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Global Quickies: Sterilizations in India, Death Rituals in Liberia, and Wikipedia in Russia

WORLDWIDE

Check out these Photos of the Week from In Focus.

AFRICA

Yes, Doctor, I Took My Anti-HIV Meds (But Really, I Didn’t) – “A study presented at an HIV conference in South Africa last month has helped researchers understand why. In the study, called VOICE (Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic), more than 5,000 women in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Uganda were given the gel, the pill or a placebo. They were asked to take the medicine or use the gel every day. After a few months, the study was halted because it became clear that the treatment group had no benefit over the control group in preventing HIV. Researchers were perplexed. Why was neither the gel nor the pill working?”

AUSTRALIA

Australians Stick Their Heads In The Sand To Mock Prime Minister Abbott’s Climate Stance – “More than 400 protesters stuck their heads in the sand on Australia’s Bondi Beach on Thursday, mocking the government’s reluctance to put climate change on the agenda of a G20 summit this weekend. Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s perceived failure to address climate change is all the more galling in the wake of an agreement between the United States and China on Wednesday to limit their carbon emissions, they said.”

GREECE

Meet A Whole New Generation Of Street Art Emerging In Athens, Greece – “Getty photographer Milos Bicanksi recently took notice of the rise in contemporary graffiti in one particular location — on the streets of Athens, Greece. As the country experiences the hardships connected with economic collapse and unemployment, a generation of politically-minded artists have turned public spaces into canvas. Their murals and street artworks run the gamut from hyperrealism to abstract cartoons, poetic text to expansive geometric landscapes. Bicanski has photographed it all.”

INDIA

Rat poison linked to India sterilisation deaths, with death toll expected to rise – “All antibiotics bought from Mahawar Pharmaceuticals, a factory in the the eastern city of Raipur, the state capital, have now been withdrawn, the Press Trust of India reported. Quantities of zinc phosphide, a component of rat poison, was found at the factory, where antibiotics distributed at the two camps on Saturday and Monday were made earlier this week.”

Why Indian women are victims of sterilization ‘cattle camps’ – “The deaths this week of at least 13 women who were sterilized in an Indian health camp allegedly stocked with tainted drugs has resurfaced memories of the country’s mass sterilization campaigns during the 1970s, when millions of Indian men were forced to undergo the procedure as part of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s family planning policies.”

LIBERIA

Liberians Meet Death With Flowers, Trumpets And Cameras – “For Liberians, ‘death is an extension of life,’ says Gabriel Tait, a photojournalism professor at Arkansas State University who attended Barclay’s funeral while working on his dissertation on the culture of Liberia. The entire funeral celebration in Liberia, from ceremonies for the dead to the actual burial, can last days, even weeks. Days of mourning, during which women gather in a house to cry together, are followed by a wake and a funeral. Friends, associates and family members travel long distances to pay their respects. So the more people who knew and respected the deceased, the longer the celebration.”

NETHERLANDS

The Dutch Village Where Everyone Has Dementia – “Today, the isolated village of Hogewey lies on the outskirts of Amsterdam in the small town of Wheesp. Dubbed ‘Dementia Village’ by CNN, Hogewey is a cutting-edge elderly-care facility—roughly the size of 10 football fields—where residents are given the chance to live seemingly normal lives. With only 152 inhabitants, it’s run like a more benevolent version of The Truman Show, if The Truman Show were about dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.”

RUSSIA

Russia To Create Its Own Wikipedia Because Current One Isn’t ‘Reliable’ Enough – “Citing Western threats, the Kremlin has asserted more control over the Internet this year in what critics call moves to censor the web, and has introduced more pro-Kremlin content similar to closely controlled state media such as television.”

SWEDEN

Sweden releases sonar images of submarine violation – “The sonar image shows tracks on the sea floor, which the head of the armed forces says were left by the submarine. ‘The military can confirm that a small submarine breached Sweden’s territorial waters. We can exclude all alternative explanations,’ General Sverker Göranson told a news conference.”

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Mary

Mary Brock works as an Immunology scientist by day and takes care of a pink-loving princess child by night. She likes cloudy days, crafting, cooking, and Fall weather in New England.

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5 Comments

  1. Mary,

    I guess the Kremlin really wants control over the net, including everything that’s said about Russia on Wikipedia.

  2. Re Tony Abbott and climate change:

    Yesterday I watched Obama’s inspirational speech to students at the University of Queeensland. There were loud cheers and thunderous applause during his remarks on climate change plus a standing ovation at the end. The contrast with our troglodite PM could not be more stark.

    This Slate article sums up the situation accurately:
    http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/11/14/will_australia_s_anti_green_prime_minister_push_the_country_into_international.html

    PS I can’t remember a more enthusiastic response to A US President anytime in the last 50 years, particularly by students. If Nixon had dared to put in an appearance in my day, there would have been hell to pay!

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