The World Medical Association's General Assembly met Friday and Saturday in Seoul, South Korea. It passed the following resolution, expanding those of prior years prohibiting physician participation in executions:

RESOLVED, that it is unethical for physicians to participate in capital punishment, in any way, or during any step of the execution process, including its planning and the instruction and/or training of persons to perform executions, The World Medical Association REQUESTS firmly its constituent members to advise all physicians that any participation in capital punishment as stated above is unethical. URGES its constituent members to lobby actively national governments and legislators against any participation of physicians in capital punishment.

This document was adopted by the 34th World Medical Assembly in Lisbon, Portugal, September 28 - October 2, 1981 and amended by the 52nd WMA General Assembly in Edinburgh, Scotland during October 2000. The revised text is proposed by the Association Médicale Française (AMF). During the 179th Council Session, in May 2008, the Council asked the American Medical Association and the AMF to work on new language but after consideration, it was agreed not to pursue any further edits to this version.

The World Medical Association is the independent confederation of national medical associations from more than 80 countries and represents more than eight million physicians. Acting on behalf of patients and physicians, the WMA endeavours to achieve the highest possible standards of medical care, ethics, education and health-related human rights for all people.

Africa: Urban Slum Dwellers Worldwide Nearing One Billion - UN
Daily Trust by Nasidi Adamu Yahaya

The number of urban slum-dwellers worldwide has broken the one billion mark, making it clear that the urbanization of poverty is arguably one of the biggest challenges facing development today, executive director of UN-Habitat, has said.

Mrs Anna Tibaijuka said in a televised message to mark the World Habitat Day in Abuja yesterday that "no longer can we turn a blind eye to the plight of slum-dwellers living in life-threatening conditions. Nor can we hide from the fact that urban poverty and urban inequalities are on the rise around the world, in developed and developing countries alike.

"We have both a moral and an ethical responsibility to make our cities more harmonious by making them more inclusive. It is a societal imperative that we fight urban poverty and squalor if we are to secure urban safety and security," she said.

Mrs Tibaijuka stated that it was no coincidence that climate change is now coming to the forefront of international debate at the same time and at virtually the same pace as the world becomes urbanised.

She said cities consume upwards of 75 per cent of all energy and contribute to an equally substantial amount of greenhouse gas emissions, noting that they must therefore, be an integral part of any mitigation efforts.

"Reducing cities' contribution to climate change and vulnerability to the effects thereof, must be viewed as a historical opportunity to improve the living conditions of all men and women, including the most vulnerable sectors of our urban populations. Both adaptation and mitigation efforts require improved land-use planning, more robust infrastructure and smarter construction. I can think of no better initiative than to combine these efforts to make our cities and towns greener, safer and more equitable", Mrs Tibaijuka said.

In his speech, Minister of state for Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Chief Chuka Odom, said the theme of this year's world habitat day, "harmonious cities" was meant to draw attention to the different problems of rapid urbanisation, especially its widespread impacts on the total environment.