Health & Science

• Tuesday, February 24th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  At least 50 cases of dengue confirmed in north Argentina

  

  Argentine authorities have admitted that at least fifty cases of mosquito transmitted dengue have been reported in the northwest of the country, neighbouring with Bolivia, one of which confirmed haemorrhagic.

• Sunday, February 22nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Stern warning from PM Brown to UK and global banking

  

  British Primer Minister Gordon Brown has issued a warning to banks in Britain and around the world that they must end risky speculation and resume their traditional role as “stewards” of people's money.

• Friday, February 20th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Volcano in south Chile erupts again: 150 people evacuated

  

  Chile has evacuated more than 150 people who had returned to the southern town of Chaiten after it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption last year.

• Thursday, February 19th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Uruguayan survivor of 1972 Andes air crash emphasizes simple life.

  

  By Peter Lowy - A recent trip to Uruguay enabled me, along with another journalist, to visit The Refuge, a ranch belonging to Roberto Canessa, a member of a rugby team that in 1972 survived a crash in the freezing Andes for more than two months, in part, by resorting to cannibalism. What started as a leisurely tour of the ranch, ended late that night with a seaside dinner, after assisting with emergency horse surgery!

• Thursday, February 19th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Climate change net advances, but so loss of rain forest

  

  New releases from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) this week show two sides of the human effect on climate change, with a report revealing hastened degradation of the earth's largest forest zone and the Danish city of Copenhagen becoming the 100th member of a climate-friendly network.

• Wednesday, February 18th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  First proven case of “mad cow disease” in haemophilic patient

  

  The United Kingdom Health Protection Agency has confirmed the first case of the human form of “mad cow disease” in a patient with haemophilia. A post-mortem showed the man, who was “over 70” and had received plasma products before rules were introduced to limit contagion, died infected. However he died of other causes and had not shown any symptoms, the HPA said.

• Wednesday, February 18th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Bolivia: dengue death toll increases; malaria outbreak

  

  The number of deaths from hemorrhagic dengue so far this year in Bolivia has increased to 13, the government reported while admitting that an outbreak of malaria has been detected in three provinces.

• Monday, February 16th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  UN enthusiastic about greening funds in stimulus plans

  

  Investing one-third of the roughly 2.5 trillion US dollars planned stimulus funds in “greening” the global economy will give a large boost to efforts to lift the world out of recession, according to a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released Monday.

• Friday, February 13th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Bolivian appeal for aid to combat dengue epidemic

  The Bolivian government appealed for international economic aid and fumigation equipments to fight the mosquito transmitted dengue epidemics which broke out at the beginning of the year and already has 17.371 reported cases.

• Wednesday, February 11th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Mudslide in north Argentina drags away villagers

  

  Nine people were missing Tuesday after a mudslide in northern Argentina that prompted the evacuation of more than 700 people, officials said. The disaster occurred Monday in the town of Tartagal, close to the border with Bolivia.