World
Occupation Forces Halt Elections Throughout Iraq
U.S. military commanders have ordered a halt to local elections and self-rule in provincial cities and towns across Iraq, choosing instead to install their own handpicked mayors and administrators, many of whom are former Iraqi military leaders.
The decision to deny Iraqis a direct role in selecting municipal governments is creating anger and resentment among aspiring leaders and ordinary citizens, who say the U.S.-led occupation forces are not making good on their promise to bring greater freedom and democracy to a country dominated for three decades by Saddam Hussein.
The go-slow approach to representative government in at least a dozen provincial cities is especially frustrating to younger, middle-class professionals who say they want to help their communities emerge from postwar chaos and to let, as one put it, "Iraqis make decisions for Iraq."
Full story: Washington Post
Jun 28, 2003, 07:27
New Guidelines for Relief Work in Crises
The United Nations and the European Commission today launched new guidelines for the use of military assets in humanitarian emergencies, stressing the impartiality of relief operations and the main tasks and responsibilities required in disaster situations.
Jun 28, 2003, 07:14
Treaty to protect persons with disabilities 2 years away
A United Nations committee drawing up a treaty to protect the rights of 600 million people worldwide suffering from disability hopes to have a draft convention ready within two years, its President said today.
The instrument presently being negotiated will create a "verifiable and enforceable" regime for the protection and promotion of the human rights of disabled persons, committee President Luis Gallegos of Ecuador told a news briefing.
Jun 28, 2003, 06:37
Berlin marks Kennedy rally
Berlin is celebrating the 40th anniversary of John F Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, which he delivered as a message of solidarity to West Berlin at the height of the Cold War.
To mark the anniversary, the speech itself was replayed on Thursday over the loudspeakers from the town hall in Schoeneberg, where it was made.
In what even now was an emotional moment, hundreds of people came to cheer and wave the American flag, including some Berliners who were here in 1963.
Earlier, German President Johannes Rau wrote in an open letter to his US counterpart George W Bush that the speech had become a "milestone of German history and a solid anchor for US-German friendship".
Full story: BBC Online
Jun 26, 2003, 21:48
$2.27 billion in compensation for Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
The United Nations panel set up to process claims and pay compensation for losses and damage suffered as a result of Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990-1991 today approved awards of more than $2.27 billion, bringing the total awarded so far to $46.3 billion.
Jun 26, 2003, 21:15
Violence in Kenya Refugee Camp worries UN
After 11 people died during nearly a week of fighting between local residents and Sudanese refugees in northwestern Kenya, officials from the United Nations refugee agency today expressed grave concern about the violence and loss of lives, and warned that the disruption of services delivered by aid agencies could lead to a "humanitarian crisis."
Jun 25, 2003, 07:06
Blair buried health warning on GM crops, says sacked minister
Michael Meacher, the former environment minister, has accused Tony Blair's spin doctors and ministers of systematically ignoring or rubbishing the evidence that genetically modified crops could be a health hazard or could harm the environment.
Mr Meacher's warning is calculated to ignite the public debate on genetic modification as the Government prepares an official report that is expected to clear the way for GM foods to go on sale on supermarket shelves.
During his six years as Minister for the Environment in Tony Blair's government, Mr Meacher was rumoured to be almost a lone voice seeking to delay the commercial cultivation of GM crops until more scientific evidence had been built up about their effects.
Writing in today's Independent on Sunday, in his first published article since being sacked by Mr Blair, Mr Meacher lists a series of reports and findings which suggest that the full impact of GM technology is still dangerously unpredictable. Many of the health tests carried out are "scientifically vacuous", he claims.
Full story: The Independent UK
Jun 24, 2003, 07:14
Annan calls detention of Aung San Suu Kyi deplorable
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan voiced grave concern today over the conditions under which Myanmar democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is being held, terming it "truly deplorable" and again calling for her immediate release.
Jun 24, 2003, 06:27
Congo, Burundi, Key for Peace in area, Security Council says
Having just wrapped up a special mission to Central Africa, the United Nations Security Council says it considers that the installation of the transitional government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the successful conclusion of a ceasefire in Burundi could clear the way for a possible international conference aimed at addressing long-term peace and security issues in the wider Great Lakes region.
Jun 24, 2003, 06:20
TV closure sparks 'Soviet' jibe
The closure of Russia's last independent national television station has sparked media accusations of a return to the Soviet era.
The debt-ridden TVS was pulled off the air on Sunday, to be replaced with a sports channel.
Senior staff and other media observers alleged that the decision was taken for political as well as financial reasons. TVS was set up after other stations critical of the Russian Government had already been closed down or taken over.
Full story: BBC Online
Jun 23, 2003, 07:01
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