Ban Ki-moon marks World Oceans Day by Drawing Attention to "Terrible Toll" Mankind Having on Oceans, Seas

(HN, June 8, 2010) Marking the second World Oceans Day today, the UN Secretary General said humans activities - from over-fishing to piracy - are taking a "terrible toll" on the world's fragile marine ecosystems.The sea lion and her pup, off the BC coast, are becoming more vulnerable to human activities. Credit: Michael Bociurkiw

Said Ban Ki-moon: "Human activities are taking a terrible toll on the world’s oceans and seas. Vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as corals, and important fisheries are being damaged by over-exploitation, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, destructive fishing practices, invasive alien species and marine pollution, especially from land-based sources.  Increased sea temperatures, sea-level rise and ocean acidification caused by climate change pose a further threat to marine life, coastal and island communities and national economies.

"Oceans are also affected by criminal activity.  Piracy and armed robbery against ships threaten the lives of seafarers and the safety of international shipping, which transports 90 per cent of the world’s goods.  Smuggling of illegal drugs and the trafficking of persons by sea are further examples of how criminal activities threaten lives and the peace and security of the oceans."

The idea for World Oceans Day stemmed form the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the United Nations General Assembly had subsequently decided that that day would be celebrated every 8 June, starting in 2009. This year’s theme is “Our Oceans: Opportunities and Challenges”.

The oceans are essential to food security and the health and survival of all life, power our climate and are a critical part of the biosphere. They cover 71% of the Earth's surface and contain 97% of the planet's water. The official designation of World Oceans Day is an opportunity to raise global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans.

This year's commemorations have taken special significance in the wake of the horrific oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Bill Mott, director of The Ocean Project, a network of 1,200 organizations worldwide working to help promote World Oceans Day and to communicate with the public about conservation issues, said of the BP oil spill. "I think this is going to create a whole new generation of people who are much more aware of how we are all connected to the ocean in so many ways," he told MSNBC.com.

The Secretary General said one of the most long-standing and effective international instruments to protect the oceans and seas is the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

As part of the UN observance of the event, a roundtable discussion is being held at UN headquarters in New York and the city's legendary Empire State Building will be illuminated in white, blue and purple to signify the entirety of the oceans - from the shallows to the darker depths."

In Nairobi, the UN Environment Programme is commemorating World Oceans Day at its headquarters with the screening of Ωcéans, a film by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud film. The documentary is designed to raise awareness of the need to protect our oceans.

Funding Countries Guilty of "Moral Betrayal" in Fight Against HIV in Africa - MSF

(HN, June 6, 2010) - A severe drawback in pledges from major donors in the fight against HIV represents a "moral betrayal" of millions of infected people on the African continent, says the respected organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

Donor governments, blaming the ongoing global economic crisis, are drawing back support of HIV treatment programmes, such as anti-retroviral treatment (ART). MSF claims that had the international community not provided financial support, about 4-million people on treatment in Africa would not be alive today. Its also helped the scaling up of preventative treatment, such as mother-to-child transmission.

The Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the countries that fund it, the U.S. bilateral PEPFAR program, UNITAID and the World Bank are all beginning to retreat from their commitments to the global HIV response, according to MSF. The Geneva-based organization is currently facing a major funding shortfall of about $5 billion.

The impact is already being felt by frontline organizations like MSF, which provides HIV/AIDS treatment to 140,000 patients in 30 countries. MSF says it is reaching into its emergency buffer stocks of medicines deeper and more frequently.

Africa is Ground Zero in the fight against HIV: two-thirds of the 9 million people in need of urgent treatment live in sub-Saharan Africa. Because of funding gaps, already in South Africa and Uganda, patients are being shuffled from one clinic to another because of limited treatment slots.

Said Dr. Eric Goemaere, medical coordinator for MSF in South Africa: Some years ago, messages to governments in the region were unambiguous. They were told... we want to see ambitious targets because we want to see a population-level impact on the HIV epidemic. We want you to show that you can have an impact to stop this epidemic. And today the message switched to, ‘let's see what you and [we] can afford together.

