Bill Gates Splashes Cash for Vaccines
Microsoft founder Bill Gates will pledge £6 billion for vaccine work over the next decade. It is calculated his pledge could save more than eight million lives and drastically reduce child mortality in some of the world’s impoverished countries. This announcement comes direct from the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland. Among the infections to be targeted are severe diarrhoea, and pneumococcal disease; which causes pneumonia and a form of meningitis. Currently rotavirus - the leading cause of severe diarrhoea - kills more than 500,000 children under the age of five each year; research indicates that a vaccination could cut this by up to 61%. Mr Gates called for increased investment from governments and the private sector to help develop and deliver vaccines. Here’s to the ‘decade of vaccine’.

85 Year Old Auschwitz Survivor Is Hip Hop MC
Esther Bejarano, 85, says music was her saving grace when she was alive as a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz.

Now 65 years after the liberation of the Nazi death camp, she has joined forces with a German hip hop band to get her anti-racism message out to today’s youth. On the first track of the album ‘Per La Vita’ - which Esther has released with the Microphone Mafia - the band sings about longing for world peace:

“My head is bowed, too many tears held back.”

Esther used to play in a girls orchestra when she was deported to Auschwitz, and she reflects on how they used to play with “tears in their eyes” as the new arrival came in, before being taken straight to the gas chambers. About two years ago she was approached by Kutlu Yurtseven, a Turkish rapper from Microphone Mafia, who asked her about a collaboration to combat the growing racism and anti-Semitism in Germany. Esther originally thought hip hop “was really a bit too loud” - but saw it as a useful tool to reach the youth of Germany. The rest they say is history.

Can Davos Help Haiti?
The World Economic Forum (WEF) meets in Davos in snowy Switzerland to discuss how they can re-construct Haiti. The WEF is an independent, international organization which holds the motto ‘entrepreneurship in the global public interest’. They believe social development without economic progress is not feasible. It is the business equivalent of a disaster appeal, but is dedicated to the long-term reconstruction of the country. Celso Amorim, the foreign minister of Brazil, prioritised jobs for young people and the environment, placing a re-planning programme at the top of his priority list. Celso seems to have the right ideas about harnessing business and finance to reconstruct Haiti. Bill Clinton on the other hand, controversially praised the cruise company that took 500,000 tourists to Haiti last year, and two investors who are now planning to build hotels in Haiti. Possibly not the news Haiti wants or needs right now.

Iran Intimidates Opposition With Executions
Iran has executed two men for plotting to overthrow the regime. They are the first to be put to death after more than 100 protestors went on trial following President Ahmadinejad’s contentious re-election.

The hangings of Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour were intended to be a warning to the opposition movement in Iran. The two men were dead before dawn, hours before prosecutors announced death sentences for five more opposition members (arrested in connection to protests on the Shia holy day of Ashura last month). Mr Rahmanipour’s lawyer spoke out saying that “the government is trying to prevent the expansion of the movement through the spread of fear and intimidation.” Amnesty International said the executions were shocking, and showed that “the Iranian authorities will stop at nothing to stamp out the peaceful protests that persist since the election.” The organisation added, “These men were unfairly convicted and now they have been unjustly killed. Their ‘confessions’ appear to have been made under duress.”

General Fonseka Will Continue To Fight to Build A New Democracy
General Sarath Fonseka has accused Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa of misusing government resources, preventing people from voting, and overseeing a series of electoral abuses. He also accused the government of seeking to remove his security detail in order to kill him.

"From today onwards, I am the president of everyone, whether they voted for me or not."

Despite all this, Fonseka said he would continue to fight for a new democracy in Sri Lanka. Mr Rajapaksa rejected allegations from both the opposition, and election analysts, that he had improperly used state resources. While it appeared Mr Rajapaksa received little support from among the Tamil minority - some of whom backed General Fonseka - many within the Sinhala majority have been critical of the president, accusing him of overseeing corruption, favouritism, and the harsh suppression of opposition movements, particularly in the media. Mr Rajapaksa’s last remark on the subject was. "From today onwards, I am the president of everyone, whether they voted for me or not."

Words: Holly Davis. Holly is representing for Ctrl.Alt.Shift from Manchester.

Photos: First pic taken from here, of Esther performing.

Second pic of Arash Rahmanipour taken at court trial