VENEZUELA: Colombian Conflict Spills Across Border

A four-year-old girl was killed in a shootout between members of Colombia's two biggest insurgent groups in El Amparo, a border town in Venezuela's southwestern plains region.

POLITICS-US: More of the Same from House Immigration Caucus?

Turning away from the pugnacious rhetorical style of its founder and former chair Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, the House Immigration Reform Caucus (HIRC), now chaired by Rep. Brian Bilbray, seems desirous of setting a kinder gentler course for itself, yet it appears to be headed in the same old direction.

RIGHTS: Disputes Over Treatment of Displaced People in Sri Lanka

The number of displaced persons within Sri Lanka is increasing, and the international community does not have access to that population, said the representative of the United Nations secretary general on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Walter Kälin.

EL SALVADOR: Amnesty Law Biggest Obstacle to Human Rights, Say Activists

"We searched for our loved ones everywhere: military barracks, cemeteries, prisons, but we still know nothing about what happened to them. Total impunity surrounds their disappearances," says Salvadoran activist Alicia García.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Understanding Weather to Protect the Poor

Climate phenomena like El Niño and global warming have a disproportionate effect on the poor. That is why meteorology has a crucial contribution to make in the fight against poverty, scientists say.

HUNGARY: Fond Only Of Hungarians

Hungarians are growing increasingly xenophobic - even towards non-existing peoples - a study by a sociology institute shows.

BRAZIL: No Consensus on Success of Land Reform

Brazil's land reform programme has settled nearly one million families on small farms of their own in the last 20 years. But there is no consensus on the effort, which the government touts as a success, the landless movement sees as insufficient, and the opposition criticises as wrongheaded.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Mass Deportations of Haitians Condemned

The prospects of the Haitian community resident in the Dominican Republic might improve if Dominican authorities were to adopt Amnesty International (AI)'s recommendations and change their "migration policies and practices."

HUMAN RIGHTS: Children Bring Truce in UN Council

Children's rights was one issue on which the 47 members of the United Nations Human Rights Council have been able to reach a consensus this week, setting aside the differences that have marked their debates in the current session in Geneva.

SRI LANKA: Civilians – Real Losers in the Civil War

As fighting between Tamil rebels and Sri Lankan forces escalate into open war the losers are civilians, particularly some 200,000 refugees cramped into camps set up in eastern Batticaloa district.

JAPAN: Signs of Lowered Xenophobia

A record number of applicants for refugee status in Japan coupled with softer conditions for recognition are being seen by activists as signs that this country's stringent policies towards foreigners are undergoing change.

ECUADOR: Pressure to Make Water a Public Good

World Water Day will be marked Thursday in Ecuador by protests against the privatisation of water, the construction of dams, and the mining industry, and by demands for the new constitution to recognise access to water as a basic human right.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Deport Thy (Darker-Skinned) Neighbour

Discrimination against Haitians living in the Dominican Republic, whether or not they have their papers in order, is a persistent problem in this country. Most Haitians live on the fringes of Dominican society.

CHILE-MEXICO: Nothing Like Free Trade

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet’s Tuesday-Wednesday visit to Mexico will help strengthen the fastest-growing commercial relationship in Latin America - which expanded by nearly 2,000 percent between 1990 and 2006 - while giving concrete form to a strategic alliance that could also benefit neighbouring countries.

FINANCE: Never Too Poor to Spend?

The World Bank is encouraging foreign investors and businesspeople to start pursuing the world's four billion poor people as a potentially lucrative market worth five trillion dollars, much bigger than previously thought.

CUBA: Growing Old Without a Staff to Lean On

Josefa Martínez, a Cuban woman in her forties, looked after her mother until she died, but she herself will not be so fortunate. "It was my decision not to have children and to dedicate myself entirely to my profession. Now I wonder, who will take care of me when I'm over 70 and no longer strong?"

DEVELOPMENT-MOZAMBIQUE: What To Do When a Cyclone Hits

Sandra Alberto (picture) was heavily pregnant when Cyclone Favio struck Mozambique earlier this month on 2 March, ripping the zinc roof off the house she and her two children had taken refuge in.

SOUTH AMERICA: Climate Change Fuels Spread of Dengue Fever

Climate change, which has resulted, for example, in heavier and more persistent rains in South America, is forcing countries to take more proactive measures to prevent the spread of diseases like dengue fever.

WATER DAY: Key Development Goals Stagnating

Halfway to 2015, the year when the globally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are supposed to be reached, the crisis in water and sanitation as well as in water resources management remains among the great human development and environmental challenges.

MEXICO: Capital Joins Global Trend Towards Same-Sex Unions

Some 250 gay and lesbian couples flocked to the civil registry in Mexico City to apply for the legalisation of their relationship as soon as a new law on domestic partnerships went into effect Friday.

LATIN AMERICA: Direct Democracy – Progress and Pitfalls

Constitutional mechanisms of direct democracy became widespread in Latin America in the 1990s. But sometimes they are used cynically, sporadically and perversely, experts say.