"If this trend is confirmed, I would call it a moral betrayal. A moral betrayal because we will have failed first our patients, who were told to get tested and all the ones who tested positive. We promised them we'd provide them treatment. We will fail our health staff, who managed to start 4 million people on treatment, an unprecedented effort for the health services in developing countries in such a short time, and who are today told that they cannot initiate patients. And finally we would fail regional governments, with some of them already contributing a substantial amount of their own resources. The economic crisis is happening here as well as in the United States and Europe, and we would fail them if we would tell them that we cannot any more support this effort."

Aside from longer waiting lists, doctors and nurses are now having to face the agonizing choice of whether to prioritize late-stage cases or new cases, where treatment may have more of an impact, MSF says.

Experts say that the importance of international donors cannot be over-estimated: in Kenya, for example, it covers about 95% of HIV programmes and ARVs.

"If the international donors decide to withdraw their funding, the HIV programs will not be sustainable according to the present funding levels by the government," said Jimmy Gideyi, an activist and person living with HIV in Kenya. "We already have so many problems to take on, such as stigma, beliefs,  misconceptions, cultural practices, which contribute to the spread of HIV in the community, without having to worry [about] where more money will be coming from to catch up on our treatment."

Most African governments had committed some years ago to allocate 15% of their national budgets to health, but that has not happened - making the contributions of the donor community even more crucial, MSF says. It adds that the debate on funding is complicated over whether to prioritize preventative (such as distribution of condoms) or treatment programmes.

"African governments need to keep their commitments, but the international community also needs to keep its commitment," said MSF's Emi McLean. He added that even the richest country on the continent, South Africa - which depends only 20% on external aid - will stil need funding to treat millions of AIDS patients.

MSF's comments were made recently with the release of a report called Titled “No time to quit: HIV/AIDS treatment gap widening in Africa." The report builds on analyses made in eight sub-Saharan countries to illustrate how major international funding institutions such as the U.S. President’s Plan for Emergency AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the World Bank, UNITAID, and donors to the Global Fund, have decided to cap, reduce, or withdraw their spending on HIV treatment and antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) over the past year-and-a-half.

Number of Young Women Smokers in Developing Countries Skyrockets

(HN, June 4, 2010) Young women in developing countries are being targeted by "seductive" advertising from the large tobacco companies and all governments must take immediate action to protect them from harmful messages, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

 WHO says female business owners are prime targets for seductive offers from tobacco companies, such as branded umbrellas or kiosks

The world health body says that if current trends continue, women could soon be on par with men in terms of rates of death due to smoking, creating what one expert called "a very perverse equality."

"The tobacco industry is spending heavily on seductive advertisements that target women - especially in low and middle income countries. The advertisements try to dupe women into believing that tobacco use is associated with beauty and liberation," Dr. Douglas Bettcher, Director of the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative, told a recent press briefing in Geneva. "In effect they have had to offshore their marketing strategies, look for greener pastures."

Of the world's more than one-billion smokers, only about 200 million are women - but WHO warns those numbers could change rapidly.

Experts believe the tobacco industry has made the shift towards women and young adults in order to compensate for the drop off in tobacco use from smokers who have died from cancer, emphysema, heart attacks, stroke, asthma, tuberculosis and other tobacco-related diseases. One WHO expert accused the major tobacco companies of using "predatory marketing strategies" to lure women in developing countries into taking up the smoking habit, adding that state-owned tobacco companies tend to be less aggressive than the multinationals.

Said Bettcher: "They need to always be refreshing these pools and that's why they are looking to low and middle income countries over the last decade - looking at new populations such as young women to light up and support their profit motives."

Among the venues used to lure women and young girls to tobacco are women's magazines and the fashion industry, WHO says. "The industry has studied what makes women 'tick' in the developed and developing countries," said the WHO's Peju Olukoya, adding that they use sporting and music events that draw many young people. In some countries, free cell phones and text messaging campaigns are used heavily to promote cigarettes.

