In-depth coverage of current social issues. Insights into the philosophical, moral and ethical values in society today—health care, science and environmental news and articles

LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A London-based business has reinvented the rubbish bin, making its new recycling containers bomb-proof and sticking LCD screens on the side to tell Londoners about market moves and breaking news.

Feb 3 (Reuters) - About 100 people are feared trapped inside a ferry that sank in rough weather off Papua New Guinea, a rescue official said on Friday, a day after the crowded boat went down with about 350 people on board.

MANILA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The Philippine military stepped up security on Friday in expectation of revenge attacks by Muslim rebels after an air strike killed 15 al Qaeda-linked militants, officials said.

BUCHAREST, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Romania's population has fallen by more than 12 per cent since 2002 due to migration and a low birth rate, early census data showed, raising concerns about the size of the country's work force and tax income.

NAIROBI, Feb 3 (AlertNet) - An exceptional harvest after good rains and food deliveries by aid agencies have ended famine in Somalia for now but food stocks could run out again in May, the United Nations said on Friday.

ROME, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Heavy snow fell in central Rome on Friday, giving tourists a rare sight of whitened landmarks such as Saint Peter's Square and the Trevi Fountain, while the Colosseum and the Roman Forum were closed due to the icy conditions.

VIENNA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Iran's apparent reluctance to let U.N. inspectors visit a military site near Tehran underlines the uphill task they face in convincing the Islamic state to address suspicions it may be seeking to develop nuclear weapons, Western diplomats say.

LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Queen Elizabeth is throwing a star-studded party for him at Buckingham Palace and in Buenos Aires, leading cultural figures will gather in an old orphanage to read from his works.

LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - British police said on Friday they were investigating reports that the activist hacker group Anonymous had hacked into a conference call between FBI agents and London detectives to discuss action they were taking against hacking.

CAIRO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Protesters laid siege to Egypt's Interior Ministry on Friday, pushing their protest against the military-led government into a second day in a show of anger triggered by the deaths of 74 people in the country's worst soccer disaster.

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - So much for "Facebook fatigue."

TOKYO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Emerging countries understand the International Monetary Fund must boost its firepower as the euro zone debt crisis threatens to hurt the global economy, its senior official said on Friday, signalling expectations that those nations' IMF contributions will rise.

NAIROBI, Feb 3 (Reuters) - An exceptional harvest after good rains and food deliveries by aid agencies have ended famine in Somalia although conditions remain fragile and could worsen, the United Nations said on Friday.

PHNOM PENH, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Cambodia ruled on Friday that the Khmer Rouge's prison chief should serve the rest of his life in jail, extending a 19-year sentence handed down in July 2010 that outraged survivors of the "killing fields" regime.

SYDNEY, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Heavy rains shut four coal mines in eastern Australia on Friday as military helicopters evacuated stranded residents from inundated towns, and authorities warned of further flash flooding.

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

JERUSALEM, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Israel estimated on Thursday that Iran could make four atomic bombs by further enriching uranium it has already stockpiled, and could produce its first within a year of deciding to build one.

BEIRUT, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said on Thursday that Jordan had withdrawn its monitors from the Arab League mission to Syria, saying the decision was taken several days ago when the work of all monitors was suspended.

FARKASLYUK, Hungary, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Hungarian villagers were scavenging for coal with their bare hands on Thursday as a blast of Siberian air killed scores in Eastern Europe and looked set to keep its icy grip on the continent for another week.

LISBON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The trains ran and the buses, too. Staff made it to work and shops and banks opened across Lisbon. Weak backing for a transport strike on Thursday reflected a broader lack of appetite for militant action by workers concerned for jobs threatened by Portugal's growing debt crisis.