A profile of the Somali region which declared autonomy in 1998

An illegal diamond mine in Zimbabwe is eerily empty and bodies are piling up in the morgue, amid claims of a brutal crackdown by the authorities, writes David Farira.

Palaeontologists piece together the fossilised skull of the oldest example yet found of a woolly rhinoceros in Europe.

Desert kingdom Abu Dhabi is determined to be known for more than just its oil wealth, and as Christian Fraser reports, there are no limits to its ambition.

The BBC News website looks at the background to the fighting in Sudan's western region of Darfur.

Ongoing political protests are splitting Thai society along class lines, the BBC's Jonathan Head finds.

The BBC's Andres Schipani looks at whether a remote Bolivian town holds the key to the fate of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Key facts, figures and dates

A chronology of key events

A photographic prize said to be the world's richest is won by a Canadian for images of ecological disaster in northern China.

Environment correspondent Richard Black's diary of the IUCN World Conservation Congress, which is being held in Barcelona, Spain.

Researchers find a possible new route taken by early modern humans as they expanded out of Africa to the rest of the world.

Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe makes his Broadway debut in Equus before a star-studded audience.

The Gilf al-Kebir plateau, where a group of Western tourists have been kidnapped, is an isolated, unvisited place compared to Egypt's famous monuments and Red Sea beaches.

Australia's coastline is being battered by extreme waves that are driven in part by climate change, scientists say.

Australian farmers are watching helplessly as the 'Big Dry' turns once lush grazing land into an arid desert, the BBC's Nick Bryant reports.

Matt Frei, presenter of BBC World News America, analyses the anxiety afflicting the Democrats as they meet for convention week.

Why illigal immigration is a hot election issue for Barack Obama and John McCain.

A severe drought makes Spain's environmental debate more heated than ever, Sue Lloyd-Roberts reports.

With another wet weekend ahead, the familiar grumbles about British summers have surfaced. But are we deluding ourselves that the should be any different, asks meteorologist Philip Eden.