World Trade Organisation deal vital
British PM Tony Blair has warned of disaster for developed and developing economies if world powers failed to secure a good trade deal at the World Trade Organisation meeting in December. Hopes for a deal aimed at increasing world trade and ending poverty for millions of people are fading. Reuters

Sudan resolution denied
A United Nations panel refused to consider a proposed resolution that would have condemned human rights violations in Sudan including killing and rape in the Darfur region. African nations called the resolution divisive and destructive with Nigeria, representing the African Union, saying no action should be taken so as not to endanger negotiations in Sudan. Reuters

40 million have HIV
The global HIV epidemic continues to increase with more than 40 million people now estimated to be living with the virus. AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognised in 1981 but there is evidence that efforts to combat the disease are resulting in a decrease in new infections. SBS

Iraq abuse as bad now as under Saddam
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has said abuse of human rights in Iraq is as bad now as it was under Saddam Hussein. He said many Iraqis are being tortured or killed in the course of interrogations. Reuters

The hunger report
Hunger and malnutrition are killing nearly six million children each year with many children dieing from treatable diseases such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria and measles. The Food Agriculture Organisation's annual report focuses on the importance of hunger reduction as essential factor to meeting all of the Millennium Development Goals. FAO

Saddam: A trial for justice
"The moral claim of the Iraqi people to exact retribution sounds fine in theory..... But if justice can neither be done nor be seen to be done in Baghdad, in the midst of a civil war in which the defendant's "people" are killing the "people" of the judges, then Iraq's claim must give way to the moral and legal right of the international community to try international crimes. The genocide charges that Saddam faces for the gassing of the Kurds and mass murdering the Marsh Arabs are crimes "against humanity" bec ause the very fact that they can be conceived and committed by fellow human beings demeans us all, wherever we live and whatever our nationality." Geoffrey Robertson, The Age.

Reporters Without Borders
This organisation works to restore the provision of information for the one-third of the world's inhabitants who live in countries denied freedom of the press. The website features related a worldwide press freedom index, petitions calling for the release of journalists imprisoned in countries where the press experiences limited freedom and a handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents to help retain anonymity and avoid censorship.
www.rsf.org

Famine Resource File
The reality of hunger and how a famine occurs. This site includes the "Life cycle of a famine" slide show, factsheets, a quiz about the myths of famine and a debate on ‘Development pornography'.
www.alertnet.org/thefacts/
reliefresources/112688954097.htm

Global Village
This program airs on weekdays at 6pm. Today's program features two communities. The Mursi people live in remote Ethiopia and their lives revolve around cattle. However conflict with neighbouring tribes and subsequent cattle raids means they are now relying on tourism. In Central Java, local farmers and an Indonesian petrol company work alongside each other, with vastly different technology, to produce crude oil from wells dug by Dutch colonists last century.

SBS TV, Thursday December 15, 2005

Make Poverty History
"We dare to imagine a world where hunger has no chance to show its face.
We dare to dream of a world where war and terror are afraid to leave their mark.
We long to believe in a world of hope unchained and lives unfettered.
We dare to share in the creation of a world where people break free from all that binds them."