ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

AFRICA: Africa agriculture suffers from climate

ALGERIA: Algeria meetings show continued confusion about natural gas outlook

ANGOLA: Training constitutes strategy for management of climactic changes impact

AMERICAN SAMOA: Shaken by Wednesday’s earthquake

Tsunami evacuation routes identified in American Samoa  

ANGUILLA: Power of partnerships for region–Wide bird conservation promoted in month-long festival

ARCTIC: Nations debate changes to international ban on commercial whaling

BOLIVIA: How the people’s summit in Bolivia can help (op-ed)

BOTSWANA: Botswana marches towards green economy

BRAZIL: Brazil continues with Belo Monte damn despite protests

CANADA: EU lawmakers turn up heat on oil sands

CHINA: Chinese actress wins UN environment award  

EUROPE: Europe bets on wind energy

FALKLAND ISLANDS: Shearwater ponders connection with nature

GREENALND: High dioxin levels detected in Greenland halibut

GUYANA: Guyana remains committed to protection of Amazon

KIRIBATI: EU extends solar power project to Kiribati and Tonga

ICELAND: Sleepy village radar system tracks Iceland volcano ash

INDIA: Gujarat’s lungs in Gulf of Kutch are getting clogged  

ISRAEL: Israel goes off the grid for Earth Day

JORDAN/ ISRAEL: New life for the Dead Sea?

MALDIVES: Leader wins highest UN environment award

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Marshall Islands takes on difficult UN climate negotiations

MEXICO: Mexico City offers bikes in it’s clean air campaign

MICRONESIA: Micronesia grapples with increasing water salinity

MONGOLIA: How conservation can help Mongolia’s herders fight the dzud

PAKISTAN: Pakistan observes world Earth Day

QATAR: Fair to promote eco-awareness  

RUSSIA: Russia, Ukraine stepping up work on environmental programs

Russian delegations shares OCS insights  

UNITED KINGDOM: Which green questions would you ask in the second leaders’ debate? (blog)

UNITED STATES: Tufts searches for clean energy / Earth Day everyday (editorial)

YEMEN: Yemen, Oman sign two cooperation agreements

INTERNATIONAL: The People v. CO2: The coming tide of international climate lawsuits

COMPANIES: PUMA aims to be carbon neutral / 10 green giants that could change the world

EARTH DAY - GLOBAL ACTION FOR A HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENT

(HN, April 21, 2010) This year marks the 40^th anniversary of the modern environmental movement, known globally as Earth Day. HUMNEWS spoke with Nate Byer, the Campaign Director for Earth Day 2010 about the focus for this year’s anniversary and mobilizing people to take action for a healthier environment.

Founded in 1970 by US Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, the first Earth Day aimed at shaking up the political establishment in the United States and forcing environmental issues of the day onto the national agenda. That year 20 million Americans took to the streets to demonstrate for a healthy sustainable environment. Enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, tycoons and labor leaders and people from all walks of life the first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species acts.

In 1990 Denis Hayes, (National Coordinator for Earth Day 1970) took Earth Day global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries. Earth Day 1990 took environmental issues onto the global stage and gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

This year Earth Day will be marked in 190 countries around the globe by 1 billion people taking part in Earth Day activities, making Earth Day the largest secular civic event in the world.

-reporting by Cristina Khalaf, video by John Gardiner

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - April 21, 2010 (Asia and Pacific)

AMERICAN SAMOA:

Transport matters raise supply concerns in American Samoa’s Manu’a

60,000 gallons of fuel removed from sunken tanker

US grant to save American Samoa park from development

BHUTAN:

Bhutan ready to host green summit

Bhutan on the airwaves

Initiative to check on Bhutanese currency

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM:

Senior golfers ready for Brunei battle

EAST TIMOR:

Criticism of Australia's actions in WWII Timor not so clear cut

MALDIVES:

Tourists stranded in Maldives over Icelandic volcanic ash cloud

Boskalis: Works in vulnerable ecosystems as a specialism

Somalis Capture Illegal Fishing Vessels While Highly Paid Watchmen Are Sleeping

MARSHALL ISLANDS:

Continental to add year-round service to Marshall Islands (travel)

House panel to probe Marshall Islands nuclear testing claims

Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance  

MICRONESIA:

