The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday that 100 people have died of suspected pneumonic plague in eastern Congo. Preliminary results from diagnostic tests have confirmed pneumonic plague, WHO said in a statement. Suspected cases of bubonic plague have also been reported, but the total number is not yet known, WHO said.
Swiss justice authorities said on Thursday that they had thwarted a plot by a group of North Africans to attack a plane of the Israeli airline El Al, and had made seven arrests in the process. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said that the individuals had been seized in sweeps, which began on May 12 in Zurich and Basel, following an investigation.
The incidence of new HIV infections appears to have stabilised for the first time in the 25-year history of Aids, although the global pandemic will still have a deep, long-term impact, according to a new United Nations report. However, huge problems remain, the UN agency coordinating the fight against HIV/Aids warned on Tuesday.
United Nations agencies called on Monday for field hospitals, medicines and tents to be rushed to Indonesia within days as the global relief effort to help tens of thousands of earthquake victims gathered pace. In Geneva, UN and Red Cross agencies met to try to coordinate the huge mobilisation.
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.
The United Nations, aid agencies and national governments were scrambling on Sunday to get food and supplies to Indonesian towns and cities that have been reduced to rubble by an earthquake that left thousands dead or homeless. As photos and footage emerged of stunned, anguished survivors limping over crumbled buildings, agencies and governments offered millions of dollars, tonnes of supplies and hundreds of personnel.
A dissident Iranian journalist, Akbar Ganji, and a lawyer and broadcaster in Zimbabwe, Arnold Tsunga, will share a leading international human rights award this year. The award is presented every year by 11 of the world’s major human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Polio has returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the first time in six years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Friday. WHO spokesperson Fadela Chaib told reporters that a two-and-a-half year old girl had been paralysed by a strain of the polio virus that had been carried from India via Angola.
More than 12-million people in the world are locked in a modern form of slavery, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Wednesday as France marked its abolition of the practice more than 150 years ago. The ILO has said that globalisation is helping to fuel forced labour, especially in Europe.
World football’s governing body Fifa have clarified the deadline they set for the implementation of a new law that punishes clubs whose fans racially abuse players after Inter Milan escaped with a mere fine for a recent transgression. Fifa said the new ruling would come into effect immediately for those football associations whose regulations already contain a clause setting out the same punishment.
Life expectancy for women in Zimbabwe has plummeted to just 34 years, by far the lowest in the world according to data released on Friday by the World Health Organisation. Women in the Southern African nation and in nearby Swaziland are the only ones in the world who are not expected to live into their forties.
Ethiopian children are facing a new threat after two years of drought because recent rainfall has increased the risk of lethal disease, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said on Friday. Damien Personnaz, a Unicef spokesperson, said that rain in parts of the Oromia region had raised the spectre of diarrhea and malaria.
South African explorer Mike Horn and his Norwegian colleague Borge Ousland have reached the North Pole after a 60-day crossing that is said to be the first-ever accomplished during the polar night, their website announced on Friday. The explorers said they had reached the North Pole at 4pm GMT on Thursday.
Most of the world is on target to reduce the impact of tuberculosis (TB), but efforts have yet to bear fruit in Africa where the disease goes hand in hand with Aids, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday. In its annual report on the global impact of TB, the WHO said the disease claimed 1,7-million lives in 2004.
The top United Nations humanitarian official, Jan Egeland, on Wednesday urged Sudan’s government to accept the intervention of UN peacekeepers to tackle worsening strife in the western region of Darfur. ”The UN should be able to take over security in Darfur simply because the world is not able to equip the African Union (AU) force as it should.”
Most Indian Ocean coral reefs which were hit by the December 2004 tsunami escaped serious damage, but their full recovery could be hampered by humans, the World Conservation Union warned on Wednesday. Most of the ocean’s tsunami-affected coral reefs could recover within five to ten years.
No image available
/ 15 February 2006
The worst drought to hit Somalia in a decade could soon begin claiming lives in the Horn of Africa nation, the international Red Cross warned on Wednesday. ”People aren’t dying of hunger today in Somalia, but that could change fast,” said Pascal Hundt, who heads the International Committee of the Red Cross mission there.
