PHILIPPINES: A Year On, Typhoon Ketsana’s Lessons Far from Forgotten

Filipinos are used to having their country soaked by rain six months of the year, but these days worry is on many faces whenever raindrops start falling.

CUBA: Men’s Group Champions “Diverse Masculinities”

Men representing an array of sexual identifications have organised in Cuba to defend sexual rights and promote respect for "other masculinities," with the belief that greater visibility is needed to achieve true social change and acceptance.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Averting the Grimmest Scenarios

The catastrophic floods in Pakistan have added urgency to a high-level United Nations summit this week, with delegates from mostly South Asian nations convening Tuesday to call for increased technology transfer from richer countries and to compare strategies to avert the worst effects of climate change.

EUROPE: Undocumented Pakistanis Face Expulsion

Less than two months after Pakistan was devastated by one of the worst disasters in recent history, the European Union's lawmakers have decided that Pakistanis living in the 27-country bloc without permission should be returned home.

PAKISTAN: When the Doors Are Open, But Women Choose to Stay Away

For five years, Sana Yasir toiled through medical school and then was awarded at the end with a diploma and a bright future. After completing the required year-long clinical practice, however, Yasir got married and quit the workplace.

JAPAN: Pension Scandals Expose Growing Poverty, Desperation

The son had cared for his sick father, and when the old man died, he buried the body in his garden. But the son did not tell the authorities about his father’s death, as required by law. Instead, he continued to act as if his father was still alive, and collected the old man’s pension.

MEXICO: Gender Violence Hits Behind the News

Amalia is an indigenous Maya girl from a rural community in southern Quintana Roo, on Mexico's Caribbean coast. She is 11 years old, and in August became the youngest mother in the country when she gave birth to a baby girl, 51 cm long and just under three kg.

HEALTH-SRI LANKA: All-Out War on Dengue Fever Eases Deaths

An aggressive public health and information programme is giving Sri Lanka a key weapon in its battle against the deadly dengue fever, bringing it under control after hitting epidemic proportions in the last two years.

DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Chief Looks Beyond 2015 Deadline

As more than 140 world leaders began a three-day anti-poverty summit meeting Monday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon looked far beyond the 2015 deadline for sustainable development the world is desperately in need of.

POLITICS-AFGHANISTAN: For Refugees, Polls are Far and Near

Afghan voters just went to national parliamentary elections, but refugees from that country here in neighbouring Pakistan could only rue the fact that they have been left out of this vote.

CAMBODIA: Justice Goes Beyond Indictment of Khmer Rouge Leaders

A war crimes tribunal in Cambodia may have reached a major milestone this week by indicting four former leaders of the Khmer Rouge. But much more needs to be done to ensure that the long-awaited trial is meaningful to the regime’s victims, analysts say.

MEXICO: Global Forums to Focus on Abuses Against Immigrants

Civil society organisations from around the world are revving up to highlight how governments -- especially the United States and Mexico -- violate the rights of immigrants.

ECONOMY-PAKISTAN: As Floods Recede, Hope Emerges in Next Crop

"The Indus (River) showed us who this country belongs to – and that is, to the Indus," declares economist Haris Gazdar, referring to the recent deluge that wrought untold devastation to Pakistan. "We must respect rivers and not treat them with the contempt we show towards everything else."

U.S.: Money for Prisons, Not for Social Services

Many of those who have lost their jobs and homes in the United States due to the lingering economic recession are ending up in jail, according to a new study released by an independent think tank Thursday.

One in Seven U.S. Citizens Sinks into Poverty

Poverty rates in the United States have climbed to their highest level since 1994, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

SINGAPORE: Films Show Other Side Of Migrant Workers

Migrant workers may be what one filmmaker calls a "socio- political hot potato" in Singapore, but that is precisely why a film festival opted to showcase the plight of workers who often remain faceless although they are vital to the city- state’s everyday life and economy.

CAMBODIA: Methadone Scheme Steps Up Drug Treatment Efforts

Twenty-nine-year-old Ramy shuddered as he described the years he has spent addicted to heroin. Lying to his family, stealing from friends to scrape together the money to feed his addiction – until a few months ago, that was the life he led.

MIGRATION-LATIN AMERICA: Another Wall Blocks Route to U.S.

Travelling without documents to the United States from Latin America can turn into an odyssey, in which migrants have to elude common criminals and drug traffickers along the way, not to mention the laws on migration. But now another obstacle is emerging: a wall between Guatemala and Mexico.

PAKISTAN: Floods Bring Out Another Crisis – Maternal Risks

The floods that have submerged one-fifth of Pakistan have begun to recede, but the crisis has brought to light one of the country’s hidden miseries: the plight of mothers, who are dying in tens of thousands each year.

Summit Failure on Water, Sanitation Would Be Recipe for Disaster

A weeklong international conference here has transmitted a strong political message to next week's U.N. summit meeting of world leaders: what good is the fight against poverty, hunger, maternal mortality and child deaths if water and sanitation are not given the high priority they deserve?

Living on the Edge of Caravans

Broken bicycles and old suitcases mark the entrance to the makeshift camp. Ankle-deep in mud that is newly wet from a rain-shower, the visitor is taken by the hand by lively children to meet their parents.