Reykjavik - Iceland's former ruling party Friday signalled it would accept holding a national referendum on membership in the European Union but remains opposed to joining the bloc.
A broad majority of the Independence Party delegates backed that stance at a party conference. They further said there should be a second referendum on a possible membership agreement with the EU.
Citing the need to protect Icelandic interests, including its fishing waters, the party said it believes that "EU membership will not be in the interest of Iceland."
Geneva - The United Nations Human Rights Council ended its winter meetings on Friday, after passing a host of resolutions in the final days of the four week session, with some, like on the question of defamation of religion, of a controversial nature.
Among the issues discussed and voted on were the rights of people with disabilities, child rights, the right to food and the matter of human rights and climate change.
Nairobi/Niamey - French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Niger Friday to back a deal by French firm Areva to exploit uranium deposits in the north of the West African country.
Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive officer of Areva, is travelling with Sarkozy on the whistle-stop tour that saw him also visit the Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo.
Lauvergeon on Thursday signed an agreement with the Congolese Minister of Mines, Martin Kabwelulu, on the prospecting and mining of DR Congo's sizeable uranium reserves.
Moscow - President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday said Russia is ready to consider downgrading its anti-terrorist operations in Chechnya, where it has fought separatists in two wars in the early 1990s, the news agency Interfax reported.
"Since the situation in the Chechen republic has normalized to a large degree and life is returning to normal ... I propose we consider ending the counterterrorism regime which operates in Chechnya," Medvedev told the head of Russia's FSB security services.
Wellington - Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, 59, the new chief of the United Nations Development Programme is a no-nonsense, political junkie with a lifelong commitment to helping the poor and underprivileged.
Once labelled a radical feminist, she overcame what she dubbed "incredibly sexist" male attitudes in the New Zealand Parliament, where she has served for more than 27 years, to win promotion by "the skills and devotion of a workaholic," as she put it.
Reykjavik - Iceland's former ruling party Friday signalled it would accept holding a national referendum on membership in the European Union but remains opposed to joining the bloc.
Geneva - The United Nations Human Rights Council ended its winter meetings on Friday, after passing a host of resolutions in the final days of the four week session, with some, like on the question of defamation of religion, of a controversial nature.
Nairobi/Niamey - French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Niger Friday to back a deal by French firm Areva to exploit uranium deposits in the north of the West African country.
Moscow - President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday said Russia is ready to consider downgrading its anti-terrorist operations in Chechnya, where it has fought separatists in two wars in the early 1990s, the news agency Interfax reported.
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Wellington - Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, 59, the new chief of the United Nations Development Programme is a no-nonsense, political junkie with a lifelong commitment to helping the poor and underprivileged.
