The world food crisis is a tragedy frequently and passionately foretold. For years food experts warned that chronic under-investment in agriculture in developing countries, by governments and donors alike, would one day spell disaster.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said this week that it has begun to cut the provision of school meals to the world’s poorest children as the global crisis over food prices worsens. Josette Sheeran, the WFP’s executive director, said the price of basic foods was rising so rapidly that a shortfall in financing for its food relief programmes had grown from -million to -million in less than two months.
Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai, is expected to propose a radical expansion of the Afghan army and call for his troops to take over security responsibilities in Kabul from Nato, according to officials at the alliance’s summit in Bucharest, Romania. The proposal will be discussed by Nato leaders at a meeting on Afghanistan soon.
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/ 21 January 2008
The diplomatic stand-off between the United Kingdom and Russia entered a dangerous new phase on Wednesday as British officials denounced ”a pattern of intimidation” by Russia’s security services against British Council staff. The UK Foreign Office complained of unacceptable behaviour, after Russians working at British Council offices in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg were called in for questioning by the FSB
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/ 8 December 2007
European and African leaders arriving for Saturday’s summit in Lisbon were accused by parliamentarians and human rights groups on both continents of trying to sweep human rights issues under the carpet. Much of the criticism was aimed at the absence of Darfur from the main agenda of the European Union-Africa meeting.
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/ 22 October 2007
The British government has thrown its backing behind an ambitious Afghan strategy to split the Taliban by securing the defection of senior members of the militant group and large numbers of their followers. The strategy, spearheaded by the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, reflects a significant shift in British policy, and is showing initial signs of success.
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/ 17 September 2007
The former commander of the failed United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda on Sunday warned the newly appointed head of a similar force in Darfur that he faced ”long odds” against success and predicted he would be betrayed by the very officials and governments meant to be backing the mission.
The United States’s decision to arm its allies in the Middle East is being seen by many regional experts as a last resort, in anticipation of failure of Washington’s policies on both Iraq and Iran. The stated aim is to reassure Sunni Arab states that the US will stand by them in the face of uncertainty in Iraq and an increasingly powerful Iran.
Tony Blair is to make his first working visit to Ramallah on the West Bank in July as a special envoy of the quartet of Middle East peacemakers to discuss Palestinian state-building, it emerged last week after he was confirmed in the high-risk job amid scepticism about his chances of success.
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/ 27 November 2006
It was, in retrospect, an age of soft-hat innocence. At the start of their deployment to Helmand last year, British soldiers acted like preening contestants in a military popularity contest. Paratroopers spurned helmets in favour of berets, learned pidgin Pashto and armed themselves with friendly smiles.