Overseas news archive

07.04.2006 Child pornography is not illegal in almost 100 countries and in many other countries laws are inadequate, according to a new study.

07.04.2006 A strategy on non-formal education for Iraq’s 600,000 out-of-school children - three-quarters of whom are girls - has been agreed by the government and the UN.

06.04.2006 The UN is to launch a flash appeal for the East Africa drought on Friday, with rains showing signs of failure and livestock deaths in parts of Kenya estimated at 80 per cent.

06.04.2006 On the first day of a four-day general strike called by Nepal's seven-party alliance, police arrested nearly 400 activists in different parts of the country where they had gathered to take part in protests.
* 12 killed, 108 inmates freed in Sarlahi attack; RNA chopper crashes
* OneWorld UK Guide to Nepal

06.04.2006 The basic international education target will not be reached for 150 years at the current rate of progress, the Global Campaign for Education said as Nelson Mandela prepared to call on world leaders to keep their promise to achieve education for all and solve a global teacher crisis.

06.04.2006 A US human rights group will use Hershey's forthcoming annual general meeting to determine whether it is purchasing cocoa from three companies that are being sued for purchasing cocoa from farms using forced labour.

06.04.2006 Women's rights activist Inday Estorba was shot and killed in her home in the Philippines - the 68th woman activist to be murdered during President Gloria Arroyo's administration.

06.04.2006 The main treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis could increase the appearance of resistant bacteria if used inappropriately, say researchers.

06.04.2006 The president of the African Union has attacked the "selective immigration" policies of developed countries that draw scientists and other skilled workers away from developing countries.

06.04.2006 A rapid-education project for out-of-school children traumatised by the Sierra Leone civil war is now helping children in neighbouring Liberia to return to school.

06.04.2006 Four years after the end of the Angolan civil war, the bloody plight of the country’s elephants is worsening with a doubling in the illegal ivory trade over the last 12 to 18 months, according to two environmental groups.

06.04.2006 The company that carries out Japan’s "scientific" whaling under contract to the Institute of Cetacean Research announced share changes and an intention to stop its canning and sale of whalemeat.

06.04.2006 Africa's healthworkers' shortage is not being tackled with sufficient urgency, a leading medical charity said ahead of World Health Day.
* Do most countries have enough health workers?

06.04.2006 Saturday will be marked as Roma Nation Day with the lighting of up to a million candles in Romani communities across 60 countries, and torch-light processions and gatherings "in ancient motherland India".

05.04.2006 A covert US operation in which the CIA has used private aircraft operators and front companies to preserve the secrecy of "rendition" flights - handing people over to countries where they have faced torture and other ill-treatment - is unveiled in a new report today.

05.04.2006 A grim picture faces the Mediterranean region in 2025 warns a new report, but it says sustainable development could dramatically boost the quality of life.

05.04.2006 A hunger strike by three community activists to protest over the destruction of lives and livelihoods in India's Narmada valley by a major dam project is on its eighth day.

05.04.2006 The Djibouti authorities have arrested and expelled an International Labour Office representative tasked with investigating the trade union situation and are refusing entry to an international trade union mission.

05.04.2006 Kuwaiti women have voted for the first time, going to the polls to choose a local council member in the district of Salmiya.

05.04.2006 International aid agencies have outlined how developing countries can maximise public health benefits with limited resources - such as a 33 per cent tax on tobacco, which could extend the lives of up to 65 million people who smoked in 2000.