The success of the global fight to eradicate poverty is largely contingent on welfare policies related to swiftly ageing populations, particularly in the developing world where a majority of old people live below the poverty line, say experts.

In his most widely anticipated speech to date, U.S. President Barack Obama will reach out directly to the Muslim world Thursday morning at Cairo University.

As the slew of U.S. officials visiting Beijing continued with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s visit this past weekend, it is clear the Barack Obama administration is taking a much more active approach to relations with China than in years past. This shift is probably most clear, and most crucial, in the field of climate change.

Air raid sirens wailed out on Tuesday morning and Israelis were asked to go down into bomb shelters as the country engaged in its largest-ever civil defence drill. Israelis remain deeply worried by what they perceive as an existential threat of a possible future all-out missile attack from Iran and its proxies.

A surge in confidence, following unprecedented U.S. political support, led to the Palestinian Authority's bloody crackdown on a Hamas cell in the northern West Bank on Sunday which left six Palestinians dead.

Several leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement stand accused of plans to form an 'international network of organisational cells.' Its leaders say the charges are blatant fabrications.

As European Union citizens prepare to go to the polls to elect representatives to the European Parliament this weekend (Jun. 4-7), in Brussels there continues to be much speculation about the political make-up of the next five-year parliament.

Civilian tasks carried out by the Honduran armed forces seem to have overtaken their traditional role of defending the country and, in the past, quelling internal dissent. As well as engaging in mosquito control and forest protection, soldiers are now building a commercial airport.

A report by the United Nations that the Sudanese Air Force bombed northeastern Chad near a refugee camp has sparked strong condemnation from the Save Darfur Coalition (SDC) following military and paramilitary attacks over the past week.

The world has become a slightly more dangerous place in the past year, said the new Global Peace Index (GPI) released Tuesday, which points to the economic crisis as the main factor.