In Egypt, one WHO expert said, tobacco companies are trying to lure more women by producing cigarette packages to resemble perfume boxes. In Nigeria, cigarette companies build stalls with branded umbrellas and even fund school supplies. "As a result of this, the acceptability for the use of cigarettes by women is gradually increasing., In the past cigarettes have always been associated with the red light district in town," said Olukoya, a native of Nigeria.

She added that Big Tobacco sends confusing messages in many developing countries - by promoting slimness in cultures where this is not necessarily valued and by putting forward smoking as liberating. As for messaging to young men: "It's all about the macho..a big man smokes a big cigarette."

Bettcher says the industry's marketing strategy is having its desired impact. In half of the 151 countries surveyed by WHO, about as many girls smoke as boys. "In some of the countries, in fact, even more girls smoke than boys." Countries where there are more girl smokers than boy smokers include: Uruguay, Mexico, Cook Islands, Croatia, Argentina, Senegal, Chile, Colombia and Bulgaria.

Said Bettcher of the rise of female smokers: "This is a serious red flag. It could mean that we are on the cusp of a much worse global tobacco epidemic amongst women. Girls and boys who smoke are likely to remain smokers as adults."

Bettcher said that one can expect "an explosion" in adult women's tobacco use rates in the coming years. "We simply cannot allow this trend to continue. All governments must take action to protect women from tobacco advertising and promotional sponsorship.

"We must empower women to protect themselves and their families from the harms of tobacco use."

Bettcher added that women need to be protected from second hand smoke, especially in countries where women feel powerless. Smoke-free areas in restaurants and help to cope with addiction are among the steps recommended.

Of the 430,00 adults who die from second-hand smoke each year, well over half - 64 percent - are women. And of the more than 5 million people who die from tobacco use each year, about 1.5 million are women. "Most of these tobacco-related deaths occur in low and middle income countries, which can least afford such dreadful losses," said Bettcher.

By 2030, there could be as many as 8 million people who die from tobacco, of which 2.5 million will be amongst women.

In the Asia-Pacific region, more than 8 per cent of girls between 13 and 15, or around 4.7 million girls, are using tobacco products, said WHO.

Betcher called the new trends - where women became as likely as men to die of smoke-related reasons - a "very perverse equality."

WHO chose as the theme for the recent World No Tobacco Day 2010 as "Gender and Tobacco With an Emphasis on Marketing to Women."  WHO recommends that tobacco advertising and sponsorship should be completely banned. In the US alone, 11 percent of advertising and promotional expenditures in 1996 came from the tobacco industry; in 2005 $13.11 billion was spent on tobacco advertising and promotions.

In 2006, only 17 countries in the world had comprehensive bans against tobacco advertising, and Bettcher said some wealthy countries "dont do very well" in terms of enforcing bans. In response to bans, tobacco companies have become more sophisticated, turning to such tactics as product placement in movies and sponsorships of popular events.

That tobacco companies are tailoring their marketing strategies increasingly towards women in developing countries is nothing new. In 2003, the American Cancer Society flagged the issue as very serious. "The tobacco industry has intensified its marketing strategies -- especially those targeting women -- in developing countries,” said Michael J. Thun, vice president of epidemiology and surveillance research for the American Cancer Society. “International measures such as the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are essential to help countries protect themselves.”

Staff, files

Impact of Economic Crisis on Small Economies "Brutal" - UN

(HN, June 1, 2010) The ongoing economic crisis has dealt a huge blow on Least Developed Countries (LDCs), according to a new study focused on 49 economies that was released today.A global economic downturn often hurts small entrepreneurs, like this woman in Laos

"While overall the LDC group of countries saw improvement in their terms of trade between 2004 and 2008, these were “brutally reversed” in 2009," says the Geneva-based International Trade Centre (ITC).

