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/ 11 September 2006
Opec ministers headed into their Monday meeting in Vienna signalling that they would maintain the cartel’s official output ceiling against the backdrop of falling oil prices. However, they were facing calls to react to the spectre of oversupply and a deeper decline in prices, including from within their own ranks.
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Argentina took a huge step towards securing a berth in the second round of the World Cup finals by beating an unlucky Côte d’Ivoire 2-1, although the African Natons Cup finalists threatened the two-time winners at the end. The Ivorians, spearheaded by Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, repeatedly and clearly troubled the South American defence.
United Nations and Red Cross agencies were meeting in Geneva on Monday to coordinate a mounting international relief effort for thousands of victims of Indonesia’s deadly earthquake. The death toll from the earthquake has risen to at least 5 136, the Social Affairs Ministry said on Monday.
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/ 11 February 2006
A first taste of the tallest hills in Olympic history looms before ski jumpers at the Winter Games in the Italian Alps this weekend, unsettling even the most seasoned competitors. Czech Jakub Janda heads into the normal hill final at the 2006 Turin Games on Sunday with a narrow overall World Cup lead over five-times world champion Janne Ahonen of Finland.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Thursday decided to start membership talks with Iran after the United States lifted its long-standing opposition to Tehran’s bid, Iran’s ambassador said. The move came just a day after negotiations in Geneva resulted in a diplomatic deal to continue the talks on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan sought to drum up support for his reforms of the world body on Thursday, by warning member states that human rights have entered a ”new era” focusing on their actions to respect fundamental freedoms. ”Nobody has a monopoly on human rights virtue,” Annan said.
Rebellious old habits die hard in the northwestern Swiss valley of Val-de-Travers, where the alcoholic drink absinthe, nicknamed the ”green fairy”, is about to become legal again. The lush, forested valley of 12 000 people in the Jura hills near the French border claims to have been the birthplace of absinthe, which was said to make one blind or mad when prohibition took hold in 1908.