Micronesia grapples with increasing water salinity

NORTH KOREA:

S. Korea’s hosting of nuclear summit is warning to DPRK

PAPAU NEW GUINEA:

Far South Coast greets floating hospital

Australia and PNG issue Kokoda stamps

Somare stays in touch with Bainimarama

Dialogue vital with Fiji govt-PNG PM

SAMOA:

Samoa AG outlines efforts to curb against organized crime

SOLOMON ISLANDS:

Ocean Park eyes deal leading to dolphin imports from Solomons

Gov’t wants to increase its labour supply to NZ

Poor international shipping hits trade

TONGA:

Tonga’s pro-democracy movement hails assembly reform

Civics education vital ahead of Tonga election, says advocate

EU extends solar power project to Kiribati and Tonga  

VANUATU:

Volcanic Ash Affecting Food And Water On Vanuatu's Gaua

Pacific food summit opens in Vanuatu

CHRISTMAS ISLAND:

Christmas Island stretched by more boat arrivals

FRENCH POLYNESIA:

Former Hilton employees in Tahiti on hunger strike

GUAM:

GTA TeleGuam Responds to Guam Governor Call for Executive Terminations

Guam’s “re-export” report for March 2010

Guam airport welcomes first inaugural Jin air flight

KIRIBATI:

UN warns of Pacific HIV epidemic

NEW CALEDONIA:

Clever New Caledonian crows can use three tools

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS:

Utility may cut service to schools, government in Northern Mariana Islands

Digital Divide in Africa Set to Ease This Year With New Undersea Connections

(HN, April 19, 2010) Farida Aziz, a Pakistani aid worker based in Nigeria’s remote northern states, tries to keep in touch with friends and family back home via Skype and Facebook chat. But conversations are often kept short, due to the slow and fickle nature of her Internet connection.

Such stories are commonly heard across West Africa as people in the Sub-Sahara wait for the day to have fixed and wireless Internet connections at faster than dial-up speeds.

The continent has a long way to go - in terms of Internet penetration and broadband access - before it catches up with the rest of the world. A 2009 study by Internet World Stats found that Africa has an Internet penetration rate of only 6.7 percent, compared with the world average of 24.7 per cent. No African country figures on the list of top 49 countries with the highest Internet penetration rate, and nine have penetration rates lower than one percent.

And for the few that do have access, bandwidth costs for Africans are 50 times or higher than in developed countries. The lack of reliable power supplies - in countries like Nigeria - limits the time the average person can spend online - even with broadband access.

“Developing broadband in Africa will reduce our dependence on foreign owned satellite systems,” said Ernest Ndukwe, Executive Chairman of Nigeria’s Communications Commission. “This will help in removing the need to pay exorbitant satellite transit fees.”

But according to a World Bank official change is just around the corner, with massive undersea cables being laid that will connect this side of Africa with the huge broadband backbones that have the potential to catapult many African countries firmly into the digital age. Spurred in part by the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa this summer, various submarine cables are due to go live in 2010, some of them funded by pan-African telecommunications consortiums.

In July 2009, the Seacom submarine fibre optic cable for East Africa went live. Privately-funded and three-quarters African-owned, and is the first to provide broadband to countries in east Africa, which previously relied entirely on expensive, slower, satellite connections.

And by the end of this year, Nigeria’s Main-One Cable System will run 7000 kilometres from Portugal to Nigeria with landings along the route to various West African countries - delivering 1.92Tbps of bandwidth, equivalent to 10 times the available capacity of the existing fibre optics cable serving the West coast of Africa. It will offer about 200 times the satellite capacity currently available across sub- Saharan Africa. Further phases will double the length of the cable, bordering West Africa all the way to South Africa.

Aside from a more robust telecoms infrastructure, regulatory reform in several West African countries are opening the doors to competition - and in turn - driving down costs for consumers. In Nigeria alone, at least a half dozen mobile phone companies compete for customers, especially in the pre-paid mobile phone and wireless data sectors. The availability of better content - especially in local languages and dialects - are expected to drive up demand for value added services.

All this is not to say that the entire population of the continent is benefitting from the increased broadband.  At a conference last year in Russia called “Addressing the Digital Divide for Science in Africa,” experts agreed that vast proportions of people, including academics, have yet to benefit from expanding adoption of information and technologies and access to the Internet in Africa.

