Egypt 'worst for women' out of 22 countries in Arab world
Egypt is now the worst country for women's rights in the Arab world, according to a poll of gender experts.The study found sexual harassment, high rates of female genital mutilation and a growth in conservative Islamist groups contributed to the low ranking. The Comoros islands came top in the survey, which was conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. (BBC)
Iran foreign minister blames West for nuclear talks breakdown
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry late on Tuesday and blamed divisions between Western powers for the failure of talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme in Geneva last week.The US the EU and Iran worked intensively together for months on a proposal to help end the 10-year stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme, but talks in Geneva between Tehran and six world powers ended on Saturday without agreement. (Reuters)
Teenage pregnancies and contraception access under spotlight at global summit
Reducing the number of teenage pregnancies and ensuring young women have access to contraception will be the focus of the largest global summit on family planning, which opens in Addis Ababa on Tuesday. The third international family planning conference aims to build on the momentum of last year's meeting in London, where donors pledged $2.6bn (£1.6bn) in new funding and committed to providing 120 million more women with access to modern contraceptives by 2020. (Guardian)
Indian Mars mission snag 'resolved'
India's mission to Mars has overcome a technical problem and appears to be back on track, the country's space research agency says.The problem occurred on Monday when a planned engine burn failed to raise the spacecraft's orbit around Earth by the intended amount. (BBC)
Expensive Christmas gifts 'spoil life' argues Archbishop of Canterbury
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has said that people are making themselves "miserable" at Christmas and potentially damaging their relationships by purchasing expensive presents and leaving themselves short of money. (Guardian)
