News stories by A.D.McKenzie

Have women around the world become more empowered in their reproductive health and rights over the past 18 years? This is one of the questions that some 300 parliamentarians from around the world will be examining when they meet in Istanbul, Turkey, this week for the Fifth International Parliamentarians’ Conference on the Implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) programme of action.

As France’s president-elect Francois Hollande prepares to form a new government, many environmentalists are calling for the appointment of an ecology minister with real power who can deliver on promises to reduce the use of nuclear power as well as cut carbon emissions.

As non-governmental organisations question the relevance of the World Water Forum being held here this week and slam its 'corporate' nature, the United Nations says that a coordinated approach to managing and allocating water is critical.

The lack of international regulation in the trade of conventional arms is a 'scandal' that must be brought to an end, said a coalition of non-governmental organisations as they heightened their campaign this week for a comprehensive United Nations treaty.

When Louisamène Joseph Alionat unexpectedly began singing in a packed hall at the United Nations cultural agency here this week, it was an attempt to give encouragement to her peers engaged in the uphill battle of trying to end extreme poverty.

The decision by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to push ahead with a financial transactions tax (FTT) may be a political ploy ahead of elections, but it has the approval of many non-governmental organisations, even as support lags elsewhere.

Amidst a sudden downpour of rain here, the Palestinian flag was raised at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on Tuesday, marking Palestine’s admission to the specialised agency.

Mansions on one side of the road, and slums on the other. People queuing for food rations, while others drive by in shiny Land Rovers with tinted windows.

When firefighters arrived to put out a blaze that was engulfing the home of Elise Inversin on the French island of Corsica, the 66-year-old grandmother told firemen to forget about her house and save a neighbouring 900-year-old Mastic tree. The house could be rebuilt, she said.

Twenty years after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and a year after being released from house arrest, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is the subject of a sweeping film that may increase international pressure on Burma’s ruling regime to speed up tentative reforms.