Believe in a Better Way

2008-06-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

Sweden (June 25, 2008)

Island of Last Resort

The troubled 'inmates' care for dogs, learn to bake cakes, and get frequent hugs from their social worker 'family'. Maggie O'Kane on a Swedish approach to youth detention

2008-06-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

New York, USA

Conspicuous by Their Presence

RACIAL prejudice in the fashion industry has long persisted because of tokenism and lookism. “We already have our black girl,” says a designer to a fashion-show casting agent, declining to see others. Or: “She doesn’t have the right look.” Laziness, paranoia and pedantry may also have something to do with the failure to hire black models for shows and magazine features in any meaningful number, but, hey, that’s just a guess.

2008-06-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

Iraq June, 9, 2008

Books, Tears, and Blood

Saad Eskander, director of Baghdad's national library, wants to 'help Iraqis understand their past and build their future' through education. The former Kurdish fighter tells Stuart Jeffries why culture is the key, why the US must surrender looted papers - and why he refuses to have a bodyguard.

2008-06-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

Japan, June 16, 2008

Honda Makes First Hydrogen Cars

Japanese car manufacturer Honda has begun the first commercial production of a zero-emission, hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle. The four-seater, called FCX Clarity, runs on electricity produced by combining hydrogen with oxygen, and emits water vapour.

2008-06-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

Gaza Strip and Southern Israel, June 19, 2008

Israel and Hamas Ceasefire Begins
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has begun, despite a last-minute flurry of cross-border attacks.

2008-06-06T06:05:00.001-07:00

Gaza Strip, Occupied Palestine

Four Gaza Students get US Visas

Israel has allowed four Palestinian students to leave the Gaza Strip to apply for US visas so they can take up prestigious Fulbright scholarships.

2008-06-06T05:24:00.000-07:00

World Business

Islamic Bank to Give Food Help

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is to give poor, predominantly Muslim countries, $1.5bn (£750m) to help deal with the global food crisis.

It says it will share the money between some of its least developed member states, which are mainly in Africa.

Clinton Unveils AIDS Drugs Deal

2007-05-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2007

USA

Former US President Bill Clinton has unveiled a major deal with two Indian drugs companies to provide cheaper HIV/Aids drugs to developing nations. The Clinton Foundation's agreement will cut the cost of what are known as second line anti-retrovirals by 25-50%.

Irish Teen wins Abortion Battle

2007-05-09T16:16:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2007

Ireland

An Irish teenager has won a High Court battle in Dublin to be allowed to visit Britain for an abortion.

Chad Demobilises Child Soldiers

2007-05-09T16:11:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2007

Chad

Chad's government has signed a deal with the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) to begin demobilising child soldiers from its national army. The agreement is a U-turn for the government, which as always denied that it has had under-age fighters.

Jordan Opens Children's Museum

2007-05-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

April 26, 2007

Jordan

Jordan will soon open a new museum just for children in the capital, Amman. The innovative Children's Museum-Jordan combines hands-on learning with scientific knowledge.

Amnesty Welcomes Drop in Executions

2007-04-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

April 27, 2007

Europe

Judicial executions worldwide fell by more than 25 per cent from 2005 to 2006, a human rights group has said but at least 20,000 people remained on death row at the end of the year.

Mexican Capital Legalizes Abortion

2007-04-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

April 25, 2007

Mexico

Legislators in the Mexican capital have legalised abortion, defying the Roman Catholic Church which prohibits the procedure.

Zambian Wins "Nobel Green Prize"

2007-04-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

Monday April 23, 2007

Zambia

A Zambian man has won a prestigious Goldman Prize for helping to curb widespread elephant poaching by setting up economic projects for villagers. Hammerskjoeld Simwinga wins $125,000 for the award, sometimes called the Nobel prize for the environment.