“Africa is confronted by problems of Internet penetration,” said the conference paper. “Africa is not only about 16 years behind the rest of the world, but is falling further behind each year. This rising Digital Divide between Africa and industrialized countries means that the potential of African universities to play a key role in national development is largely not being realized.

To address the problems, groups of concerned scientists have come together in a group called eGY-Africa to advocate for better access and equipment for African institutions. Ironically the Internet was first created to link academic institutions yet the science community in Africa feels it is stuck behind a digital firewall - with some using dial-up speeds as slow as 56kbps.

“Any kind of map of Internet performance shows that scientists in Africa, in general, are not able to partner in such virtual teams and activities due to a lack of ICT infrastructure,” the conference paper said. It adds that in many African communities, “cyber cafes have better Internet connectivity than the neighbouring university.”

Experts say that while more fibre is being laid, other developments - such as Low Earth Orbiting Satellites and WIMAX - will help lessen the digital divide on the continent. More African countries are now directly linked to each other rather than through costly and slow intercontinental connections via Europe and North America.

---Reporting by Michael Bociurkiw in Las Vegas 

Media Sector in Middle East Undergoing Rapid Growth

(HN, 18 April, 2010) New trendy privately-owned television stations are changing the media landscape in the Middle East, fueled by growing consumer spending and regulatory reform in the region.

In fact the growth is so overwhelming - especially with bandwidth-hungry high definition channels - that satellites are becoming congested to the point where transmission speeds are deteriorating, industry executives from the region said at a panel at the National Association of Broadcasters. Waiting lists have been created for new satellites owned by such countries as Iran, Morocco, Nigeria and Syria.

The region was once-known for conservative, governnment-run channels but now private entities are entering the space at an unprecedented rate - with about 700 channels in the Middle East. However many are poorly-funded, have inferior content and sometimes exits for only a few months. It is no secret that some channels spring up during elections.

"I would say that 80 percent of the population - or 300-million people - watch about 10 channels," said Ashraf Hamdi Fouad of the Abu Dhabi Media Company, citing Al-Jazeera, Alarabia, Lebanon's LBC and the partially publicly-funded Abu Dhabi TV as the most popular. "The rest of them are run by the owners of the channels and his mother, cousin and nephew."

A good example of the phenomenal growth is Kuwait's private channel, Alwatan, which has 485 employees and has seen its viewership surge more than 65 percent in 2009. The station utilized cutting edge graphics, western-style sets and fast-paced presentation reminiscent of western networks. It even updates its Twitter feed every 15 minutes and maintains Facebook fan pages for each show.

"Some of the images you now see you'd never expect to see in the Gulf. Its a very good positive story that interests investors and others involved in the media," said Rami Eljundi, a Jordanian media executive.

Nassir Al-Sabah, a member of the Kuwait ruling family who runs Alwatan and a separate production company, said the station is keen to move into documentary productions that would also appeal to viewers outside the Gulf.

Abu Dhabi television, looking for new revenue streams, recently launched a pay-per-view sports channel (with broadcasting rights to the Premier League) that requires special decoders. The move is seen to counter rampant piracy in the region.

Wanting to take advantage of improved infrastructure and a rapidly-growing, media-hungry middle class, outside broadcasters are also moving into the Gulf with Arabic-language channels. Panel speakers cited as new entrants Turkish, Chinese, British and Iranian broadcasters."They are giving up everywhere else except in the Middle East," said Fouad.

Co-productions with such western media behemoths as National Geographic are also becoming more commonplace. "We want to see the day that something is aired on our own station and then it is marketed in the States," said Al-Sabah.

The growth is not limited to the broadcasting sector. In Abu Dhabi, public funds were used to launch what is described as the "New York Times of the Middle East" in the form of the English-language The National newspaper.

Said Fouad: "Newspaper readership is going down in the world and newsrooms are shrinking but here we have new newspapers starting."

Following on the heels of Singapore and Malaysia, governments in the region are trying to lure foreign media and production companies by creating special zones. Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 zone - named after its geographical coordinates - is one of the best known and acts as an incubator for start-up companies. Through agreements with such entities as the Thomson Reuters Foundation they also have training programmes for young people from the Gulf - even on such topics as acting as spokespeople.

