Overseas news archive

30.11.2005 The UN General Assembly reaffirmed its call for nations to take 'urgent action' to protect deep-sea corals, seamounts and hydrothermal vent ecosytems from destruction by bottom trawl fishing but stopped well short of agreeing to declare a halt to the practice in international waters.

30.11.2005 Nearly 90 percent of AIDS-related deaths occur among people of working age, making it the leading cause of death worldwide for people ages 15-49. The seven most seriously AIDS-affected countries, all in sub-Saharan Africa, now lose as much as 10-18 percent of their working-age adults every five years, mainly to this disease.

29.11.2005 Campaigners welcomed Total Oil's "humiliating climbdown" on Tuesday ­in a case in which the company was being sued in French courts over its involvement in forced labour in Burma. In an out of court settlement, the company agreed to set up a £3.5 million humanitarian fund.

29.11.2005 Energy giant Shell has failed to meet the environmental and social standards set by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on its Sakhalin-II project in the Russian Far East.

29.11.2005 People turned up at polling booths across Switzerland in a referendum to determine whether genetically engineered crops and animals can be grown there during the next five years.

28.11.2005 The Tamil Information Centre presents its fifth report on relief efforts - particularly in north-east Sri Lanka - since the tsunami struck almost one year ago.

28.11.2005 As the 1,000th execution in the US approaches, scores of groups and individuals are calling on US State and Federal authorities to put an immediate end to capital punishment.

28.11.2005 In the wake of Senegal’s announcement that it would place the case of former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré in the hands of the African Union (AU), a leading rights group emphasised Dakar’s legal obligation to prosecute or extradite Habré and called on the AU to recommend Habré’s extradition to Belgium.

28.11.2005 Ahead of World Aids Day on 1 December, African governments are urged to strengthen health care systems - including more health workers - to cope with the epidemic, particularly the administration of ARVs.

28.11.2005 Coping with any "bird flu pandemic" that threatens to affect the health of millions worldwide, hobble economies and overwhelm healthcare systems will require more than new drugs and infection control, says an international medical ethics think-tank. It recommends a 15-point guide for pandemic planning, based partly on experiences with SARS in 2003.

27.11.2005 Reports of another year's extension to the detention of Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi shows that the regime's so-called ‘road map’ to democracy is a sham, says a leading Burmese pro-democracy lobby group.

26.11.2005 The world has failed in an important step towards achieving educational equality for girls this year: 46 countries will not meet international goals for gender parity in schools set for 2005.

25.11.2005 Without urgent international action to deal with the consequences of this year's food crisis in Niger, the country faces a second successive year of extreme suffering and hardship, the UN World Food Programme has warned.

25.11.2005 Two more mass graves - apparently of SWAPO independence fighters - have been found in northern Namibia, making a total of five since the discovery of the first on 9 November.

25.11.2005 The International Crisis Group said today it was shocked and mystified by the Indonesian Government's entry ban on its South East Asia project director, as she returned to Jakarta after receiving a Time magazine 'Asian Hero' award for the organisation's work on conflict prevention and resolution.

25.11.2005 The North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission is accused of ignoring scientific advice and failing to further reduce fishing effort on vulnerable deep-sea fish stocks and to protect cold-water coral reefs from deep sea bottom trawling.

25.11.2005 Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, president and executive director of the Visayan Forum Foundation, has been awarded this year's Anti-Slavery Award for her work on child domestic labour in The Philippines.

25.11.2005 The sugar deal agreed by European Agriculture Ministers is the worst possible result for developing countries and the environment, said Oxfam and WWF, as they warned that millions of poor farmers and the environment would suffer unless a comprehensive compensation package was agreed before the end of the year.

25.11.2005 An estimated three million girls in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East undergo genital mutilation every year, but the practice could be eliminated within a generation, says the UN Children's Fund.
* Razor's Edge - The Controversy of Female Genital Mutilation, OneWorld TV

25.11.2005 Today, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, sees the start of "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence", an international campaign that runs until 10 December, International Human Rights Day.