WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY

The focus of World Suicide Prevention Day this year is on suicide prevention from youth to old age.  This theme has been adopted to emphasize that people of all ages commit suicide and that actions to prevent suicide included in national responses should meet the needs of different age groups.  

VICTORY FOR ACCESS TO MEDICINES AS VALGANCICLOVIR PATENT IS REJECTED IN INDIA

5 May 2010, Geneva/New Delhi - International medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) welcomes the decision by the Indian Patent Office to reject the product patent it had previously granted to pharmaceutical company Roche for the drug valganciclovir.  

 

USTR ANNOUNCES FY 2010 TARIFF-RATE QUOTA ALLOCATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL RAW CANE SUGAR

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today announced country-specific allocations of additional fiscal year (FY) 2010 in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for imported raw cane sugar.  TRQs allow countries to export specified quantities of a product to the United States at a relatively low tariff, but subject all imports of the product above a pre-determined threshold to a higher tariff.
 

The use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the area of agriculture in Colombia violates drastically the human rights of indigenous peoples in Colombia

STOP OGM - “In 2005, the Colombian State issued a decree that regulates the approval of GMOs and have not taken into account scientific studies that have demonstrated the threat that GM seeds pose to native seeds, human health, and the environment.  

SPAIN: Call to put an end to harassment against Judge Baltasar Garzón

THE OBSERVATORY -
It is surprising that the only judge who has dared to respond to the demands of victims of crimes against humanity committed by the Franco regime, is subject to criminal persecution and might face a suspension of his functions as a judge.  

CHILD LABOUR IN ECUADOR IS AN OBSTACLE TO DEVELOPMENT

“Child labour in all its forms is an obstacle to the development of Ecuador where a high percentage of the population are children,” stressed the human rights expert Ms, Gulnara Shahinian appointed as the first Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery,  

Expect Volcano-Related Dip in April

Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that March 2010 international scheduled air traffic showed continued strengthening of demand. Compared to March 2009, passenger demand was up 10.3%, while cargo demand grew 28.1%. Both are improvements from the 9.0% and 26.3% growth for passenger and freight demand recorded in February.


 

The Eighth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

New York.  The 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will meet at the United Nations in New York from 3 to 28 May 2010. The
President-elect of the Conference is Ambassador Libran N. Cabactulan (Philippines).