Cutting Salt "Reduces Heart Risk"

2007-04-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

April 19, 2007

London

Eating less salt can cut cardiovascular disease risk by a quarter and fatal heart disease by a fifth, work shows. The ideal daily intake of salt is no more than six grams and ministers want everyone to achieve this by 2010.

Amur Tiger Back from Brink

2007-04-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

April 13, 2007

Russia

After a century in which its numbers have dwindled to the point of extinction, the Amur tiger, the largest cat in the world, has made an improbable recovery. According to WWF, the tiger's population is at its highest level for 100 years.

Dr. Ruth of the Muslim World

2007-04-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

April 11, 2007

Egypt

From a modest suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Heba Kotb is starting a revolution. Kotb is a devout Muslim who has one unique mission for the Arab world: have more sex.

Guns Fall Silent in Iraqi City

2007-04-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

April 11, 2007

Iraq

The guns in the city of Hiyt in Iraq's western province of Anbar have finally fallen silent, thanks to the efforts of local administrators and security forces.

Army of Housewives Battles TB in Bangladesh

2007-04-05T09:17:00.001-07:00

April 5, 2007

Bangladesh

In the golden haze of dawn, Mohammed Salim Sheikh walked slowly through the paddies, so frail and thin that the lungi wrapped around his waist looked like a clown’s oversize trousers. Monowara Begum showing medicines to families in Majira, another village in the program. The village caregivers sell simple medicines and hygiene products, as well as identify the sick and monitor treatment. Carrying a treatment chart in one hand and a stainless steel water glass in the other, he crossed the threshold of a house. The housewife inside, Zahida Khatun Jharna, rose from her cooking fire, fetched his medication and filled his water glass. Then she ticked off his chart for the day and sent him home.

A Daughter Stolen in Wartime Returns to El Salvador

2007-04-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

April 3, 2007

El Salvador

Suzanne Marie Berghaus finally came home. Suzanne Berghaus, who was born María, was taken near Cacaopera. Ms. Berghaus, a 26-year-old from the Boston suburbs, walked into a humble homestead here in rural El Salvador on Tuesday and spotted someone a generation older with a face that resembled her own but whom she did not know. Then, mother and daughter embraced.

Urban Beach Lets City's Poor Enjoy Taste of Acapulco

2007-04-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

April 5, 2007

Mexico

It is the hottest time of year in Mexico City, and those who can afford it are fleeing to the coast. But while some are considering a snorkelling expedition over reefs in the turquoise Caribbean, and others are recovering from a night of excess at one of Acapulco's tacky beach discos, those left behind in the city can now also get sand in their hair.

Navy Crew Reunited with Family

2007-04-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

April 5, 2007

London

The 15 Royal Navy sailors and marines held in Iran for almost two weeks are being reunited with their families. The crew, freed by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a "gift" to the British people on Wednesday, touched down at Heathrow Airport at 1200 BST.

China Launches First Gay TV Show

2007-04-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

April 5, 2007

China

A Chinese TV channel has launched what it says is the first ever programme to focus on gay issues in China. The programme is being broadcast over the internet and will feature gay presenters discussing issues related to the homosexual community.

Darfur Asylum Seekers Win Appeals

2007-04-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

April 4, 2007

London

Home Office plans to send Darfuri asylum seekers back to Sudan have been blocked by senior judges.

The Court of Appeal in London said the three asylum seekers could not be sent to Sudan's capital Khartoum.

New Low-Cost Vaccine for Africa

2007-03-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

March 30, 2007

Britain

For the first time, Europe's largest drugs company, GSK, is starting the registration process for a vaccine from which it never expects to make money.

Syndey Voluntarily Dims for an Hour

2007-03-31T17:36:00.000-07:00

March 31, 2007

Australia

Australia's largest city has dimmed for an hour as Sydney underwent a self-imposed partial blackout to raise awareness of global warming.

Palestinians Reclaim Gaza Farmland

2007-03-31T17:32:00.000-07:00

March 31, 2007

Gaza, Palestine

Nearly 18 months after Israel completed its disengagement from illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian farmers and contractors have begun agricultural and academic projects to rehabilitate the area.

