Qatar is failing to deliver on reforms for its migrant workers a year after the wealthy Gulf nation announced plans to improve conditions for low-paid labourers building its highways, hotels, stadiums and skyscrapers, Amnesty International has said.

A 21-year-old Clare woman has been named among the Top 10 Outstanding Young Persons of the World by a major international organisation.

A special Government envoy for the Tsunami disaster is to depart tomorrow on his first visit to the devastated south Asian region.

Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern is due to represent Ireland at an EU summit today to discuss the relief operation in south Asian following the tsunami disaster.

The United States is focusing on providing clean water and basic sanitation in South Asian areas hit by an earthquake and tsunamis, to try to prevent illness and more deaths among survivors.