When Aisha Diis* and her five children fled their home in Somalia seeking aid from the famine devastating the region, she could not have known the dangers of the journey, or even fathom that she would be raped along the way.

Like the biblical plagues of Egypt, 10 calamities have fallen in recent years on the previously flourishing basic industries of northeastern Venezuela, such as iron and steel, aluminium and hydroelectricity.

The deserts of northern Mexico are home to various plant species that have been largely ignored, despite the considerable social, economic and environmental contributions they could make.

Al-Shabaab has vowed to carry out more attacks in Mogadishu following a vehicle bomb blast that killed scores of people in the Somali capital.

Making some simple, basic changes in education policy can result in many more girls attending school, experts said at a meeting here this week on Gender Equality in Education.

Almost half of all doctors working in Slovakia’s hospitals have handed in their notice in a mass protest over working conditions and wages which they warn could cause the Eastern European country’s healthcare system to collapse.

The anti-nuclear struggle in India did not gain the same national prominence as the hunger strike waged by Anna Hazare against rampant corruption among India’s top politicians. Yet a landmark it surely was in the history of India’s nuclear programme.

Foreign direct investment in Africa over the last decade has contributed to marked economic growth for the continent but it has not translated into development for its people, say pan-African leaders.

In a major victory for U.S.-based multinational corporations, President Barack Obama has submitted controversial and long- pending 'free-trade' agreements (FTAs) between the U.S. and South Korea, Colombia, and Panama for rapid approval by Congress.

Critics complain that a genetically modified bean developed in Brazil, resistant to one of the country's most damaging agricultural pests, was approved without enough debate or guarantees that the crop will not affect human health or the environment.