Iraqi Singer wins Arab 'Pop Idol'

2007-03-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

Marh 31, 2007

Lebanon

An Iraqi singer has shot to stardom after winning an Arab version of Pop Idol in a glitzy Beirut final.

Astronaut to Run Marathon from Outerspace

2007-03-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

March 30, 2007

Outerspace

US astronaut Sunita Williams is set to run the Boston Marathon ... in space.

Video Games Conquer Retirees

2007-03-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

March 30, 2007

Mississippi, USA

For 133 years the School Sisters of Notre Dame have lived here in a thick forest just up the hill from the Tangipahoa River. In a modest but stately compound called St. Mary of the Pines, 52 retired members of this Roman Catholic order spend much of their time as the order’s members have since the 19th century. They read and garden, fish and sew. They pray five times a day.

Alzheimer's Vaccine Works on Mice, says Japanese Scientist

2007-03-29T07:11:00.000-07:00

March 29, 2007

Japan

Scientists in Japan have developed an oral vaccine for Alzheimer's disease that has proved effective in mice, raising hopes that an effective treatment for humans can be found for the fatal condition, which affects millions.

Tallest Man finds Love after Hunting High and Low

2007-03-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

March 29, 2007

Beijing

It will not be easy for them to always see eye to eye, but the world's tallest man has married a woman half his age and two-thirds his height after advertising for a wife around the world.

Mauritanians Vote for President

2007-03-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

March 25, 2007

Mauritania

Mauritanians are voting in a run-off presidential poll after an inconclusive first round election two weeks ago. The two candidates are former cabinet minister Sidi Ould Sheikh Abdellahi and opposition figure Ahmed Ould Daddah.

FL Community College Checkmates Ivys

2007-03-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

March 22, 2007

Florida, USA

Don't underestimate the grocery store deli worker, the security alarm salesman or the 34-year-old computer science student who anchor the Miami Dade College chess team. The community college undergrads have already faced Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Northwestern and beaten them all.

Pill Stops Cow Burps and Saves the Planet

2007-03-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

March 21, 2007

Germany

Cut down on flying, sell the car and recycle your bottles. But if you really want to tackle global warming, you should stop your cow from burping.

Billionaire Rents Luxury Homes to Hawaii's Poor

2007-03-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

March 21, 2007

Hawaii, USA

A Japanese billionaire has selected the first four of eight Hawaiian families that will get the chance to rent one of his multimillion-dollar homes in an exclusive Honolulu oceanside area for just $150 (£76) a month.

Sierra Leone Honors Africa Slave Campaigners

2007-03-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

March 20, 2006

Sierra Leone

As the UK marks 200 years since it abolished the slave trade, Sierra Leone has decided to purge its capital, Freetown, of streets named after the British and replace them with the names of Africans who fought in the abolition movement.

Missing Boy Scout Found Alive

2007-03-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

March 20, 2007

North Carolina, USA

A 12-year-old Boy Scout whose favorite book was about a youngster lost in the wilderness now has his own harrowing survival tale to tell after rescuers found him Tuesday, dehydrated and disoriented from four days in the wooded mountains of North Carolina.

Beirut Never Dies

2007-03-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

March 14, 2007

Lebanon

"We have the bombs," jokes hip-hop MC and occasional graffiti artist RGB, aka Rajab Abdul Rahman (RGB refers to the root letters of his first name). He shakes the plastic bag he is holding in his hands so the spray cans inside clang and echo hollowly in an otherwise empty parking lot. RGB and his colleagues - 6K, Fish and Rat - empty the contents of the bag on the ground, distribute the cans, pull their scarves up to mask their faces and begin. Bands of silver and black paint spread across a bullet-scarred wall. Hours later, they step back to survey the night's labor. Boldly emblazoned across the wall are graffiti letters taller than their creators, proclaiming in capital letters: "Beirut Never Dies."

