There are 304 articles

  • Protecting Haiti's children from 'cowboy adoptions'

    The failed attempt by the New Life Children's Refuge to take 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic has shed light on the activities of groups that disregard the rules of international 'adoption'. Even before the earthquake, Haiti was known as a nation of orphans. Now there are countless more. In the past few weeks, child welfare organizations.. More

  • Proxy detention 'collusion' exposed

    Governments around the world, including those of Arab and European states, have colluded in the secret detention of 'terrorism suspects', UN investigators have reported. An extensive report, released on Wednesday, paints a disturbing picture of a systematic secret detention program involving many countries. Officials found that secret detention "may.. More

  • Eight years of Guantanamo: What’s changed?

    The first 20 detainees arrived at Guantánamo's Camp X-Ray eight years ago, on January 11, 2002. Just over seven years later, President Barack Obama-on his second full day after taking office-issued an order to shut the prison within a year. His rhetoric was clear and decisive. "There is no time to lose," he said, remarking that the.. More

  • Afghan aid fails to feed the hungry

    It is not hard to see why Alla Gul is upset. Her two-year-old daughter cries weakly in her arms with barely enough energy to eat. The child stares vacantly at the other patients in the Charikar hospital ward, her muscles wasted with malnutrition, her angular bones protruding like twigs beneath her papery skin. When Alla Gul returned with her family.. More

  • 'The US military is exhausted'

    The call for over 30,000 more troops to be sent to Afghanistan is a travesty for the people of that country who have already suffered eight brutal years of occupation. It is also a harsh blow to the US soldiers facing imminent deployment. As Barack Obama, the US president, gears up for a further escalation that will bring the total number of troops.. More

  • 'Get the war criminals arrested now'

    The recent arrest warrant issued in London for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is more than justified. This woman, along with two other Israeli leaders, Ehud Olmert andEhud Barak, stood at the helm of the Israeli government that ordered, supervised and charted the genocidal onslaught against the Gaza Strip this time last year. She was.. More

  • Moro Muslims, Philippines hope to sign peace deal by 2010

    The Philippines and the Muslim group hope to sign a deal by April next year over Muslim homeland, officials from both sides said on Wednesday. Both parties are pushing to finalize the deal, which involves bringing back international monitors to the region, before Philippine President Gloria Arroyo's term ends in June 2010, as present negotiations.. More

  • Unborn children for sale in S Korea

    The illegal sale of children makes up more than half of all the cases of human trafficking around the world, according to recent estimates. Traditionally it has involved the exploitation of children in poorer nations, but an Al Jazeera investigation has found that it is also happening in developed countries, such as South Korea. For four months,.. More

  • 'British army used Guantánamo interrogation methods'

    Dozens of prisoners held at a secret British army interrogation centre in Iraq claim they suffered unlawful physical and mental abuse similar to that carried out by the US on detainees at Guantánamo Bay. Inmates at the high-security compound within the Shaibah base say they were held in solitary confinement and forced to wear dark goggles and.. More

  • Yemen's battle for the economy

    On a ridge of the rugged brown mountains that encircle Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, Qatari investors are building a little slice of the Gulf. "This project will be an icon of quality," promised Hassan Fadala, deputy CEO of operations at Qatari Diar, the real estate investment company pumping $600mn into Al Rayyan Hills, a luxury residential.. More

  • Israel lobby 'big influence in UK'

    A British documentary has alleged that any future Conservative government will be disproportionately influenced by a powerful pro-Israeli lobby in the country. Channel 4's Dispatches program on Monday said that at least half of the Conservative shadow cabinet are members of the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), one of a number of pro-Israel lobby.. More

  • China 'black jails' under scrutiny

    A new human-rights report claims that Chinese citizens are kidnapped and held in informal detention centers, known locally as "black jails", to prevent them from bringing complaints to the central government. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the practice of locking up disgruntled petitioners has evolved into a lucrative cottage.. More

  • Guantanamo conditions 'deteriorate'

    On the night that Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, 21-year-old Mohammed el Gharani was sitting in a segregation cell in Guantanamo Bay's high security Echo Block. He remembers the excitement among his fellow prisoners at the prospect of an Obama presidency. "Everyone was very hopeful; people were saying he was going to change things,.. More

  • Africa trial for malaria vaccine

    Scientists in Africa have begun trials of a malaria vaccine. Developed through two decades of research, the Mosquirix vaccine - also known as RDS,S - is being tested in Africa's biggest ever clinical trial, spanning seven nations, and involving some 16,000 children. More than 5,000 children have already undergone preliminary trials since testing began.. More

  • Atrocities haunt DRC child soldiers

    Militia brigades abducting children and forcing them to become soldiers, porters and sex slaves is a huge problem in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the last few months, fighting between the DRC army and Rwandan Hutu rebels and other militias has intensified. Aid agencies describe the situation as catastrophic, warning that recruitment is on.. More