News headlines in June 2011, page 13

Walid al-Muallem, Syria’s foreign minister, has said the European Union’s reaction to President Bashar al-Assad’s speech on Monday showed it wanted to 'plant strife and chaos' in the country.

Although four of the five sentences in which the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has found the Mexican state guilty involved cases from the southwestern state of Guerrero, the effects of the rulings have not yet had an impact on that area, one of the poorest parts of the country.

This time last year the entire world gathered in front of TV screens to watch the World Cup. According to International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) estimates, 3,178,856 people made their way to South Africa, and around the globe 700 million viewers watched the Spanish victory in the final match.

People in Western Kenya are now able to buy effective anti-malarial drugs at low prices thanks to the success of the Global Fund’s subsidy programme, and thanks to honest pharmacists who are reselling the drugs at the recommended low prices.

Johnson Gama knows life on the poverty line only too well. A qualified teacher, Gama has in the last few years been unable to survive on his salary despite working in a profession which two decades ago was considered middleclass in Zimbabwe.

South Sudan is facing severe fuel shortages less than three weeks before it gains independence from the rest of the country. Many gas stations have shut down and those that remain open have people lining up overnight for fuel.

The world’s ocean is at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history, says a report released by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) in London.

Japan will present its Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun to Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, former Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). One of Japan’s most prestigious awards that was instituted in 1875, the Order of the Rising Sun is presented by the Emperor to persons with long and commendable service.

The Burkina Faso authorities have sounded the alarm over the increased rate of degradation of forests in this Sahelian country.

On a blazingly hot summer’s day in Cairo, it’s 36 degrees Celsius in the shade. Air-conditioners and fans whirr across the city, burdening the national electricity grid. Last summer, the populous city experienced frequent water and power cuts, causing a furore. Consumption had grown by 2,600 megawatts, an increase of 13,5 percent from 2009.