HALIFAX - The executive director of a Nova Scotia outreach group for sex workers said a two-year funding commitment from the province to help communities address sexual violence is a positive step, but such money is needed over a longer period of time in order to be effective. Rene Ross of Halifax-based Stepping Stone welcomed the $900,000 funding announcement Thursday, but added that organizations such as hers constantly have to fight with the provincial government to get the support necessary to help victims of violence.

Save the Children on Wednesday urged action after releasing a report claiming that most rape and sexual abuse victims in many of the world's conflict zones were children. The report, entitled "Crimes Against Children", cited data and testimonies from countries including Colombia, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The charity warned that programmes to help children who are victims of sexual crimes in war zones and post-conflict regions were massively underfunded.

A night out on the town turned into a nightmare after an American woman was gang raped and beaten aboard a public transport van while her French boyfriend was handcuffed, hit with a crowbar and forced to watch the attacks, police said.The incidents raise new questions about security in Rio, which has won kudos for its crackdown on once-endemic drug violence in preparation for hosting next year's football World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.The city also will be playing host to World Youth Day, a Roman Catholic pilgrimage that will be attended by Pope Francis and is ex

Four sisters walking home in north India have suffered severe burns after being attacked with acid by two men on a motorbike, police said Wednesday, in a brutal example of a growing problem in South Asia. The youngest sister, a 19-year-old student, was admitted to hospital after the attack on Tuesday evening in the Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh state, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the capital.