TresSugar

Front Page: Shawn Johnson Grabs Gold, Russian Forces Detain Georgian Soldiers, Algeria Bombing Kills 43

CitizenSugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:53:25 -0700

Shawn Johnson Grabs Gold:
After three silver place finishes, US Gymnast Shawn Johnson finally won a gold medal for her balance beam routine in the last day of gymnastics competition. Johnson's coach is from Beijing, and her medal in his hometown meant the world. She said, “I really feel like I made him proud.” US teammate Nastia Liukin took silver.

Russian Forces Detain Georgian Soldiers:
Russian soldiers held 21 Georgian soldiers at a Black Sea port today, taking them bound and blindfolded to a military base, allegedly to protect against looters. The incident shows further evidence that Russia is continuing military activity in Georgia despite saying troops will withdraw. Indeed Russian forces are continuing to dig into position along the highway into Tblisi.
Algeria Bombing Kills 43:
A bombing in Algeria at a paramilitary training school killed 43 and left 38 wounded in one of the worst attacks in years. In recent months, the mountainous areas east of Algiers have been hit by numerous attacks by al Qaeda's north Africa unit, though there have been no claims of responsibility for this deadly attack.

Cancer Survival Rates Differ Based on Country's Wealth

LibertySugar — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:29 -0700

Wealthy countries where patients have access to diagnostic equipment have higher cancer survival rates than their poorer counterparts. Using data from over two million cancer patients worldwide (from the 1990s), the first major study to compare global cancer survival rates found that the US, Australia, Canada, France, and Japan had the highest five-year survival rate. Algeria had the worst. The UK did not report well compared to other Western European countries although its survival rate has risen this decade.

The US had the highest five-year survival rate for breast cancer (89 percent) and prostate cancer (91.9 percent), compared to the UK 69.7 percent and 51.1 percent respectively. The UK had regional disparity, evidence that access to services matters. To find out what's behind the phenomenon, read more.

Survival rates were clearly tied to how much the countries spent on health. The US spent 13 percent of its GDP, while Europe spent about 10 percent. Algeria spent 4 percent. The tie between money and health played out domestically as well. White Americans were 14 percent more likely than other groups to survive cancer.

Despite this extensive study, one Florida official offered some conflicting anecdotal evidence. Florida's secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration said: "Just because you're poor doesn't mean you're unhealthy; it just means you have a lot more time to go running."

Source

Humanitarian Aid Workers Face Growing Dangers

CitizenSugar — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:30:58 -0700

The UN has been doing everything to help the planet from warning about meat consumption to turning down their own thermostat, but there's one global danger that's harder to fix: serious threats to aid workers.

Gayle Williams, a British and South African aid worker stationed in Afghanistan, was recently murdered by Taliban soldiers illuminating this growing tragedy. Growing numbers of people who dedicate themselves to assisting those living in impoverished nations are becoming victims of fatal attacks.

In the year from July 2007 to 2008, 63 aid workers were killed. Eighteen in Somalia, 17 in Afghanistan, 14 in Sudan, six in Pakistan, and four in Chad. Since June, those numbers have increased. Recently 17 were killed in one bomb attack in Algeria. Although in some countries, the murder of aid workers falls along ideological lines, such as the Taliban murdering for what they believe are religious reasons (Aid workers are there solely for humanitarian purposes and not to promote religious ideology). While in other nations, they are murdered simply for their possessions, as a result of unchecked banditry.

To see some of the reasons behind it, and what one aid worker has to say, read more.

While the latter reason is the result of general lawlessness, in countries like Afghanistan that are going through a political transformation, the reasons fall much more along religious lines. The United Nations under secretary general for humanitarian affairs said, “This is not the result of people being caught up in a conflict or in crossfire, these are people being targeted deliberately because they are humanitarian workers and that is frankly outrageous and unacceptable and makes it extremely difficult to continue our work.”

Aid workers have shared their thoughts about their work in danger. One says:

There are lots of incidents that happen that never make the press. This latest killing, however, I think has shown how dangerous it can be working here. I think it's the sort of the incident that if you're wavering about coming to Kabul in the first place it might possibly change your mind. But personally I always think that these are the sorts of the risks that you take when you believe in a place.

That sounds like the definition of bravery to me.

Source

Where I'm Clicking Now: VoicesWithoutVotes.org

CitizenSugar — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:15:34 -0800

With all of the stories pouring in about people voting in the US, I was delighted to find this site: VoicesWithoutVotes.org. A project of Global Voices in association with Reuters, the goal of this awesome site is to "open a window on what non-Americans are saying in blogs and citizen media about US foreign policy and the 2008 presidential elections."

Gathering up and featuring blog entries from India to Algeria to Iraq, the global perspective is a crucial and dynamic part of our political discourse. I'm going to start reading this post from India about Super Tuesday and explore the rest of the global bazaar of ideas while we wait for results to come in!