Last week, on the 8th of March, we marked the hundredth anniversary of the first International Women’s Day. The idea of having a women’s day was first proposed against the backdrop of the rapid industrialisation of the early twentieth century.

According to Times Higher Education (THE) ever World Reputation Rankings, Harvard, MIT and the University of Cambridge are the most globally well-regarded universities.

China has ended a 110-year-long US leadership, overtaking the country as the world's top manufacturing nation in 2010, reports quoting a research report by US-based consultancy IHS Global Insight said.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, is running a series of seminars in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Near East to help governments to make informed decisions on how to respond to high food prices which are becoming increasingly destabilizing.

North Korea has accepted a team of animal health specialists from FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to assist veterinary authorities in combating outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth disease among pigs and cattle, which seem to be endemic in the country.

Hundreds of Saudi troops have entered Bahrain to help protect government facilities there amid escalating protests against the government. Bahrain television on Monday broadcast images of troops in armoured cars entering the Gulf state via the 26km causeway that connects the kingdom to Saudi Arabia.

Explosions at a Japanese quake-stricken nuclear plant have led to radiation levels that can affect human health, a senior Japanese official has said. Prime Minister Naoto Kan has urged those living within 30km of the plant to stay indoors.

Premier Wen Jiabao said on Monday China would pursue political reforms only in a “gradual” manner and within the umbrella of one-party rule, even as he ruled out the likelihood of the recent West Asian uprisings having any impact on China.

A second explosion has hit the nuclear plant in Japan that was damaged in Friday's earthquake, but officials said it had resisted the blast. TV footage showed smoke rising from Fukushima plant's reactor 3, a day after an explosion hit reactor 1.

Brazil imports too many knick-knacks from China complained Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, who next month makes an official state visit to the Asian giant, according to reports in the Sao Paulo press