CNN has a new broadcasting hub in Dubai and Turner Broadcasting’s Cartoon Network announced this month a partnership with twofour54 to develop Arabic animation projects in the Gulf emirate - including development and production studios and a training academy.

The panel speakers said they hoped to see a day that Middle East-produce packages could be aired in the West in Arabic, with English-subtitles. They also expressed hope that the Arabic dialects that fragment the region would not be an obstacle to future growth of the sector.

“The problem is how are we going to use this fragmentation to benefit each market,” said Nader Gohar of the Cairo News Company.

Added: Fouad: “One good thing about emergence of all these satellites is that it tears down the walls of all these dialects.”

While the growth in media in the Middle East is robust compared to other regions, some panelists said a digital divide still exists in many countries - with high percentages of people unable to afford broadband Internet services, let alone an HDTV.

Reporting my Michael Bociurkiw in Las Vegas

FOCUS ON AIDS IN LESOTHO.....APRIL 16, 2010

(HN, April 16, 2010) - Recently, HUM Adviser Dr. Judy Kuriansky travelled to Lesotho - where she returned to this week - to work with young girls aged 13-15 at a camp run by the First Lady of Lesotho, Mrs. Mathato Mosisilli. The camp, now in its third year is held with girls who were orphaned when parents died from the AIDS virus; and is designed to help them learn life skills such as nutrition, health and entrepreneurship; as well as their own HIV status. 

Lesotho, known as the 'Kingdom in the Sky' is the southernmost landlocked country in the world, surrounded entirely by South Africa.  Its capitol city is Maseru, and while the majority of the 1,800,000 people who live here - almost 60% - are between 15 and 64 years of age, Lesotho has a substantial youth population of around 35%.  Roughly 40% of the population lives below the international poverty line of US $1.25 a day.

A tiny country, Lesotho has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS infections in the world at almost 25%.  Lesotho’s first AIDS case was reported in 1986 and in cities, almost 50% of women under 40 are infected; and the general life expectancy for women now stands at 37; men at 41.  An estimated 62 new HIV infections and 50 deaths due to AIDS occur each day in the country.  Of those infected with HIV in Lesotho, almost 12,000 are children; an estimated 17% are aged 15-24; and 56% of the infected are women.

To deal with the devastating impact the AIDS epidemic has had on the country, the Lesotho government created a `Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS' in 1999 to address the education, prevention, counseling, and treatment needs of the population and has formed a new National AIDS Commission to coordinate nationwide anti-AIDS activities which also distributes antiretroviral drugs.  Additionally, the government launched a proactive program in 2006 called "Know your status" to test everyone in the country who wants to be tested for HIV, funded by the Clinton Foundation. 

In recent years Lesotho has focused its attention on decreasing the rate of  'Mother to child transmission'.  In 2005 only 12% of pregnant HIV positive women were receiving antiretroviral drugs to prevent infection transmission and by 2008 an estimated 57% of pregnant women were receiving the drugs.  The percentage of women who agree to HIV testing during pregnancy has also increased and currently around 91% of pregnant women are tested. 

However, even with prevention, testing and counseling the number of AIDS orphans in Lesotho is rapidly growing. Out of all countries with HIV prevalence greater than 1 percent, Lesotho has the largest percentage of children who have lost one or both parents and are themselves unclear about what their own infection status is.  The amount of safe houses and orphanages that take care of orphans too young or unable to fend for themselves has grown tremendously and have tended to be unregulated.

This phenomenon can expose already vulnerable children to further trauma, abuse and neglect and serves to highlight why initiatives such as the First Lady’s `Help Lesotho’ leadership camps for girls are so important to the future of not just the children, but to the future of the country overall.

(Dr. Judy Kuriansky returns to Lesotho this week to conduct another edition of the `Help Lesotho’ girl’s camp in conjunction with the First Lady’s office.  Her next report will feature the outcome of her work there.)  

