Yet another sign of the growing unpopularity of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) was evident on the streets of Ramallah last weekend.

‘My husband rapes me repeatedly. I asked the ulama (religious leader) for help, but he sided with him, saying that according to Islam, a woman has to obey her husband. I have nowhere else to go. I have no tears left to shed. I no longer scream.’

Researchers at a prestigious university hospital in Bangkok have been able to cut by 14 hours the time it takes to detect the lethal strain of the swine flu virus, which has infected thousands across the world.

The food crisis in African states will not be solved by investment to spur agricultural production because the problem is not food output but poverty that is making food unaffordable for urban Africans.

A U.S. soldier shot five of his colleagues dead at a base in Baghdad, Iraq Monday. The Pentagon says at least two other people were hurt in the shootings and the gunman is in custody.

U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement on May 8 calling for the renewal of sanctions on Syria, which were set to expire on Monday. The declaration came at the end of a busy week in which both high-level U.S. officials and the Iranian president visited the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Global trafficking of persons continues apace and Costa Rica is not exempt from sexual exploitation and forced labour. Data compiled by the United Nations indicate that women and girls are most affected by human trafficking, making up 80 percent of victims worldwide.

The release Monday of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi from Tehran’s Evin Prison has been greeted with relief and concern by international human rights and press freedom groups.

As lawmakers amped up the outcry against releasing Guantanamo 'terrorists in our neighbourhoods', France agreed to accept a 'cleared' Guantanamo prisoner and human rights groups continued to press for release of 17 Chinese Uigurs who the U.S. government has declared to be no threat to national security.

A coalition of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - the second in 13 years - on the legality and use of nuclear weapons.