Militia brigades abducting children and forcing them to become soldiers, porters and sex slaves is a huge problem in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 　　In the last few months, fighting between the DRC army and Rwandan Hutu rebels and other militias has intensified. 　　Aid agencies describe the situation as catastrophic,... More

　　Scientists in Africa have begun trials of a malaria vaccine. 　　Developed through two decades of research, the Mosquirix vaccine - also known as RDS,S - is being tested in Africa's biggest ever clinical trial, spanning seven nations, and involving some 16,000 children. 　　More than 5,000 children have already undergone preliminary... More

　　On the night that Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, 21-year-old Mohammed el Gharani was sitting in a segregation cell in Guantanamo Bay's high security Echo Block. 　　He remembers the excitement among his fellow prisoners at the prospect of an Obama presidency. "Everyone was very hopeful; people were saying... More

　　A new human-rights report claims that Chinese citizens are kidnapped and held in informal detention centers, known locally as "black jails", to prevent them from bringing complaints to the central government. 　　The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the practice of locking up disgruntled petitioners has evolved into a... More

　　A British documentary has alleged that any future Conservative government will be disproportionately influenced by a powerful pro-Israeli lobby in the country. 　　Channel 4's Dispatches program on Monday said that at least half of the Conservative shadow cabinet are members of the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), one of a... More

　　On a ridge of the rugged brown mountains that encircle Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, Qatari investors are building a little slice of the Gulf. 　　"This project will be an icon of quality," promised Hassan Fadala, deputy CEO of operations at Qatari Diar, the real estate investment company pumping $600mn... More

　　Dozens of prisoners held at a secret British army interrogation centre in Iraq claim they suffered unlawful physical and mental abuse similar to that carried out by the US on detainees at Guantánamo Bay. 　　Inmates at the high-security compound within the Shaibah base say they were held in solitary confinement... More

　　The illegal sale of children makes up more than half of all the cases of human trafficking around the world, according to recent estimates. 　　Traditionally it has involved the exploitation of children in poorer nations, but an Al Jazeera investigation has found that it is also happening in developed countries,... More

　　The Philippines and the Muslim group hope to sign a deal by April next year over Muslim homeland, officials from both sides said on Wednesday. 　　Both parties are pushing to finalize the deal, which involves bringing back international monitors to the region, before Philippine President Gloria Arroyo's term ends in... More

　　The recent arrest warrant issued in London for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is more than justified. 　　This woman, along with two other Israeli leaders, Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak, stood at the helm of the Israeli government that ordered, supervised and charted the genocidal onslaught against the Gaza... More

　　The call for over 30,000 more troops to be sent to Afghanistan is a travesty for the people of that country who have already suffered eight brutal years of occupation. 　　It is also a harsh blow to the US soldiers facing imminent deployment. 　　As Barack Obama, the US president, gears... More

　　It is not hard to see why Alla Gul is upset. Her two-year-old daughter cries weakly in her arms with barely enough energy to eat. 　　The child stares vacantly at the other patients in the Charikar hospital ward, her muscles wasted with malnutrition, her angular bones protruding like twigs beneath... More

　　The first 20 detainees arrived at Guantánamo's Camp X-Ray eight years ago, on January 11, 2002. Just over seven years later, President Barack Obama-on his second full day after taking office-issued an order to shut the prison within a year. 　　His rhetoric was clear and decisive. "There is no time... More