In a world teeming with both common knowledge and hidden wonders, certain facts remain in the shadows, awaiting discovery by the curious mind. Beyond the well-trodden paths of conventional tourist guides lie records and peculiarities that paint a richer, often surprising, portrait of our diverse planet. These curiosities, spanning various countries and cultures, reveal the unexpected and the extraordinary, offering a glimpse into the vast spectrum of human achievement and natural marvels.
The Danakil Depression: Earth’s Hottest Place
Nestled in the northeastern part of Ethiopia lies the Danakil Depression, an area known for its extreme climatic conditions and geological peculiarities. It is one of the hottest places on Earth,…
Providing pregnant mothers with antiretroviral medicines can reduce the risk of HIV transmission from 45 percent to just one percent, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 30 2015 (IPS) – In 2013, an estimated 240,000 children were born with HIV. This was an improvement from 2009, when 400,000 babies tested positive for the infection, but still a far cry from the global target of reducing total child infections to 40,000 by 2015.
Bucking the global trend, one small island nation has made gigantic strides towards the 2015 goal. That country is Cuba, and in 2013 it recorded just two babies born with…
Kawkab Al-Thaibani
NEW DELHI, India, Feb 15 2021 (IPS) – The armed conflict in Yemen which has lasted six years, has , displaced more than and given rise to cholera outbreaks, medicine shortages and threats of famine. By the end of 2019, it is estimated that over Yemenies have been killed as a result of fighting and the humanitarian crisis. With nearly two-thirds of its population requiring food assistance, Yemen is also experiencing the . The has called the humanitarian crisis in Yemen “the worst in the world”.
The conflict in Yemen has its of a political transition, when the 2011 uprising in Yemen forced then President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power, endi…
A Palestinian family on the street in Beit Lahia in north Gaza. Credit: Mohammed Omer/IPS.
GAZA CITY/JERUSALEM/BRUSSELS, Apr 2 2020 (IPS) – The coronavirus is now present in Gaza, the populous Palestinian enclave blockaded by air, land and sea since 2007. An epidemic would be calamitous. Hamas should tighten public health measures; Israel should loosen restrictions so…