RIGHTS: Terrorism Leads Debate as UN Commission Begins Sessions

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights launched its annual sessions Monday with marked concern about the impacts of the war against terrorism being waged by the United States.

COMMUNICATIONS: Internet Marks North-South Telecoms Gap

The expansion of communication information technologies continues at a rapid pace worldwide, but the gap separating rich and poor countries when it comes to Internet access continues to widen just as quickly.

RIGHTS: Anti-Terrorism War Undermines Basic Freedoms, Says Amnesty

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International is calling the global community's attention to the violation of basic rights of hundreds of people who have been detained in the United States in relation to the Sep 11 attacks, and urging the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to take action to prevent further mistreatment.

RIGHTS: Migrants, the Other Victims of the War on Terror

The possibility of strengthening the rights of immigrants, particularly those with "irregular" legal status, continues to diminish in the wake of the Sep 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, according to a study submitted to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

DEVELOPMENT: European Scepticism Ahead of Monterrey Conference

The United Nations initiative to achieve a first-ever international mobilisation of financial resources for development in poor countries is doomed for failure even before debate begins at the world conference slated to take place next week in Monterrey, Mexico, say European development activists.

DEVELOPMENT: Patents from Nations of the South See Upward Trend

The number of patent applications filed by inventors and researchers from developing countries grew more in 2001 than the number of requests coming from industrialised countries, reports the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

POLITICS-SWITZERLAND: UN Membership to Test Long-Held Neutrality

With a narrow victory for the vote in favour of joining the United Nations, Switzerland begins to abandon centuries of neutrality, though still maintains its independence from Europe and the North American Treaty Organisation (NATO).

POLITICS-SWITZERLAND: UN Membership Bid Awaits Referendum Results

A "yes" victory in Sunday's referendum on whether Switzerland should join the United Nations could end the country's long history of isolation, but it could also terminate its tradition of neutrality, say critics.

REFUGEES-AFRICA: Girls Raped by Relief Workers, Says UN Report

Girls and adolescent refugees at camps in western Africa are victims of sexual abuse and exploitation by relief workers from international agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), a United Nations agency reported Wednesday.

TRADE: WTO Rules Against Canada in Dispute with Brazil

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled in favour of Brazil in a dispute with Canada, although some trade negotiators say the decision highlighted imbalances in the multilateral trade system that put developing countries at a disadvantage.

TRADE: Doha Round of Talks Now Has Faces and Names

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has cleared one more hurdle on the way to new multilateral round of negotiations with the approval of the list of chairpersons for the committees and groups that will carry the process forward.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Donors Must Join Fight against Malaria, Says MSF

Doctors without Borders (Médicins Sans Frontières, MSF) warned the health ministers of East African countries Wednesday that the ill-advised changes in malaria treatments could cause fatalities, and urged donor countries to join in "effective, long-term" efforts to fight the disease.

RIGHTS: War Never Again a Child’s Territory – Protocol

The use of children as soldiers, a capital violation of human rights suffered by nearly a half million minors worldwide, will be banned as of this Tuesday, when a new international treaty enters into force.

RIGHTS: Red Cross, Amnesty Demand POW Status for AlQaeda Captives

Two leading international human rights organisations issued objections Friday to Washington's refusal to grant prisoner-of-war status to the militants of the Islamic Al Qaeda network who the United States captured in Afghanistan.

TRADE: UN to Assist Developing Countries in Talks

A United Nations agency launched a technical assistance plan to help developing nations overcome the hurdles they will face in the coming World Trade Organisation (WTO) multilateral talks.

TRADE: WTO Surmounts Last Hurdles to New Round of Talks

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) surmounted the last hurdles standing in the way of the start of the new round of trade talks approved last November by the ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar.

HEALTH: WHO Proposes New Model to Fight Infectious Disease

Health strategies that up to now have focused mainly on disease prevention must incorporate treatment with drugs, according to a new report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

TRADE: European Union and US on Verge of Trade War

A World Trade Organisation (WTO) arbitration panel has two months to decide whether the European Union (EU) can slap four billion dollars worth of sanctions on the United States in retaliation for protectionist U.S. tax legislation.

HUMAN RIGHTS: A Year without the United States

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights will meet this year without the United States, for the first time in 56 years - a fact that augurs new conclusions in the commission's assessments of the world's most flagrant human rights violations.

TRADE: WTO Gears Up for New Talks in 2002/REPEATING/

Three years of arduous work lie ahead for the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which must immediately begin a new round of trade-liberalising talks while also maintaining a difficult internal political balance.

TRADE: WTO Gears Up for New Talks in 2002

Three years of arduous work lie ahead for the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which must immediately begin a new round of trade-liberalising talks while also maintaining a difficult internal political balance.