In 1984, then-U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler famously declared, 'We hope to have such a vaccine ready for testing in approximately two years.' The vaccine in question would prevent AIDS and the goal Heckler set has been missed by over 26 years.

The Latin American economy based on exploitation of natural resources does not create social well-being and is unsustainable in the context of climate change, says Uruguayan Eduardo Gudynas, lead researcher at the Latin American Centre for Social Ecology (CLAES).

Now that the armed conflict between Indian security forces and Kashmiri militants has eased considerably, youngsters are coming out to fight a new threat — environmental degradation — that looms over this beautiful valley often termed ‘paradise on earth’.

As China's aggressive acquisitions in Europe and beyond create ripples of unease in a global economy gripped by fear of another recession, many commentators are discerning a unified strategy for expansion orchestrated by Beijing.

'It's unbelievable, the eruption has had a very good effect on the grass,' says farmer Finnur Tryggvason in Raudafell, just beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier that erupted in April and continued till late May.

Anti-corruption watchdogs have shown their teeth, but Egypt's fat cats appear safe from prosecution as long as they stay in favour with the regime.

Teenage boys gape at a coloured photograph of a vagina, while girls give embarrassed smiles as they watch a cartoon that showed penises 'talking' about masturbation. Young girls crowd around a display panel about love and relationships, as a boy embraces a female mannequin with all his might in order to measure the strength of his hug.

Women’s rights campaigners say the Czech Republic’s new government has effectively told women they have no relevance to the country’s future after the new cabinet was formed — without a single female minister.

An early warning system to alert people living in the lowlands of the northern Bolivian department of Beni about imminent flooding of the mighty Mamoré and Ibare rivers is saving lives, food and goods, and overcoming the uncertainty that led to enormous losses in the past.

Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard, working in concert with oil giant BP, instituted new restrictions across the U.S. Gulf Coast that prevent the media from coming within 20 metres of booms or response vessels on beaches or water. But the insidiousness of the restrictions runs even deeper.