News stories by Amanda Bransford

The 2003 death of young peace activist Rachel Corrie, crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer, inspired worldwide press coverage, demonstrations and debates — and eventually at least two plays and a number of songs.

The catastrophic floods in Pakistan have added urgency to a high-level United Nations summit this week, with delegates from mostly South Asian nations convening Tuesday to call for increased technology transfer from richer countries and to compare strategies to avert the worst effects of climate change.

Poverty rates in the United States have climbed to their highest level since 1994, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report released Wednesday by energy giant BP of its internal investigation into the catastrophic explosion in April of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the subsequent spill from the Macondo oil well has been met with criticism by watchdog groups who question the company's motives.

The report released Wednesday by energy giant BP of its internal investigation into the catastrophic explosion in April of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the subsequent spill from the Macondo oil well has been met with criticism by watchdog groups who question the company's motives.

Musician Justin Dillon had been reading about human trafficking before he went on tour to Eastern Europe. In Russia, his young female translator told him about offers she was receiving to move west for jobs that seemed too good to be true - and with no paperwork to back them up.

Hoping for better opportunities than they can find at home, many families from Kyrgyzstan travel to find work. Neighbouring Kazakhstan has the strongest economy in Central Asia, and tobacco farms attract workers fleeing Kyrgyzstan's high unemployment.

Suffering through the atrocities of war affects people in different ways. Some become crippled by anger, others by fear. Some become violent and want only revenge. And some, like Rose Mapendo, an inspiring survivor of the war and ethnic cleansing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, come out with a strong commitment to work for peace and reconciliation.

Washington, D.C. residents Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer weren't expecting to become filmmakers when they placed an announcement of their wedding in Wilson's hometown newspaper.

As a major high-level meeting on the Millennium Development Goals approaches at U.N. headquarters in September, anti- poverty and human rights activists are stepping up efforts to have their voices heard.