Animal rights activists are celebrating as the final curtain is drawn on India's ancient dancing bear industry, a practice in which sloth bears are beaten and tortured into dancing to earn money for handlers and entertain crowds.

Last year, children living in Mau Foerest had a wonderful Christmas. But this year, as other children around the country get ready for a merry Christmas, they have little to celebrate.

Men turn tables on regime by donning headscarves and dresses. Hundreds of pictures of men in women's clothing have been posted online by Iranian opposition supporters in mockery of what they say is a crude attempt by the authorities to humiliate.....

Shipwreck hunters say they may have found the World War II hospital ship the Centaur just days into their search. A total of 268 people died when the Centaur sank off the south-east Queensland coast in 1943 after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.

Dr Hawass said: "If the British want to be remembered, if they want to restore their reputation, they should volunteer to return the Rosetta Stone because it is the icon of our Egyptian identity." Egypt's plight to secure the stolen artifacts held abroad.

Uzbekistan is the second largest cotton exporter in the world. Every year, the government of Uzbekistan forces thousands of children and teachers out of the classrooms and into the fields to harvest cotton. They work under harsh conditions, live in crow

After the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. military discovered that rebuilding the country and confronting an insurgency required a weapon not in its arsenal: thousands of interpreters.

ATLANTA (Dec. 17, 2009) - Five years after the devastation of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Habitat for Humanity has assisted more than 22,500 families in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (CNN) -- Brazil's high court has halted the return of a 9-year-old boy to the United States, his American father told CNN.

Haiti is the least-developed country in the West Hemisphere: about 80 percent of the population lives in abject poverty, and a staggering 2 out of 3 Haitians are unemployed. By microfinance, small loans enable hard-working women to open small businesses.