Dismissive of warnings that the Korean peninsula stands on the brink of war, China contends North Korea’s recent provocative actions are yet another illustration of brinkmanship aimed at attracting the U.S. attention. Beijing decried the North’s nuclear tests in late May, but remains uncommitted to tougher sanctions against the impoverished Stalinist nation.

The 19th World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, which kicks off tomorrow, is a space ‘‘for the rich and powerful elites who control the global economy and who seek to further open Africa’s economy in collaboration with a tiny minority of corrupt elites in Africa.

After watching the murder of her husband and his three wives by Charles Taylor’s rebels, Fatu Bonah and her seven children fled into the dense forest to hide. 'The rebels burned down our home and when I returned my in-laws had taken the land,' she says. 'I went to the town chief, who tried to resolve it, but the family refused, saying they had already taken over the land.'

Fears that accession to an economic partnership agreement (EPA) in Southern Africa will destroy regional integration seem to be coming true after Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (BLS) ignored a key provision of the Southern African Customs Union when they initialled their trade deal with the European Union last week.

There are conflicting reports on a violent incident in Peru’s Amazon jungle region in which both police officers and indigenous protesters were killed.

The EU could meet all its electricity demands from renewable energy sources such as wind and the sun by 2050 if governments take the right decisions now, leading environment and energy experts say.

A 'failure' by Eastern European leaders to lift political campaigns above domestic disputes and change apathy towards European institutions was behind low turnout and far right party gains in European Parliament elections this weekend, political analysts say.

More than three out of every four Iranian citizens favour improved relations with the United States, according to a major survey conducted less than one month before this Friday's presidential elections in Iran by a U.S. non-governmental organisation, Terror Free Tomorrow (TFT).

The Chilean prison system has again been described as being in crisis, this time by a Supreme Court report which pointed to serious problems related to overcrowding, rehabilitation, food distribution, hours spent in lockdown, punishment procedures and deaths of inmates.

The world's biggest military spenders last year were countries which were either permanent members of the Security Council or aspiring to hold that privileged rank, according to the latest figures released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).