Today, April 25th 2009, is World Malaria Day. Malaria has probably been killing humans since ancient times. It is documented to have changed the course of history and the outcome of battles. At one time malaria was present in the southern parts of Europe, but is now found mostly in countries in the tropical zone. The present day effects of malaria are also too real, and has an impact on economies that are least able to absorb the blow. According to a WHO document, in 2000, if malaria had been eradicated from Africa 35 years ago the economy of Africa would be improved by $100 billion dollars annually (with an annual GDP of $300 billion, this is a big impact). For the extremely poor countries of Africa this would make a huge difference in quality of life. According to the World Health Organization, In 2005 Malaria killed more than 850,000 children – triple the amount of children AIDS kills. Overall, Malaria is estimated to kill between 1.5 and 2.7 million people annually (this is a slightly higher than the estimate given for AIDS relateddeaths).

Background

Five media organizations issued a joint statement on 23rd May 2008 condemning the assault on Mr. Keith Noyahr, Deputy Editor of the The Nation newspaper. Subsequently a protest campaign was also held to urge the government to bring the culprits to Justice.

This new Sony phone, the (e)xperia X1, looks like it can give the Apple iPhone a run for its money. The screen resolution is "Wide VGA", whereas the iPhone's resolution is only HVGA - Half VGA. Also, unlike the iPhone, it has a full slider keyboard, supports 3G, and has GPS (the iPhone only has limnited cell tower based locating capability).