UMass Amherst Researcher Awarded $1.12M NSF Grant to Investigate Water Governance Effects on Child Health Across Five Nations

A groundbreaking multinational research initiative has recently received a substantial boost in funding with a $1.12 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), awarded to a public health researcher at the University of...

Nordex wins first wind turbine order in Ecuador

Nordex has won its first order in Ecuador with an agreement to supply turbines for a 112MW wind farm in the south of the country. It will supply 19 of its N149/5.X turbines for the project. The turbines will be installed on tubular steel towers...

UMass Amherst Researcher Receives $1.12 million NSF Grant to Study Impacts of Water Governance on Children’s Health in Five Countries

Image Daniel Lopez-Cevallos A University of Massachusetts Amherst public health researcher has been awarded a three-year, $1.12 million grant from the National Science Foundation to lead a multinational examination of the relationship between...

Gelis finds calling in Ecuador

1991 Pocahontas County High School graduate Rudy Gelis, above, feels at home in the jungles of Ecuador – snakes and all. He is a naturalist and is currently working on recording birds songs for AI recognition. He has also documented exotic...

Verde Valley School graduates reunite with teacher for equestrian ride in Ecuador

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was building momentum worldwide and governments were imposing shelter-in-place orders, for many, this meant lots of time spent indoors, with no idea of when it would be safe to resume normal activities. At the...

Witness the new hybrid era: Chery Super Hybrid (CSH) TECH DAY LATAM + extreme battery challenge

In the tropical rainforests of Panama, Chery's Pan-American Challenge across 10 countries is underway in full swing In the tropical rainforests of Panama, Chery’s Pan-American Challenge across 10 countries is underway in full swing. Three core...

Treating tungiasis: PAHO issues first scientific guide

[BUENOS AIRES, SciDev.Net] The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has published its first evidence-based guide to the treatment of tungiasis, a neglected tropical disease that affects millions of people in Latin America, the Caribbean and...

Big tech’s attempts to weaken information space regulations worldwide exposed by new cross-country investigation supported by RSF

The investigation highlights the shocking global reach of these anti-regulation efforts. In Brazil, Google and Meta orchestrated an offensive against the “Fake News Bill” (PL 2630) put forth in 2020 which aimed to tackle disinformation, bring...

Big Tech’s Invisible Hand

Big tech companies such as Alphabet (Google) and Meta have revenues far larger than the GDP of whole Latin American countries such as Ecuador, Paraguay and El Salvador. They know how to use this bargaining power: to shape bills and regulations,...

Ecuador ends simple migration for Venezuelans seeking visas, residency

Ecuador President Daniel Noboa's government Ecuador now requires Venezuelans -- along with citizens of more than 40 other countries -- to obtain a temporary transit visa, ending a simplified procedure. Photo by Gaston Britos/EPA Sept. 15 (UPI) --...

Adoption of whale-safe fishing gear lags in race to save endangered animals

This is the fifth story in a series on Canada-U.S. cross-border measures to protect North Atlantic right whales. On a frigid day in March, far enough from the coast for the shoreline to slip away, father and son duo Captain Mike Lane and crewman...

Ecuador’s Posorja Port Becomes Europe’s Cocaine Doorway Despite Scanners

A $1.2 billion terminal was meant to shield Ecuador’s coast from traffickers. Instead, cocaine seizures have tripled, homicides have soared, and European ports now flag Posorja as a prime origin, exposing how gangs and corruption outpaced...

This Kolkata-Based Startup Is Turning Air Into Water — Over 100 Million Litres and Counting

In India’s rapidly growing cities, water scarcity is no longer a future threat; it is a daily struggle. Bengaluru’s borewells are running dry, Chennai has faced “Day Zero” scenarios, and even Mumbai and Kolkata are starting to feel the pressure....

Perceived Importance vs Performance in Dental Care: Exploring Patient Satisfaction Across Age, Gender, and Purchasing Power

Introduction Customer satisfaction, regardless of the product or service being evaluated, serves as a critical indicator for assessing the effectiveness of the underlying process. Ensuring customer satisfaction is essential for the sustainability...

Ecuador: The river never forgets – nor do the communities

In March 2025, the rivers of Esmeraldas, an Ecuadorian province that for decades has suffered from the social and environmental impacts of the petrochemical industry, were heavily polluted by a 25,000-barrel crude oil spill. In the first few days,...

Ecuador Bust: 3 Tons of Cocaine Seized from Semi-Submersible Vessel

In the shadowy underbelly of global narcotics trade, a recent operation off the coast of Ecuador has spotlighted the relentless cat-and-mouse game between law enforcement and drug cartels. Authorities intercepted a semi-submersible vessel laden...

Cartel violence transforms Ecuador’s Posorja port from promise of trade to cocaine gateway

Cartel violence transforms Ecuador’s Posorja port from promise of trade to cocaine gateway When the Ecuadorian government inaugurated the port of Posorja in 2019, optimism filled the air. Politicians hailed the $1.2 billion deep-water facility,...

Uncontacted tribe risk extinction as global forest certification system fails to...

In the Peruvian Amazon, the roar of bulldozers is intruding on the ancestral lands of one of the world’s last isolated tribes. The Mashco Piro, long shielded by dense rainforest, now face encroachment from a logging company with a history of...

America loves cocaine again—Mexico’s new drug king cashes in

Oseguera spent decades building his Jalisco New Generation Cartel into a transnational criminal organization fierce enough to forge a new underworld order in Mexico, displacing the Sinaloa cartel, torn by warring factions, as the world’s biggest...

'Cocaine has never been more affordable' — thanks to Trump

Efforts by the Trump administration to combat fentanyl trafficking and tighten immigration enforcement have contributed to a drop in U.S. cocaine prices, as drug trafficking routes have shifted and opened new opportunities for Mexican cartels....