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No homes in sight for 900,000 Myanmar cyclone survivors
25 Nov 2009 17:02:00 GMT
Author: A Myanmar expert in Bangkok

BANGKOK - For about 100,000 people in Myanmar who have been living in makeshift shelters since Cyclone Nargis hit 18 months ago, Wednesday's news of fresh donor money spells light at the end of the tunnel.

But for the remaining 900,000 people whose homes were destroyed or damaged, the prospects are dim.

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Bangladesh shows urgency of dealing with climate change
23 Nov 2009 16:20:00 GMT
Author: Esther Williams

"My father was hit by lightning and died when I was three. I don't like fishing but I do it so I can go to school - and to help my mum." These are the words of 10-year-old Bijon Bayen, who lives in Kainmari Village in southwest Bangladesh.

It was early morning, and before approaching Bijon I had been watching and admiring him wading through the muddy water for a while. He looked so peaceful and calm, just visible through the picturesque morning mist.

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Afghanistan's hidden drug problem
23 Nov 2009 15:48:00 GMT
Author: Transnational Institute

By Martin Jelsma and Tom Kramer, Transnational Institute.

Winter is starting in Herat, a province in south-western Afghanistan, where we've come to look at the country's own drug problem. The city has one of the highest rates of heroin users in Afghanistan.

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Video shows evidence of Himalayan glacier melt
23 Nov 2009 15:08:00 GMT
Author: Laurie Goering

Just how fast glaciers are shrinking and why has been a subject of some debate, particularly in India.

Last week the country's environmental minister released a report questioning whether climate change was driving the retreat of some Himalayan glaciers and arguing that some are actually growing.

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Myanmar's neglected HIV patients face a struggle to the death
19 Nov 2009 11:27:00 GMT
Author: Phoebe Kennedy

YANGON - Htay Htay Thwe is one of the lucky ones. True, she is infected with HIV, her husband died last year, she has tuberculosis, chronic abdominal pains, no job and a seven-year-old daughter to support. PHOTO: Lynn Maung

But Htay Htay Thwe is receiving life-saving medicine, setting her apart from most people living with HIV in Myanmar, for whom the virus guarantees a slow, painful death.

The 41-year-old widow sits straight-backed on a plastic stool as she waits for her monthly visit with the doctor at a small, concrete-floored clinic in Myanmar's main city Yangon. Four months ago, she was accepted on a community-based HIV/AIDS programme and now receives anti-retroviral treatment (ART) for free.

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