SOUTH AFRICA

African governments -- and international animal-rights organizations -- contend the Chinese luxury consumer's appetite for ivory is driving a new wave of illegal killing of one of their continent's most iconic animals.

On Thursday, the government of Denmark approved a law to legalize same-sex marriage. But many are wondering why it took so long?

Another controversy surrounds the Miss Universe pageant: Avianca Bohm, who was named Miss New Zealand, could be stripped of her title for not having been born in the country, despite being allowed to compete by organizers for personal confidence-boosting. Organizers aware that 22-year-old Bohm was not in fact born in the country but rather South Africa, which makes her ineligible to compete in the competition. However, pageant director Val Lott allowed Bohm to compete in order to give he...

Charlize Theron is an actress, model, activist, and mother. Since her breakout role in the 1997 drama The Devil's Advocate Theron has taken Hollywood by storm. The face of Dior has appeared in a number of notable films, such as The Cider House Rules and The Italian Job.

After a long period of instability and conflict, we now have ahead of us an opportunity for genuine peace and security, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Thursday.

In an attempt to add more insight into whether mermaids exist, Animal Planet recently airted its latest documentary special, Mermaids: The Body Found. The network aired the show on Sunday, May 28, as part of its Monster Week series and is strictly a fictional account based on a small number of facts.

Private-sector initiatives in space made history Friday when SpaceX?s Dragon space capsule was grappled by and attached to the International Space Station.

The accident happened in an area formerly operated by diamond giants De Beers.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), the No. 2 computer maker, said it opened a new center in Da Nang, Vietnam, its third center in the Southeast Asian country.

Here's a look at how the U.S. Men's National Team should shape up when the final cuts come Friday, May 25.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki was in Khartoum on Friday to try and push Sudan and South Sudan back to the negotiation table.

Gold Fields Limited (NYSE: GFI), the world's fourth largest gold miner, said Thursday its first-quarter profit rose 70 percent, beating Wall Street's expectations. But the Johannesburg, South Africa-based miner also said its extraction capacity in 2012 will be at the lower end of its previously stated range.

India's emergence as an economic superpower has been accompanied by a disturbing and unexpected phenomenon: an apparent increase in sexual assaults on women.The actual number of rapes in Delhi -- and India as a whole -- is likely to be dramatically higher than indicated by published statistics.

The 51 beauties of the Miss USA pageant balanced themselves in high heels through a rocky cruise of the Hudson river, for a charity sightseeing trip. The event was part of a full-day media blitz in advance of the June 3 competition.

Senator Richard Lugar, who recently lost a primary election for the first time in 36 years, is a legend for his efficacy as a bipartisan politician. Now 80 years old, he will retire from the Senate and pursue other means of public service.

Gabriel Shumba, chief of ZEF and a Zimbabwean human rights attorney, praised the ruling.

Violet D'Mello, a British woman from Aberdeen, was visiting the Kragga Kamma reserve in South Africa with her husband Archie when she was mauled by a cheetah.

Ernst & Young projects that by 2015, money flowing to Africa will reach $150 billion, which will create 350,000 new jobs annually.

Charles Taylor's conviction at the Hague was important for Sierra Leone, but it represents only a single step in the country's long journey toward lasting peace.

Keeping up an old tradition, Germany has threatened to boycott the upcoming Euro 2012 soccer tournament in protest of the imprisonment and alleged mistreatment of Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

India and Russia have chosen to boycott Zimbabwe's 53rd International Trade Fair this year to express their deep discontent with the country's new policies to nationalize and seize control over foreign companies.