MasterCard announced today (April 4) that it has entered into a partnership with the international humanitarian aid organization World Vision through which it will support that group’s efforts with its own expertise, products and services.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a ¥600 million grant-in-aid pledge to Zimbabwe on Monday to help bring more Japanese companies back to the former agricultural powerhouse amid an aggressive foray by China. [...] also said Japan would maintain close consultation with Zimbabwe to counter the severe food shortages there.

Volunteers from Greece, Syria, Spain, the Netherlands, England, the United States, Finland, Germany, Australia, Ireland and Iceland gather at the Hermes laundry in Anaxos, on Lesbos island. They glove up and sort through the wet clothes [...] discarded after aid groups provide the newly arrived refugees and migrants with the warmth and dignity of clean, dry clothes.

What happens when governments lack the resources to immediately respond to a natural disaster? [...] companies have been able to serve as a critical and effective stopgap in the aftermath of black swans in nations where the suffering is real but the vulnerability is underestimated or even obscured.

Prince Harry paid tribute to the resilience of the people of Nepal in recovering from last year's devastating earthquakes, before visiting destroyed cultural sites on his first visit to the Himalayan nation. Speaking Saturday in the capital, Kathmandu, at a government reception to mark the start of his five-day visit, the prince told assembled dignitaries he had long wanted to visit the country.

The Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Nigeria, Mr. Liu Kan said the Chinese government is committed to ensuring formidable bilateral ties with Nigeria, [...] Liu said that with several projects spanning the previous few decades, Africa has always been cherished as the ‘foundation of the foundation’ in Chinese diplomacy.

Australia’s noted ultra-marathon athlete and former politician Pat Farmer (53) will reach the city next week and run for 40 km here. [...] Dubbed as ‘public-diplomacy initiative’ to promote India-Australia relations, the event was started on January 26, when India celebrates Republic Day and Australia its National Day. 

While the world has made great strides toward gender equality over the last several decades, major disparities between men and women still exist.  And women, from all walks of life, still face disadvantages. In the United States, we are yet to see a female president, and among the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia, the tally remains at one.