The Greek island of Lesbos has been a transit point for hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers. Moria refugee camp is a former detention centre with capacity for less than 3,000 people. Caoimhe Butterly meets some of the families caught up in the chaos and despair.

Today, former Dublin GAA football manager Jim Gavin became the 82nd Freeman of Dublin.

This antiquated practice is the worst form of gender inequality and it contravenes UN health, education, and economic targets, says Moha Ennaji.

Climate change is increasing global hunger, with some countries worse off today than a decade ago, a new study shows.

The seventh World Happiness Report, compiled by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, ranked 156 countries in terms of happiness, with Ireland placing 16th on the list, down from 14th in the last report.

The great American comedian George Carlin had a terrific routine in which he talked about the language used in American football, writes Michael Moynihan.

The Government has donated an extra €9m in funding for areas hit by humanitarian crises across the globe.

Norway is the happiest country on Earth, Americans are getting sadder, and it takes more than just money to be cheery, according to a new report.

A surge in killing African elephants for ivory has led to the “majestic” animal’s numbers falling by more than 100,000 in a decade, conservationists warned.

A surge in killing African elephants for ivory has led to the "majestic" animal's numbers falling by more than 100,000 in a decade, conservationists have warned.

Ireland assisted in the relocation of just one refugee classed as an “unaccompanied minor”, from Greece between June 14 and July 11 of this year.

Concern Worldwide’s Anne O’Mahony feels there are reasons to to be optimistic about 2016 but also sees many challenges ahead, especially if we all don’t work together.

More than 1m refugees and migrants came to the EU this year, while almost 3,700 died or went missing in perilous journeys which reaped huge profit for smugglers, the International Organisation for Migration has said.

The number of people forcibly displaced worldwide is likely to have “far surpassed” a record 60m this year, mainly driven by the Syrian war and other protracted conflicts, the UNsaid.

Pope Francis has told crowds gathered at the main mosque of Central African Republic’s capital that Muslims and Christians are brothers, and must live as such.

Pope Francis yesterday arrived in Central African Republic, making the final stop of his first trip to Africa.

It is the Western powers’ strategy of training, funding, and arming ‘moderate’ jihadists to fight against the ‘radicals’ that is now backfiring with deadly consequences, writes Brahma Chellaney

The fugitive leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army is sick and in retreat from an international manhunt, defectors claim.

Appeal for cThe UN’s food agency is cutting back on assistance to thousands of Syrian refugees after an appeal for a ceasefire to enable Syrians feed themselves went unheeded, World Food Programme (WFP) executive director Ertharin Cousin said.easefire so Syrians could feed selves went unheeded

Almost 60m people worldwide were forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution at the end of last year, the highest ever recorded number, the UN refugee agency said.

Dominic MacSorley, CEO of Concern Worldwide, says 60m have been uprooted from their homes by war and poverty. World Refugee Day should give us pause for thought    

An investigation of alleged child sex abuse by French soldiers in the Central African Republic has begun, Paris prosecutors said.

France is investigating allegations of child abuse in Central African Republic by soldiers that it sent there to stem an outbreak of sectarian killing, officials said.

French President Francois Hollande has vowed tough punishment for any soldier found guilty of sexually assaulting children in the Central African Republic.

Almost 30 countries are highly vulnerable to an ebola-style epidemic which could jeopardise the future of millions of children, a charity has warned.

A commander in warlord Joseph Kony’s feared militia is making his first appearance before an International Criminal Court judge.

The UN children’s agency declared 2014 a devastating year for children with as many as 15m caught in conflicts in Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and the Palestinian territories.

Concern in Sierra Leone have buried thousands of bodies in the last few weeks from the ebola virus. Even if you hate the song — buy it, urges Dominic McSorley

Rhinos are in the news and for all the wrong reasons. Suni, a northern white rhino, was found dead at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya on October 17. 

Ireland has one of the lowest rates of contraceptive use in the EU while births to teenage mothers remain among the highest. 

Four people with fever considered at risk for ebola were being tested in Spain yesterday for the virus, including one who arrived on an Air France jet that was isolated at Madrid’s airport as a precaution, officials said.

France will join the US-led airstrikes targeting extremists in Iraq as part of an expanding international effort to combat the Islamic State group, Iraq’s new prime minister has said.

More than 50 million people were forcibly uprooted worldwide at the end of last year, the highest level since after the Second World War, as people fled crises from Syria to South Sudan, the UN refugee agency said.

Lest we forget, US-led Western military aggression in Afghanistan and the Middle East created chaos, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and human rights abuses.

We cannot afford to wait for world leaders to solve our problems but instead unite to force them to act, and act fast, writes Michel Rocard.

Extremism is a threat to the futures of our young people and to our security, writes Tony Blair.

Islamic militants who prompted global outrage over the kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls have opened fire on a busy marketplace, killing hundreds in a new spasm of violence in Nigeria’s north-east.

Delegates at the World Economic Forum on Africa will be isolated from reality on the ground, says Pascal Fletcher.

The diplomat who was president of the UN Security Council in April 1994 apologised today for the council’s refusal to recognise that genocide was taking place in Rwanda and for doing nothing to halt the slaughter of more than one million people.

As Sky’s top foreign reporter, Alex Crawford has ridden rebel trucks in Libya and trekked across mountains to meet Taliban officials. She tells Alex Clark why the hardest part of the job is returning to her spouse and four children

Two Irish technology companies have signed deals worth a total of 3.5 million euro with major French partners.

Troops from several EU countries will begin deploying in the strife-torn Central African Republic next month, a French official said yesterday.

Germany’s US and European allies welcome Berlin’s promise of a more robust foreign and security policy, but with no appetite at home for troops to fight, it may mean little more than extra logistical help and tougher rhetoric.

French president François Hollande met Pope Francis amid tensions in his private life over a gossip magazine’s report about an alleged affair with an actress.