The people of South Sudan finally get their own country tomorrow, after half a century of civil wars and oppression that left more than two million dead... more
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in Vietnam for a South-East Asian leaders' summit, called on military-ruled Burma to free political prisoners before its first election for 20 years on November 7, saying it still had time to allay concerns.... more
British foreign policy must be more focused on winning trade and investment deals, David Cameron demanded amid suggestions that the Government could start to recruit corporate leaders as diplomats... more
A gay Malawian couple jailed for 14 years for their love affair after a homosexual rights test case part, with one starting a relationship with a woman... more
South Korea accuses the North of firing the torpedo that sank a warship in March, killing 46 sailors in the country’s worst military disaster since the Korean War... more
Gordon Brown warned that the Copenhagen talks could end in "deadlock" as he urged Barack Obama to beef up America's commitment to tackling global warming... more
Hamid Karzai's chief political rival today agreed to stand in Afghanistan's November run-off, removing one crucial obstacle in the race to get the election in place... more
A student shot by the Iranian security forces during street protests has become a martyr after video footage of her death was posted on the internet... more
Prime Minister threatens tougher sanctions against Burma as he makes impassioned appeal to ruling generals to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
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A United Nations human rights expert warned of a "bloodbath" in Sri Lanka unless government and Tamil Tiger forces stop fighting long enough to let civilians flee... more
Thousands of people in Gaza City are reported to be fleeing their homes as Israeli troops advanced deeper into crowded residential areas in a new military effort... more
Israel launched a wave of new bombing raids against Hamas government and military targets in Gaza as the country’s defence chiefs warned that “long weeks of action” lay ahead... more
UN officials are investigating reports that rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo are slaughtering civilians as the region descends into chaos... more