Geneva  - More Colombian civilians continue to flee the armed conflict in their country, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday, pointing to the emergence of new armed groups.

It is estimated that between 2.8 to 4 million people have been displaced during the decades-long conflict between government forces and armed groups.

The ICRC alone gave food and other aid to 73,000 displaced people in 2008, an increase of 10 per cent over the previous year. About 50 per cent of the people receiving ICRC aid are children.

Geneva - An initiative was put forward Tuesday at the World Trade Organization to fight protectionism with a proposal asking countries to commit not to take any trade restricting measures to work their way out of the economic crisis. The standstill commitment, tabled by Hong Kong, would ask members to voluntarily refrain from any moves which would have an adverse impact or distorting effect on trade even if they did not violate WTO rules, officials with the agency said.

Geneva - Somali pirates are in danger of again threatening food supplies for the war-ravaged East African country, the UN food agency warned on Tuesday. "Piracy is a constant concern for the World Food Programme," said spokeswoman Emilia Casella - noting that
90 per cent of the aid to Somalia is delivered by sea.

The Maersk Alabama with its American crew were captured last week

as they were delivering food aid to Africa. More than half of the 200 containers on the ship were destined for the WFP.

Geneva  - Warning of political unrest and social instability owing to the economic crisis, two economists said Thursday that some developing nations would need to built better regional cooperation regimes to ensure their futures.

"There is a need for more regional integration, because we are seeing low intra-African trade," economist Mustapha Sadni Jallab said.

While West Africa had an alliance between several countries, he said there was a need to expand this to cover more of the continent.

Geneva  - A water technician for the International Committee of the Red Cross was killed in shelling Wednesday morning while trying to fetch water for his family in coastal belt held by the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Paul Castella, the head of the ICRC delegation in Colombo, said he was "devastated" by the death of Sinnathurai Kugathasan who was married with three children.

It was unclear whether government forces or rebels fired the shell.

Geneva - The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) warned Wednesday that polio is spreading again in 14 countries across Africa, including in areas where the disease had once been eradicated.

"We have clear indications that polio is spreading again, including in countries such as Uganda, which had been polio-free for more than a decade," Tammam Aloudat, an IFRC expert on emergencies.

The IFRC comprises all national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies.