When it works, it's spectacular: Esther Ngonyo Njuguna's dairy project stands as testimony to the potential of microcredit schemes to boost rural incomes.

April has traditionally being the time for ‘hanami’ or cherry blossom festivals here when millions of Japanese hold parties under the pink flowering trees in parks and streets lit up gaily by lanterns.

In a country where the death penalty enjoys vocal support from both the government and the public, lawyer and politician Duma Boko is not afraid to stand firmly against it. Boko will be in court on Apr. 15 to argue for the life of a client against daunting odds.

Two species of Antarctic penguins have declined sharply over the past 30 years as their chief food source has been devastated by a combination of other predators, over-fishing, and rapidly melting sea ice caused by global warming, according to a new study released here Monday by the National Academy of Sciences.

Guatemala has been accepted as a candidate country by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which aims to strengthen governance by improving transparency and accountability in the sector, and to reduce tensions between mining and oil companies and local people affected by their activities.

The attack on Libya was long in the works. Since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seized power in a military coup in 1969, overthrowing King Idris and forcing the American military out of Libya, the US has been planning to overthrow him, writes Johan Galtung, Founder of TRANSCEND, a Peace Development Environment Network, and author of "The Fall of the US Empire - And Then What?"

As BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders prepare for Thursday’s summit in the resort town of Sanya in China’s southern Hainan province, experts here say there are limits to how ‘political’ the grouping can get.

The exodus of migrants streaming out of Libya due to ongoing unrest has highlighted the heavy dependence of some countries on remittances from their citizens working abroad. In several countries this flow has now become choked.

For the first time, Mexico has a female attorney general - the highest post ever reached by a woman in this country. But elation at this achievement is overshadowed by grief over the brutal murders of women police chiefs and activists, and the persecution endured by the family of another woman who was killed in 2010.

The BRICS summit begins with a meeting of trade ministers on Wednesday on China's Hainan island, with South Africa participating in the gathering of leading emerging economies for the first time.