Farhan Haq

EAST TIMOR: U.N. Steps Up Efforts to Find Solution

U.N. officials are intensifying negotiations with Indonesia and Portugal on the future of East Timor amid reports of new clashes and wide-scale demonstrations in Dili, the capital of the disputed territory..

ARTS-ENTERTAINMENT – 6. MEDIA-USA: The Changing Face of Journalism

By Farhan Haq

There has been little praise for the U.S. media in recent years with the public scorning journalists for sins ranging from the failure to report simple facts to the tawdry focus on topics such as the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

POLITICS-AFGHANISTAN: U.N. Sending Envoy as Crisis Worsens

By Farhan Haq

The United Nations, largely absent from Afghanistan since late August, is sending special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to the strife-torn nation this week to meet leaders of the ruling Taliban movement.

LABOUR-AMERICAS: Students Push for Sweatshop-Free Clothes

By Farhan Haq

Students across the United States are pushing their universities to join an anti-sweatshop crusade to make sure all clothes bearing university logos are made under policies that protect overseas workers.

RIGHTS-CHILE: Rights Group Wants Chilean General Axed

By Farhan Haq

Human Rights Watch called Friday for the dismissal of the Chilean officer in charge of U.N. military observers in Kashmir because of his alleged involvement in atrocities in Chile 25 years ago.

KOSOVO: U.S. Warns of Looming NATO Attack

By Farhan Haq

Western diplomats said Thursday an attack on Yugoslavia by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces appeared imminent, unless Yugoslav security forces withdraw from Kosovo.

FINANCE-US: Rate Cut Fails to Quell Recession Fears//REPEATING//

By Farhan Haq

Warnings by major US Banks and investment firms of a possible recession in the coming year have grown louder despite the Federal Reserve attempt to stem their worst fears by slightly lowering interest rates.

FINANCE-US: Rate Cut Fails to Quell Recession Fears

By Farhan Haq

Warnings by major US Banks and investment firms of a possible recession in the coming year have grown louder despite the Federal Reserve attempt to stem their worst fears by slightly lowering interest rates.

POLITICS-UN: Washington’s Influence Approaches Nadir

By Farhan Haq

U.S. officials at the United Nations are talking loudly as ever about the importance of the world body in world crises ranging from Kosovo to Iraq, but diplomats argue that Washington's influence here has never been lower.

MUSIC-USA: Swing Era is Back

By Farhan Haq

Years after the Lambada fizzled and died, and the Macarena dropped out of sight, young Americans have returned to the past for the latest hip dance number - the 1940s- era Lindy Hop.

POLITICS-UN: Annan Condemns Yugoslav Atrocities in Kosovo

By Farhan Haq

The U.N. Security Council prepared its response to the growing crisis in Kosovo Monday and Secretary- General Kofi Annan presented a report detailing increasing brutality in the Yugoslav province.

POLITICS-KOSOVO: U.N. Faces Time for Decisions

By Farhan Haq

The coming week will be decisive for the United Nations which faces the challenge of backing words with action in dealing with the crisis over the conflict in Kosovo.

POLITICS-BURMA: Opposition Seeks Tougher UN Action Against Junta

By Farhan Haq

Burma's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) is pushing for tougher U.N. action against the military regime in Rangoon if the junta refuses to allow the Burmese Parliament to convene.

POLITICS-UN: Inching Towards Action on Kosovo

By Farhan Haq

The latest allegations of massacres in Kosovo prompted the United Nations and Western states Thursday to consider military action against Yugoslavia - but member nations remained at odds about whether to carry out air strikes.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Baghdad Sticks to Its Guns

By Farhan Haq

U.N. efforts to end Iraq's month- long suspension of its cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors have stalled again and Baghdad has stepped up its criticism of the weapons team.

LIBYA-UN: Tripoli Objects to Lockerbie Trial Proposals

By Farhan Haq

Libya has rejected several conditions attached to a plan that would allow the trial of two Libyan bombing suspects to go ahead in the Netherlands, Libya's U.N. Ambassador, Abuzed Omar Dorda, said Tuesday.

CINEMA-US: ‘Rush Hour’ Makes Jackie Chan a U.S. Star

By Farhan Haq

With his success in the new action-comedy film 'Rush Hour', Jackie Chan has reached the heights of Hollywood - the first actor speaking almost no English to reach movie stardom since the hey day of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

PALESTINE-UN: Arafat Presses Case for Independence by May

By Farhan Haq

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat Monday renewed his push for areas under Palestinian self-rule to become independent as early as next May and the United States indicated its willingness to throw its weight behind the sluggish Middle East peace process.