Myanmar`s most famous comedian has been charged in a secret court, along with a sports writer and ...

GENEVA, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - The Red Cross said Wednesday it was launching an 28 million Swiss franc (26.6 million dollars, 17.1 million euros) emergency food security appeal for Zimbabwe as millions of vulnerable people face hunger.

NEW DELHI, August 4, 2008 (AFP) - India on Monday pledged an extra 450 million dollars to Afghanistan for reconstruction, bringing the total amount it has promised the war-ravaged country since 2001 to well over a billion dollars.

NICOSIA, August 4, 2008 (AFP) - Activists hoping to break the blockade of the poverty-stricken Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip from the sea said on Monday they fear Israel may try to sabotage the venture.

LONDON, August 4, 2008 (AFP) - Brazil is prepared to hit the United States with court action over its farm subsidies following the collapse of world trade talks, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told the Financial Times newspaper.

NEW DELHI, August 4, 2008 (AFP) - India on Monday pledged an additional 450 million dollars to Afghanistan for reconstruction, bringing the total cash it has promised the war-ravaged country since 2001 to well over a billion dollars.

BOGALAY, August 3, 2008 (AFP) - Myanmar's military regime is giving desperately needed aid to cyclone survivors on credit, requiring them to pay back to the government any assistance offered, officials said.

The secretive military last week officially allowed local journalists to visit the disaster zone for the first time since Cyclone Nargis slammed into the country on May 2.

ATHENS, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - The Greek Orthodox Church said Friday it has launched an internal investigation into its humanitarian branch, Solidarity, amid reports that millions of euros from the NGO's coffers have gone missing.

RIO DE JANEIRO, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - Brazil on Friday created an international fund to fight deforestation of the Amazon and is accepting contributions to help preserve the world's largest rainforest.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree here creating the Amazon Fund, designed to receive up to 21 billion dollars in contributions over the next 13 years.

YANGON, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - Myanmar's most famous comedian has appeared in court alongside a popular sports writer and two political activists, but no formal charges were filed against them, a lawyer told AFP Friday.

The four appeared at a secret court inside the notorious Insein prison in the economic hub Yangon, for the first time since their arrests in June.