LDCs have lost 43 per cent of their export earnings with developed nation trade partners and emerging economies such as Brazil and China. The report compares the boom period of 2008 to the bust period of 2009.

During 2009, LDC’s terms of trade had showed average declines ranging from minus 17 per cent to minus 36 per cent, compared to 2006, said Willem van der Geest, Lead Economist of the ITC.

While trade flows with the emerging economies, such as China, had proved more resilient than with developed economies, the LDCs terms of trade had deteriorated significantly with all partners.

 While in 2007 and the first half of 2008, LDCs had made some considerable gains, these had been completely eroded during 2009, said Van der Geest.

Overall, the terms of trade had regressed to levels of 2004. The overall picture for the LDCs remained that they were growing and exporting more but were nevertheless lowering their export-earnings.

The export-levels which might be reached by LDCs in coming years might not afford these countries to buy the same level of imports, said Van der Geest.

ITC Executive Director Patricia R. Francis said: “This important analysis of the trends in terms of trade for LDCs demonstrates how they are suffering from the fall-out of the global financial crisis. It is particularly disconcerting that South-South trade has not resulted in better terms of trade for the group.

Separately, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) issued a report today in Geneva which examines the social and economic impact of remittances sent by Angolans living in Portugal and South Africa.

The report says that for 16 per cent of the households, remittances constitute 100 per cent of monthly income.

About 67 per cent of respondents said remittances are used to meet basic household necessities, buy consumables and pay for utilities. A further 14 per cent say they use a portion of remittances for business purposes; and only 1 per cent of the respondents claim to invest part of the remittance funds in agricultural activities.

The report suggests ways to maximize their development effect in Angola, said the IOM's Jean-Phillipe Chauzy.

Dispute Pushes Thousands of Ghanaians Into Togo

(HN, May 31, 2010) A violent dispute between two villages in northeastern Ghana had forced some 3,500 Ghanaians to flee their homes and cross into neighbouring Togo since April.

Ghanaian refugees, presently sheltering in four Togolese villages, have told United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that their houses have been pillaged and destroyed, their belongings torched.

Fortunately, Togolese authorities are providing Ghanaian refugees with immediate emergency assistance and food. The refugees are in need of water, food, shelter and medicines, said Andrej Mahecic of the UNHCR. Most belong to vulnerable groups – including many children, some of them suffering from diarrhea and malaria. 

The refugees - who represent six communities with a total of 375 households - presently outnumbered the local population and share their quickly diminishing resources, said Mr. Mahecic. Water is of particular concern and UNHCR has offered to rehabilitate several wells in the area.

A first UNHCR emergency aid convoy left from Accra last week, loaded with humanitarian assistance, and another convoy will leave in the next few days with additional aid items - including some 700 tents and other shelter materials.

UNHCR has identified a new site in Togo, further away from the border, where it plans to transfer the refugees. This move would help to improve security and alleviate the pressure on the scarce resources of the host communities and free the public buildings presently used as shelter by refugees.

Since the Ghanaian refugees come from opposing villages involved in the violent dispute, UNHCR is working with the local authorities in Togo to identify a second site that will allow the separation of the two opposing groups, which would also prevent the perpetuation of the conflict while in displacement.

This is not the first time the Ghanaian villagers crossed into neighbouring Togo seeking safety and shelter. In early March some 300 Ghanaians fled to Togo due to the same land dispute, but had returned home within a few weeks, said Mr. Mahecic. This time however, refugees claim they have lost everything and are reluctant to return home.

Late last week, senior delegations from both affected countries met to try to find an amicable solution to the refugee problem. Togo, for its part, said it would not force its displaced guests to go back home.

