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Tuesday, May 19, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
HEALTH: Scientists Propose More Curbs on Hazardous Chemicals
A group of scientists, including several Nobel laureates in medicine, are urging international institutions and governments in the industrialised world to adopt a radical policy against chemical pollution in order to protect human health.
Climate Measurements Better from Siberia
The data collected at a tall tower in a remote, virgin forest in Russia will expand knowledge about the effects of greenhouse gases worldwide.POLITICS-FRANCE: Time for a Woman President?
The extraordinary triumph of Ségolène Royal in the Socialist Party's primaries for France's April 2007 presidential elections reflects the growing global trend in which women have become fundamental actors in shaping the destinies of their nations.AFRICA: China Reaches into Europe’s Resource-Rich ‘Backyard’
The new African-Chinese economic and diplomatic partnership, manifested in the pact signed by China and 48 African countries in Beijing this month, is unsettling European leaders and analysts, who continue to see Africa as Europe's backyard.ENVIRONMENT: All Gold Is Not Golden
The cancellation of a gold mining contract in French Guiana has placed the spotlight on another project that is continuing in Guatemala, at disastrous cost to local people and the environment.FRANCE: Home Is Where You Migrate To
"My home is in Tunis," metal worker Chedli who migrated to France in the 1970s used to say until recently. Now he is not so sure. "They do not want me down there."ENVIRONMENT: Pacific Island Gives Clues to Tropical Biodiversity
Since early September, 170 scientists from 25 countries are conducting a first-ever in-depth exploration of the island of Espiritu Santo, in the Oceania archipelago of Vanuatu, to produce an inventory of tropical biodiversity. The biological wealth of this island region is so great that in about a month they have catalogued a hundred new species.ENVIRONMENT: France Takes a Dubiously Clean Road
France got into first gear for a clean drive this month with the opening of a bio fuel pump. But barely after the start, environmentalists are saying that the ecological balance sheet from using this green fuel may still be negative.DEATH PENALTY: 25 Years After Abolition, France Fosters Uncertainty
Although France abolished the death penalty 25 years ago, some of the nation's leading institutions and politicians continue to foster the idea that capital punishment can be applied under special circumstances, especially in time of war or against terrorists.Pacific Island Gives Clues to Tropical Biodiversity
Around 100 new species have been classified in just a month on the island of Espiritu Santo island in the South Pacific, which faces biodiversity devastation as a result of global climate change.HEALTH: Cancer Fears Emerge as Fallout of French Nuclear Tests
New evidence is emerging of cancers caused by French nuclear testing in its South Pacific islands from the 1960s.SCIENCE: Fossils Reveal Ancient Biodiversity
The discovery of an amber deposit formed in the Amazon during the Miocene epoch proves that the region's rich biological diversity goes back some 16 million years, members of the research team that made the finding told Tierramérica.
Fossils Reveal Ancient Biodiversity
A fascinating amber deposit in Peru containing fossilized flies, wasps and spiders proves that the rich diversity of Amazon species dates back much further than previously thought. Tierramérica spoke with the international team that made the discovery.ENVIRONMENT: Waste Headed for a Third World Bin
The Panamanian flagged ship Probo Koala unloaded more than 550 tonnes of toxic waste at Abidjan port in Cote d'Ivoire a month back. Emissions from that toxic waste have killed seven people and poisoned thousands.HEALTH: France Set to Ban Public Smoking
New evidence on the harmful effects of passive smoking has led France to consider a total ban on smoking in work and public places.FRANCE: How Beautiful Was My Colony
A meaning of colonialism offered in the new edition of a French dictionary has stirred another debate on how France views its past.ENVIRONMENT: France Confronts an Italian Invasion
Burgundy no longer means wines and colours to French farmers these days. It is now a region being devastated by the locust Calliptamus Italicus.MIDEAST: French Wary of a Lebanese Sandwich
Military experts are warning of dangers for the new peacekeeping force in the south of Lebanon, sandwiched as it will be between Israeli forces on one side and Hezbollah on the other.ENVIRONMENT: Sailing Scientists Investigate Arctic Melt
Over the next two years a team of scientists aboard the French schooner "Tara" will sail the Arctic Ocean to study the consequences of global climate change in the polar ice environment.
Sailing Scientists Investigate Arctic Melt
The expedition sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program aims to identify the effects of climate change and more accurately predict future impacts.ENVIRONMENT-EUROPE: Human Waste Threatens Sea Life
Human-made waste is poisoning the seas around Europe, according to a report by a French research institute.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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