Arrests after Afghan acid attack
Police in Afghanistan arrested 10 suspects accused of brutally attacking schoolgirls by throwing acid into their faces. All of the men are Taliban insurgent fighters; several have confessed to the crime. President Hamid Karzai has called for their public execution.
Chinese officials’ shifting quake tolls anger parents of children who died
Chinese parents who lost children in a devastating earthquake last May are frustrated with the government's admission — and immediate retreat from the fact — that 19,000 students were killed.
Zimbabwe on brink of collapse as outbreak of cholera spreads
South African leaders radically revised their assessment of the crisis in Zimbabwe, warning that the state was on the verge of total collapse as hundreds of refugees suffering from cholera crossed the border between the nations in search of desperately needed medicine. Some 6,000 people have contracted the chronic infection, and 300 have died, according to the UN. The Elders group — former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and rights activist Graça Machel — planned to visit Zimbabwe to assess the situation but were refused visas.
Vietnam plans return to two-child policy to tackle population growth
The government of Vietnam, fearing a population boom, has banned families from producing more than two children. A two-child policy was in place from the 1960s until 2003, but a spike in births — which jumped 10% in 2008 — led to the return of the policy.
Ex-child soldiers launch UN network to help kids
Former African child soldiers Thursday announced the launch of a United Nations-backed group to create a global network of survivors to help with education and rehabilitation of child soldiers and advocate against the use of children in armed conflict.
