News headlines in June 2011, page 24

Some Indians and Africans believe Africa is on the verge of becoming a world economic power, but changes are needed to ensure that the continent takes up its rightful place in the global economy. From India’s perspective, South Africa is vital to its engagement with the continent.

Cooperation between India and Brazil in pharmaceuticals and medical biotechnology has begun to falter, because Indian authorities would rather collaborate with western counterparts than those in developing countries, new research shows.

Slackening awareness and deep-rooted social discrimination are behind the latest figures that show Japan with a record number of HIV-positive and AIDS patients, officials and experts say.

The ship breaking companies of Bangladesh continue to import highly toxic foreign vessels despite a two-year-old ban, and are also defying a court order to ensure workers’ safety and implement environmentally sound practices, a group of lawyers says.

Most visitors to the Maldives — a string of islands southwest of Sri Lanka — won’t miss the so-called 'smoking mountain' made from local residents’ trash as well as the garbage tourists leave behind in resorts nearby.

Thousands of people have died in 20 years of turmoil in Kashmir in northern India, but the conflict seems to have spared the animal population, particularly the severely endangered Kashmir stag or 'hangul' whose population has grown in recent years.

Increasingly worried that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is taking advantage of the growing political chaos in Yemen, the administration of President Barack Obama has tasked the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to use drone missiles to strike at suspected AQAP militants.

The winners of the 2011 United Nations Population Award will receive their awards this week during an official ceremony at the organization’s headquarters. The laureates were chosen by the Committee for the United Nations Population Award for their work in population and in improving the health and welfare of individuals. The Committee is made of 10 United Nations Member States and others, with UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, serving as its secretariat.

GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunisation, secured pledges of 4.3 billion dollars from donors in London on Jun. 13 with the aim of securing funding to ensure life-saving vaccinations for every child on the planet.

Three-year-old David bolts up from his feverish stooper as a needle pricks his thumb, producing a tiny bead of blood. He looks down horrified but is too exhausted to cry and falls back into his mother's lap as the blood is wiped away.