Geneva, Dec. 9th, 2008-The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) adopted the report prepared by the troika of rapporteurs on UAE's human rights issues in Geneva on Tuesday.

The troika -- Argentina, Cameroon and Indonesia, who were elected by the Human Rights Council - praised the "exemplary" manner in which the report was prepared and presented, as well as the "seriousness" with which human rights issues are dealt with by the UAE.

Geneva - Revenues of airlines are expected to fall by an average of 6 per cent next year, an outlook released Tuesday said, as passenger and cargo traffic is likely to drop.

The International Air Transport Association said in its 2009 forecast the industry would expect to lose 2.5 billion dollars.

"We face the worst revenue environment in 50 years," said Giovanni Bisignani, the IATA's chief.

Geneva - The International Criminal Court should investigate Israel an

Geneva  - The Swiss seem to enjoy trains more than other nations, with the average resident travelling around 2,103 kilometres annually, the Information Service for Public Transport said putting the confederation at the top of the global list.

The Japanese came second with residents averaging 1,976 kilometres by train in 2007, though they did make the most trips with 70 a year, compared to 47 for the Swiss.

Geneva - Chiefs of several leading international companies launched a call on YouTube Monday, asking for the public to submit ideas on how to combat corruption.

Executives appearing on the video streaming Website - including Alan Boeckmann of the Fluor Corporation, Peter Bakker of the Dutch delivery company TNT and Samuel DiPiazza, CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers - said over 1 trillion dollars were lost annually to corruption.

They said, in a short clip just over a minute in length, that bribes hindered workers' ability to get jobs and patients' access to basic medical care.

Geneva  - Measles deaths fell by 74 per cent globally between 2000 and 2007, with countries in the eastern Mediterranean region cutting the death rate by 90 per cent, the United Nations reported Thursday.

The Arab states and other countries in the bloc, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia, made the "remarkable" progress thanks to immunization programmes.

Margaret Chan, the head of the World Health Organization, called on all states affected by the disease to step up efforts to immunize children in order to meet the UN's goal of cutting measles deaths by 90 percent by 2010.