TerraViva Europe

Inhospitable Flows the Nile

By Cam McGrath
A 4,200-year-old relief in the Tomb of Mereruka in Sakkara depicts the staggering array of fish that once inhabited the Nile River and its wetlands. Ancient Egyptian fishermen with linen nets haul in their bounty, including the sacred Oxyrhynchus, a snub-nosed fish that was captured and nurtured but never eaten.

Q&A: Portugal Neglects Undocumented Immigrants with AIDS

By Mario Queiroz
In 1996, Luís Mendão was shocked to learn that he had contracted HIV/AIDS, and that the infection was advanced because of the late diagnosis. Racing against time, he began to put his affairs in order and to get ready to face his death.

Motorcycle Mission Teaches Some Lessons

By Zofeen Ebrahim
Mounted on a Harley Davidson, Shehzad Roy, a popular Pakistani singer, is on a mission: to expose the country’s 176 million residents to the good, the bad and the ugly side of Pakistan’s education system.

Women Long to Work in Peace

By K. S. Harikrishnan
Shaken by the brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman in the national capital New Delhi last December, the female workforce in India is calling for more concrete measures for the protection of female employees from both physical and non-physical attacks.

“Merchants of Death” Fly Under the Radar of U.N. Arms Trade Treaty

By George Gao
Viktor Bout earned a few monikers in his heyday: “Merchant of Death”, “Sanctions Buster” and “Lord of War”. He’s the poster boy for illicit arms brokers – a guild of shadowy intermediaries who link arms suppliers to their end users.

U.S. High Court in Hot Seat over Same-Sex Marriage

By Katelyn Fossett
On the second day of oral arguments in two different cases involving the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed serious doubts about the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which codifies the non-recognition of same-sex marriage for federal and inter-state purposes.

Spain Leads EU in GM Crops, but No One Knows Where They Are

By Inés Benítez
Spain has more large-scale plantations of genetically modified seeds than any other country in the European Union (EU).

Nuclear Safety Plan Has Ukrainians Worried

By Pavol Stracansky
A 300 million euro loan to improve nuclear safety in the Ukraine has been attacked by environmental groups who say it will instead be used to keep ageing reactors working well beyond their planned lifespans – increasing the risks of a nuclear accident - while doing nothing to address serious issues with the country’s energy intensity.

Now Gaza’s Ark Prepares to Dare Israel

By Eva Bartlett
“An ark is literally a large floating vessel designed to keep its passengers and cargo safe,” say the group preparing ‘Gaza’s Ark’. But their ark, they say, is “a vessel that embodies hope that the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip can soon live in peace without the threat of the Israeli blockade.”

Group Warns of “Natural Resources Giveaway” in Latin America

By Joe Hitchon
Researchers have unveiled new data warning that governments in Latin America are infringing on the rights of their indigenous populations in a bid to fuel development through the extraction of natural resources.

Concerns Mount as U.S. Plans Major Natural Gas Exports

By Carey L. Biron
Environmentalists and others here are reacting with concern to a surprise announcement on Monday of a major deal that would see U.S. natural gas exported to the United Kingdom, marking the first time that such sales have been permitted.

These Women Know Their Assailants

By Neena Bhandari
Lynette Edwards (not her real name) grew up watching her mother being beaten by her partner each night. In high school, Edwards began associating with bullies, thinking this would protect her from being abused; but when she turned 16, two male acquaintances raped her.

Tug-of-War Over Nuclear Future

By Suvendrini Kakuchi
Pushed and pulled in opposite directions, the future of Japan’s energy plans in the wake of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant two years ago is emerging as a fight between national economic advancement and what anti-nuke activists call “the lives of the people”.

Electricity for All but Those the Kariba Dam Displaced

By Baboki Kayawe
Indigenous people who were displaced from the Zambezi Valley almost six decades ago for the construction of the Kariba Dam say they have not benefited from the development they made way for.

Ranchers Try to Drive Tsimané Indians Off Their Land

By Rafael Acuña Coaquira
“We can’t take any more abuse,” Carmelo Tayo, the head of this small Tsimané indigenous village, says sadly. The community has lived for decades on land in Bolivia’s Amazon jungle that outsiders are now trying to gain control of.

Naming Femicide to Fight Violence Against Women in Ecuador

By Ángela Meléndez
Ecuador hopes to move forward in the fight against violence against women by typifying femicide – gender-motivated killings – as a specific crime in the new penal code.

Zimbabwe’s Railroads Riding to Extinction

By Jeffrey Moyo
Zimbabwe’s rail transport system may be nearing extinction if the government does not take drastic action to solve the series of operational challenges that have made commuter and goods train services rare here.

OP-ED: The BRICS and the Rising South

By Helen Clark
On Tuesday, leaders of five large emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, known as the BRICS – will gather in Durban, South Africa to discuss harnessing their formidable resources on behalf of faster development progress in Africa and elsewhere.

India Playing Risky Games at Nuclear Parks

By Ranjit Devraj
Bhagwat Singh Gohil frets for the future of his bountiful orchards in Mithi Virdi village in western Gujarat state’s coastal district Bhavnagar. “After contending with droughts, rough seas and earthquakes we are staring at the possibility of a man-made disaster in the shape of a nuclear power park.”

Controversial Inter-American Reforms Process to Continue

By Carey L. Biron
The 35-member Organisation of American States (OAS) on Friday voted unanimously to approve a series of reforms to the Inter-American human rights system, but stepped back from proposals that had caused the greatest concern among civil society groups.

Who Will Aid the Aid Workers?

By Zofeen Ebrahim
Fifty-six-year-old Perween Rehman had dedicated her life to humanitarian work. As head of the Orangi Pilot Project's Research and Training Institute (OPP-RTI), she spent years working in one of the largest informal settlements in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, helping to overhaul a primitive sanitation system that was expected to serve Orangi’s 1.5 million inhabitants.
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