Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Sep 1 2006 (IPS) – Out-of-control drug abuse among South American youth myth or reality? Could societal perception have blown the phenomenon way out of proportion? Have we zeroed in on this one issue at the expense of efforts to address the broader context of social problems like poverty and marginalisation?
These provocative questions were posed by Martin Hopenhayn, a researcher in the Social Development Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), at the 4th National Conference on Drug Policy that wrapped up Friday in Buenos Aires.

The Chilean academic, a philosopher by training, says the symbolic representation of the problem greatly exaggerates the real prevalence of drug abuse in the region, thereby masking the root problems hidden underneath.

The two-day meeting, organised by the Intercambios Civil Association (for the study of and attention to drug-related problems) at the National Co…

กรุงเทพฯ, 30 เมษายน 2567 – VALORANT เกม FPS ระดับโลกจากค่ายเกมยักษ์ใหญ่สัญชาติสหรัฐอเมริกา Riot Games เปิดตัว Mystbloom ไลน์สกินโฉมใหม่ที่ได้รับแรงบันดาลใจจากดอกซากุระที่บานสะพรั่งในเทศกาลฤดูใบไม้ผลิของประเทศญี่ปุ่น ภายใต้ดีไซน์ธีมที่ดูอ่อนหวาน งดงามราวกับต้องมนตร์ โดยอาวุธในไลน์สกิน Mystbloom จะประกอบไปด้วย Phantom, Sheriff, Judge, Operator และ Mystbloom Kunai

จอน ลุค ทิน ซีฟ ผู้อำนวยการผ�…

Naoki Yoshida ผู้กำกับเกม Final Fantasy XIV ได้ออกมาชี้แจงข่าวลือที่ว่าทีมงานของเขากำลังพัฒนาเกมรีเมค Final Fantasy IX ผ่านรายการ Letter from the Producer บนช่อง YouTube ของ Final Fantasy XIV เมื่อวันที่ 14 มิถุนายนที่ผ่านมา

โดยข่าวลือดังกล่าวเกิดขึ้นจากการแปลความผิดพลาดระหว่างการทัวร์สื่อเพื่อประชาสัมพันธ์เนื้อหาเสริม Dawntrail ของ Final Fantasy XIV หลายคนเข้าใจผิดว่า Yoshida พูดถึงการพัฒนาเกมรีเมค Final Fantasy IX โดยในครั้งนี้ล่ามของ Yosh…

Marwaan Macan-Markar

JAKARTA, Sep 25 2006 (IPS) – On a recent evening, Muhammad Farhan worked the crowd in an up-market café with the banter that has earned him fame as one of Indonesia s popular talk show hosts. A new book by a local author- In Bed with Models – set the tone for this off-the-air performance.
Hours later, his engaging style of delivery was on display for a wider audience at his regular late-night talk show, OM Farhan , broadcast on the StarAN TV network. I deal with topical issues, gossip about film stars, and even serious subjects, like the recent earthquake, the 36-year-old said over a meal at a restaurant in the Indonesian capital. I love to perform, do comedy sketches, talk and entertain.

More than entertainment this Jakarta resident lends his talent for public causes, raising awareness on the dangers of the killer bird flu virus that is stalking Indonesia. I am concerned because Indonesia has the highest number of human deaths due to avian …

Ann De Ron

BRUSSELS, Nov 2 2006 (IPS) – Médecins Sans Frontières and other groups campaigning for access to affordable medicines in developing countries are closely following a case filed by the Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis against Indian patent law.
A decision in this case can create an important precedent, with consequences that go far beyond India. If the Novartis challenge against the Indian patent law is successful, patients worldwide who depend on India for affordable medicines risk becoming victims, Ellen t Hoen, policy director with the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines told IPS.

Eighty-four percent of AIDS medicines we currently use for patients in more than 40 countries come from India, Ellen t Hoen said. Because of the lower prices we can treat 60,000 people. If we would use only patented medicines this would be a lot less. And this is only one example.

As of 2005, India is bound by World Tra…

Tiego Tiemtoré

OUAGADOUGOU, Nov 30 2006 (IPS) – I think free treatment for all (HIV) infected people is indispensable, just as safeguarding the jobs of those with HIV is a must, says Issa Kindo, a public health physician in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso.
Fine words. But, what progress are authorities in this West African nation making towards achieving universal and free AIDS treatment for its citizens?

Apparently, much remains to be done: only subsidised care is available at present, even though dire poverty puts this treatment beyond the reach of many.

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), HIV prevalence in Burkina Faso stands at 4.2 percent. Of the 700,000 people infected by the virus, about 100,000 require anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs).

But, figures from the Ministry of Health note that just 6,666 were receiving medication at the end of September 2005 (the number has risen since), up from 2,200 in December…

Ousseini Issa

NIAMEY, Jan 18 2007 (IPS) – The new year is looking much like the old for certain residents of the Pays-Bas shantytown in Niger s capital, Niamey. Four months after seeing their homes demolished in the name of safety and security, they are still waiting for resettlement at an alternative, developed site promised by authorities.
I am currently living with a neighbour whose home was spared, by chance said Binta Tchindo, a divorced mother of five. The lack of privacy is terrible, she told IPS. Still, she cannot bring herself to rebuild her own house, as she fears it will only be destroyed again.

Home to more than 5,000 people, Pays-Bas derives its name from the French bas-fonds , a term for a slum, according to resident Alpha Seydou. It is located in the south-east of Niamey, on rugged ground along the road to the airport.

Claiming that the take-off and landing of planes made the position of the informal settlement hazardous, municipal official…

กรุงเทพฯ, ประเทศไทย (วันที่ 8 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2567) – เน็ตมาร์เบิ้ล ผู้พัฒนาและให้บริการเกมมือถือคุณภาพสูงชั้นนำ ได้ประกาศการเปิดตัวอย่างเป็นทางการพร้อมกันทั่วโลกของเกม Solo Leveling: ARISE ทั้งทาง Android, iOS, and PC.

ผู้เล่นทั่วโลกสามารถสัมผัสประสบการณ์ความสนุกจากเกมแอ็กชันใหม่ ที่ชวนให้นึกถึงเรื่องราวจาก…

Ngo Thi Thu Phuong – Newsmekong*

TAY NINH, Vietnam, Feb 12 2007 (IPS) – On a rough, earthen road flanked by green rice paddies, Phan Anh Tam throws unhusked rice, mixed with mash and dried fish, to thousands of white ducks waddling around his thin legs.
For 15 years now, Tam has been raising ducks in the Ben Cau district of the south-western Vietnamese province of Tay Ninh, near the Cambodian border. But these days he is worried by a temporary ban of duck-raising to contain the spread of avian influenza.

If I m not allowed to raise ducks (in Vietnam) anymore, I must keep going on, but in Cambodia, Tam says, making himself heard above the quacking.

Tam prefers Cambodia, should the government crack down on his business, because it is near his hometown and because the adjacent country has more lax laws on breeding ducks.

The Vietnamese government s temporary ban on duck breeding was based on the belief that waterfowl are less resistant to infection c…