--- HUMNEWS, reporting by Joy DiBenedetto and Dr. Judy Kuriansky

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - April 15, 2010 (Africa and the Middle East)

ALGERIA:

Mearsk takes out case against Algeria

Algeria is Vietnam’s priority partner says,  President Triet

Algeria lineup UAE friendly (sports)

Egypt FA to face FIFA disciplinary hearing (sports)  

ANGOLA:

Angola government uses Chinese credit line to buy rolling stock

BENIN:

Engaging communities to prevent malnutrition in Benin

Protesting Benin doctors face lawsuits from patients

BOTSWANA:

Impact Minerals to kick off drilling at Botswana Uranium Project

Good start for Botswana in regional golf event (sports)

CAMEROON:

South West – Hub of Palm oil production

Production – Several measures, less results!

Cameroon’s population hits 19.4 million

CAPE VERDE:

Seven out of 10 Cape Verdeans have a mobile phone

Cape Verdean PM visits European Commission

DJIBOUTI:

Djibouti seeks to increase 150 scholarships in Yemeni universities

ERITREA:

President Isaias hold talks with German parliament members

Land and the “Land Grabbers” Part 1 (comment-series)

GABON:

Gabon oil workers go on strike

GAMBIA:

Opposition leader appeals against sentence

Earthquakes Sign Youngest Player In Club History, Gambian Midfielder Omar Jasseh (sports)

GHANA:

Ghana’s inflation continues to slide

LIBERIA:

Leader stresses renewal of Togo-Liberia relations

GOL convenes summit

LIBYA:

Libya frees ‘insulting’ dissident Jamal al-Haggi

Government’s unpredictability makes building Libyan economy tourism tricky

MADAGASCAR:

Madagascar's Rajoelina says to form interim body, electoral commission

‘Land grabbing’ in Africa rages on as leaders resist checks

MALAWI:

Malawi, UNDP sign $4.2m climate change deal

Malawi to outlaw polygamy

MAURITANIA:

Arabization and a history of Black-African marginalization in Mauritania

MOZAMBIQUE:

Eqsra wins big coal mining contract in Mozambique

Mozambique to build 600 kilometers of roads in 2010

Mozambique launches tender for third mobile operator

Government sets growth target of 6.2 percent

NAMIBIA:

World cup boon for Namibian beef

NIGER:

Foreigners freed in Niger delta

QATAR:

Qatar invites Gazprom to take part in LNG projects

Industries Qatar operating profit rise in Q1

Qatar’s education presents huge opportunities for Korea

Qatar National Bank becomes first Qatari bank to develop a mobile banking application

SUDAN:

Elections in Sudan ending

How Obama bungled Sudan’s elections (opinion)

Egypt, Sudan opposed to Nile sharing deal

YEMEN:

Yemen confirms cleric Awlaki linked to Al Qaeda

Low funding for WFP threatens vital feeding programs for children in Yemen

Syrian efforts for political parties in Yemen continues  

AFRICA:

Empowering women to boost African development  

Congo, Nigeria, South Africa: Africa bond currency preview

East Africa: Integration spawns cut in military budget

STORIES OF HAITI....April 13, 2010

(HN April 13, 2010) --- Just days after Haiti's devastating 7.0 earthquake struck on January 12, 2010 - HUM Advisor Dr. Judy Kuriansky boarded a plane to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with her colleague from Port-au-Princes' Good Samaritan Center - Father Wismick Jean Charles - where she then hopped a bus to Haiti's capital. In her suitcase were all the medical supplies she could carry; even when the airport gate agent told her she couldn't take them on board, she pleaded for the people of Haiti.

Dr. Kuriansky was no stranger to disaster - she had done this trip before to help victims deal with the lasting effects of trauma. At Ground Zero in NY, in Asia at tsunami sites, to war ravaged countries where people live on with their haunting memories.  Kuriansky knew that saving lives was crucial even in these early hours, but so was saving minds and hearts.  This is her video diary from just three days after the crisis began.

