Canada’s environmental, public-safety, agricultural, foreign-affairs and trade policies all affect global prosperity and resilience — and by extension in an interconnected world, Canadian prosperity and resilience.

Russian President Vladimir Putin began a six-day Latin American tour aimed at boosting trade and ties in the region with a stop Friday in Cuba, a key Soviet ally during the Cold War that has backed Moscow in its dispute with the West over Ukraine. The two countries signed about a dozen accords in areas such as energy, industry, health and disaster prevention. Russian companies will participate in petroleum projects around Boca de Jaruco on the island's north coast, and that cooperation will extend to offshore oil deposits, Cuban government website Cubadebate said.

1.5 million children die each year from diseases which could be prevented by a simple vaccine.

When Nigerian Islamic militant group Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 girls in Chibok, it galvanized world opinion and inspired one of the biggest social media campaigns ever – #BringBackOurGirls.

Trafficking, forced labour and modern slavery are big business generating profits estimated at $150 billion a year, the UN labour agency said Tuesday.The report by the International Labour Organization finds global profits from involuntary workers — an estimated 21 million of them — have more than tripled over the past decade from its estimate of at least $44 billion in 2005. "We need to strengthen social protection floors to prevent households from sliding into the poverty that pushes people into forced labour," he said.

he United Nations and the European Union have forged an agreement today to fund the restoration of cultural heritage in Timbuktu that was destroyed by extremists after fighting broke out in 2012 between Malian Government forces and Tuareg rebels.“This is vital for Mali and is important for the rest of the world because World Heritage is common to us all,”said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

US ambassador John Berry says the two countries have achieved great advances for their LGBT communities. "We do not have to accept this, the world can fight homophobia," Berry said in a video filmed for samesame.com.au and released on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. "It is so important because we need to communicate to our brothers and sisters who are in less fortunate places that we have not forgotten them, that we stand together, that gay rights are human rights and both the US and Australia will stand to protect them."

French President Francois Hollande is set to host security summit in Paris , a month after over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls from Chibok were abducted by Islamist militants Boko Haram.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan will also attend the talks and address security threats the country face from militant groups including Boko Haram and strategies to tackle with them.