News headlines in June 2013, page 25

HAVANA, Jun 03 (IPS) - A biometeorological forecast model developed in Cuba to sound the alert on weather conditions that exacerbate chronic diseases like asthma, hypertension and vascular disorders could also help predict the impacts of climate change on health.

WASHINGTON, Jun 03 (IPS) - For two years, reports have surfaced describing medical supply shortages in Iran, some with devastating consequences, as debate continues to rage about who's responsible - the Iranian government or the sanctions regime.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jun 03 (IPS) - Muzaffar Shah, a shopkeeper from Kabul, sits in a hospital waiting room, desperate for news. He has travelled nearly 300 km to get to the Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar, capital of northern Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, where his wife is now in intensive care.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 03 (IPS) - When the 193-member U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) holds is first-ever high-level meeting on nuclear disarmament next September, there is little or no hope that any of the nuclear powers will make a firm commitment to gradually phase out or abandon their lethal arsenals.

JOHANNESBURG, Jun 03 (IPS) - Competing players in the tourism industry in southern Africa are putting aside their rivalry in pursuit of a common goal – a big boost in tourist numbers to the region.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 03 (IPS) - U.S. President Barack Obama is set to host his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Jun. 7-8 for their first bilateral meeting as heads of state. Figuring on their agenda is how to address a precarious North Korea, which is armed with a small nuclear arsenal and vying for a bigger one.

BUENOS AIRES, Jun 03 (IPS) - Poverty no longer explains the high secondary school dropout rate in Argentina, one of the richest countries in Latin America.

JUBA, Jun 03 (IPS) - Susana Apai Wani has lived as a widow for more than two decades since her husband, James Wani, was arrested in 1992 by a policeman who accused him of collaborating with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, which was a rebel political movement at the time.

JHIRPU PHULPINGKATT, Nepal, Jun 02 (IPS) - Residents of Jhirpu Phulpingkatt, a village nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, about 110 km from Nepal's capital Kathmandu, are on red alert.

NEW YORK, Jun 02 (IPS) - Growing up as a child, Trisha Arlin had never seen a woman rabbi. Back then, women were not allowed to read the Torah, nor were they allowed to serve in synagogues.