HEALTH-KENYA: Gender Equality Key to Combating AIDS

The importance of placing gender equality at the heart of efforts to combat AIDS was highlighted in Kenya this week, with the release of a new plan by the gender sub-committee of the National AIDS Control Council.

RIGHTS-SIERRA LEONE: ‘Putting People on Trial May Ignite Fresh Conflict’

Sierra Leone's war crimes court has opened in the capital Freetown to try persons who bear the greatest responsibility for the atrocities committed during the country's 1991-1999 conflict.

SPAIN: ETA Main Suspect in Rail Blasts, More Than 170 Killed

Three rush-hour rail blasts in Madrid Thursday left at least 170 dead and more than 600 hundred wounded, brutally cutting short the campaign for Sunday's general elections in Spain.

SPAIN: ETA Main Suspect in Rail Blasts, Death Toll Exceeds 170

Three rush-hour rail blasts in Madrid Thursday left more than 170 dead and over 600 wounded, brutally cutting short the campaign for Sunday's general elections in Spain.

ENVIRONMENT: A Third of Bird Species At Risk

The plight of birdlife in Africa and other parts of the world is being highlighted at a meeting that is currently underway in the South African port city of Durban.

POLITICS: U.S. Tilt is Bad News for South Asian Security

Washington's policymakers might believe they have scored a diplomatic coup of sorts in South Asia by reportedly reaching a deal with Pakistan to allow U.S. troops to be deployed in Pakistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden.

POLITICS-NEPAL: Maoist Conflict Sends Country Adrift

More than 1,500 people dead, over 250 disappeared, and thousands more rendered homeless in trying to flee ravaged villages. These are not the final casualty figures in the wake of a natural disaster, but the toll of the Maoist conflict in Nepal since the collapse of the last ceasefire in August 2003.

POLITICS-NEPAL: Maoist Conflict Sends Country Adrift

More than 1,500 people dead, over 250 disappeared, and thousands more rendered homeless in trying to flee ravaged villages. These are not the final casualty figures in the wake of a natural disaster, but the toll of the Maoist conflict in Nepal since the collapse of the last ceasefire in August 2003.

ASIA: As Water Levels Dip, Worries over Mekong River Rise

The annual dry spell affecting the Mekong River basin this year has brought into relief the vulnerability of millions of rural people who depend on the river for their livelihood when the waters dip to unexpected lows.

EDUCATION-PAKISTAN: Children Draw Line on Rights, War and Peace

''He's a freedom fighter,'' said the 11-year-old who had drawn Raphael, of Ninja Turtle fame. No one, however, had drawn the tanks, missiles or armed soldiers commonly seen at children's art exhibitions on war and peace.

IRAQ: CIA Chief Clueless on Neo-Con Intelligence Channel

Was Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet really the last person in Washington to find out that both the president and vice president were being fed phoney or ''sexed up'' intelligence about pre-war Iraq by a Pentagon office staffed by ideologically driven neo-conservatives?

HEALTH-BRAZIL: AIDS Spreading Six Times Faster Among Teenage Girls

HIV/AIDS is spreading at an alarming rate among teenage girls in Brazil, with six 13 to 19-year-old girls infected for every boy in that age group.

HAITI: U.N. Awaiting Formal Request for Probe

The United Nations says it is willing to investigate the ouster of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last month, provided the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) makes a formal request - a move that U.S. and French officials are actively discouraging, say diplomats.

POLITICS: U.N. Awaiting Formal Request for Haiti Probe

The United Nations says it is willing to investigate the ouster of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last month, provided the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) makes a formal request - a move that U.S. and French officials are actively discouraging, say diplomats here.

TRADE: Move to Narrow EU-U.S. Divide

The Danish Prime Minister has called for a new forum to resolve differences between the EU and the United States.

EDUCATION-CHILE: No More Discrimination Against Pregnant Students

Ruth Muñoz told IPS she was kicked out of her private high school in the Chilean capital when she became pregnant at the age of 16.

RIGHTS-KENYA: The Threat of Demolition Looms in “Africa’s Largest Slum"

When the World Social Forum took place in India during January, Kenyan activists who attended the event pledged to highlight their country's housing crisis. This issue has hit the headlines again now, with the planned demolition of buildings in one of Nairobi's poorest areas.

RELIGION: Dialogue Can Ease World Tensions, Say Asian Thinkers

To a world that to many seems to be bracing for a 'clash of civilisations,' some of the brightest minds in Asia offer a simple answer - dialogue.

ECONOMY: Developing Nations Want Bigger Voice in IMF, World Bank

Developing nations are not happy with the process used to select the heads of the multilateral financial institutions, which are controlled by the industrialised powers.

CULTURE-ZIMBABWE: Bulawayo’s Old Men of Jazz

A white-suited quartet slides onto a small stage in Bulawayo, southern Zimbabwe. There’s a flash of a smile before the grey-haired men step forward, their songs matching the rhythm of their feet. The Cool Crooners are on their way to charming another audience.

RIGHTS-EGYPT: Silence Cloaks Female Circumcision

Samah still remembers the pain and bleeding that followed an operation her parents forced her to undergo when she was 10 years old. Now 20, she is determined she would never do the same to a daughter.