No image available
/ 9 February 2006
Campaigners on Thursday charged that the global tobacco industry is trying to water down an international treaty which aims to cut deaths and illness caused by smoking. A coalition of activists said they were particularly worried by industry lobbying activities in developing countries.
No image available
/ 7 February 2006
Gunmen have stolen 20 trucks carrying aid in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, the World Food Programme said on Tuesday. Christiane Berthiaume, spokesperson for the United Nations agency, said the attacks on several convoys took place in recent weeks in zones controlled by Darfur’s rebels.
No image available
/ 31 January 2006
World airlines are set to make losses of $4-billion or more over the coming year, despite continuing growth in air travel, the top industry association said on Tuesday. Air passenger traffic grew by 7,6% in 2005, driven largely by the Middle East and in Latin America, the International Air Transport Association said.
No image available
/ 30 January 2006
Natural disasters were on the rise last year, leaving tens of millions of people destitute and in need of aid, but they claimed fewer lives, a United Nations monitoring body said on Monday. The overall death toll dropped to 91 900, with 73 338 of the dead in Pakistan’s quake zone alone.
No image available
/ 30 January 2006
Pampered zoo animals in the Swiss city of Zurich gobbled up 500 tonnes of fresh food prepared by a dedicated gourmet chef last year, including 21 tonnes of meat, 714 garlic bulbs and 11 135 kiwi fruit. More traditional dishes were also on offer for the 4 000 animals.
No image available
/ 28 January 2006
The World Economic Forum (WEF) turned its eye toward politics and the Middle East on Saturday, with visitors and leaders focusing on Iran’s push to develop nuclear power and creating calm in neighbouring Iraq. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was set to join United States Senator Saxby Chambliss for a candid dialogue on Iran’s increasingly bellicose rhetoric.
No image available
/ 27 January 2006
United States software tycoon Bill Gates, Britain and Nigeria unveiled an ambitious -billion plan at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday to prevent 14-million tuberculosis (TB) deaths over the next decade. Gates committed to tripling his own foundation’s funding against tuberculosis to -million by 2015.
No image available
/ 27 January 2006
Rock star and activist Bono has launched a new push to fight HIV/Aids in Africa, unveiling a partnership with American Express and other companies to offer products under a brand called ”Red”, proceeds of which will be funnelled to the cause. The project will market red-themed products from top brands.
No image available
/ 27 January 2006
Some of the contenders touted to replace United Nations chief Kofi Annan faced off at a debate on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on the future of the world body. Joining Annan on stage were Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea and senior Sri Lankan diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala.
No image available
/ 27 January 2006
With Muslim extremists blamed for fomenting global unrest, leaders from Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan and Pakistan met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to mull the Islamic world’s fractious relations with the West. The discussion ranged from terrorism and modernisation to the nuclear balance in the Middle East.
No image available
/ 27 January 2006
Avian flu has the potential to develop into a global pandemic that would be as devastating as the Black Death of the 14th century, the World Economic Forum warned on Thursday in its assessment of the risks threatening stability and prosperity.
No image available
/ 26 January 2006
Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Thursday that a push by Chinese groups to acquire companies abroad was matched by a desire to attain international business standards. "Chinese companies are now looking more and more at global competition," Zhou told the World Economic Forum in Davos.
No image available
/ 25 January 2006
Stars and famous brands are continuing to battle cyber-squatters, with the number of complaints filed in 2005 jumping by a fifth, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) said on Wednesday. Wipo said its arbitration centre received 1Â 456 cyber-squatting cases last year, or 20% more than in 2004.
No image available
/ 25 January 2006
The jobs of tomorrow are here today — there’s just going to be a need for many more of them, officials at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting predicted on Wednesday. United States Labour Secretary Elaine Chao said the US has forecast a demand for millions of nurses and health-care workers.
No image available
/ 25 January 2006
Ministers from more than 25 of the world’s major trading powers will start trying again on Wednesday to break a deadlock in global trade talks. Major players at the 149-member World Trade Organisation (WTO) appear as far apart as ever on the vexing subject of farm trade, as well as market access for industrial goods.