--Reporting by Michael Bociurkiw and staff  

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - May 27, 2010 (Europe and Eurasia)

ANDORRA

Eurovision hit by financial worries as countries quit

All geared up for European team championships at Marsa (sports) 

ARMENIA

Turkish involvement in Karabakh undesirable for Armenia

Turkey calls on Armenia to avoid harsh words

Watchdog slams Armenia over ‘impunity’ of human rights violations

Armenia government reworks bill on foreign language schools

Republican: Armenians can solve any problem when united

Armenia placed 118 and 80^th in download and upload speed

Gevorkian photos capture Armenia’s sense of place  

GIBRALTAR

Gibraltar eyes larger hedge fund sector

KYRGYZSTAN

Kyrgyzstan appeals to Interpol to detain Bakyiev

Russian humanitarian commodity arrive in Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek plans to revoke former President Akaev’s immunity

ADB sets new conditions for providing credit for emergency sector in Kyrgyzstan

A recording coup

LIECHTENSTEIN

Germany hands over to India the names of 50 tax evaders

MOLDOVA

Moldova 1-1 Azerbaijan: Andrei Cojocari Rescues Moldovans (sports)

Do Medvedev and Yanukovich Plan to Sign a ‘Secret Protocol’ on Transdniestria?

Moldova’s foreign minister visiting Russia

Wind projects of 622 million euro in Moldova, Dobrogea, Banat and Transilvania

Internet in Poland slower than Moldova  

MONGOLIA

Rats devour Mongolian grassland

Australia falls behind Mongolia, global average on Internet speed

Ozomatli performing in China and Mongolia as US cultural ambassadors  

MONTENEGRO

Montenegro: A surprise regional champion

Russia send church bells to Montenegro

Bosnia, Albania on track for visa-free travel by autumn  

TAJIKISTAN

 Is the Uzbekistan-Tajikistan dispute holding up NATO supplies to Afghanistan?

 Rogun shares worth over 186,5 mln reported sold up to date

Tajikistan: Floods wash away homes and farmland

Azerbaijan president approves agreement on education of Tajik military people in Azerbaijan

Ukraine provides humanitarian aid to Tajikistan  

TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenistan and India sign intergovernmental agreements

Tectonic shift under way in Turkmen gas

India, Turkmenistan ink pacts on education, science and technology

Turkmen president meets visiting Chinese DM on ties, cooperation

Turkmen melodies sound in concert hall named after Tchaikovsky  

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - May 26, 2010 (North and South Oceans)

New crater may have helped create Antarctic ice sheets

Offshore drilling next frontier

Canada expects Greenland to apply high standards as it drills offshore

No more ash from Iceland

One saga from Iceland that hasn’t ended in failure

Crisis-hit Iceland showing positive signs of recovery

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - May 18, 2010 (North and South Oceans)

FAROE ISLANDS:

Faeroes susceptible to deadly illness

Dana to drill 18 exploration wells in 2010  

GREENLAND:

Manitoba hub for Arctic ice study

Melt zone

ICELAND:

New ash cloud rules get flights back to normal… but changes come too late for some 50,000 caught in chaos

Iceland raises inshore fishing quota

Iceland’s main international airport open today

Three Dutch nationals arrested for drug smuggling in Iceland

Magma Energy Corp to hold 98.53% of Iceland geothermal energy producer HS Orka (press release/market watch)  

SVALBARD:

Camera records wild beauty of the Arctic

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - May 16, 2010 (Caribbean)

CARIBBEAN

UK, the real pirates of the Caribbean

China and Caribbean issue joint communiqué following round of talks  

Deepwater oil-drilling implications for the Caribbean

Puerto Rico: Hit by 5.7 magnitude earthquake

Haiti’s neighbors pull back welcome mat after quake

Dominica: National water management policy coming soon  

Cayman signs TIA with Portugal on home ground

Grenada: Maritime treaty important to country’s future development

Timid leadership setting back Caribbean in the world (column)

Grand Bahamas police carry out operation touch down

Top football clubs flee to tax havens (sports)

Caribbean gets its own film distribution company

KLM counts the cost of the ash cloud (travel/business)

10 things to love about the Caribbean (travel)

Go land sailing surrounded by sea on Bonaire, Netherland Antilles (travel)

Saint Lucia: Now closer with additional flights from Atlanta (travel)

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - May 14, 2010 World Cup ...29 days to go!

