The world has seen major improvements in key areas like literacy, access to clean water and infant mortality, writes Gwynne Dyer.

Countries around the world should aspire to be as prepared as New Zealand for massive natural disasters like the Christchurch earthquake.

Rating: 3/5 Verdict: The un-Seeded Nick Cave rocks hard once more.

The international panel set up to advise governments on the effects of global warming 'needs a major overhaul', a report says.

News that members of the Pakistan cricket team were allegedly paid to bowl no-balls is just the latest in a long history of match-fixing.

The Islamist militant group al-Shabaab has stepped up its campaign to topple the Government in Somalia.

The United Nations wants to reduce the amount of meat we eat and the search is on for alternatives.

Authorities in Pakistan were battling yesterday to save a city in a flood-devastated southern province.

Three American hikers held in Iran for more than a year are pawns in a diplomatic game, say their families.

Washington is considering tightening sanctions against the military rulers of Myanmar, formerly Burma.

Eric Schmidt warns that the amount of personal data people leave online could force them to change their names to escape their cyber pasts.

Shaolin temple, the Buddhist monastery that's also the birthplace of Chinese kung fu, is now a World Heritage site.

Sir Geoffrey Palmer says heading an inquiry into a fatal Israeli raid on an aid flotilla will probably be the hardest job he has done.

Extreme social and economic disadvantage faced by Maori has been highlighted as an ongoing concern by a visiting UN expert.