RIGHTS-EAST TIMOR: Women Learn the Political Ropes

Like many women in East Timor, 34-year-old Mariquita Soares joined the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) party during the nation's 24-year resistance struggle against Indonesian occupation from 1975 to 1999.

COLOMBIA: Displaced People Evicted From Protest Camp

Thousands of displaced Colombians living in a protest camp in a park in central Bogotá are the target of an eviction plan by the local authorities, who admit they are overwhelmed by the influx of people fleeing violence in the countryside.

SRI LANKA: Island Faces Key Test in Upcoming Elections

Elections in early August for local administrative bodies in Jaffna and Vavuniya, two Tamil-dominated northern towns, would be the first litmus test for the Sri Lankan government to restore normalcy in a region devastated by nearly three decades of war.

MIGRATION: Tricky Gateway to a European Dream

Izmir has for years been luring migrants and refugees who dream of crossing into Europe.

MIGRATION: U.S. to Admit Palestinian Refugees from Iraq

Approximately 1,350 Palestinian refugees from Iraq are being considered for resettlement in the U.S. after being referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Programme by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

DEVELOPMENT: India, China Fight Poverty, Population Growth

The world's two most populous nations - India and China - are placing a high priority on reproductive health and poverty alleviation as part of their efforts to meet the U.N.'s much-touted Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its 2015 deadline.

SAUDI ARABIA: New Bill Fails to Protect Domestic Workers, HRW Says

Despite a bill passed by Saudi Arabia's Shura Council on Wednesday, a prominent New York-based human rights group is asking for more protection for the estimated 1.5 million domestic workers in the country.

RIGHTS: No Safe Haven for Ugandan Girls

A year ago, a mother in Kashari County took the law into her own hands and castrated a man she caught raping her seven-year-old daughter.

GUATEMALA: Population Growth Impacts Migration

Marco Tulio Guerra went to work as usual that morning at the meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. But his life was turned upside down when immigration agents swept into his workplace and arrested him along with another 388 foreign workers. Their crime: using false Social Security numbers.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Uplifting Aboriginals, a Matter of “Urgent National Significance”

In this remote Aboriginal town, 420 km south-west of Darwin, Northern Territory’s capital, third world living conditions still prevail despite the Australian government’s efforts to improve life for its oldest inhabitants.

Q&A: Teens Wrongly Excluded From Family Planning

Nafissatou Diop has worked for decades on issues of reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and development in West Africa, including designing and implementing many studies and programmes.

PAKISTAN: Displacement Traumatic for Pregnant Women

Pregnant women uprooted by the violence in the Malakand region, northwest Pakistan, have suffered acutely in refugee camps for the internally displaced.

POPULATION: Poorest Countries to Bear Brunt of Growth

The world's population - already at least 6.7 billion people - will double in the next 40 years if current growth rates are left unchecked, warns the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

G8: Financial Crisis Or No, Rich Can Help Fight Hunger

The World Food Programme (WFP) is urging G8 leaders to turn words into action and meet urgent hunger needs in Africa and other developing nations as they gather in Italy for the 2009 G8 Summit.

HEALTH: Private Sector Boosts Public Toilets in Poorer Nations

The United Nations is disappointed that most governments in the developing world have made relatively little progress in providing basic sanitation facilities to nearly 2.5 billion people who still have no access to toilets.

HEALTH: Gender Finally Moving to Forefront of AIDS Fight

With women now comprising 61 percent of all people infected with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa, international donors, governments and advocacy organisations are looking more closely at the connections between HIV/AIDS and gender inequality.

RIGHTS: Muslims Under Scrutiny Despite Waning of ‘Terror War’

When the administration of President Barack Obama formally abandoned the longstanding U.S. "war on terror" - perceived by some as a codeword for "war against Islam" - there were hopes of a new relationship between the United States and the Muslim world after eight long years of political friction.

CHINA: Chinese Question Government’s One-Child Policy

When China’s population control was imposed in 1980, it was meant to be a temporary measure which the government promised to phase out in three decades. It was intended to halt the baby boom of the 1950s and 1960s.

PAKISTAN: Public Backs Army’s Push Against Taliban, Poll Finds

Pakistani public opinion remains supportive of the military’s fight against the Pakistani Taliban, said a new poll released Wednesday. However, Pakistanis roundly reject the U.S. military campaign in the region.

PAKISTAN: U.S. Urged to Boost Emergency Aid to Displaced

Newly released research from experts and refugee advocates paints a clearer and perhaps surprising picture of the plight of Pakistan’s rapidly growing population of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

MIDEAST: Elderly Receiving Better Care

In a region where indigenous human resources are scarce, the oil-rich Gulf countries are not only mindful of population growth, but are quickly learning to address the concerns of the elderly.