News headlines in May 2011, page 32

Given a few incentives, private companies can be attracted to invest in poor countries that before were not on their radar. Donor countries are betting on this new avenue of public-private-partnerships (PPPs) to channel funds, technology and business knowledge to the 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) - the impact can be huge, but many challenges remain.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's much-awaited policy statement in the National Assembly didn’t satisfy the people as he failed to say anything new.

Subsistence farmers in the Democratic Republic of Congo's southwestern Bandundu Province are seeing their harvests double, thanks to an ambitious programme of support by the government.

Was last week's killing of an unarmed Osama bin Laden in his hideout in Pakistan legitimate self-defence, justified homicide or extra-judicial execution?

Least Developed Countries do not need charity; they want more and smarter investments. This is the point of departure for the Fourth U.N. Conference for the world’s poor countries (LDC-IV) begins in Istanbul, Turkey.

Despite the euphoria surrounding the recent signing in Cairo of the groundbreaking unity accord between Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas, ending their four-year feud, numerous obstacles remain which could impinge on the implementation of a unity government.

Increasing industrial production of oil palm in sub-Saharan African countries, carried out by foreign corporations, is destroying the livelihoods of thousands of Africans and the biodiversity of ecosystems. Despite this, industrialised countries’ governments and development agencies continue to promote such production.

In a small women's clinic in the congested community of San Andres Bukid in the Philippine capital, a mother of 11 is availing herself of family planning services for the first time in her life.

Reina Pérez, an Otomi indigenous craftswoman in the central Mexican state of Querétaro, skilfully embroiders 'grecas' or traditional design motifs in threads of many colours, on fabrics that will be used to make dresses, skirts and blouses.

When the suicide bomb exploded as worshippers left New Year's mass at a Coptic church in Alexandria, 21 people died and 79 were wounded. It's hard to imagine a more grim, ghastly, or tragic way to ring in a new decade.