---HUMNEWS

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - April 13, 2010 (North and South Oceans)

ANTARCTICA:

Japan annual whale hunt ‘halved by activists’

Antarctic researchers ease the impact of human activity on pristine environment

Antarctic boffins obtain prehistoric ice core sample

BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY:

British involvement in rendition of suspects will continue, says Straw

ICELAND:

Truth about Iceland’s banking collapse

Iceland lifts lid on ‘excessive loans’ to billionaires

How Iceland lost its soul (comment)

Iceland becomes a hot destination (travel)

More than a letter between Ireland and Iceland  

SVALBARD:

Geese tagged to help steer wind farm locations (energy news)

Telling Haiti’s Stories (OPINION)

By Kimberly Abbott

On January 11, Jonathan Katz of the Associated Press was the only American foreign correspondent based in Haiti. And on that day, just hours before untold thousands were killed when a catastrophic earthquake struck; the U.S. media carried just one news story on Haiti. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere was simply off the radar of its mighty neighbor.

When the ground stopped shaking, major American news agencies found themselves entirely unprepared to cover the developing tragedy on their doorstep with little more than talking heads in distant studios. They struggled for hours to simply produce footage of the devastation and gather the most basic of reactions. And though the coverage went into overdrive in the immediate aftermath, most of the US camera crews were gone soon after, and the headlines all but disappeared. It's not just that the news moved on; it's that news machines have cut foreign news gathering to such an extent, that many couldn't stay longer even if they wanted to. (Such was the sticker shock from the coverage that CNN, which at one point had more than 70 people on the ground in Haiti, reportedly put off plans to open two foreign bureaus).

There are exceptions, of course -- NPR, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Miami Herald, which has a large Diaspora readership. CNN's Anderson Cooper has also made it a personal mission to keep Haiti in the headlines. But for the majority of American news outlets, like so many international events before, sadly the Haitian earthquake has proven little more than a passing fad.

A few years ago this media flight might have meant the end of news from Haiti, but today compelling stories out of the Caribbean nation are still reaching the American public. Just this week I noticed stories about sex trafficking in the makeshift tent cities, about spontaneous micro lending enterprises, and a story about teachers using tree-mounted chalkboards to instruct outdoor classrooms. All indelible, powerful snapshots of a country in survival mode.

Who reported these stories? Not the mainstream press but humanitarian aid groups - using former journalists from NPR, CNN and the LA Times, who now work for groups like International Medical Corps, CARE and Save the Children. They are blogging, interviewing, shooting video b-roll and taking pictures, and distributing via mobile phones, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and their own websites and email lists. As former journalists, they understand what it takes to tell a compelling story, and they have new, affordable technology platforms to reach the public in ways like never before.

While the missions of aid groups are far different than those of traditional news organizations, their role in telling Haiti's stories is illustrative of what NGOs can and are doing to fill the growing geographic gap in foreign reporting. Clearly there are still questions about objectivity, because often underneath these stories is an appeal for donations. But that doesn't dismiss the real information that well-meaning aid workers are delivering because they are in the field, eyewitnesses to history.

What's more, many Americans want this information, if for no other reason than to see how their donations are being put to work. In the first 48 hours after the disaster Americans opened their wallets in an unprecedented way, giving a whopping $68 million, and in five weeks the total ballooned to over $774 million, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. A full month after the earthquake the Pew Research Center for People & the Press found that 30% of Americans were following the Haiti story "most closely" -- a higher interest rating than any other headline. Only 10% said they were interested in the Winter Olympics, yet the two events received the same amount of coverage. Those numbers suggest Americans wanted more news about Haiti than they were getting from traditional sources -- a powerful message for newsroom executives.

For better or for worse, humanitarian journalism has undeniably become part of today's news narrative. While it may never replace what has been lost in foreign reporting -- and I would like nothing better than to see it come roaring back -- at least those Americans who want to engage with the rest of the world now have a viable alternative.

---  Kimberly Abbott is a founding member of the HUM Advisory Board and is the Communications Director for North America at the International Crisis Group; as well as a former CNN producer (originally posted 3/29/10 on HuffPo).

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - April 8, 2010 - Iceland's Economy

Iceland’s new poor line up for food

Icelanders opt for exile

Moody’s turns screw on Iceland

Weeks of waiting: IMF reviews Iceland’s financial SOS appeals

Iceland and Greece under the cosh

Iceland at risk of junk credit rating

Recovery of Icelandic economy threatened

Fight Against Polio Hits Stride in West Africa

KATSINA STATE, NIGERIA (HN April 7) - In the fight against polio in Nigeria, a variety of tools are being used to help get the country off the list of polio endemic countries.  The use of so-called traditional leaders to champion the call to parents to protect their children against the debilitating disease has proven among the most effective interventions.

