Overseas news archive

15.01.2007 Transparency International today added its voice to demands that the British government and the Serious Fraud Office re-open the investigation into allegations of bribery in the Al Yamamah military contract between BAE Systems and the Saudi Arabian government.

15.01.2007 The British government should launch a national enquiry into missing children from abroad "in light of grave new fears about child trafficking and child slavery", a coalition of NGOs said today.

12.01.2007 The Bangladesh government ordered private broadcast outlets to suspend news programmes and print outlets to halt critical news coverage during the state of emergency imposed yesterday in response to the country's political crisis.

12.01.2007 After years of debate, on 14 January the red crystal becomes an official emblem for use by governments and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

12.01.2007 There must be no restrictions on African use of peaceful nuclear technology, speakers said at the continent's first conference on nuclear energy's contribution to sustainable development.

11.01.2007 If development policies fail to tackle urban poverty, well over half the 1.1 billion people projected to join the world’s population in the next quarter-century may live in slums, the WorldWatch Institute says in its latest State of the World report. It also says cities are key to tackling climate change.

11.01.2007 Worldwide demonstrations and activities are calling for the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention centre, Amnesty International said on the camp's fifth anniversary today.

11.01.2007 A coalition of indigenous farmers in South America will today launch an international protest against the multinational corporation Syngenta, claiming that its plans threaten their region's biodiversity, culture and food sovereignty.

10.01.2007 The UN has committed $241 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to more than 328 projects in 31 countries during the first nine months of the Fund’s existence.

10.01.2007 The Bush administration's plan to beef up the US military presence in Iraq is likely to create a new wave of protests across the United States in the coming days.

09.01.2007 The staggering human toll taken by TB and malnutrition and the devastation of wars in the Central African Republic, Sri Lanka and the Congo are among the "Top Ten" Most Under-reported Humanitarian Stories of 2006, according to Médecins Sans Frontières.

09.01.2007 A group of Kalahari Bushmen will return to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve on Friday, following a historic court ruling that their eviction by the Botswana government was "unlawful and unconstitutional" and that they have the right to live on their ancestral land.

09.01.2007 Sudan’s peace negotiations have been characterised by an elite power-bargaining approach, with many constituencies and concerns excluded, and have not dealt comprehensively with the causes of conflict, according to a policy briefing published today.

05.01.2007 Oprah Winfrey and Gordon Brown - who both recently launched educational initiatives - could do "so much more to improve girls' education", a leading development group said today.

04.01.2007 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon admitted yesterday that four peacekeepers had been dismissed following investigations into allegations of sexual exploitation in southern Sudan.

03.01.2007 The UN refugee agency expressed concern today over reports that Kenyan authorities were forcibly returning Somalis who had fled the recent strife in their homeland.

03.01.2007 A compound derived from tree bark has potential as a preventative treatment for malaria, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine.

02.01.2007 At least 14 civilians, including children, were killed this morning in north-western Sri Lanka during an aerial bombardment of the coastal village of Illupaikadavai by the Sri Lankan Air Force.
* OneWorld Guide to Sri Lanka

02.01.2007 Two UK-based academics say they have devised a way of inventing new medicines and getting them to market at a fraction of the cost charged by big drug companies, enabling millions in poor countries to be cured of infectious diseases.

02.01.2007 Mogadisu residents who fail to hand in their weapons within three days will be disarmed by force, Somalia's Premier, Ali Mohammed Gedi, told a news conference yesterday.