World Cup watch… 29 days to go

Chinese actors to cheer for North Korea during World Cup

World Cup broadcast further strains ties between North, South Korea

Grassroots soccer: Using World Cup to fight HIV

England’s Zemora explains World Cup omission

Japanese league stars in North Korea World Cup squad

Bound for the World Cup with 100,000 + Americans, take this advice

Mexico’s goalkeepers via to start in World Cup

2010 World Cup preview: Serbia

World Cup 2010: Ivory Coast coach Sven Goran Eriksson hints at future Lazio return

World Cup countdown: Van Nistelrooy accepts his Dutch career is over

World Cup 2010: South African FA CEO Leslie Sedibe Assures That Recent Suspensions Will Not Affect Bafana

World Cup 2010: Massimo Moratti Baffled By Argentina Snub For Inter Duo Javier Zanetti & Esteban Cambiasso

Nigeria's Danny Shittu relishing clash with Lionel Messi

Confusion over World Cup broadcast rights

US picks for World Cup

World Cup preview: Brazil’s 23 man roster

Arsenal’s Samir Nasri Wants Explanation Over France Snub

World Cup 2010: Robin van Persie hoping for Holland joy after  Arsenal pain

The joy of six: Great teams that never won the World Cup

Steve Rider quits ITV after Adrian Chiles given World Cup job

US backs Atlanta to be key part in its World Cup bid

Russia submits World Cup bidding documents  

500 protest against World Cup betting license and rap concert

Robbie Williams singing on World Cup song (entertainment)

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - May 13, 2010 (Europe and Eurasia)

AFGHANISTAN:

Unknown disease wipes out half of Afghan opium crop

ARMENIA:

PACE president’s agenda could spell trouble for Armenia

NATO-Armenia cooperation continues

Zaman: Turkey to adopt 'mute policy' over Karabakh, Armenia-Turkey normalization (politics)

Awareness of anti-corruption programs in Armenia still low

Armenia to participate in seminar on cybercrime in Tibilisi

Turkey continues extending friendly hand to Armenia, Turkish vice premier

When genocide turns to suicide (column)

GIBRALTAR:

New Foreign Secretary ‘a safe pair of hands’, says Caruana

Hilltop favors Gibraltar for all weather fund (money market)

KYRGYZSTAN:

OSCE media freedom representative offers support to restore public broadcasting in Kyrgyzstan

Mamasaliev talks over parliament in Kyrgyzstan

Almaty police deports 70 Kyrgyzstan citizens

OSCE official talks over the new Constitution of Kyrgyzstan

Russian fuel price hikes expected in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan GDP growth rate at 11.3% for 2010  

MOLDOVA:

Moldova is the poorest country in Europe

Prices on farm goods increased 20.6% 1Q2010

Moldova: Inflation rate in April 0.3%  

Modern-day slave trade

EU showcases neighborhood policy successes

Moldovan journalist forced to make confession he was a spy

MONGOLIA:

Mongolian team meets Omar Abdullah, seeks tourism collaboration

Yili to build 45,000-ton milk powder plant in Heilongjiang

MONTENEGRO:

Good results for Montenegro in the enabling trade index 2010 report

Montenegrin leader of Pink Panther crime group detained in Italy  

Montenegro, Serbia hand over drug dealer wanted by Interpol

Montenegro is one of the top destinations for Bosnia and Herzegovina tourists

SAN MARINO:

San Marino remains on Italian black list

TAJIKISTAN:

Iran, Tajikistan to sign defense MOU

2 poliomyelitis-infected Tajik babies in satisfactory condition

Second polio case reported in Russia

OIC forum to support Sudan against ICC  

Tajik officials reverse ban against mobile phone ads

TURKMENISTAN:

Turkmenistan-Chinese cooperation: key to Turkmenistan’s diversification strategy

Delegation of Turkmenistan studies Hungarian experience of election administration

Nabucco pipeline ‘needs patience and public support’

