Marines were issued $450 suits to protect against deadly agents. Use may be triggered by pigeons.

There aren't many animals left in the Baghdad Zoo, and the ones that survived aren't very appealing.

They are sometimes dodgy but often necessary in an industry with few funding options

Washington is ending the University of Mississippi's 50-year monopoly on research cannabis.

2009 saw continued global economic turmoil, price volatility of food and fuels, and the growing effects of climate change. These challenges threaten progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially in the world’s least developed countries. And they come at the very time all partners need to step up action to achieve the eight MDGs by 2015. The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is responding by redoubling its efforts in support of the MDGs in the world’s least developed countries. First, UNCDF is working to increase access by poor people and small enterprises to microfinance. 90% of people lack access to formal financial systems in the LDCs. UNCDF programmes help more households and small businesses gain access to credit, savings, insurance and remittances, all of which can help to reduce poverty (MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger). UNCDF’s ability to provide risk capital directly to the private sector in the form of grants and loans – unique in the UN system – is helping to spur new innovations, such as mobile phone banking (described in Box 11). At the same time, through its $26 million Inclusive Finance facility – MicroLead – UNCDF is supporting the entry of high impact microfinance institutions into unbanked areas, while emphasizing South-South cooperation and assistance to the most vulnerable. MicroLead has a special fast-disbursing window for post-crisis environments, and complements the comprehensive microfinance sector programmes that UNCDF currently supports in 22 least developed countries throughout Africa and Asia.

USTDA-sponsored meeting will benefit African producers and their US energy-related partners

For a crash course on Iraq’s current political situation, buckle your seatbelt and try to drive through Baghdad’s streets.

Arafat takes a "victory" tour of Ramallah after a month's siege during the second intafada