icWales  THE UK Government is set to miss its target of halving the number of children living in poverty by around one million, MPs warn today. The Commons Work and Pensions Committee said that it was still possible to turn the situation around before the target date of 2010 – but only if ministers were prepared to make more resources available. The target to halve child poverty – with a view ...

SchNEWS looks at how corporations and governments are limiting and controlling the varieties of crops grown... Last week, in France, the independent seed-saving and selling Association Kokopelli were fined €35,000 after being taken to court by corporate seed merchant Baumaux. Their crime was selling traditional and rare seed varieties which weren’t on the official EU-approved list – and, therefore, illegal to sell – thus giving them an ...

Nicol Stephen told the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference at the weekend that they must hold hard to the defining liberal issue of civil liberties. Labour threatened to erode these through detention without trial, DNA databases, ID cards, biometrics, CCTV and stop-and-search powers, he told delegates in Aviemore.He said: "Our approach is founded on a fundamental principle that the rights of the individual are central to the freedoms and liberties that many ...

BY SHAUN JEPSON A Former Derbyshire Deputy Chief Constable, who established the national DNA police database, believes genetic samples should be taken from everyone at birth. Don Dovaston, pictured, also said that immigrants should have their DNA recorded. He believes the benefits of a universal database far outweigh any human rights issues. Mr Dovaston said not only did a database give police a better chance of catching criminals, but it ...

APP The top UN human rights official, reacting to the recent violence between Israel and the Palestinians,has called for an investigation into the reported killing of dozens of civilians, including children, in Gaza by Israeli military. While recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour condemned the Israeli Defence Force’s “disproportionate use of force,” in a statement issued ...

Ben Griffin speaks to World Against War rally before being gagged by UK Government Stop the War "As of 1940hrs 29/02/08 I have been placed under an injunction preventing me from speaking publicly and publishing material gained as a result of my service in UKSF (SAS). I will be continuing to collect evidence and opinion on British Involvement in extraordinary rendition, torture, secret detentions, extra judicial detention, use ...

( Andrew Parsons/PA) David Byers Protesters have scaled a crane opposite the Houses of Parliament to call for a referendum on the European treaty, in ...