Not even Homelessness Deterred 9 yr old's Devotion to her School

2007-03-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

March 16, 2007

Massachusetts, USA
Boston Globe

Brenda Tejeda Baez has endured a lot of chaos in her short life. By the time she was in third grade, she had lived in five different friends' apartments and two homeless shelters. Her mother is unemployed, and she rarely sees her father, who lives in the Dominican Republic. When she started kindergarten, she knew only Spanish. Yet, the 9-year-old girl, now a third grader, has refused to budge on the one constant in her life: attending the Louis Agassiz Elementary School in Jamaica Plain.Even when her family had to live for three months in a homeless shelter in Worcester, Brenda, her mother, and her little brother traveled more than an hour each way on public transportation from Worcester to Jamaica Plain to get to the Agassiz.

"In her mind, she started at this school, and in her mind, she needed to finish here," said her 27-year-old mother, Dolores Baez .

In her four years at the school, Brenda's determination has earned her top grades, second place in her school spelling bee and, yesterday, the first-ever Boston public schools "Absolutely Incredible Kid" prize.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino and school officials surprised the third-grader with the award, which honors students with unusual personal success stories. Nearly 100 students were nominated by Boston teachers, parents, and community leaders for the award, which was part of a national event sponsored by Camp Fire USA.

"She deserves so much for what she faces every day," her third-grade teacher, Barbara Feeney , wrote in her award nomination for Brenda.

Brenda, wearing a bright pink shirt and blue jeans, was characteristically composed as she accepted the honor in a school assembly, posed for pictures with the mayor, and received a gift bag of prizes, including a $200 gift card . Her mother greeted her daughter as she stepped onto the stage. As others made speeches about her, Brenda sat between the mayor and the School Committee chairwoman, crossed her ankles, and swung her legs back and forth.

"I'm really proud of the fact that despite the obstacles she's had to overcome, she's here. She's here every day and, from what I hear, a good student," said Michael G. Contompasis , superintendent of schools.

Speaking directly to Brenda, Contompasis said, "We're expecting big things out of you."

Brenda's mother, Dolores Baez , came to the Boston area in 2001 to join her daughter's father and brought then 4-year-old Brenda from the Dominican Republic to join them a year later. Baez and Brenda's father separated 3 1/2 years ago, and he returned to the Dominican Republic. Baez began shuffling her children from one friend's apartment to another.

When she first started school, Brenda struggled with English. But as her language skills progressed, she grew to love school.

"School is about learning, and learning is a special way to know what you're supposed to do," Brenda said yesterday. "And this is why I like school: You know lots of lessons and different things. You get to see . . . your friends. You go to special places, like school trips."

She would refuse to stay home when she was sick -- even one day when she had a dreadful cough.

"I said, 'Lie down, and stay in bed,' " her mother said, speaking as the school's principal, Alfredo Nuñez, translated. "She said, 'No, I'm going to school, and if I feel sick, that's why we have a nurse at school.' "

In January 2006, after roughly five years in five friends' apartments, the family was left homeless when the friend they were staying with gave up her apartment. Baez decided it was time to stop living with friends.

"I said, 'I can't keep doing this to my children,' " she said.

Baez applied for a room in a Boston shelter, but was assigned to one in Worcester. They could not refuse; they had nowhere else to go. Brenda insisted she would move to Worcester only if she could come back to the Agassiz each day.

"She would do everything I told her," her mother said. "That was the one thing she would not accept."

So every weekday morning for three months, the family woke at 5 a.m. in the single bedroom they shared, took a taxi to the train station, caught the 6 a.m. train to the Back Bay station, then took the subway and a bus to school, a trip lasting more than an hour. After Brenda got to school, Baez took her son to day care, then went to her English classes.

On the train home, Brenda would do her homework, always without being asked, her mother said. They arrived back at the shelter each night at 7 p.m.

When her mother complained that she was tired, that it would be much easier if she went to school in Worcester, Brenda balked.

