Italy has called on China to contribute more to the fight against terrorism and help stabilise the Middle East and Northern Africa, as the world’s number two economy shows an increasing interest and exposure in the region, its ambassador to Beijing says.

Idea: We need to develop vaccines for neglected tropical diseases in the Middle East and North Africa. [...] Hotez, who was appointed U.S. Science Envoy for the Middle East in 2015, brought his knowledge of these neglected tropical diseases to the turmoil in the Middle East and discovered the makings of a new global epidemic.

A bright orange peace sign appeared on a hillside on the Greek island of Lesbos on New Year's Day, transforming a growing pile of life jackets discarded by refugees arriving on the island into a message to the world. 

In the small, isolated town of Timbiquí, located on the banks of one of the many winding rivers in Colombia’s Pacific region, there isn’t much for kids to do. [...] To try to counter this, USAID’s Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Program (ACIP), in partnership with Fundación Tiempo de Juego, is implementing a powerful tool: the soccer ball. 

The Ministry of International Cooperation and Development said the UAE has provided Dh173 billion in foreign aid to 178 countries and geographical areas between 1971 and 2014. The report noted that the UAE ranked as the world's most generous donor in 2013 and 2014 and became an international role model of relief and assistance of millions of people affected by natural and man-made disasters and crises.

China’s approach to winning friends around the world has long been characterised as cheque-book diplomacy, with big events overseas invariably accompanied by top-dollar deals. But President Xi Jinping’s ongoing visit to Africa seems to point to a shift, with China more concerned about politics than pure economics.

To celebrate the power of the volunteerism, United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon is marking the International Volunteer Day by emphasizing that volunteering fosters creativity, “draws strength from our passions and connects us to those who need us most.”

I met not one but three remarkable social entrepreneurs here in Haiti. The first is a young woman who is leading a local effort to help other entrepreneurs in Haiti, the second a young man who now runs the larges plastic recycling business and the last, a returned political exile from the Duvalier era that now runs a promising hydroponics business off of his roof!