Q&A: A Bishop with His (Sandalled) Feet on the Ground

Fernando Lugo has rocketed into Paraguayan history. Not only is he the first Catholic bishop to be elected president, but he has also ended 61 years of rule by the Colorado Party.

RIGHTS-US: Vets Await Verdict in Class Action Lawsuit

Arturo Gonzalez delivered his closing arguments inside a packed courtroom on the 17th floor of the Federal Building in downtown San Francisco.

MEXICO: No Place for Small Farmers at the Supermarkets

A Mexican coffee grower receives about three dollars per kilogram of unprocessed coffee beans, and the consumer here pays 11 dollars. That price difference, in large part, is the result of the growing power of a handful of supermarkets.

RIGHTS-BOLIVIA: Guarani Families in Forced Servitude

Efforts by Bolivia’s land reform authorities to free 167 Guaraní families living in servitude in Alto Parapetí, a rural area in the eastern Bolivian lowlands province of Santa Cruz, have brought to light a phenomenon that had remained largely hidden and ignored until now in the country’s vast Chaco plains region.

RIGHTS: Impunity Reigns in Journalist Murders

Over the last 15 years, at least 500 journalists were killed directly because of their work. But in less than 15 percent of cases have the perpetrators been brought to justice, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

ECONOMY: For U.S., No News Seems Good

In the troubled U.S. economy, even good news turns to gloom on closer inspection.

MOZAMBIQUE: Officials Master Floods – But Battle To Contain Diseases That Follow

More people have died of cholera following recent floods in Mozambique than the number of those who perished in the rising floodwaters. Most rivers in central and northern Mozambique burst their banks after heavy rains in December, January and February, and as a result of Cyclone Jokwe - which hit in early March.

RIGHTS-US: “Bioterror” Case Falls Apart

After a four-year legal battle, a U.S. federal judge has dismissed all charges against an avant-garde artist who public officials condemned as a bio-terrorist in a case critics are calling "a persecution, not a prosecution".

BANGLADESH: Amnesty for Tainted Tycoons as Economy Flags

Bangladesh’s military-backed interim government hopes that a ‘truth commission’ it plans to set up will give tainted businessmen an opportunity to revive their businesses and help put a badly flagging economy back on the rails.

INDIA/IRAN: Course Correction

Relations between India and Iran, which deteriorated over the past three years from traditional friendship and warmth into mutual suspicion and tension, have started looking up again.

DR CONGO: With Rebel Leader&#39s Indictment, a Tentative Step to Accountability

The indictment against a militia leader whose alleged abuses span the Democratic Republic of Congo's war-ravaged east was finally made public at the end of April, almost two years after being delivered under seal to war crimes prosecutors.

Q&A: Labour "Has to Weigh Up the Trade-offs" in Acting to Protect Workers

Co-operation between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and forerunners of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) goes back several decades to the early days of efforts to end racial discrimination in South Africa.

RIGHTS-US: Sky-High Costs – But Few Executions

Forget the ethics of capital punishment in the United States. Forget the disproportionate number of blacks on death row, or the possibility of executing an innocent victim. The death penalty may really be just too expensive, according to a report released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC).

EUROPE: Tax Havens Cheating the Poor

Tax havens in Europe are depriving poor countries of more money than they receive in development aid, it has been alleged.

Q&A: Circumcision an “Opportunity To Take Great Strides Forward” Against HIV

Results from trials in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda in 2006 showed that male circumcision reduced the transmission of HIV from women to men by up to 60 percent. On the basis of these results, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organisation have recommended that countries encourage men to be circumcised.

Q&A: How Faith Communities Can Help Fight Violence Against Children

"It’s important to know how families view the power relations that make them protective or destructive of rights," in a world where every year 275 million children witness scenes of domestic violence, said United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expert Eduardo Gallardo.

LABOUR-CAMBODIA: US Recession May Hit Anti-Sweatshop Campaign

Recession in the United States is endangering a unique experiment that has seen Cambodia become a leading player in the campaign to eradicate sweatshops in the textile industry.

AFGHANISTAN: Death Row Numbers Raise Grave Doubts

By lifting the shroud of secrecy over the number of Afghans on death row - some 100 - the government has ended up raising grave doubts about the trial procedures that led to the extreme sentences.

ECONOMY: IMF Reforms Itself, A Little

The poor have been given a little more say in the IMF. It is still a small step, but the biggest such in the last 60 years.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Where Have the Piglets Gone?

Each psychiatric patient leaving Tower Hospital in the Eastern Cape Province under a new project to integrate patients into the community is sent home with two piglets. While at the hospital, patients are trained to raise pigs, the hope being that they will use the piglets for breeding to develop a sustainable source of income once discharged.

FINANCE: Oil Majors Rapped Over Secrecy, Corruption

Leading oil firms impede efforts to stamp out poverty and corruption by shrouding their financial dealings in secrecy, says a global watchdog.