Ethiopian consulate officials in Yemen said they had been concerned for the welfare of 122 Ethiopian migrants after Yemeni authorities had detained them for nearly a week before deporting them. "We were worried about why they were arrested and what condition they might be in, but then the authorities told us it was because they entered the country illegally, and were not political refugees, and that they were being well looked after," Abebe Biazen, Consul of the Ethiopian Embassy, said.

This report provides highlights of the Annual Consultations with NGOs, which this year brought together some 329 representatives of 166 national and international NGOs, UN, and international organizations from 72 countries. Structured around four broad themes – Durable Solutions; the UN Reform; ExCom Conclusions; and the Asylum-Migration Nexus – the forum featured twelve Working Sessions and five Regional Sessions with the active involvement of some 83 resource persons from NGOs, academia, member states, and international and UN organizations.

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Microsoft will announce availability of business versions of its long-awaited Vista operating system on Thursday (30 November 2006), according to analysts invited to a release event in New York City. The final version of Microsoft's Office 2007 business applications software is to be available along with Vista.

It is the world's most sought-after seafood commodity: some 3.5 million tons of the many-legged delicacy are pulled from the ocean's waters each year, with another 2.4 million tons raised on aquatic farms. The popular seafood is a gold mine for poor countries feeding avid consumers in northern markets.

On November 22 Cabinet met in Kampala to discuss the White Paper on the findings and recommendations of the Ogoola Commission of Inquiry into allegations of mismanagement of the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria in Uganda. Cabinet adopted the paper and assigned roles to various sub committees for further investigations.

Twenty-five years after AIDS was first identified, programs to fight the disease continue to be undermined by conservative ideologies and moralistic approaches, Human Rights Watch said ahead of World AIDS Day. “The most effective approaches for preventing HIV/AIDS are not being used,” said Joe Amon, director of the HIV/AIDS program at Human Rights Watch.

At a conference on the subject in the Egyptian capital Cairo, the scholars said governments should enforce existing laws against the practice. Earlier, the top religious authorities in Egypt said religion offered no justification for the procedure.

I am writing to you in advance of the meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) on 29 November in Nigeria, to urge the AUPSC to do the utmost to protect civilians in Darfur. As negotiations proceed along the possibility of establishing a “hybrid operation” of United Nations (UN) and AU peacekeepers in Darfur, Amnesty International urges member states to ensure that the effective protection and human rights of the civilian population are at the centre of any peacekeeping operation in Darfur.

Judges in Botswana’s High Court will rule on 13 December on the landmark case brought by the Kalahari Bushmen against the Botswana government. The court will be open to journalists and members of the public. The Bushmen are fighting for their right to live on their land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and to hunt and gather freely there.

Since 1988, the Fogarty International Center, part of the National Institutes of Health, has published the Directory of International Grants and Fellowships in the Health Sciences. This current volume (NIH Publication 06-3027, February 2006), a comprehensive compilation of international funding opportunities in biomedical and behavioral research prepared by Ms. Hannah Leslie, should serve the individual or institution who seeks financial support.

Early Saturday morning, five New York police officers fired 50 shots at a car carrying Sean Bell, who had just left his bachelors party on the eve of his wedding with two friends. On Monday Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the shooting of the unarmed men was "unacceptable" and "inexplicable."

A clampdown on lone children who come to Britain seeking asylum is being drawn up by the Home Office, which will argue that a large proportion are economic migrants seeking a better life. The move has alarmed refugee groups, who say the thousands of unaccompanied teenagers arriving in the UK every year should be treated as children first and suspects second.

Universities in five African countries are set to gain from a new computer grid. African scientists will be able to connect up with fellow researchers who have moved overseas through a 'grid computing' project. Launched by UNESCO this week (20 November) and co-sponsored by the information technology company Hewlett-Packard (HP), the initiative aims to tackle the brain drain that plagues Africa's scientific sector.

The WSF 2007 Secretariat proudly presents the second edition of the WSF 2007 Newsletter - now ready for download. The Secretariat of the Organising Committee of the World Social Forum 2007 is very happy to share with you the second edition of our Newsletter from Nairobi.

How many hours a day do you spend using some kind of ICT tool? Have you ever wondered how it connects with violence against women? Can things like mobile phones, webcams, blogs and videogames transform power relations between women and men?

The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else.’ (Keynes) As the famous quote by Keynes reflects, breakthrough ideas in economics and political philosophy can change history, but what are the processes that shape their spread?

The African Studies Centre, University of Oxford, is offering an Oxford Nigeria Scholarship in African Studies for the academic year 2006-7. This scholarship is sponsored by Oxford and Cambridge society of Nigeria. The award is available only for study on the MSc in African Studies, and is open to citizens of Nigeria.

On the annual Thanksgiving holiday, commemorated this Thursday (23 November 2006), millions of U.S. families gather to eat turkey and sweet potatoes. Another crowd, distinctly less festive, assembles in the state of Massachusetts to mourn. This gathering overlooks Plymouth Rock, where European settlers landed in 1620, and is called yearly to condemn continuing violence and discrimination against Native American people.

The Open Society Justice Initiative, an operational program of the Open Society Institute (OSI), joins with Central European University (CEU) to announce the Justice Initiative Fellows Program for 2007-2009. The aim of the program is to support and further develop a network of lawyers and activists working on human rights related issues internationally.