Nigeria - the most populous nation on the African continent with more than 150-million people - is one of four polio endemic countries - along with Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

By the end of 2009, the number of new cases detected in Nigeria was down from 782 in 2008,  to just 388.  Incredibly, there has been just one recorded case so far this year, earning the West African nation many plaudits for bringing it within striking distance of eradicating polio for good.

Globally the fight against polio has yielded impressive results. Polio cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases then, to 1,997 reported cases in 2006. Currently, only four countries in the world remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988. 

However frontline health workers are not being complacent.  Conditions still exist for spreading of the virus to uninfected children - and for exportation to neighbouring countries.  According to the World Health Organization as long as a single child remains infected, children in all countries are at risk of contracting polio.  Between 2003 and 2005, 25 previously polio-free countries were re-infected due to imports of the virus.

Indeed, Guinea recently recorded a handful of new polio cases. Since the end of 2008, the polio epidemic has been spreading from Nigeria to neighbouring countries in West and Central Africa and in 2009, there were 42 polio cases in Guinea, which had been polio-free from 2004 through 2008, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

In Nigeria - the only place in the world where all three serotypes are circulating: wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3), and a type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2), the focus in the fight against polio is now on 11 high risk states - (especially 85 high risk, so-called Local Government Areas) - all of them located in the predominantly Muslim northern reaches of the country.

The integration of traditional leaders in the fight against polio has proven to be an effective tactic. In Katsina state, the current Emir of Daura has come out publicly to encourage people to make the state polio-free - instructing all his district heads to closely monitor immunization exercises.

In a country with pockets of low literacy rates, simply handing out pamphlets and posters can have little impact, health workers say.  Further complicating the situation is that few parents or caregivers have actually seen a child with polio. 

Says Naureen Nakvi, a UNICEF consultant who has worked on polio campaigns in Nigeria in her native Pakistan:  “If they really see the consequences of not immunizing the child, then they may really change their behavior.  Because there are now few cases in Nigeria, sustaining the community demand (for immunization) is a challenge. There is awareness - but we need to build an understanding among people that it could happen to your child.”

To eradicate polio in the region, a series of three-day campaigns, organized simultaneously in 19 countries is taking place now - including Nigeria and Guinea - aiming to vaccinate 85 million children. The next synchronized round will take place in late April, and in some areas will include the new bivalent oral polio vaccine which requires fewer rounds.

-- Michael Bociurkiw reporting

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - April 7, 2010 - WORLD HEALTH DAY

Today, on the 60th anniversary of World Health Day, countries and territories around the globe focus on good health for all; while the World Health Organization celebrates its founding in 1948 by launching its `1000 cities, 1000 lives’ campaign.    What follows are worldwide headlines from Afghanistan to the United States:   

World Health Organization Campaign:  1000 cities, 1000 lives (MAP)

World Health Day Being Observed in Nepal with a New Theme

On World Health Day, UN Secretary General Ban spotlights health burdens on urban populations

UN’s ‘1000 cities, 1000 lives’ campaign for World Health Day 2010 begins today

World Health Day: Childhood Obesity Is More Serious Than Thought

8.8 million Children die as world spends billions on pet food (COLUMN)  

'Five-a-day' food rule has limited impact on cancer risk says new study

Monster Global Poll Reveals fear of job loss and heavy workloads top reasons for working through illness

Afghanistan: One day celebration, one year campaign

Al Ain City, Abu Dhabi to Host World Health Day Activity

Angola: Health minister inaugurates new health center in Dondo

Angola:  Malaria remains main cause of death in spots

Australia: On World Health Day, where do the children play? (OPINION)

Bahamas: April to be recognized as World Health Month

Bahrain: Mall walking mania will get kingdom fit

Bangladesh: Messages from the President, PM on World Health Day

Barbados: Sustaining health in development

Bermuda to observe Public Health Week

Botswana, World Health Day observances

British Virgin Islands: Ministry seeks strong participation in walk for World Health Day

