Wayne Kublalsingh could hardly contain himself. Minutes after Trinidad's High Court issued a ruling Tuesday temporarily halting construction of a controversial smelter plant, Kublalsingh ripped open his shirt, revealing a jersey emblazoned with the words: 'No Smelter'.

A network of volunteers from Romania has managed to plant more than 100,000 trees and collect 70 tonnes of trash in just one year, filling in gaps in the working of state institutions, and showing that there is potential for civic engagement among Romanian youth.

Muslim charities in the United States are subject to unfair treatment by the government under terrorism financing laws, according to a new report which says the effect has been a chill on charitable giving that violates Muslims’ right to freely practice an important requirement of their religion.

Press freedom groups are calling on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to drop its case against a French journalist accused of contempt over a book about the workings of the court.

The southern part of the island of Madagascar is suffering severe drought and famine. Lack of rainfall during the summer season has destroyed the country’s main harvest in March and April. Half a million Malagasy have little or no access to clean water and food.

Amid rising tensions with North Korea, U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday assured visiting South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak that Washington was firmly committed to their nearly 60-year alliance and their mutual determination not to yield to Pyongyang's demands that it be recognised as a nuclear power.

At the initiative of the opposition parties, the Peruvian parliament approved the creation of a committee to investigate the clash early this month between indigenous protesters and the police near the town of Bagua in the northern province of Amazonas, which according to official reports left a death toll of 34.

The United States government is coming under intense pressure from rights organisations and environmental groups to redefine its trade pact with Peru, a tool that they charge the government in Lima is using to justify oppression against the indigenous population.

Reducing carbon levels in the atmosphere may be as simple as planting a new breed of hybridised chestnut trees, according to a new study by Purdue University Associate Professor Douglass Jacobs.

Forty-two million people were forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide in 2008, said a new report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released Tuesday.