After losing 29 relatives, Josephine Dolley took in six orphans and is determined to provide for them despite Liberia’s economic crisis. Dolley, left, speaks with one of her adopted children. Photo: W. Leaming/Washington Post
Year: 2015
W.H.O report links ingredient in Roundup, the world’s most popular weedkiller, to cancer
The organization’s cancer arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, said glyphosate, the active ingredient in the Monsanto herbicide Roundup, was “classified as probably carcinogenic to humans.” It also said there was “limited evidence” that glyphosate was carcinogenic in humans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Five organic fruits and vegetables that are worth the higher cost, due to high levels of pesticide in non-organic choices
Buying organic fruits and vegetables costs more, and for many shoppers, the advantage hardly seems worth the expense. But for certain produce items, “buying organic is a must,” according to a new release from Consumer Reports, the nonprofit long known for its product reviews.
Pesticides in Produce
In fact, a recent Consumer Reports survey of 1,050 people found that pesticides are a concern for 85 percent of Americans. So, are these worries justified? And should we all be buying organics—which can cost an average of 49 percent more than standard produce?
Banana workers’ strike highlights abuses by corporations in Costa Rica
A strike that has brought activity to a halt since January on three major banana plantations on Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean coast, along the border with Panama, has highlighted the abuses in a sector in the hands of transnational corporations and has forced the governments of both countries to intervene.
Women and malnutrition – the case of South Sudan
Pregnant and breastfeeding women are the demographic group most at risk of malnutrition in South Sudan after children, making up some 12 percent of all those on supplementary feeding programmes.
Food industry waging a bitter battle over proposal on added-sugar labels
Of all the issues the Obama administration is grappling with, a modest redesign of what food labels say about sweeteners might not have seemed among the more controversial. But ever since First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the plan last year, a lobbying frenzy has ensued.
Haitian leader’s power grows as scandals swirl
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — With a brisk clap of his hands, Michel Martelly summed up the first steps he would take if he ever left the music business and became the president of Haiti.
On the shores of the Arabian Sea, pollution erodes a way of life
A fisherman holds his catch near the shores of a seaside village outside of Karachi. Fishermen of the village say they are getting sicker and the fish are dying off.
UN has failed Syria: NGOs
A “report card” compiled by more than 20 aid organisations working in and around Syria – including Oxfam, Save the Children and World Vision – gives the Security Council and the wider world a fail grade for attempts to stop the killing and to get aid to those most in need.
