Overseas news archive

16.11.2006 A broad coalition of environmental and human rights groups have called on the World Bank and policy makers in industrialized nations to end subsidies for the international oil industry that come at the expense of the environment and impoverished countries.
From: Rainforest Action Network

16.11.2006 Climate change must be taken as seriously as the issues that have traditionally monopolized political attention such as conflict, poverty, and the proliferation of deadly weapons, UN chief Kofi Annan told a major conference in Nairobi Wednesday.

16.11.2006 "Never again shall a South African be discriminated against on the basis of color, creed, culture, and sex," said a top government official, reacting to the country's legislative approval of gay marriage this week.

16.11.2006 SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 15 (OneWorld) - Human rights lawyers were joined by two winners of the Nobel Peace prize in filing charges in Germany Tuesday, accusing outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld of committing war crimes in Iraq and the U.S.-controlled Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.

16.11.2006 When President Bush meets his Vietnamese counterpart this week, will he "make a strong stand for human rights and true American values, and ultimately help change the fate of those languishing in prison or living in constant fear"? Amnesty International hopes so.

16.11.2006 Escalating violence in Chad's southeastern region is mirroring that of its neighbor Darfur, say UN officials and aid groups concerned about rising death tolls and insecurity for local people.

14.11.2006 The coordinator of a youth program for a joint Palestinian-Israeli human rights organization has been detained by Israeli forces for over 18 months without being charged, tried, or allowed to defend himself. His detention could be extended by another six months on Sunday.

14.11.2006 On the eve of Children's Day, 80 children and representatives from schools and NGOs met to urge the Indian government to commit 9% of the nation's GDP to health & education, as promised in the National Common Minimum Program.
From: WADA NA TODO Abhiyan

14.11.2006 NEW YORK, Nov 13 (OneWorld) - Seafood consumers in industrialized countries can help save the world's wild fish stocks, according to a new study that provides a ray of hope just days after researchers announced that if current trends continue, all world fisheries will collapse around 2048.

14.11.2006 The U.S. Senate is expected to vote this week on changing U.S. laws to allow nuclear trade with India, even though the South Asian giant has conducted two nuclear tests this year and does not allow inspections on all its nuclear facilities.

14.11.2006 Local radio stations in at least 20 countries will broadcast programs on migration on December 18, International Migrants Day, starting in Australia and terminating in the Americas.

13.11.2006 All that's needed is the mayor's signature to legalize same-sex partnerships in Mexico City, which is home to 8.7 million people and capital of one of the hemisphere's more conservative countries.

13.11.2006 Hamed Mottaghi and "Kosoof" have won an international prize for fighting for free expression in a country that flagrantly censors the Internet and imprisons Internet-users who criticise the government too openly. Nominees were from Russia, Tunisia, China, the United States, and four other countries.
From: Reporters Without Borders

13.11.2006 Nicargua has become the third country in the western hemisphere to outlaw abortion entirely, even in cases of rape and incest and when the woman's life is at risk.

09.11.2006 Nepal's main political parties and Maoist insurgents reached a peace agreement late Tuesday, which paves the way for an end to the decade-long conflict and the establishment of peace, security, and development, as well as the rule of law, justice, and the enjoyment of human rights in the country.

09.11.2006 When a culture is destroyed in the name of progress, it is not progress. It is a loss for the world," says Archbishop Desmond Tutu about the Botswana government's treatment of its indigenous people.

09.11.2006 India is on the move on the fast track. But there is another India where very little has changed, where people are fighting just to survive with caste issues, water wars and hunger.

08.11.2006 High-ranking political appointees have rewritten numerous scientific documents to prevent the protection of several highly imperiled species, according to documents obtained by conservation organizations.
From: Union of Concerned Scientists

08.11.2006 Saddam Hussein's overthrow opened the opportunity to restore the basic right to a fair trial and to ensure, fairly, accountability for the crimes of the past. "It is an opportunity missed," said Amnesty International Sunday, "and made worse by the imposition of the death penalty."

08.11.2006 WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (OneWorld) - Voters nationwide who confront problems at the polling station Tuesday will have a new way to get help and take part in what many analysts and activists have warned will be a close-fought and tricky election.