News stories by Sabina Zaccaro, page 2

Of the 12 ministers nominated Wednesday by Italy’s premier-designate Mario Monti, not one is a politician.

Civil society organisations and global farmers' networks are gathered in Rome this week to ask governments to stop the 'disastrous practice of land grabbing', ahead of next week's Committee on World Food Security.

Food price volatility featuring high prices is likely to continue and probably increase next year, making poor farmers even more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity, the global report on food insecurity released Monday by the United Nations' three Rome-based food agencies predicts.

The track record of the newly elected Brazilian chief of FAO is a promise in itself for civil society.

The influx of migrants arriving from Libya and other African countries has created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in southern Italy.

The trial of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on charges of underage prostitution has just taken a turn that some commentators are calling an appropriate twist of fate: the trial, due to begin on April 6, will be adjudicated by a panel of female judges.

While a handful of young sex workers have been under the spotlight in the weeks following a high-profile sex scandal involving Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, tens of thousands remain invisible victims of human trafficking.

The demonstration by an estimated million women across Italy Sunday points to a continuing denial of fair opportunities for women at work.

Food production will have to increase by 70 percent to feed the expected world population of 9 billion by 2050, says a report released Monday by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Agricultural output in developing countries will have to double, the report says.

Her husband died last year, but 'he will be forever a guardian of biodiversity.'