Ageing os a country

I wan't to underline one thing.

See This, where South Korea is making transition from country ageing and losing percentage of agricultural workers. This is only road to high income country. Every high-income country, beside Kuwait, Brunei and United Emirates has median age over 30 and every of these has less than 10% workers in agriculture. countries like Greece or Portugal face real problem, because they have to change their workforce structure or they be left behind. Countries like Czech or Slovak Republic should reach as high income per person as UK or Canada. Countries like Vietnam or Bangladesh could recreate slide in South Korea style.

home births

Less medical intervention during planned home birth is associated with a tripling of the neonatal mortality rate vs planned hospital birth, according to the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis reported online first July 1 and will appear in the September 10 print issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology

India's Census: Lots of Cellphones, too Few Toilets

Similarly in Nepal. 74% households have cellphones, 46% has a chair and 38% population practice open defecation.

Ethiopian family planing

Well, over half of women in urban areas (Addis Ababa especially) use modern contraception methods, over half of women with secondary education and sexually active unmarried women also. Actually women with secondary education have 1.9 children on average.

On the other hand - poor, uneducated, married women living in rural areas don't have access to family planning. This is true for most of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Boko Haram

This is not senseless at all. You have everything backwards. Boko Haram should have absolutely nothing against oil companies,

Think education.Their name is "Western or non-Islamic education is a sin". Anyone who try to promote education in Nigeria is hated by half of the country. Boko Haram itself is killing for stating that Earth is a sphere, species evolved or rain comes from evaporated water.

Galapagos tortoises

They are from Taronga Zoo.

This is her, it's a female, first and only child at the age of 90.

Afghanistan survey

This is survey's summary. It is still hot, only three months since publication, so it won't be implemented into World Bank statistics in a year. World Bank does much research, but not necessarily about public health.
Fertility has dropped sharply (2 children per women less), with 20% of women using modern contraceptives. 60% of women use antenatal care. For working-age males mortality dropped by half and is lower than in Pakistan.
Overall statistics are one step worse than in Pakistan, Nepal or Bangladesh, but this is tremendous improvement. I believe that Afghanistan has fastest improving HDI in history, so improvement in health are coupled with improvement in education or economy.