Delving into the history of Turkey, Iran and the five ‘stan’ republics (book news)  

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - May 11, 2010 Latest World Cup 2010 News

AFRICA – WORLD CUP NEWS:

Fewer tickets purchased by Africans for 2010 World Cup

Taylor: Africa’s World Cup

Cameroon announce World Cup squad

How Algeria Qualified

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien named in Ghana’s world cup squad

Ghana top African fans at World Cup

Togo reinstated in Africa Cup of Nations

Prince William and Harry solo travelers

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - May 11, 2010 (Africa and the Middle East)

ALGERIA:

Icelandic ash cloud in the Algerian sky today

ANGOLA:

EU praises Angola’s new constitution

Angola at the G-8 and G-20 meeting

State employs DeTeCom to restructure Angola telecom

BENIN:

AfDB to finance road rehabilitation in Benin

BOTSWANA:

HIV/AIDS care giving takes toll

1Q diamond export rises to $US477M

CAMEROON:

Cameroon agrees to cut illegal wood out of its supply chain

COMOROS:

Victory for Comoros island’s democracy

The union of Comoros in favor of increasing cooperation with Cuba

DJIBOUTI:

Yemen, Djibouti sign educational MoU

GUINEA:

Guinea hopeful for a new iron mining deal

GUINEA-BISSAU:

IMF approves $US34.8M for the country

ETHIOPIA:

Millions in Chinese loans for rail, ships, housing

LIBERIA:

Liberian Diaspora critical for poverty reduction

MALAWI:

Ethiopia, Malawi invited to G-20 summit in Canada

Malawi opposition restores Tembo as leader

Malawi law body calls for immediate release of gay couple

MOZAMBIQUE:

International crisis affects foreign reserve sources in Mozambique

NAMIBIA:

Uranium ‘rush’ or ‘crush’ for Erongo?

SOUTH AFRICA:

Zuma admits more jobs may be lost

SUDAN:

Carter Center questions Sudan election accuracy

QATAR:

Qatar announces plans to form women’s soccer league later this year

Qatar stem cell research policy most liberal

YEMEN:

Several killed in fresh Yemeni violence

Yemen, EU discuss cooperation aspects

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - May 10, 2010 (The Americas)

FALKLAND ISLANDS:

‘High quality’ Falkland oil  find raises tensions

Rockhopper shares soar further 34%  

FRENCH GUIANA:

Cannes - Thales Alenia Space: Herschel and Planck to log one year of successes in space (aviation-space)

GUYANA:

Race and Politics in Guyana (commentary)

Stricken with apathy: Indifference and invisibility in relation to violence in Guyana

Guyana needs a freedom of information act  

SURINAME:

Aloco plan for facility overseas worrisome

Sino-Forest pays US29M to raise stake in Greenheart Resources

UNASUR approves statute for defense policies coordination  

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - May 7, 2010 (North and South Oceans)

ANTARCTICA:

Meteorites suggest seeds of life within our solar system  

Marathon matters (travel)

BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY:

Indian ocean islanders in 44 years of colonial limbo (history/editorial)

FAROE ISLANDS:

Faroese FA president visits UEFA (sports)

GREENLAND:

Greenland proceeds with plans for offshore drilling in Arctic waters

ICELAND:

Iceland arrests ex-chief of collapsed bank Kaupthing

Volcano watch: Europeans wanted cash, not ash, from Iceland!

Iceland’s volcanic ash cloud slow UK services growth

Ash could affect transatlantic flights: Eurocontrol

Scientists conduct ash monitoring near Icelandic volcano

Iceland’s Eyjafjallajo volcano bulging slightly  

SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON:

FIFA working group to help small unrecognized nations and territories (sports)

SOUTH GEORGIA AND SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS:

Oil discovery causes excitement in London, anger in Buenos Aires

SVALBARD:

Norwegian coast guard detains Russian trawler

China set to enter the Arctic in a big way

China eyes Arctic shipping and resources as ice-cap melts