http://www.oneworld.net/article/country/953/ en_GB North America http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/160309/1/ Rural health practioners in Alaska are being facilitated through videoconferencing to cater to the needs of the mentally ill. Through lectures and consultations, the health providers will build their technical skills related to nutrition and surgeries. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/160277/1/ Healthy @ home takes a look at how new technologies can help the elderly in independent living. Based on a survey of elderly adults and care providers in the United States, the publication discusses the benefits of new devices. It also, not surprisingly, concludes that personal attention cannot replace new technologies. http://uk.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/83601 The bark beetle is devastating North American trees because global warming has created a perfect climate for them. The ability of northern forests to take up and store atmospheric carbon is not just compromised; it is reversed. From: Climate Progress http://uk.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/83385 The mass diversion of the North American grain harvest into ethanol plants for fuel is reaching its political and moral limits. From: The Telegraph http://tv.oneworld.net/article/view/158859/1/ http://tv.oneworld.net/article/view/158090/1/ http://tv.oneworld.net/article/view/157809/1/ http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/154393/1/ Europe's share of the world's 100 largest cities has fallen from more than half to under 10 per cent in the past century and it now has none of the world's 100 fastest-growing cities and most of its declining ones. http://us.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/80758 A new report shows improvements in life expectancy and overall health of people in the Americas despite continued problems resulting from social strife and indigence, especially among poorer countries. http://us.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/80610 European Union and U.S. targets and subsidies are fuelling a growing demand for agrofuels. But far from being a sustainable energy source, the increased cultivation of crops for fuel threatens the world’s poor with starvation, damages biodiversity and even contributes to global warming, argues Oscar Reyes. http://us.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/79378 Oxfam America is encouraging people to sign a petition, that will urge 2008 presidential candidates to express a commitment to rebuilding the Gulf Coast region damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/151207/1/ JOHANNESBURG, Jul 11 (IPS) - What is a common factor in ensuring that women do not marry too young, do not have more children than they can cope with, do not die giving birth -- and contract HIV in smaller numbers? Men. http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/150823/1/ ATLANTA, Jun 29 (IPS) - Under the banner, "If another world is possible, another U.S. is necessary," 10,000 civil society activists gathered in Atlanta, Georgia Wednesday for the beginning of the first U.S. Social Forum. http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/150788/1/ GENEVA, Jun 28 (IPS) - Global civil society leaders called on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Thursday to use both international channels and their muscle on the ground for applying pressure on governments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). http://us.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/78803 An international public health agency called this week for the elimination of industrial trans fatty acids from food suppliers all over the Americas. Experts from the task force concluded that trans fats increase the risk of heart disease and possibly the risk of sudden cardiac death.