Masked gunmen torched a German cultural centre in Togo today, leaving the main library building gutted and a van in ashes in the latest violence gripping the country since disputed presidential elections.

After months of criticism, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan decided that UN refugee chief Ruud Lubbers had to go because of the growing controversy over allegations that the former Dutch prime minister had sexually harassed female staffers.

THE Sudanese army and police have surrounded refugee camps in the war- torn region of Darfur and denied access to humanitarian groups, the UN said yesterday.

AROUND 30,000 Sudanese victims of fresh attacks by Arab militia inside Darfur are threatening to cross into Chad unless the international community acts to protect them.

People fleeing the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya formed the largest group seeking asylum in developed countries during the first quarter of 2004, the UN refugee agency said today.

The United Nations refugee chief Rudd Lubbers is under investigation for sexual harassment after a staff member filed a complaint.

The nationalist Swiss People’s Party swept to victory with the highest share of the vote in parliamentary elections following an anti-foreigner campaign, according to projections by state-owned Swiss television.

The nationalist Swiss People’s Party swept to victory with the highest share of the vote in parliamentary elections today following an anti-foreigner campaign, according to projections by state-owned Swiss television. The Greens and Social Democrats also picked up seats.

The nationalist Swiss People’s Party emerged with the highest share of the vote in parliamentary elections today following an anti-foreigner campaign, according to projections by state-owned Swiss television. The Greens and Social Democrats also picked up seats.

The UN refugee agency today backed the French decision to evict a group of refugees holed up in a Calais church and suggested they had been conned by people traffickers.

Vital food convoys from Pakistan to Afghanistan, suspended last week because of security fears, have restarted, a UN aid official said today.

More than 100,000 Afghans are believed to have fled to Pakistan to escape US military action despite the official closure of the border between the two countries, the UN said today.

The United Nations has said that the refugee crisis on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has descended into chaos, with thousands of people fleeing the US attacks on their homeland.