More than half of Georgia's population still lives in abject poverty due toeconomic stagnation, worsening living standards, rising unemployment and lowpay nearly nine years after the 2003 bloodless‘Rose Revolution' that promisedpost-Soviet economic revival, a new political course and better living conditions.

The world has witnessed a decline in global peace over thelast year, according to the 2011 Global Peace Index, or GPI,released by the Institute for Economics and Peace Wednesday.

The World Bank is working to update the mechanisms it uses to measure the effects of the financing it provides, particularly in environmental and social terms, now that it is gearing up to administer the new Green Climate Fund.

The presence of religion in public space challenges our ideasabout the roles of faith in our lives and politics. Over thelast centuries, proponents of secularisation have claimed thatas societies modernise, the role of religion in public andprivate life diminishes. For them, modern rationality,science, and the ideal of representative governments assovereign replace religion as a source of authority,regulation, and security.

Europe is facing a hungry future unless it changes agricultural policies andmakes farmers the main participants in agriculture research, a new report hasfound. And there is little hope of meeting Europe's recently announced goal ofreducing the loss of biodiversity in ten years without making those changes.

When leaders of the Group of 8 (G8) industrialised nationsmeet in Deauville, France later this week, there is a strongpossibility that politics will take precedence overtraditional socioeconomic issues like food security anddevelopment aid, which are being overshadowed by the Arabrevolution and Palestinian statehood.

The International Monetary Fund will probably continue to be headed by a European after the resignation of France's Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but the debate over his replacement indicates this degree of Eurocentrism is unlikely to prevail the next time a successor is sought.

Amid a flurry of meetings in Europe, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary RodhamClinton will help to launch a"global partnership for girls' and women'seducation"here Thursday at the United Nations Education, Scientific and CulturalOrganisation (UNESCO).

Of the various cooperation programmes Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singhannounced in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, plans for an India-Africa VirtualUniversity (IAVU) take pride of place.

Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-841-1700; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor, 316-516-3034; both with Operation Rescue, info@operationrescue.org WASHINGTON, May 23, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- A Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled to be held Tuesday afternoon concerning Pres. Barack Obama's nomination of former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six to the United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Photo: HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius yucks it u Source: Operation Rescue

Picture a mother, hunching over a field with a Medieval-stylehoe in hand, spending day after day tilling the soil under abeating hot sun - only to retire home to care for her familywithout electricity or running water.

In their 2010 book"Half the Sky", Pulitzer Prize-winnersNicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn write about a disturbingbut not uncommon problem in Southern Africa - male teacherswho trade good grades for sex with students.

The momentous events of Tahrir Square, Egypt also signify ahuge step forward for gender equality in the region, women'srights activists said Friday.