News
Brown requests compensation review for UK farmers
Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked Environment Secretary Hilary Benn on Saturday to examine whether farmers should be compensated for two outbreaks of cattle diseases to hit Britain this year.
Bush draws fire at U.S. climate change talks
Some of the world's biggest greenhouse polluters took aim at President George W. Bush on Friday, calling him "isolated" and questioning his leadership on the problem of global warming.
China blasts Taiwan's UN bid as danger to peace
Taiwan's campaign to gain United Nations membership and a referendum on the island's U.N. application pose grave dangers to Asia-Pacific security, China's foreign minister said on Friday.
U.N. envoy flies into Myanmar maelstrom
A U.N. envoy flew to Myanmar on Saturday to persuade its ruling generals to use talks instead of guns to end mass protests, but the U.S. expressed concern that Ibrahim Gambari had been moved away from troubled Yangon.
Conservative US Episcopalians plot separate church
Conservative bishops upset with U.S. Episcopal Church stands on gay issues said on Friday they will call a constitutional convention to form a new "Anglican union" in North America.
World powers delay action on Iran sanctions
The world's major powers agreed on Friday to delay a vote on tougher sanctions on Iran until late November at the earliest, depending on reports by the U.N. nuclear watchdog and a European Union negotiator.
German politician says Mosques must not dwarf churches
Bavaria's conservative leader Edmund Stoiber won thunderous applause in his farewell speech on Friday for saying mosques were getting too big.
Police smash Balkan human trafficking ring
Bosnian and Croatian police have arrested four people on suspicion of running a human trafficking ring taking individuals from the Balkans into the European Union, Bosnian border police said on Friday.
11,000 fled Mogadishu fighting in September
Eleven thousand people have fled Mogadishu this month because of intensified violence and the northern part of the Somali capital is becoming increasingly deserted, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday.
Myanmar food relief hit by protest crackdown
Army-ruled Myanmar has stopped or restricted the delivery of U.N. food relief to 500,000 people, many of them children, as it cracks down on mass protests against the generals, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Saturday.
Rwanda to urge male circumcision in AIDS fight
Rwanda plans to encourage male circumcision to help the tiny African nation curb HIV/AIDS rates, a senior official told Reuters on Friday.
France fighting blue tongue outbreak
France is fighting an outbreak of the livestock virus, bluetongue disease, and there have been 2,246 cases, the French Agriculture Ministry said on Friday.
Bush authorizes $25 million energy aid for N.Korea
President George W. Bush on Friday authorized $25 million in energy aid for North Korea as a reward for Pyongyang's movement toward dismantling its nuclear weapons program.
EU's Solana confident about building Chad force
The European Union will assemble enough troops to help protect civilians in Chad and Central African Republic from violence in neighbouring Darfur, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Saturday.
African regional church grouping warns of rise in Burundi conflict
An African regional Christian grouping has warned that Burundi could slide into renewed fighting as a result of tensions within the ruling party and the presence of the rebel Forces for National Liberation, which itself is divided and has refused to sign a peace agreement.
Church group examines 'water-thirsty' industries
A church lobby group that seeks to influence corporate business behaviour in Britain and Ireland is turning its attention to the issue of water, which the group says now affects regions once thought to have plentiful supplies.