New York - The UN General Assembly's human-rights committee on Tuesday adopted a protocol giving people rights to housing, food, water and sanitation, and holding governments responsible for the lack of such essentials.
The human-rights committee, known as Third Committee, adopted the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights without a vote. Amnesty International praised the move.
Los Angeles - Mickey Mouse marked his 80th birthday Tuesday, but those expecting a big party were disappointed.
There were no special events planned for the world's favourite rodent at any of Disney's theme parks in the US, though one woman in the Seattle area did hold a party for herself and Mickey because their birthdays fall on the same day.
Los Angeles - After four days of widespread devastation firefighters on Tuesday had three large fires under control and evacuated residents returned to find hundreds of homes gutted by the flames.
Aided by lighter winds Monday, firefighters in southern California were gaining the upper hand on three wildfires that have devastated the region. They were hopeful of containing the blazes by mid-week.
Washington - Two NASA astronauts from the space shuttle Endeavour began a spacewalk on Tuesday to replace a nitrogen tank on the International Space Station and begin repair of a joint on a key solar panel.
Heide Stefanyshyn-Pieper und Steve Bowen began the planned six- and-a-half hour walk at 1809 GMT. The nitrogen tank will be installed with help for the station's robotic arm and will include the replacement of a device that moves the coolant through the station.
Washington - The US financial system has been stabilized and authorities averted a near-collapse in September that prompted unprecedented government intervention in private institutions, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in congressional testimony Tuesday.
But Paulson warned there was still much work to be done to help the financial sector recover and to restrict the credit crisis' fallout into the wider US and global economy.
Berlin - The historic Adriatic port of Trieste was an appropriate backdrop for Tuesday's meeting between Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which was held as Rome prepares to head the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrial states.
Once a flourishing city lying at the intersection of pre-First World War political life, Trieste suffered a rather sharp decline in its fortunes following the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the shift in the international balance of power.
New York - The UN General Assembly's human-rights committee on Tuesday adopted a protocol giving people rights to housing, food, water and sanitation, and holding governments responsible for the lack of such essentials.
Los Angeles - Mickey Mouse marked his 80th birthday Tuesday, but those expecting a big party were disappointed.
Los Angeles - After four days of widespread devastation firefighters on Tuesday had three large fires under control and evacuated residents returned to find hundreds of homes gutted by the flames.
Washington - Two NASA astronauts from the space shuttle Endeavour began a spacewalk on Tuesday to replace a nitrogen tank on the International Space Station and begin repair of a joint on a key solar panel.
Washington - The US financial system has been stabilized and authorities averted a near-collapse in September that prompted unprecedented government intervention in private institutions, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in congressional testimony Tuesday.