Brunei Darussalam: 3 Ministries Come Together To Mark World Health Day

Bulgaria:  premier nominates new health minister, amid protests

Canada:  Donating a day for a healthier Africa

Cayman Islands: Minister encourages Cayman to get active for health

Hungary among Most Unhealthy Nations, WHO Official says

India, a study in health contrasts

India: Bangalore, Pledge you will drink more Water on World Health Day

India: Mumbai, sex is great for health and can even beat going to the gym

India: New Delhi, Delhiites take a 'health walk' to mark World Health Organisation

India:  Bollywood celebrities share their fitness tips

Indonesia:  Put your city on the health map, WHO says

Ireland: My baby girl would be dead if we lived in the developing world (OPINION)  

Kenya marks World Health Day

Kenya: In Kibera slums health one of the biggest headaches for dwellers

Malta:  SOS Malta calls for adolescent health to become a priority

Mexico:  life expectancy increase by an average of 14.8 years

Pakistan:  Work on 73 health projects in progress, minister

Philippines: Catholic group backs Department of Health on condom use

Poland: Health workers protest

Saudi Arabia: `Stop TB group’ to take part in World Health Day in Saudi Arabia

Serbia: Urbanisation may have negative impact on health

Sierra Leone: World Health Day march in Freetown (PHOTOS)

Solomon Islands: Public aerobic event to mark World Health Day  

South Africa:  Celebrate World Health Day by knowing your rights

South Africa: Capetown the unhealthiest city in SA

Swaziland:  Star-studded line up at Healthy Mass Campaign

Uganda: School Children's Health Threatened (OPINION)

United Arab Emirates:   Fast food culture and unhealthy habits are targets on health day

United States:  San Mateo, California - County goes car free for World Health Day

*************************************************************************************

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - April 6, 2010 (North and South Oceans)

ANTARCTICA:

Whales: govt. harpooned

Raytheon awarded a one-year extension to United States Antarctic support contract (press release)

Western student digs Antarctica – literally: Scientific research trip gathers samples from sea floor never before tested

Probing question: How fast are the ice sheets melting?

Mumbai-based  Ecomantra to open outbound division this month (travel)

BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRIORY:

Indian Ocean marine reserve and the Chagossians’ right of return (history/environment)

FAROE ISLANDS:

Prince William to play casualty in rescue helicopter training

Onuoha turns back on Fabio (sports)

GREENLAND:

Laughing gas from thawing ice affects climate change

ICELAND:

Moody’s lowers Iceland’s  ratings outlook to negative

Wikileaks backs off U.S. spying allegations as ‘man date’ discoverer lends a hand

Iceland’s Imperative: reform, restructure, rebuild

Iceland banking crisis investigator eyeing finish line

Hotel manager uses press trip to drum up Iceland volcano tourism (travel)  

EU harmonies Schengen visa rules (travel)

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - April 5, 2010 (Europe and Eurasia)

ARMENIA:

Armenia qualified 4^th country in CIS (Economy)

Vardan Aramyan: Armenian economy growth rate will exceed the figure stipulated   

Armenia not to export apricots

Armenia returns to bodies to AzerbaijanToufayans and Mathevosian Honored by Knights and Daughters of Vartan  US Parliamentarians Who Voted for Passage of Armenian Resolution Cannot Show Armenia on Map (opinion)                  

KYRGYZSTAN:

Secretary General encourages authorities in Kyrgyzstan to observe human rights

In January-February period, Kyrgyzstan faced the largest growth of industrial production among the CIS countries

New gas tariffs approved in Kyrgyzstan

LIECHTENSTEIN:

Wealthy investors reluctant to move money between managers

MOLDOVA:

Least visited European capitals (travel)

Turkcell among global tech giants

Russia to hamper Ukraine’s GUAM membership (political)  

MONGOLIA:

Protestors demand Mongolian parties fulfill pre-election promises

Teachers protest in Mongolia

Sports: Asian motocross 2^nd leg speed world  

TAJIKISTAN:

Tajik president visits state Muftis office

The Hydropower solution (Opinon)

TURKMENISTAN:

European bank urges rights improvements

Turkish language ignites enthusiasm in Turkmenistan

Economy: Nabucco project not to influence Azerbaijani gas export

CENTRAL ASIA:

UN Chief presses Central Asian states on human rights issues  

State Islam, Outsiders compete for influence in Central Asia

SOC countries ready to support Russia in fighting terrorism