Overseas news archive

18.10.2006 There are positive aspects to inter-country adoption, UNICEF has said, but a southern African child welfare group warns that Madonna's "bending of the rules" is sending a message to child traffickers that Malawi is open for business.

18.10.2006 In its forthcoming report on indigenous peoples in Botswana, the continent's top human rights body is highly critical of the government's treatment of the Bushmen tribe.

18.10.2006 Russian and international human rights defenders and experts will answer your questions Thursday about the background of the conflict, the human rights situation, and international efforts to end the conflict in Chechnya. Ask a question now or tune in on Thursday.

17.10.2006 The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has improved and crucial elections are set for the end of this month. It's time to redouble international efforts to bring stability to the massive central African country, says a new report.

17.10.2006 A civil society watchdog has condemned a Russian court's use of a controversial new law to close down the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, a group that has been critical of government policy.

17.10.2006 The Bush administration and U.S. Congress have agreed to re-instate military aid to 21 countries that are members of the International Criminal Court and won't grant U.S. servicemembers immunity from its jurisdiction. Other economic support is still being withheld.

17.10.2006 A fight over a promised independence, which began in 1980, continues to roil a piece of northern Senegal, though no one can say for sure what the fighting is for anymore.

17.10.2006 Congolese government soldiers are forcing scores of local people to work for them in fields and gold mines, according to Human Rights Watch interviews in the northeastern Ituri region of the country.
From: Human Rights Watch

17.10.2006 Postponement of peace talks between Nepal's government and former Maoist rebels does not signal a failure of the process, say civil society leaders. "What it shows is that our leaders didn't do the proper homework--but we are very much optimistic that the talks will succeed," said a Nepali labor leader.

16.10.2006 People from the United States, Brazil, Haiti, Mexico, and Palestine were asked to complete the phrase "Food is..." A global grassroots group compiled their answers as part of a special feature for World Food Day, "Fixing the Broken Food System."

16.10.2006 The web-based Literacy Project, launched last week, enables users to access and share literacy resources from around the world. Available in German and English.

16.10.2006 A bright red iPod Nano is just one of many popular items launched Friday that will help redirect some consumer spending to global anti-AIDS efforts.
From: The Money Times (India)

13.10.2006 The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, which has extended more than $5 billion in credit to the world's poorest since Yunus gave the first set of loans out of his own pocket in 1976.
From: Earthtimes.org

13.10.2006 An avowed pacifist organization is taking the Bush administration to task for wasting taxpayer money and threatening its own citizens' freedom after newly released documents revealed government surveillance of peaceful protest activity.

13.10.2006 A doctor held one of the jobs for six months two years ago, but since then the posts have been vacant. Even at the district's Taplejung Hospital, only one of two doctor positions is ever filled at one time. "If that doctor goes out for some work, there is no doctor at all," hospital chief Shree Ram Shah told Gorkhapatra newspaper.

13.10.2006 As no information has been presented on war crimes in the 15 years since the start of wars in the former Yugoslavia,the Women in Black have launched an effort to convince authorities to bring information on those crimes to the light of the day.

12.10.2006 A rigorous study has shown nearly a three-fold increase in Iraqi deaths above what would have been expected if U.S.-led forces had never invaded and occupied the country.

12.10.2006 UNITED NATIONS, Oct 12 (OneWorld) - North Korea's nuclear weapon test has spawned widespread denunciation but the fallout also includes divergent positions on how to respond.

12.10.2006 By 2012, almost 25 percent of the U.S. workforce could be made ineligible to receive union protections as a result of an October 3 ruling, according to a Philadelphia-based social justice group.

12.10.2006 Though it's not expected to get a vote in the Senate, civil rights activists are concerned that a bill to require voters show a government-issued ID (a driver's license would not qualify) will be attached to "must-pass" legislation.