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The human rights of women throughout the Middle East and North Africa are systematically denied by each of the countries in the region, despite the diversity of their political systems. Many governments routinely suppress civil society by restricting freedom of the press, expression, and assembly.

Asia is in the grip of a diabetes epidemic. In human and financial terms, the burden is huge and it is hitting the poor especially hard. Often thought of as a disease of the rich, experts say the unabating rise may be fuelled as much by food scarcity and insecurity as it is by excess. Changing lifestyles, rapid urbanisation and cheap calories in the form of processed foods are putting more and more people at risk of developing Type-2 diabetes. There are now 382 million people worldwide living with diabetes, according to new figures from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). More than half are in Asia and the Western Pacific, where 90-95% of cases are classed as Type-2.

Flooding of the Mississippi River valley in the central United States from late April to May 2011 on a scale not seen since the floods of 1927 and 1937. Thousands of square miles of agricultural and residential...

"Typhoon Roke brought evacuation orders, downpours and fears of floods to southern Japan today as it began to traverse the country on a course towards the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant." "More than 1 million people in Nagoya city in central Japan have been advised to evacuate because of Roke, Kyodo News reported." "Roke, due in Fukushima prefecture in 48 hours, may hinder work to control leakage of water into the basements of the Dai- Ichi reactor buildings, which contained 102 million liters of radioactive water as of Sept. 13, according to Tokyo Electric estimates."

ROBAT, Afghanistan - In this remote Afghan village, the distance between the school and the compound of its most powerful resident is 100 yards, and thousands of years.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Covering nearly 300 football fields in a remote patch of desert, the Shams 1 solar project carries off plenty of symbolic significance for the United Arab Emirates. It will be the first, large-scale solar project in the oil-rich country when it is completed at the end of the year, and the largest of its kind in the Middle East.

Britain will become a net importer of wheat for the first time in a decade this year because of bad weather, the National Farmers' Union has said. The prolonged cold weather is expected to impact this autumn's harvest The average yield fell from 7.8 tonnes a hectare to 6.7 tonnes last summer. Looking ahead to the 2013 harvest, farmers had only managed to get three quarters of the planned wheat planted this year, so the UK was already 25% down on potential production.

easy notes and figures of India's use of oil and gas

Includes video and good facts : Approximately 11 million gallons, or 257,000 barrels, of oil spilled into Prince William Sound, and approximately 1,300 miles of shoreline were impacted. Congress passed legislation to improve tanker safety and increase spill prevention and response preparation in the still-recovering sound.

This document shows the achievements and the future challenges of environmental sustainability in Helsinki, the capital of Finland

Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with 20% of girls becoming wives before their 15th birthday, even though 18 is the minimum age allowed by law. Why? "It is the new kind of slavery," says Mirna Ming Ming Evora, who's the country director for the NGO Plan International.

This article mentions how there is a 10% pay gap between men and women due to the few variety of jobs that women occupy. In order to fix this problem of gender gap in the work place, the EU is planning to increase number of women on boards of business. 

The triple threat of drug smuggling, illegal aliens, violent gangs, and the concomitant rise in violence is no more evident than in the state of Texas. Along the U.S. border with Mexico there are 43 Ports of Entry. Of these 43 entry points, 18 are in Texas.

Page 22 and onwards states the negative impacts of over extraction of ground water resources

"Turkey will accept offers of aid from foreign countries to cope with the aftermath of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, officials say. The country has substantial experience of delivering relief after quakes and had, until now, rejected help. But officials now say they are in urgent need of housing. Some 2,000 homes have been destroyed."

At least three people have been killed and several badly injured in a huge landslide in a rural area of the north-western American state of Washington, officials say. The landslide destroyed six houses and covered a road near the town of Oso, about 90km (55 miles) north of Seattle.

Case study of Australia

New research shows 70% chance of a major earthquake around Tokyo within the next four years.

The German cities of Passau and Rosenheim have declared a state of emergency. In Austria, the meteorological service said two months of rain had fallen in just two days.

For pictures : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22747240