public’s perceptions of the United States have hit their lowest levels since the 2002 invasion of Afghanistan, according to a new survey released here Tuesday by the Pew Global Attitudes Project (GAP).

Women’s Soccer Coming to the Fore

This time last year the entire world gathered in front of TV screens to watch the World Cup. According to International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) estimates, 3,178,856 people made their way to South Africa, and around the globe 700 million viewers watched the Spanish victory in the final match.

EGYPT: Solar Energy Projects Picking up Again After Uprising

On a blazingly hot summer’s day in Cairo, it’s 36 degrees Celsius in the shade. Air-conditioners and fans whirr across the city, burdening the national electricity grid. Last summer, the populous city experienced frequent water and power cuts, causing a furore. Consumption had grown by 2,600 megawatts, an increase of 13,5 percent from 2009.

ITALY: ‘They Saw Numbers, We Saw People’

It’s only a few hundred metres from the rocky hillside overlooking Lampedusa’s commercial port to the other side of the protected bay. For more than a decade this narrow strip of ocean has been a migratory gateway into Europe for tens of thousands of mostly African migrants. The numbers have risen and fallen in response to shifting government policies and geopolitical developments.


DR CONGO: Publish All Mining, Oil and Forest Contracts

Civil society and the government are agreed: the Democratic Republic of Congo must make public the details of all mining, forestry and oil contracts.

ITALY: Refugees Find Easier Reception, For Now

It’s 4.30 in the morning and the full moon is low in the sky above Lampedusa harbour as the Guardia di Finanza patrol boat escorts a fishing boat containing 19 Tunisian migrants into the closed military port. They include six women, one child and – to the amusement of the Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) team - one sheep. The migrants are driven away in a coach to one of the two holding centres, some of them wrapped in silver emergency blankets. But the sheep remains in the port.

If clinical trials are successful, the new tenofovir microbicide gel that protects women against the HIV virus will be manufactured in South Africa.

Dr Henry Gabelnick, of CONRAD, says licensing makes it possible to produce the topical gel to fit in to several price structures. Tinus de Jager asked Gabelnick what rights the South Africans received.

Building Vaccines for the “Bottom Billion”

As the world marks 30 years since HIV/AIDS was first identified, vaccine researcher Dr. Peter Hotez hopes intervention programmes can begin to incorporate treatment for some lesser-known ailments called neglected tropical diseases, or NTDs.

MIDEAST: When a Spy Speaks

The man who, for the last eight years, embodied Israel's secret operations and had a penchant for the use of forged documents by his spies has been ordered by his former boss to relinquish his own diplomatic passport.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Consumers Less Concerned About the Environment

Despite the growing amount of information available on environmental issues, the Brazilian public’s willingness to adopt eco-friendly consumer behavior has declined in recent years, according to a survey by the Trade Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: The Páramos Are Shrinking

The Andean páramo grasslands, located between 3,000 and 4,500 meters above sea level, are shrinking as the result of the expansion of agriculture and cattle farming and the demand for freshwater, leading to the loss of endemic flora and fauna.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Office Created to Administer Climate Funds

The government of Honduras has established a specialized unit to ensure transparency in the use of loans and donations earmarked for climate change initiatives, at the request of international financial institutions.

South Africa is going ahead with clinical trials of the tenofovir microbicide gel that has showed a 39% effectiveness in preventing HIV transmission to in women.

South Africa is going ahead with clinical trials of the tenofovir microbicide gel that has showed a 39% effectiveness in preventing HIV transmission to in women.

Another Push for Reproductive Rights

By 2015, women demanding family planning products and services in the developing world will likely reach 933 million, a terrific increase from the current 818 million women demanding access to these basic reproductive commodities.

South Africa Bidding for a World Class Telescope

Innovative research and development in mathematics and science could spur African economic growth, according to South African astrophysicist Bernard Fanaroff. Fanaroff is the project manager of South Africa’s bid to host the world’s largest telescope, the Square Kilometre Array.

AFRICA: South-South Cooperation Should Focus on Development

African states should be careful not to lose track of their own development plans when they enter into agreements with states outside the continent, despite apparent positive spin-offs.

TRINIDAD: Unions Use Labour Day to Send Strong Message to Govt

What a difference a year makes. Less than a month after she led the five-party coalition to a convincing victory in the 2010 general election, Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar became the first head of government to address a Labour Day rally in Trinidad and Tobago.

EL SALVADOR: Radio Station under Threat in Mining Region

Manuel Navarrete fiddles with the buttons and adjusts the volume on the control panel at the Radio Victoria community radio station in northern El Salvador, while he reads over the microphone the latest communiqué in which social organisations express their solidarity with the station's journalists, who have received death threats.

MIDEAST: Politics Triumphs Over Reason

"The heart has it reasons, of which reason knows nothing of," wrote 15th- century French philosopher Blaise Pascal. Apply the words of wisdom to the prospective U.N.-endorsed recognition of Palestinian statehood, but replace "the heart" with 'politics'.

PAKISTAN: Taliban Use Human Shields Against Army Offensive

Thousands of civilians are virtually being held hostage in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan, where the outlawed Taliban have been refusing them passage to safer areas ahead of a government plan to intensify army offensives.