Mr. Sheehan’s perceptive, literate dispatches from the Middle East, Africa and Central America explored the political machinations of the powerful and the misery of the powerless.

A lightweight, solar-powered Internet hookup created by a collaboration of nonprofit organizations provides communication in even the most remote areas.

Start-up companies are looking at Africa — where 74 percent of the population lives without electricity — as a test market for new, off-the-grid lighting technologies.

A gathering of the Group of 20 over the weekend revealed a desire among developing countries to have a greater voice in helping the world navigate its way out of the financial crisis.

In Bangkok, researchers hunt for a vaccine to protect U.S. troops — and millions of third-world civilians — from dengue fever.

The International Monetary Fund, onetime firefighter for the global economy, is suddenly being called back into action, even as its chief stumbles on his way to the rescue.

The International Monetary Fund, onetime firefighter for the global economy, is suddenly being called back into action, even as its chief stumbles on his way to the rescue.

In a new report, the United Nations joined a number of environmental groups in calling for an end to — or at least an overhaul of — subsidies for biofuels.

A quarter to a third of all pregnant women on the subcontinent are infected with hookworm, a new analysis suggests.

Mr. Rivera pioneered ceramic water filters that cut in half the the incidence of diarrhea, a leading cause of death in the third world, especially among children.