Overseas news archive

31.01.2007 A call has been made for the immediate release of Karim Amer, the first Egyptian blogger to be tried for writing blogs criticising Egypt's al-Azhar religious authorities, President Husni Mubarak and Islam.

31.01.2007 A promising trial of a drug aimed at preventing HIV transmission in women has been abandoned prematurely because of a high number of infections, a move described as a "disappointing and unexpected setback in the search for a safe and effective microbicide".

28.01.2007 Celebrating Guineans took to the streets of Conakry on Saturday night after the ending of an 18-day nationwide general strike that paralysed business and administrative activities.

27.01.2007 Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis must drop its controversial court case against India which begins in Chennai on 29 January, Oxfam urged. The case challenges India's patent law designed to promote cheaper generic medicines for poor patients.
+ MSF urges Novartis to drop its case

26.01.2007 Biofuels produced from "energy crops" such as sugarcane, corn and soybean oil could create help developing nations to alleviate poverty and slow climate change - but could cause more problems than they solve, warns a report published today.

26.01.2007 Freedom of expression groups have condemned a bid to exempt Parliament and its members’ correspondence from the Freedom of Information Act, dubbing it a “serious attack on the public’s right to know”.

26.01.2007 Government members of the world’s five tuna regional management organisations have failed to agree an action plan to help reverse the decline in tuna stocks and stop the plundering of these valuable species, says a global conservation group.

26.01.2007 A spate of privatisation of national government assets and low levels of taxation for international firms has meant poor countries are not reaping the rewards from owning most of the world’s valuable mineral and oil and gas deposits, says a new report.

25.01.2007 A global call to urgently address problems caused by competition for natural resources such as oil, gas, timber, diamonds and gold has been made at the World Social Forum in Nairobi.

25.01.2007 The number of people unemployed worldwide remained at an historical high last year despite strong global economic growth, the International Labour Office said in its annual Global Employment Trends released today.

24.01.2007 "Massive environmental damage" and "serious human rights abuses" by the mining industry in The Philippines are condemned today in a new report that warns expansion plans are set to make the problems worse.

24.01.2007 The Sri Lankan government has been accused of complicity or willful blindness in the abduction and forcible recruitment of children for combat in the fight against secessionist guerrillas.

24.01.2007 The deployment of large numbers of Indonesian soldiers to the Punkak Jaya region of West Papua in response to the killing of two soldiers has caused an estimated 5,000 tribespeople to flee into the jungle.

24.01.2007 Tuna are fast disappearing, with important stocks at high risk of commercial extinction due to weak management, warns a leading wildlife protection group as members of the world’s five tuna management organisations hold their first meeting.

24.01.2007 The world must not lower its guard against the threat of a "bird flu" pandemic, Dr Margaret Chan, the head of the World Health Organization, warned this week. "Almost no country with large outbreaks in commercial or backyard flocks has successfully eliminated the virus", she pointed out.

23.01.2007 Wildlife lovers and photographers are being urged to submit images that highlight the damage caused to wildlife by oil and gas companies, including Shell, to the 2007 Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

23.01.2007 Tough isolation measures are justified to contain a deadly, highly contagious, drug-resistant mutant strain of tuberculosis and to prevent “a potentially explosive international health crisis”, warn experts.
+ Dilemma of a deadly disease
+ Healing camps undermine fight against tuberculosis

23.01.2007 Trade unions and labour rights activists today launch a global campaign to promote decent work in world football, focusing initially on the construction sector, in the build-up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

22.01.2007 Red is for the carpet that the stars will tread for Tuesday's London premier of Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Red is also for the blood that campaign groups say is spilled to get diamonds from Congo, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Angola. Ahead of the UK launch of the film, Amnesty International and Global Witness call on the diamond industry to clean up the trade.
+ Stars become a diamond's best friend in row over warzone film
+ A call for 'Blood Diamond' proceeds to benefit ex-child soldiers in Sierra Leone
* Diamond mining photo exhibition; screening of Blood on the Stone, which chronicles how, despite industry claims, illicit African diamonds are still being smuggled and sold, OneWorld Events page

21.01.2007 An Indian law intended to promote economic development is causing environmental damage and harming the livelihoods of some of the nation's poorest people, according to a report released today.