DEVELOPMENT: Aid "Dismally Slow" in Reaching Poorest

Aid strategies must be retooled and bigotry stamped out if a rising tide of global wealth is to reach the poorest of the poor, says a new report.

MEXICO: People, Nature Share Responsibility for Tabasco Tragedy

Hit by torrential rains in the last 15 days, 80 percent of the southwestern Mexican state of Tabasco is under water, one million people have been left homeless and damages are estimated at five billion dollars. Recovery will take years.

SPAIN: Europe’s Gateway for Cocaine Clamps Down on Trafficking

The Spanish government plans to use more modern technology and strengthen its intelligence services to fight drug trafficking, both domestic and across its borders. Spain is the main gateway for drugs into Europe, and is also the European country with the highest levels of consumption.

CUBA: Churches Tackle Divisions by Discussing Ethics, Not Doctrine

A group of Christian denominations and ecumenical organisations in Cuba have launched an ethical dialogue aimed at smoothing over their historical differences and fomenting mutual understanding, knowledge, and openness to debate.

IRAQ: Millions Trapped in Their Own Country

At least five million Iraqis have fled their homes due to the violence under the U.S.-led occupation, but half of them are unable to leave the country, according to well-informed estimates.

GUATEMALA: Journalists Face Threats Over Report on Candidate

"Where are you? Hurry up, we’re waiting for you!" barked the voice on the telephone. Guatemalan journalist Enrique Castañeda had just finished writing an investigative article on rightwing presidential candidate Otto Pérez’s alleged links with organised crime, and this was the first phonecall he received.

MEXICO-US: Anti-Drug Plan Shrouded in Suspicion

Doubt, mistrust and political friction have arisen over the so-called Merida Initiative, negotiated virtually in secret by the governments of Mexico and the United States. Although it is being touted as an anti-drug assistance programme, it also includes measures for tighter border security and action against terrorism.

DEVELOPMENT: Our Youth, Their Future

With young people a growing segment of the world's poorest, their voices in setting global development policies at the highest levels have never been more important.

PERU: Disappointing Talks on Mining Miss the Point

Peruvian Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo signed a memorandum of understanding with mayors and governors opposed to the Majaz mining company’s Río Blanco project, which the people of the Piura highlands in northern Peru have been opposing for five years.

MIGRATION: Italy to Be Home to 10 Million

Regular migrants have reached 6.2 percent of the population of Italy, above the European average of 5.6 percent. In the next 20-30 years, Italy is destined to become one of the EU countries with the highest population of migrants and people of migrant origin - more that 10 million - according to an annual report on migrations released Tuesday.

SOUTH ASIA: Youth Demand Sex Education in Schools

Sahinaz Khatun, who is preparing for her school finals in a village in West Bengal state, has for the last two years kept condoms (and birth control pills) at her home and thinks nothing of discussing subjects like menstruation hygiene and masturbation with other adolescents.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Gov’t Turns Deaf Ear to UN Experts on Racism

Discrimination against Haitians and their descendants "only exists in the minds of a few sick people" who wish to do the Dominican Republic harm, said governing coalition legislator José Taveras in response to a critical report by United Nations observers.

DEVELOPMENT-CAMBODIA: Getting Water to the Poor – And Making Profits Too

A Cambodian public official has weathered assassination threats and a slow-moving bureaucracy in this post-conflict country to create one of the most trusted and safest water supply systems in Asia.

CUBA: A Church Embraces Those Who Have Lost Their Way

In the heart of Balcón Arimao, a poor barrio on the fringes of the Cuban capital, a small evangelical church combines spirituality and community work, combating alcoholism, prostitution, crime and family breakdown.

RIGHTS-ASIA: &#39Fundamentalism Plays Out on Women&#39s Bodies&#39

They twisted it, turned it and tore it apart, but the term ‘religious fundamentalism’ defied definition. But they were certain that it worked against women’s rights.

RIGHTS-EL SALVADOR: Twenty Years of Deja Vu

Rosa Anaya was leaving her home early on her way to school that morning of Oct. 26, 1987 in El Salvador, when she saw her father, a few steps ahead of her, crumple beside his car, hit by six bullets.

SOCIETY-BALKANS: Facing &#39Extinction&#39, Nations Seek Babies

A young woman lost her job in a small town in Serbia after she gave birth to a baby boy and was to be absent from work for a year. That sacking shook up a nation.

ELECTIONS-COLOMBIA: The Going Rate for Votes

What was the going rate for a vote? "About 100,000 pesos (50 dollars)," says Víctor Raúl Mosquera, the ombudsman for the northwestern Colombian department (province) of Chocó.

RIGHTS: ‘Refugees Tortured in Greece’

Serious indication of torture, widespread violation of human rights, systematic abuse and complete neglect of human life is what refugees and undocumented immigrants face on the south-eastern border of the European Community.

POPULATION-ASIA: Gendercide at Apocalyptic Levels – Experts

Experts at the 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights are painting an apocalyptical vision of the Asian region where 163 million women are ‘missing’ and the sex ratio continues to decline as a result of easy access to modern gender selection techniques.

CUBA: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff – Studying the Soviet Legacy

Although Cuba survived the demise of its communist allies in the early 1990s, the legacy of its close relationship with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe may still have a bearing on the future of socialism on this Caribbean island nation.