When the Shah of Iran, a strongly pro-U.S. ally, was ousted from power after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the stridently anti-U.S. regime of Ayatollah Khomeini that captured power also inherited a military bonanza: billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art weapons provided by the United States.

When the Green Revolution took root in the 1960s and 1970s, plant biologists' main concern was increasing the yield of the staple crops on which people in poor countries depended. This, it stood to reason, would increase the amount of food available to the world's poor — and decrease hunger.

'I can't even walk because I run out of breath. Food is my drug,' says a 31-year-old man who weighs 215 kilos. 'I hide to eat; it's something I can't control,' says a 21-year-old woman who weighs 152 kilos.

'People were busy watching Al-Jazeera and DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) TV, but not about the vote,' a Buddhist monk here remarked at the end of election day on Nov. 7, the first general poll to be held in this military-ruled country in 20 years.

The beauty of the Mexican Caribbean resort city of Cancún may have been one reason for choosing it to host the upcoming global summit on climate change. But Cancún has little to recommend it as a model for adapting to the challenges posed by climate change.

Four minors are among nine people who have been sentenced to death for a carjacking in Khour Baskawit in South Darfur. The case has raised fresh concerns over protection for children's rights in Sudan.

At Kigali's Kibagabaga Hospital, 30 young people aged between 12 and 18 years old wait in a crowded holding room, waiting for their turn to see the doctor in charge of prescribing antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). They are among 220,000 children affected by AIDS who are benefiting from social and medical assistance from the Rwandan government and its development partners.

It’s an odd group of 30 men, all of different ages, crammed together in one room. There’s a man who used to run a computer shop. Another is an ex-car dealer. There’s a tailor and beside him is a truck driver.

In what the International Monetary Fund is calling a historic moment, the institution approved long-awaited reforms Friday that would shift some decision-making weight to emerging economies. Some NGOs, however, do not see the reform as nearly that momentous.

Less than a week after Republicans made major gains in the U.S. midterm elections, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has called on President Barack Obama to 'create a credible threat of military action' against Iran.