"I guess it's because I have so many friends here," Brenda said in an interview in the principal's office yesterday, as she sat on her mother's lap. "I couldn't stay away."

To her mother's relief, the family was placed in a shelter in Dorchester last spring. Just a few weeks after relocating, Brenda's mother rushed her to the hospital with severe stomach pains. Soon, she had an emergency appendectomy.

But it happened right near school vacation, so she missed only two days of school.

"Wednesday and Thursday," Brenda said.

As hard as the last few years have been for Brenda and her family, their perseverance seems to be paying off.

Last year, Brenda was moved into a regular classroom with native English speakers. She reads above grade level, her teacher said. And Brenda said that last year, she began dreaming in English.

She adores reading, especially Cam Jansen mysteries (chapter books, of course). She has collected so many books -- free books from the shelters, books her mother has bought her -- that her mother says she is going to have to build Brenda her own bookcase.

But math is her favorite subject, and she has already learned the multiplication tables.

Feeney, her teacher, said Brenda is an all-around strong student and always ready to help others.

"If there's a student in the class who doesn't understand something, she's the first to volunteer to help," Feeney said.

Last December, a week before Christmas, Brenda and her family moved out of the shelter and into a publicly subsidized apartment -- right across the street from the Agassiz.

She is adamant about how she gets to school now: by herself.

"She's the best thing that's happened in my life," her mother said. "I ask God that she doesn't change."

Tiger, Orangutan Babies Playmates at Zoo

2007-03-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

February 28, 2007

Indonesia

Call them the odd couples. A pair of month-old Sumatran tiger twins have become inseparable playmates with a set of young orangutans, an unthinkable match in their natural jungle habitat in Indonesia's tropical rainforests.

Awards for Free-Speech Defenders

2007-03-15T07:24:00.000-07:00

March 15, 2007

International

Five "defenders of free speech", including a blind Chinese lawyer and a jailed Egyptian blogger, have been honoured at a London awards ceremony.

Palestinian PM Unveils Unity Team

2007-03-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

March 15, 2007

Palestine

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has unveiled a national unity cabinet after months of negotiations between his Hamas movement and Fatah.

Pole who saved WWII Jews Honored

2007-03-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

March 14, 2007

Poland

A Polish woman who helped save the lives of 2,500 Jewish children during World War II has been honoured by Poland's parliament.

South Africa Unveils Plan to Fight HIV

2007-03-14T07:23:00.000-07:00

March 14, 2007

South Africa

The government proposed a five-year plan Wednesday to halve the number of new HIV infections in South Africa, saying it had failed to persuade young people to change their sexual habits.

Saving Lebanon's War-Damaged Beach

2007-03-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

December 5, 2006

Lebanon

With white plastic bags covering his trainers, Mokhtar Hasbini, 17, stood on the Ramlat al-Baida beach and surveyed the scene of destruction. Mokhtar was an early volunteer As Beirut's only public beach it would be normally crowded with pleasure-seekers. But instead the once-white sands were blackened by an oil slick.

Hamas Reverse on Schoolbook Ban

2007-03-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

March 13, 2007

Palestine

Banning the book sparked fears of a religious clampdown in schools
The Hamas-run Palestinian education ministry has lifted a ban on a children's anthology of folktales following widespread public outcry.

Palestinian-Israeli rights group urges Israel to adopt a constitution

2007-02-28T19:26:00.000-08:00

February 28, 2007

Palestine-Israel

An Israeli human rights group yesterday proposed a new national constitution that gives more rights to the country's Arab minority and says Israel should be defined not as a Jewish state but as a "democratic, bilingual and multicultural state".

Virginia Apologizes for Slavery

2007-02-27T15:39:00.000-08:00

February 27, 2007

Virginia, USA

"The state of Virginia, the heart of the confederacy during the civil war, has issued the first official apology for slavery and the exploitation of native Americans by the country's white settlers."