A mayor in the French alps has urged Emmanuel Macron to take action against “wackos” climbing Mont Blanc, after incidents including a British tourist abandoning a rowing machine on western Europe’s highest peak. Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais, who for years has sounded the alarm against overcrowding on Mont Blanc, said a member of the British “Royal Commandos”, thought to mean the Royal Marines, hauled up the exercise machine for a stunt on Saturday.

But he did not have the strength to bring it back down and left it in an emergency hut situated at 4,362 metres (14,300 feet). The man gave his name as Disney, said Peillex in an open letter published on Sunday, adding “with a name like that, you’d think he thought he was at an amusement park”.

Also over the weekend, he said, a German tourist made the ascent with his dog, despite warnings not to do so from police brigades who patrol Mont Blanc during the busy summer season. He had promised he would leave his dog at a refuge before attempting the summit, said Peillex.

Instead, he left in the middle of the night for the summit with the dog, which survived but returned with bloodied paws, according to photos posted on Peillex’s Twitter account. The incidents over the weekend came after two Swiss climbers landed a small plane east of Mont Blanc’s summit in June and started hiking to the top.(TheGuardian)…[+]

Cancer now causes more deaths among the middle-aged in higher-income countries than cardiovascular disease, a study suggests. Globally, heart problems and stroke is the leading cause of death at this age.

But the researchers say people in rich nations are 2.5 times more likely to die of cancer than cardiovascular disease in their middle years. In poorer nations, the reverse is true – with cardiovascular disease three times more likely to claim the lives. The study, published in the Lancet, is drawn from a global research programme following the lives of thousands of people from across 21 countries. People from the UK are not involved.

Researchers led by a team from Canada’s McMaster University looked at the fate of 160,000 people enrolled in the programme, between 2005 and 2016. These people had an average age of 50 at the start. There were more than 11,000 deaths, with those in low-income countries nearly four times more likely to die than those in high-income countries.

In about 2,000 cases, the cause of death was unclear. Of the others, cardiovascular disease caused more than 40% in middle- and low-income countries but less than a quarter in high-income countries. The researchers say this could be because richer countries provide more medication and treat more people in hospital.

Jeremy Pearson, of the British Heart Foundation, said “huge progress” meant many people were surviving heart attacks and strokes but growing numbers were living with “disability and the debilitating after effects” of cardiovascular disease.(BBC)..[+]

Bridgetown, Barbados – Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) across the Region are now better equipped to respond to the challenges and changing needs of the Region, thanks to a recent conference to increase awareness of best practices and current trends in inclusive and sustainable development financing.

Over 70 persons from 40 organisations in 21 countries participated in the conference, “Development Banking in the Caribbean: A Regional Approach to Sustainable Development,” organised by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), in partnership with the Saint Lucia Development Bank (SLDB). Critical areas addressed during the three-day Conference included access to finance; ecosystem enhancements to support micro, small and medium-scale enterpises (MSMEs); improved financial reporting to meet international standards; enhanced enterprise risk management practices; corporate governance; and climate resilience. Additionally, the Conference was used to increase awareness of CDB’s financing and technical assistance products that are available to DFIs, and MSMEs through CDB…[+]