by THALIF DEEN
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 8, 2010 (IPS) – As the international community readies to commemorate World Population Day Sunday, the United Nations is reviewing the state of the world’s women – and how they stack up against the risks of maternal mortality and the lack of universal access to reproductive health.
Inter Press Service for more
by ALAN FARAGO
No one owned a private car. We were nearly alone in the hotel restaurant. There really wasn’t any business being done in Shanghai. The boy, whose name I have forgotten, was very polite. He studied very hard, he said, because he hoped to go to college. Because the government had punished their family– for their past status– he had to be at the top of his class. Unless he was the most brilliant, he would have no chance of being accepted. My friend in Hong Kong, the boy’s aunt, told me of a cousin in Shanghai whose joints had frozen in the shape of a crouch from the cage he was kept in, throughout the Cultural Revolution. The boy picked at a full breakfast with restraint. If he was nervous, I couldn’t tell.
Counterpunch for more
DEEPA KRISHNAN
In Buhoma the earth is red and smells fresh from the rain. The trees are lush and tiny matchbox-like mud brick houses with tin roofs line either side of the dirt roads. Little children run barefoot, and are delighted to see tourists. “Muzungu!,” they scream. That’s the local term for white man. Buhoma is full of white tourists. It is the nearest town to Bwindi National Park where many Europeans and Americans come to track gorillas – the reason for Chance Christine’s thriving business.
Women’s International Perspective for more
UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION
Tigist Tsegaye is one of the bravest, most inspiring young women our team has ever met.
…
Even now I feel overwhelmed when I recall how she talked about her family. Tigist has not been home since she left five years ago. She told us that she heard her mom had died, so she felt no desire to go back to the Amhara region. There is nothing left for her there.
United Nations Foundation for more
(Submitted by Robin Khundkar with the following comments: “Indeed, I think this Bangladeshi institution has much promise. So many of us (politicians, bureaucrats, religious leaders, know it all NRBs etc) including myself need to get our brains washed from time to time. Too much garbage we are carrying.”)
by MICHAL SHAPIRO
In my last post about the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, I didn’t dwell very much on individual performances, since I was more concerned with conveying the feeling of being at the festival. So this time out, I’m taking the other route and just giving you a performance, sans any commentary from me. If you have never heard the Taarab music of Tanzania and Zanzibar, you may be surprised at how sweet it is. This is in large part due to the use of the Qanun, a most celestial sounding instrument. Taarab is a fairly recent genre, having been a court music created specifically for pleasure. There are even times when it sounds so pretty I find it ambient, and what with the beautiful sail-like shades shielding us from the sun in the courtyard floating serenely on the wind above us, the purely instrumental melodies sent more than one member of the audience into a trance. (As you will see, it even put a baby to sleep!) But when Shakila Saidi started to sing, she changed that dreamy vibe, and supplied just the right amount of edge to keep me alert and appreciative.
Link TV for more
BIOLOGY NEWS NET
The ability to combat some age-related diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, may rest with scientists unlocking clues about the molecular and cellular processes governing aging. The underlying theory is that if the healthy portion of an individual’s life span can be extended, it may delay the onset of certain age-related diseases. In the search to understand these molecular processes, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have uncovered an important new DAF-16 isoform – DAF-16d/f – that collaborates with other DAF-16 protein isoforms to regulate longevity.
Biology News Net for more
ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNAL HARMONY IN ASIA
To
Honorable Manmohan Singh,
Prime Minister,
Government of India,
New Delhi,
INDIA
&
Honorable Yusuf Raza Gilani
Prime Minister,
Government of Pakistan,
Islamabad,
PAKISTAN
Make it Easier for People to Travel and Meet Each Other
Dear Sirs,
Peace is essential for prosperity and security of India and Pakistan as well as the rest of South Asia. But peace will be difficult to achieve, and not fully beneficial, until and unless travel between the citizens of India and Pakistan is made easier.
Specifically, we, the undersigned request you to:
* Allow tourist visas;
* Stop police reporting;
* Grant country visas, not city-specific visas;
* Re-open Karachi & Mumbai consulates;
* Permit different entry/exit points and modes of transport;
* Give preference to applicants who were citizens or whose parents are/were citizens;
* Provide for long-term and multiple visas after due scrutiny;
* Open more border-crossings; and
* Make Khokrapar-Munabao train service more comfortable for hot desert climate.
Sincerely,
Please sign the Petition
(Submitted by Pritam Rohila)
SOUTH ASIAN MEDIA NET
Quoting renowned Archaeologist, Syed Abdul Qudoos, Prof Ehsan said ‘Peshawar is a true metropolis of orient and the legendry city has many secrets to share.’
The history of Peshawar is a story of different people and of many cultures, conquered by Greeks, ruled by Buddhists, destroyed by the Huns, rebuilt by the Brahmins, invaded by Ghaznavis, captured by the Mughals, over run by the Sikhs and annexed by the British in succession, he added.
South Asian Media Net for more
(Submitted by Pritam Rohila)
by OLIVIA SCHECK
What [Yasmine] Issa didn’t realize, until she’d finished the program and spent five months unsuccessfully searching for a job, was that the Sanford-Brown ultrasound program was not accredited by the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS).
Without a degree from an ARDMS accredited program, which she could have obtained for half the price at a New Jersey community college, Issa was left with no job prospects and thousands in student loan debt, which was now accruing interest.
3 Quarks Daily for more