President Barack Obama said he would crack down on firms that use offshore centres to evade taxes. He could begin with a New York subsidiary of one of the world's largest private banks, which uses a Cayman Islands company to shift its profits.

Decades of separatist militancy in Indian Kashmir and the massive response to it by the armed forces have taken a toll on human life. But, what is less known is the fact that this and other human activity have exacerbated dangers posed to the state’s wildlife.

Australia's national day is celebrated annually with much fanfare. But Jan.26, which marks the establishment of the colony of New South Wales more than 200 years ago, is viewed by many indigenous activists as the anniversary of the European invasion of their land.

Amidst the soaring unemployment in Iraq, the gravediggers have been busy. So busy that officials have no record of the number of graves dug; of the real death toll, that is.

For decades, isolated Israel could count on Turkey as its only Muslim friend, if not ally, in the tumultuous Middle East. After Israel's assault on Gaza, that friendship is in doubt.

A European Union body has cast strong doubts over efforts to boost police cooperation between the 27-country bloc and Israel.

In 2003, Alice Nkom made a decision that has put her on a collision course with the police, prosecutors and judges of Cameroon. Nkom, who has been a barrister at the Cameroonian Bar for 40 years, was chatting with some young men whom she considers her own children.

Two years into its work, the Zambia's National Constitutional Conference (NCC) is finding it difficult to get wide public acceptance.

'At one point I thought we weren't going to find him,' said Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba about Alan Jara, the latest hostage to be freed as a goodwill gesture by insurgents after more than seven-and-a-half years as their captive in the jungle.

Despite a shrinking national economy and a record defence budget, U.S. neo-conservatives and other right-wing hawks are mounting a spirited - if misleading - campaign to persuade Congress that the military should get a bigger slice.