5:00 AM - May, 7 2009
Colleen Morrison
News stories and health organization statistics are
combining to create a sense of fear throughout
5:00 AM - May, 14 2009
On his first trip to the
along
with promoting peace efforts from the Catholic church for Palestinians and Israelis.
However,
despite the Pope's
show of hope for prosperity between the major religions, many
Muslims are still boiling over a speech he gave in 2006, where he criticized
some of
the prophet Muhammad’s
teachings as "evil and inhuman."
The pope as since apologized
for his comments, stating his deep sorrow over the reaction of what he said
in
the speech; however, some Muslims have looked through his apology -- which some
have
considered, unpublicized -- and are still fired up about his
comments.
"My
visit to
after
landing in
One
of
The group explains that
without, what the
Brotherhood sees as, a public apology, the misunderstanding between the pope and
the
Muslim world will continue and obstacles and boundaries will forever taint
relationships
between the religions.
Before
the pope embarked on his journey to the holy land, many in the
will do nothing short of strengthening the relationship between the
Jewish
and Christian faiths and easing the outcry against him and his controversial
actions
in the past -- one of which includes his lift of the excommunication of a bishop
who
infamously denied the existence of the Holocaust.
Many
in the Jewish community - and Muslim - are more seemingly very accepting and
see
the pope's
visit as a symbol of peace; but a large number in the Muslim community
are
still skeptical about his visit, expressing their beliefs that his visit will
fail to incite peace
amongst the faiths.
The
pope's
stay will last just three days, and after his visit in
attributed to the disease, and individuals are actively taking steps to fend off the illness.
In Mexico
Whose
Flu?
Medical officials
report that the current epidemic of influenza is a new and unusual strain, and
that it includes elements of swine, bird and human flus. Nonetheless, the
disease has been dubbed "swine" flu, a name that some say they find offensive.
One deputy health minister in
In fact,
officials at ports of entry along the border between
WHO Assesses
Risk
Officials from
the World Health Organization (WHO) say the new disease has grown to such an
extent that containing it in one place is no longer an option. They place the
risk at a Level 4; Level 6 represents a full-blown pandemic (a disease epidemic
in at least two separate regions of the world for which humans do not have any
resistance). Very often, by the time a disease reaches Level 4, nations begin to
restrict the movement of people and goods to prevent its spread; officials from
several countries, including
WHO relies on
information from a network of 120 National Influenza Centres in 90 different
nations to identify and track outbreaks of the disease. People travel between
countries with relative ease today, so an individual with the flu can pass it on
to many others before experiencing any signs of being sick.
Influenza Update
The current influenza contagion continues to spread in
The
World Health Organization (WHO) is no longer referring to the disease as "swine
flu" because that name is apparently leading communities and entire nations to
slaughter pigs and hogs to prevent the spread of the disease. WHO says the flu,
now referred to as H1N1, is spread from human to human and not through contact
with animals.
5:00 AM - April 30, 2009
Colleen Morrison
Every now and then, the story of a high-profile child will grab the headlines, linger in the spotlight for a day or two, and fade away. A highly-visible film couple bring another
international
child into their family; a pop star experiences setbacks in her efforts to adopt
a child from
Two Tales from the Tabloids
Recently, the
At nearly the same time, one young star from the highly regarded
film, "Slumdog Millionaire," returned to the spotlight amid press reports that
her father was attempting to sell her for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Police in
The 411 on Child Trafficking
Children are among the most vulnerable people on earth, yet every day, they disappear from their homes and communities. There are no reliable statistics to measure the extent of child trafficking, according to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, but there is no doubt it's a multi-billion dollar business for the perpetrators. The agency estimates that between 1.2 and 1.5 million children each year become victims of child trafficking.
The result for the child is all too predictable, and that outcome is vastly different from those who are adopted through legal channels. In some parts of the globe, political, social and economic conditions come together to create fertile ground for the traffic in children. The "Slumdog" story illustrates the mindset of many poor families around the world, who sometimes see children as one more marketable commodity.
Poverty and gender discrimination combine with the failure of government systems at local and national levels to create a treacherous situation. Most often, children are sold; they may be turned into child soldiers or exploited as child labor, or they may be sold into prostitution and the sex trades.
5:00 AM - April 23, 2009
Takeru V. Maeda
Millions of miles
away, within the seemingly peaceful and tranquil settings off the coasts
of
5:00 AM - April 23, 2009
Colleen Morrison
Although it has yet to surface in
the
wonder: the extremely contagious disease
has proved to be fatal in over 80 percent of human cases.
Ebole, the Disease
The Ebola virus takes its name from
a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and most outbreaks since
1970 have occurred in
One challenge doctors face in
treating the disease is diagnosis, because Ebola resembles the flu or malaria in
its earliest stages. The fever, sore throat and other symptoms that present with
Ebola are often accompanied by internal and external bleeding, and most victims
die from blood loss.
