Overseas news archive

28.01.2006 The UN Security Council must stop the deluge of weapons into Africa's Great Lakes region - particularly northern Uganda and Congo - and protect civilians from attacks by armed groups, a leading charity urged.
* Security Council reviews proposed peacebuilding in Africa’s Great Lakes region

27.01.2006 About 400 UN staff members in Ivory Coast have been evacuated to Gambia and Senegal in the wake of attacks on the UN offices.

27.01.2006 The diplomatic ‘Quartet’ on the Middle East congratulated the Palestinian people on holding free elections, while emphasising that armed activities stand in contradiction to the democratic process.

27.01.2006 Campaigners say the UK Treasury will pocket a £1.7 billion windfall – almost twice the entire aid budget for Africa – from a deal to cancel part of Nigeria's debt and accuse the government of effectively raiding the aid budget to help balance the UK's finances.

27.01.2006 Internet dissident Nguyen Khac Toan has been released after spending four years in prison for emailing details of farmers' protests about official corruption and land confiscation to overseas Vietnamese groups.
* Jordan: Editor Prosecuted for Posting Articles by MPs

27.01.2006 Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, UK Chancellor Gordon Brown and Bill Gates today called on world leaders to rally behind a new action plan to treat 50 million people and prevent 14 million tuberculosis deaths worldwide over the next decade.

27.01.2006 In defiance of its famous company motto – Don’t Be Evil - Google has joined Microsoft and Yahoo and consented to the use of servers based in China, a move that grants Beijing a free hand to censor Chinese human rights groups and international free expression groups.

26.01.2006 Palestinians streamed into more than 1,000 polling stations on Wednesday in the first parliamentary election in a decade, one that will determine the shape of future prospects for returning to peace talks with Israel.

26.01.2006 As the British government announces that 4,150 extra troops will be sent to Afghanistan, it is also reported that Kabul's fight against illegal poppy cultivation will be a key point on the agenda at the London conference to discuss the country's future this month.
* OneWorld UK Guide to Afghanistan

26.01.2006 A United Nations agency that protects intellectual property handled nearly 20 per cent more cybersquatting disputes – the abusive registration of trademarks as Internet domain names – in 2005 than the previous year, as celebrities, corporate moguls and others turned to its services in ever-greater numbers.

26.01.2006 Sudanese refugees are again fleeing Darfur for camps in neighbouring Chad, and the UN refugee chief, António Guterres, has warned the UN Security Council of a "much greater calamity" in the region unless bold measures are taken soon.

26.01.2006 Poor farmers in developing countries can substantially improve both their yields and livelihoods by adopting resource-conserving practices, says a large international study to be published next month.

26.01.2006 European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson’s hardline stance over World Trade Organisation talks will lead to failure, warns a leading development charity.

26.01.2006 Africa is gradually slipping down the agenda of the World Economic Forum's annual gathering in Switzerland, with China and India the centre of attention,according to a South African newspaper report.

26.01.2006 A coalition of 40 rights groups has asked the US to explain why it reversed policy this week and backed an Iranian initiative to deny UN consultative status to organisations working to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

26.01.2006 Brazilian Indians have called on President Lula to dismiss the country's top Indian Affairs official, Mércio Pereira Gomes, who is visiting London this week, after he implied that Indians already have enough land and that future land claims may be restricted.

26.01.2006 Governments, retailers and the mainstream coffee industry have been urged to support the growing consumer demand for certified coffees such as Fair Trade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance and Utz Kapeh.

25.01.2006 Worldwide unemployment - especially among the vast and growing legion of jobless youth - reached new heights last year, despite robust economic growth, the International Labour Office said.

25.01.2006 Malian farmers will this week decide whether GM technology is the way forward for the world's fourth poorest country, through a "citizens' jury" that will cross-examine international experts before reaching its decision.

25.01.2006 New analysis reportedly shows important lessons can be learned from the differing responses of Indonesia and Sri Lanka to conflict and "un-natural" disasters.