Overseas news archive

30.10.2009 A majority of governments today agreed a timetable to establish a "strong and robust" Arms Trade Treaty with the "highest common standards" to control international transfers of conventional arms.

30.10.2009 The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme should immediately suspend Zimbabwe for continuing human rights abuses and widespread smuggling in the Marange diamond fields, says a leading interenational rights group.

29.10.2009 If just one of the subsidies for nuclear power were to be withdrawn, the price of electricity from new nuclear power stations would rise to about 41 US cents per kWh, a level that would make it deeply unattractive to investors, says a new report.

28.10.2009 Primark opens its new London store next month amid claims that Britain's leading cheap fashion retailer is expanding by exploiting overseas garment workers.

28.10.2009 Ending the needless death and suffering of women during pregnancy is one of the greatest moral, human rights and development challenges of our time, an international conference in Addis Ababa agreed.

27.10.2009 Kayapó Indians are to hold a protest against a huge hydro-electric dam planned for Brazil’s Xingu River, one of the Amazon’s main tributaries.

27.10.2009 The world's biggest mining company, Billiton, is accused of human rights abuses and environmental destruction in a report launched today.
+ Where is the Church of England’s heart invested?

27.10.2009 A handful of companies are showing progress in their commitments to buy and use sustainable palm oil, yet the majority - contrary to their commitments - are failing to buy the product in spite of its availability, according to a Palm Oil Buyers’ scorecard.

26.10.2009 Lasting respite seems to have returned to Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta with the declaration of an "indefinite ceasefire" by the main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

26.10.2009 More than half of crops planted in developing countries are destroyed by pests and diseases, and by inadequate storage or transport, a global food summit has heard.

23.10.2009 The massive scale of global corruption resulting from bribery, price-fixing cartels and undue influence on public policy is costing billions and obstructing the path towards sustainable economic growth, says a report by Transparency International.

23.10.2009 Islamic Conference proposals for UN protection of religions - rather than protection of individuals for their religious beliefs - should be rejected, say a coalition of international human rights organisations.
+ ASEAN rejects rights NGOs and creates human rights commission

23.10.2009 Mobile phone subscriptions have grown faster in Africa since 2003 than in any other region of the world, says a UN report - but most African nations are failing to keep up with global trends in the use of broadband Internet.

22.10.2009 Reversing a downward trend, immunization rates are now at their highest ever and vaccine development worldwide is booming, according to a new UN assessment.

22.10.2009 Iraq remains the top country of origin of asylum applicants (13,200 claims) in industrialised countries for the fourth consecutive year, according to the UN refugee agency. Afghans (12,000) and Somalis (11,000) are the next largest groups as security conditions continue to deteriorate in large parts of their home countries.

21.10.2009 The European Union is contradicting world trade rules by putting the interests of big drug companies before the 2 billion people in the world who cannot access essential medicines, according to a new report.

21.10.2009 A £2 billion research programme to help achieve worldwide food crop production rises of at least 50 per cent by 2050 has been called for by the UK's national academy of science.

21.10.2009 The illegal cross-border timber trade between Burma and China continues to be widespread and the authorities in China should do more to clamp down, according to a new review.

20.10.2009 The British government was condemned today for giving UK private military and security companies a licence to kill by refusing to regulate the industry.

20.10.2009 Governments have failed to act on an imminent oil supply crunch, according to a new report.