A Brush with
Disaster
Researchers have yet to develop
and test an effective vaccine for Ebola infection in humans, but that doesn't
mean they aren't trying. A researcher in
In a conference call, doctors from
A Research Coalition in the
A new push to understand and
combat deadly disease is underway in the
Oregon Health and
The National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases provided more than $40 million in funding to
support the collaborative work, which will have two primary focuses: the
negative impact of aging on the immune system and the interaction between
pathogen and host using genetic analysis.
The technology we use for cooking has made dramatic strides over the course of human existence, from simple fires build on the ground to the gas and electric units that are integral pieces in modern living spaces. Today, that technology continues to move forward,
using fuel that almost (but not quite) looks like a step backward yet offers an environmentally sound solution to a critical problem.
Cook it Clean
In
Kenya
The cooktop may not seem exceptional; there is room on the surface for several cooking pots, and the oven is available to bake bread or roast meat. The real news is in the furnace that heats the cooker. Technicians have spent the past several months working to improve on its construction so that it can support a fire hot enough to break down harmful components in the garbage that is the cooker's fuel - and there is tons of garbage in Kibera.
Birth of a Slum
Kibera began life after World War I, the era of British colonialism;
in acknowledgement of their support, the British granted their Nubian allies the
right to settle in the hills outside
Although no one can say precisely how many people make their homes in Kibera today, the UN reports that it is one of the most crowded slums in existence. The settlement pattern is largely illegal, so landlords largely operate beneath the government's radar and do little to provide services like garbage collection, sewer or electricity to residents.
A number of international social welfare organizations, including the Red Cross and the UN, are optimistic about the new cooker. They envision that it will help to knock down the overwhelming burden of trash and garbage in the poorest areas and create a cleaner and more healthful environment for residents.
Takeru V. Maeda
Nina
Fedoroff, the US Government's
top science and technology advisor to Hilary
resources. Perhaps the major and logical reason for the dry-up is the fact that the world's
population
is too high and that we've
haven't
gone to careful measures on managing
"wild lands" and water supplies, according to Fedoroff. The advisor also
believes
that one way to prevent any further depletion of our natural resources is for
the population's growth rate to decrease.
"We
need to continue to decrease the growth rate of the global population; the
planet Can't
support many more people," said Fedoroff to the BBC.
Dr.
Fedoroff, a professor of molecular biology who is also a laureate of the
National Medal
of Science award, urges that the world needs to come up with inventive ways of
managing
water use and agriculture. The idea of using enetically modified food is
another
example she stated.
"We're
going to need a lot of inventiveness about how we use water and grow crops,"
said
Fedoroff. "We accept exactly the same technology (as GM food) in medicine, and
yet
in producing food we want to go back to the 19th Century."
GM
foods were introduced in the early 1990's,
offering the future potential of eradicating famine
in most parts of the world. Typically, GM foods are plant products such as,
soybean,
cotton seed oil, canola, and corn but animal products have also been
engineered
as GM foods. Up to 2005, the growth of GM foods rapidly increased in
developing nations like
However, controversy
lies within GM food products;
being that certain accidental cross-pollination can lead to irreversible damage
to
the human body after consumption.
Colleen Morrison
International
adoption has achieved a certain amount of notoriety recently, due in part to the
actions of high-profile individuals like Madonna and Angelina Jolie. We are not
at all surprised when a celebrity mom announces plans to visit to
Africa
most recent trip to Malawi
Voices of Opposition
Some child
advocacy agencies worry that superstar adoptions may have a down side: the
promise of fame and fortune may encourage parents who live in extreme poverty to
consider placing their child in an orphanage in an effort to improve the child's
future prospects. And others argue that children are best raised in a place
where they have constant contact with extended family
members.
It's a tough
call. Child advocates agree that all children have a right to grow up in a
healthy environment; they need access to clean water, solid education and a safe
place to play. Some suggest that the benefits that attach to an international
adoption are offset when the child loses touch with her heritage and culture,
moving to and growing up in a new land.
Child Welfare is
a Multi-National Process
The welfare of
the child is the primary concern in cases of intercountry adoption, so much so
that in 1993, several members of the world community negotiated the Hague
Adoption Convention. This document protects the interests of children and
families in countries that participate; in particular, it prohibits the
abduction or sale of children and asks a country's central authority to ensure
that a child is eligible to be adopted. In 2008, the Adoption Convention went
into force in the
Families and
individuals who want to adopt a child from another country must be prepared to
meet two sets of conditions and follow two sets of procedures, those set by the
child’s country of origin and those set by the adopting family's country.
Conditions may include marital status, income requirements and age limits. In
most cases, a legal adoption is finalized in the child's country.
Adoption and
Alternatives
All in all,
international adoption can be a complicated and somewhat lengthy process. Still,
according to figures provided by the US Department of State, nearly 17,500
children from other countries were adopted by families in the
Children who lose
their parents to warfare or disease face an uncertain future. There are
alternatives for families who want to help but who aren't in a position to
adopt. Child advocate groups recommend sponsoring a child through a legitimate
international agency to help develop better facilities for temporary
care.
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shaken and stirred and feared
for by the countrys inhabitants. As the growing numbers of
unemployment continues to rise in nations all across the globe, with this economic
drought, smaller nations have begun to crawl into international
isolation,
practically unable to lend or receive help to and from other countries.
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