A state of emergency has been imposed on a southern Philippine island after rebels threatened to kill a Red Cross worker if the security forces continue to pursue them.
Police in the United States are investigating a domestic link as the possible motive for the shooting of eight people at a North Carolina nursing home on Sunday.
The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is reporting that aid to the developing world rose to an all-time high in 2008, with an increase of more than 10 percent.
One of the world\'s most prestigious medical journals, the Lancet, has accused Pope Benedict the sixteen of distorting science in his remarks on condom use.
The United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, is calling for the Group of 20 leading nations to contribute to a substantial international stimulus package to help poor countries weather the global economic downturn.
North Dakota in the United States has been declared a federal disaster area by US President Barack Obama because of record spring flooding across the mid-Western state.
Officials in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) said an independent review of British Offshore Financial Centres shows that the BVI has been yielding to international standards.
The Mount Redoubt volcano in the US state of Alaska has erupted for the sixth time in 24 hours, spewing ash and steam 15 kilometres or 9.3 miles into the air.
US president Barack Obama has told Americans that he sees signs of economic recovery, but urged them to be patient and look beyond their short-term interests.
Researchers at the United Nations have published a comprehensive study on global inequality, which shows that the world\'s wealth is owned by 2 percent of the global population.