Asia

Elephants may never forget but now it seems they can now also grasp the need to co-operate. This palces them in an "elite group" of intelligent and socially complex animals.

Researchers from Cambridge University built apparatus originally designed to carry out the same experiment on chimps. The test consisted of two elephants having to work together, by each pulling a rope in order to tug a platform towrds them.

Reality has been moving too fast for United Nations data to keep pace, according to a new report on achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific region.

The UN says health insurance, pension and social protection measures need to be developed.  It reveals it is difficult to offer a fully up-to-date report.

Only one in five unemployed and underemployed people in Asia has access to unemployment benefits.  Only one third of elderly people receive pensions, according to the report.