Gunmen on Monday abducted three foreigners and a Somali working for the UN in southern Somalia, the latest in a string of kidnappings in the nation.

Michael Keating reports on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals at the midpoint.

Two convicted terrorists who had been freed in an amnesty carried out this week's suicide bombings at United Nations and government buildings that killed 37 people, an Algerian security official said. One of the bombers was a 64-year-old man in the advanced stages of cancer, while the other was a 32-year-old from a poor suburb.

People around the world are preparing for floods, droughts and other natural disasters in ways largely dictated by wealth and poverty as evidence of climate change mounts, a United Nations report said on Tuesday. Even if countries took steps to cut greenhouse gases, temperatures would continue to rise until 2050 due to accumulated carbon emissions.

The United Nations has bailed out Sierra Leone's national amputees' football team with a cash boost that paves way for their participation in the World Cup tournament kicking off at the weekend in Turkey. Team secretary Kemoh Sheriff said the donation shows that "we are not forgotten".