EUROPE: Drones may Track Migrants

The notice appeared quietly on the website of Frontex, Europe's agency to fight undocumented migration. It called for expressions of interest in demonstrating "Small UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and Fixed systems for Land border surveillance" at its workshop.

CAMBODIA: Access to Drugs A Life Saver for People with HIV

The monsoon rains soaked the ground beneath Mon Hol’s home until it turned to ankle-deep mud. The aged thatched-leaf roof of his hut, badly in need of replacement, provided little protection.

Lurching from One Disaster to the Next

The world is ill-prepared for the human toll from the expected increase in floods, droughts and extreme storms and hurricanes on the horizon.

ECUADOR: Diversity in Remembering the Dead

Tens of thousands of Ecuadorians are set to visit cemeteries on Tuesday, the traditional "Día de Finados" (Day of the Deceased). But while city residents tend to spend the day in mourning, for many indigenous peoples it is a day of celebration, of reunion with their ancestors.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Death Row Convicts Bear Brunt of Torture

As if being sentenced to death is not enough punishment, those on death row in Pakistan are also among those being singled out for abuse by jail personnel.

Haitian Mothers Find Care in Dominican Republic, but Future Is Bleak

In the spacious lobby of the Nuestra Señora de Altagracia maternity hospital, more than a hundred people wait quietly in chairs, overlooked by a 20-foot-high coloured mosaic inset portraying the patron saint of the Dominican Republic.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Motherhood Is A Choice, Say Activists

For years, Kanako Nashimura longed to have a child, but was diagnosed as having a blocked fallopian tube. Encouraged by her husband and in-laws, she tried various fertility treatments, but not one of them worked.

SRI LANKA: Rising Bread Prices Expose Trade Vulnerabilities

There was a time when being a breadseller here in Colombo enabled Charmindha to have modest dreams. But the teenager from Sri Lanka’s rural south has been seeing his daily earnings slide in the last two months, and indications are that’s not going to change anytime soon.

ASIA: Irrigation Systems Deserve a Second Look, Say Experts

Asia’s search for ways to feed over one billion new mouths in the next 40 years is prompting experts to call for renewed faith in its wide network of irrigation systems in order to ensure adequate food production.

Argentine Census to Count Blacks for First Time in a Century

Wednesday is census day in Argentina, and an army of census-takers will be knocking on doors to collect data on, among other things, the number of blacks and indigenous people, and same-sex couples, in the country. But it is happening under a cloud of controversy and distrust.

SRI LANKA: Widows Struggle to Put Life Back Together Again

Having to take care of eight teenage children is not an easy task for 70-year-old Yamunadevi (not her real name).

MEXICO: Juarez Residents Fight for Safe Public Spaces

The setting sun creates long shadows on the pavement in the crowded Del Safari neighbourhood in the southwest of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Casting the shadows are young people playing percussion instruments or children breakdancing or performing daring skateboard jumps.

NICARAGUA: Machismo Just Isn’t Cool

As he left a workshop in the Nicaraguan capital about gender equality, Alejandro Silva was forced to confront a show of machismo, ironically, with his fists. He was attacked by classmates who taunted him that he was gay.

For Women, Dry Statistics Can Be Power

While women have made strides forward in areas like job market participation over the last two decades, in 2009 only 14 women in the world held the position of head of state or government, and of the 500 largest corporations, just 13 had a female CEO.

JAPAN: Foreigners Can Live Here, But Not Vote

Rising opposition is likely to block the passage of a bill giving voting rights to foreign nationals who have permanent residency in Japan – even though the majority of this group has been born here.

War Is Hell, Especially for Women

As the United Nations commemorates the 10th anniversary of a landmark Security Council resolution (1325) on the protection of women in war zones, a new study details the successes and failures of a long-drawn-out effort to battle gender-based violence and provide women a key role in male-dominated peacekeeping and peace-building operations.

Q&A: What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq

The U.S.-led invasion and then occupation of Iraq brought a sharp setback to the rights of women in that country, UNFPA head Thoraya Obaid tells IPS in an interview.

RIGHTS-CHINA: Jury Still Out On Fewer Crimes Punishable by Death

China’s top legislative body is considering scrapping the death penalty for 13 non-violent crimes, including tax evasion, tomb raiding and animal smuggling. But the impact these changes will have on the total number of prisoners the country puts to death is uncertain.

POLITICS-BAHRAIN: More Than A Matter of Putting Women in Office

Women candidates seem to be getting scarcer in Bahraini elections, but women leaders here say female poll participation is no longer about getting into office.

Okavango’s Resurgent Floods Test Disaster Management

Despite early warnings about higher-than-usual flooding of the Okavango Delta in 2010, homes, fields, latrines and boreholes in the delta were flooded.

Haiti’s 1.3 Million Camp Dwellers Waiting in Vain

Rosie Benjamin is just one of over 1.3 million people living in Haiti's 1,354 squalid refugee camps. She and 1,200 others are jammed into 300 tents and plastic tarp-shacks on a soccer field in Grand Goâve.