Ethicists Unconvinced About 'Ethical' Embryonic Research
New developments in the field of embryonic stem cell research do not necessarily overcome ethical and moral concerns, some pro-lifers and ethicists are warning. Read
scribbling on the state of the planet
New developments in the field of embryonic stem cell research do not necessarily overcome ethical and moral concerns, some pro-lifers and ethicists are warning. Read
The contest to lead Britain's Conservative Party -- languishing in opposition for eight years -- is edging towards a classic right-left race, after party lawmakers voted out former finance minister Ken Clarke in a first round of voting. Read
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has drawn strong criticism for comparing President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to Hitler and Mussolini in a speech to a United Nations food agency. Some are also dismayed that the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) would have invited him to speak in the first place. The autocratic Mugabe is accused of starving his people and using food as a weapon against his opponents. Read
Almost five years after taking office, Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday began his first visit as defense secretary to China, a country whose military buildup is watched with concern at the Pentagon. Read
In a move that drew swift denunciations from China and South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday paid a visit to a controversial shrine in memory of Japan's 2.5 million war dead -- including 14 convicted war criminals. Read
In a deepening diplomatic row, Iran has accused Britain of responsibility for two bomb blasts Saturday that killed at least four people near the country's border with Iraq. Read
In what Cuban media are describing as a "defeat" for the United States, leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal ended a summit at the weekend calling for an end to the U.S. embargo against Fidel Castro's Cuba. Read
Avian flu has reached Europe's gateways, prompting growing concerns about a further westward spread of a virus which, if it mutates, could trigger a catastrophic human flu pandemic. Read
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to former Soviet states in Central Asia has focused fresh attention on Kazakhstan, where Washington's stated policy of balancing strategic interests and promoting democracy will be tested in the months ahead. Read
As British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his ministers defend plans to outlaw incitement to religious hatred, a Christian organization has warned that if the law passes, it will seek to have the Koran banned. Read
Iraqi-based terrorists have been urged by Osama bin Laden's deputy to stop beheading foreign hostages and shoot them instead - not because decapitation is wrong but because it may be counterproductive in the battle for Muslims' "hearts and minds." Read
China on Wednesday launched its second manned space mission, taking a step closer to its stated goal of landing on the moon and eventually establishing a base there. Read
Former Soviet republics in Central Asia do not need to choose between enjoying good relations with the United States and good relations with Russia and China, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday. Read
U.S. and U.N. health leaders on a fact-finding visit to Southeast Asia have given ominous warnings about the likelihood of a global human influenza pandemic triggered by bird flu. Even the wealthiest countries are ill prepared, according to the grim assessments. Read
Offers by India to help Pakistan cope with the effects of Saturday's huge earthquake have raised hopes that the tragedy could accelerate moves already underway to improve ties and defuse tensions in one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints. Read
Iran is trying to win international support amid a looming standoff over its nuclear activities. Ahead of an International Atomic Energy Agency board meeting in November, Tehran will send Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and other envoys to lobby against Iran's referral to the U.N. Security Council. Read
British Christians on Sunday kicked off three days of eleventh-hour protest, hoping to defeat a government attempt to outlaw religious hatred. Read
President George W. Bush clearly identified the enemy for the first time in a speech he delivered on Thursday. Read
President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have both signaled a new level of impatience with Iran, accusing the Islamic regime of supporting terrorism in Iraq and elsewhere. Read
Allegations that a former U.S. Marine may have stolen classified information while posted at the White House are resonating in the Philippines. The suspect's arrest last month roiled the country's already turbulent political landscape. Read
Iraq-based terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has called on Muslims to escalate attacks during Ramadan, according to a message posted on an Islamist website and cited by wire services. Read
The rector of Iraq's only Anglican Church this week is returning from a trip abroad to a devastating situation in Baghdad. His congregation has lost its entire lay leadership, believed to have been killed in an attack on a notoriously dangerous stretch of road last month. Read
Indonesian police, helped by Australian experts, continued investigations Tuesday into the weekend bombings in Bali, amid new warnings of terror in Southeast Asia as the Muslim world enters the month of Ramadan. Read
The European Union plans to impose a range of sanctions against Uzbekistan, including an arms embargo and targeted travel ban, over the Central Asian republic's refusal to allow an independent inquiry into a bloody clampdown against protestors last spring. Read
A Red Cross division in Australia will be forced to defend its refusal to accept blood donations from homosexuals after a statutory anti-discrimination body agreed to take up a legal complaint. Read
Terrorism returned to Bali over the weekend, when suicide bombers killed up to 27 people in a pre-Ramadan attack that appeared to target both Indonesia's moderate government and Western tourists. Read