"High oil prices hit poorest hardest"

The Lowdown on the Downlow
The date was April 16, 2004. The words were those of Oprah Winfrey leading off that Friday's version of her long running syndicated daily TV show. But instead of information on the promised "many ways you can get AIDS," what Oprah's audience got was an hour of disinformation, stereotyping and hucksterism. They got just one way to avoid the deadly infection, from one source: secretive and predatory bisexual black men, "Living on the Down Low."

Frances Newton executed in Huntsville
HUNTSVILLE -- Frances Newton was the third woman and first black woman executed since Texas resumed capital punishment in the early '80s.

Ghana still tied to IMF!
John Agyekum Kufuor, President of the Republic of Ghana, is reported to have said that Ghana has decided to wean itself from budgetary support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with effect from the next budget, which is expected to be presented in December this year.

Sudan: Darfur Risks Descending Into Anarchy - Observers
Darfur risks sliding into a perpetual state of lawlessness even as the Sudanese government and the main rebel groups in the war-torn region discuss the possibility of peacefully resolving the conflict there, observers have warned.

High Oil Prices Hit Poorest Hardest
As thousands of angry Nigerians took to the streets on Thursday to protest against 30 percent hikes in fuel price, across West Africa some of the world's poorest also were feeling the pinch, struggling to cope with the record-breaking cost of crude and its knock-on effect on basic goods.

Gono Says Zimbabwe Will Pay Off Remaining Arrears to IMF
Last week (September 9) the executive board of the International Monetary Fund voted for the third time in 18 months to postpone the expulsion of Zimbabwe for non-repayment of overdue loans. From Washington, VOA's Barry Wood has more on the dispute.

Critics Blame US for Watered Down UN Reforms
The document that diplomats have agreed upon to reform the United Nations is coming under sharp criticism in some quarters and the United States is getting much of the blame. Critics say the reform measures have been watered down and scaled back

Security Council votes to ban incitement to terrorism
Incitement to terrorism is to be banned worldwide under a United Nations Security Council resolution unanimously adopted on Wednesday and promoted by Britain in the wake of the London bombings.

Black?: Bush Doesn’t Care
The comfort of a middle class lifestyle has partitioned Black America into two groups: those who have a college education and those that do not. Middle Class Black people have engaged the “American Dream” and are more interested in accumulating materials than developing community… In many ways, Black America was distressed, desolate and deserted long before Katrina. Katrina was the personification of how Black people have been treated throughout the history of this country.

African leaders addressing UN Summit urge greater representation on Security Council
African leaders addressing the United Nations Summit meeting in New York today said their continent should have permanent representation on the Security Council, whose agenda is dominated by conflicts there.

Exxon stays silent over alleged human rights breaches in Chad & Cameroon
American oil company, ExxonMobil, has refused to comment on a report produced by Amnesty International last week claiming that contracts between the company and the governments of Chad and Cameroon are breaching human rights.

Sudanese army denies attack on Darfur rebels
A spokesman of Sudan’s armed forces has denied that government forces launched an attack on Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) positions in Darfur.

Ghana To ban Nigerian Goods?
Ghana has threatened to impose a ban on some made in Nigerian goods if the latter does not revoke its current ban of some Ghanaian goods on its market.

Ghana donates cocoa drinks, chocolates to Katrina victims in US
Ghana Tuesday announced a donation of cocoa drinks and chocolates worth 100,000 US dollars to the US for victims of Hurricane Katrina. "By this modest donation, Ghana registers her solidarity with the people of the US as they struggle to deal with the tragedy," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Accra.

Britain's race shame: the alarming levels of black deaths in police custody: where's the justice?
The world looked on in disgust at the racism in southern America exposed by Hurricane Katrina but it is time the British public acknowledged that our own government is no better when it comes to protecting the welfare of its black citizens.

Poor nations lose in watered-down UN document
Diplomats at the United Nations finally reached agreement last night on a watered-down document to reform the organisation and tackle poverty just hours before leaders arrived for the start of a world summit.

The News Media Are Knocking Bush -- and Propping Him Up
This month we've heard a lot of talk about journalists who got tough with President Bush. And it's true that he has been on the receiving end of some fiercely negative media coverage in the wake of the hurricane. But the mainstream U.S. press is ill-suited to challenging the legitimacy of the Bush administration.

The reconstruction of New Oraq
In the decade before September 11, 2001, "globalization", a word
now largely missing in action, was on everyone's lips and we constantly heard about what a small, small world this really was. In the aftermath of Katrina, that global smallness has grown positively claustrophobic and particularly predatory.

Bacteria, Lead Taint Water in New Orleans

Peru finds giant crocodile fossil in Amazon

Ivanov: US to use nuclear weapons against suspected Qaeda bases

India, Brazil, S Africa stress for urgent steps to UN reforms

Annual Conference Calls to Close Digital Divide

Iraq slams U.S. detentions, immunity for troops
Iraq's justice minister has condemned the U.S. military for detaining thousands of Iraqis for long periods without charge and wants to change a U.N. resolution that gives foreign troops immunity from Iraqi law.