Earlier this month, a 33-year-old man was charged with hammering his wife to death and dumping her body on the highway leading to the Queen Alia International Airport. The husband confessed to murdering her ''to defend his honour,’’ as she was meeting a male friend.

French state-owned company Areva continues to deny any wrongdoing after findings that populated areas in Niger remain contaminated with high levels of radio-activity. The company seems to be escaping censure partly because of lack of data on cancer-related causes of death among Nigeriens working at or living near the uranium mines.

Courteous and efficient, Xing Xina is dealing with the long queue of bank customers in front of her without a hint of resentment.

Led by growth in developing countries, the global economy is rebounding more quickly than expected, according to the latest 'World Economic Outlook' (WEO) released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) here Wednesday.

An international coalition of over 120 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is demanding a North-South partnership to resolve the spreading global crisis in water and sanitation.

Chile's right-wing President Sebastián Piñera is seeking congressional approval of a plan to finance the reconstruction of the country in the wake of the devastating Feb. 27 quake, which includes a temporary tax on business that the centre-left opposition would like to make permanent.

Political momentum for a levy against the world's largest banks to repay governments for the cost of bank rescue packages during the global financial crisis has gained momentum with the leak of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report which calls for a set of taxes against the financial industry.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar may never want the year 2010 to end.

One topic regularly addressed by the public relations industry is how to turn a crisis into an opportunity. Dominique Straus-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, might offer a case study on rising to this challenge.

Non-governmental organisations in Nicaragua are questioning data on the maternal mortality rate released by the government, which is claiming a historic decline in the indicator, and they warn that the reduction target that the country has committed itself to by 2015 is still out of reach.