Zimbabwean women have told the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva they are watching a "silent genocide" unfurl in their country, as President Mugabe's reign of terror against all opposition continues apace.

Land degradation intensifies agricultural economic losses, disorganizes local and regional food markets, and causes social and political instability. To combat it there is an increasing push towards sustainable agriculture - the ability of a farm to produce food indefinitely, without causing irreversible damage to ecosystem health. And now there are lots of creative ways you can help support this work from giving a can of worms to a Bolivian farmer through to helping create a farming conservation plot in Zimbabwe.

The World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum have condemned what they say is the UN Human Rights Council's repeated efforts to undermine freedom of expression in the name of protecting religious sensibilities.

The plea "Give us this day our daily bread" needs to be heard by political leaders meeting in Rome on the global food crisis, says Jean Blaylock, looking at the response of world church representatives.

Church-backed Philippine human rights activists have reiterated their call on the UN Human Rights Council to "keep pursuing our government to stop the extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations".

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of Cape Town have spoken to Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, asking for help for churches in Zimbabwe as well as mediation and monitoring.

Burma's military regime is distributing international aid today. But it is covering the boxes with the names of top generals in an effort to turn the relief effort for last week's devastating cyclone into a propaganda exercise.

Does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights represent a triumph of the Enlightenment over superstition? Or has it sidelined religion and sought to impose monolithic norms on diverse communities and cultures? Savi Hensman says the reality is more complex than these popular antitheses suggest.

The Anglican Bishop of Taiwan and one of his senior priests say they are saddened by the failure of the electorate on the island to pass two referendums asking whether Taiwan should enter the United Nations.

Rival political leaders in Kenya have reached an agreement on a coalition government after weeks of bitter negotiations, former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan announced today, before a major press conference.