 SA camps to close
Camps housing foreigners in South Africa displaced by xenophobic violence in May are due to be closed this Friday. South Africa's high court has given the government the green light to demolish the shelters.
The court ruled the government has no obligation to reintegrate more than 4,000 African immigrants living in the camps around Johannesburg. The government, meanwhile, says it is safe for displaced people to go home. Human rights groups plan to appeal at the Constitutional Court, the country's highest court. Some 60 people lost their lives when violence flared earlier this year, displacing tens of thousands of immigrants. UN child abuse probe
An internal United Nations investigation has revealed Indian peacekeeping soldiers may have abused and exploited young boys and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a statement, the world body said it had evidence of sexual abuse. At least 100 troops may have been involved in the exploitation which occurred over several years. The soldiers have since returned to India. No further details have been released. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was deeply troubled by the findings. Indian authorities are already investigating the allegations and they say the perpetrators will be punished if the allegations are proven. Tripoli bomb claims 11 lives
A bomb explosion near a bus in the centre of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has killed at least 11 people. Security officials said nine of the dead were off-duty soldiers. Some 30 people were wounded in the attack. No-one has immediately claimed responsibility. President Michel Suleiman has described the explosion as a "terrorist act." The blast comes a day after the new national unity government won a vote of confidence and as President Suleiman was due to travel to Syria. The port city has been the scene of sectarian fighting in recent months in which more than 20 people have died. Kashmir protestor deaths
At least 14 people were killed when Indian security forces fired into crowds of protesters in Indian-administered Kashmir for a second day yesterday. Protestors first took to the streets when Hindus of the Jammu region prevented Muslim traders from selling their merchandise by blocking the main highway in the state. Indian-administered Kashmir, formally known as Jammu and Kashmir, has witnessed a series of clashes in recent weeks. The troubles began in May when the government handed over 100 acres of public land for a Hindu piligrimage in the Muslim-majority state. Cuba political prisoner toll
The number of political prisoners in Cuba has dropped slightly, according to the island's leading independent human rights group. The Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation documented 219 political prisoners in its twice-yearly report as of July 20, down from 234 in early 2008. Head of the commission Elizardo Sanchez said two years after Raul Castro took power, the overall human rights situation remains unfavourable. Raul Castro took over from his ailing elder brother Fidel Castro in July 2006. The rights group says the number of jailed dissidents is still too high, considering Cuba's size. Hunger follows fertiliser hike
A global fertiliser crisis could lead to millions more people going hungry, according to the UN and global food analysts. Fertiliser prices have doubled and in some cases risen by 500 per cent in 15 months. Poorer farmers, unable to buy enough fertiliser, face reduced harvests. The crisis is being caused by high oil prices and is also being blamed on the push by the United States to grow crops for biofuels. A world fertiliser forecast report says prices will remain high for at least three years. The UN says optimism that soaring food commodity prices could lift millions of developing country farmers out of poverty have been dashed.
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