ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN-UNITED NATIONS: Business, Unions Debate Voluntary Initiatives

Government, business and non- govermental organisation (NGO) leaders are making new efforts to encourage corporations to adopt environmentally-friendly policies, but not everyone in developing countries is happy with this approach.

ENVIRONMENT-UN: Business, Unions Debate Voluntary Initiatives

Government, business and non- govermental organisation (NGO) leaders are making new efforts to encourage corporations to adopt environmentally-friendly policies, but not everyone in developing countries is happy with this approach.

RIGHTS-RWANDA: UN Tries to Speed Up Tribunal Work

Stung by charges that its war crimes court on Rwanda has been moving too slowly, the United Nations is planning to create a third trial chamber of the Arusha- based tribunal to process genocide accusations more efficiently.

ENVIRONMENT-UN: Business, Unions Debate Voluntary Initiatives //REPEATING//

Government, business and non- govermental organisation (NGO) leaders are making new efforts to encourage corporations to adopt environmentally-friendly policies, but not everyone in developing countries is happy with this approach.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Cracks in UN Security Council on Sanctions

The renewal of U.N. sanctions against Iraq turned out to be a notable event Monday, not that it changed any aspect of the nearly eight-year embargo but because it signalled a growing willingness to hear Iraqi complaints.

ART-USA: Fernand Leger’s American Sojourn Re-visited

When French painter Fernand Leger visited New York City in 1930, he wrote back to his friends that the city's "overloaded spectacle" had driven him "mad with joy." Now, a New York exhibition recaptures his experience in a survey of Leger's machine-inspired and yet sensuous work.

ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN-INDIA: Growing Water Crisis in India

India, already suffering from excessive depletion of its water table and a lack of drinking water during the summer months, could face a major crisis by the year 2017, warns a new report released here Tuesday.

ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN-UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Members Focus on Avoiding Water Crisis

The task of providing fresh water to all people in the world is becoming ever more challenging, says the United Nations, and nations must plan now how they will manage water resources efficiently - possibly at a greater cost.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Battle Lines Drawn for U.N. Debate on Sanctions

For nearly eight years, every U.N. Security Council review of sanctions has had the same result: the automatic extension, often without comment, of a tight embargo which excludes all non-humanitarian commerce with Iraq.

RIGHTS: Wang Dan’s Release Keeps Spotlight on China

The release of China's most prominent political prisoner, Wang Dan, to the United States this week will increase pressure on U.S. President Bill Clinton to push for the release of more detainees in coming months, according to human rights activists.

RIGHTS: Wang Dan’s Release Keeps Spotlight on China

The release of China's most prominent political prisoner, Wang Dan, to the United States this week will increase pressure on U.S. President Bill Clinton to push for the release of more detainees in coming months, according to human rights activists.

RIGHTS-ALGERIA: Activists Criticise Inaction Over Massacres

The lack of action taken by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on Algeria's recent massacres is another sign that the Algerian government is under no pressure to improve the situation in the country, say human rights groups.

ENVIRONMENT: Growing Water Crisis in India

India, already suffering from excessive depletion of its water table and a lack of drinking water during the summer months, could face a major crisis by the year 2017, warns a new report released here Tuesday.

BOOKS: Liberterians Explore Freedom of the Internet

Every political ideology can be transmitted through the Internet, from the missives of Zapatista leader 'Subcomandante Marcos' to the rantings of the neo-Nazi organisation - White Aryan Resistance. But for some users of the web, the communications network has fostered its own ideology: post-partisan libertarianism.

ENVIRONMENT: UN Members Focus on Avoiding Water Crisis

The task of providing fresh water to all people in the world is becoming ever more challenging, says the United Nations, and nations must plan now how they will manage water resources efficiently - possibly at a greater cost.

DISARMAMENT-IRAQ: UN Reports Offer Little Hope for Sanctions’ End

A series of reports on disarmament and human rights in Iraq, released by U.N. officials during the past week, painted a grim picture of a regime that still is not complying with international norms.

POLITICS-INDONESIA: Backlash Feared Against Ethnic Chinese//REPEATING – AND CORRECTING GARBLED COPY//

Indonesia's economic and political crisis again has raised fears of the threat of harassment and violence aginst the country's ethnic Chinese minority, according to U.S. and Indonesian-based activists.

POLITICS-INDONESIA: Backlash Feared Against Ethnic Chinese

Indonesia's economic and political crisis again has raised fears of the threat of harassment and violence aginst the country's ethnic Chinese minority, according to U.S. and Indonesian-based activists.

DEVELOPMENT BULLETIN-WOMEN: Motherhood Still Not Safe, U.N. Warns

More than 1,600 women die each day as a result of complications from pregnancy or childbirth, although their deaths could be prevented by health services at an annual cost of as little as two dollars per person, according to the United Nations.

LABOUR-US: Chinese Garment Workers Fight for Lost Wages

Chinese workers in New York's garment districts are fighting back against factory owners who regularly deny them back wages - a practise, they say, which continues despite union representation and U.S. labour laws.

DISARMAMENT-AFRICA: Nations Push for Small Arms Moratorium

The increasing use of small arms to fuel conflicts throughout Africa is prompting the continent's governments and the United Nations to seek a region-wide moratorium on weapons within the next few months.