News

Georgia says 'very close' to war with Russia

Russia's deployment of extra troops in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia has brought the prospect of war "very close", a minister of ex-Soviet Georgia said on Tuesday.

Russia to swear in new leader

Thirty guns will salute Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday, when he is sworn in as a new Russian president in the Kremlin's throne room to replace his long-time mentor, the powerful Vladimir Putin.

Burma cyclone aid starts amid hunger fears

Disease, hunger and thirst pose a major threat to hundreds of thousands of survivors of Cyclone Nargis, aid agencies said on Wednesday, urging Burma's military rulers to open the doors to international humanitarian relief.

Anti-government protesters paralyse Beirut

Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition blocked main roads in Beirut with burning barricades on Wednesday, paralysing the city and deepening a political conflict with the U.S.-backed government.

Drugs undermine Afghanistan's efforts to rebuild

Jam Bigum, a drug addict in Afghanistan's impoverished northern province of Badakhshan, feeds her three-month-old son opium three times a day to keep him quiet.

Bush urges Burma to accept U.S. relief officials

President George W. Bush made a rare appeal to Burma's military rulers on Tuesday to accept U.S. relief officials and added $3 million (1.52 million pounds) in aid to help victims of a cyclone that devastated the Southeast Asian nation.

Emergency evacuation as Chile volcano spits lava

Crackling with explosions, Chile's Chaiten volcano began spitting lava on Tuesday following its first eruption in thousands of years, and Navy warships were deployed to evacuate nearby residents in the southern region of Patagonia.

Nigeria oil rebels pledge truce if Carter mediates

Niger Delta rebels promised on Tuesday to halt attacks on the oil industry if the Nigerian government would allow former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to act as a mediator.

Pope urges international generosity for Myanmar

Pope Benedict urged the international community on Tuesday to provide generous and effective aid to help Burma deal with the death and disaster caused by a cyclone.

U.N. seeks urgent access to Darfur bombing victims

The top U.N. humanitarian official in Sudan on Tuesday called for immediate access to those wounded in a government bombing attack on a school and busy marketplace in North Darfur, which killed 12 people.

Amnesty says civilians targeted in Somalia conflict

All parties in Somalia's conflict have carried out rights abuses including executions, rape and torture, Amnesty International said on Tuesday, adding there were reports Ethiopian soldiers had slit civilians' throats.

Parliamentary campaign launches to reduce abortion limit

Nadine Dorries MP will on Tuesday launch the official parliamentary campaign to reduce the upper limit for abortion from 24 weeks to 20 weeks when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is debated in the Commons later this month.

A look back at China's growing faith

Much attention has been paid to China's human rights violations, including its suppression of religious freedom, ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August. But a look back at the past decade shows how far the strictly secular and officially atheist nation has come in terms of religion.