SRI LANKA: Civilians Displaced and Dying in Shadow War

Death hangs over this deserted town in eastern Sri Lanka and the stench of decomposing bodies is overpowering. Most of its 50,000-odd inhabitants have fled and there is no one around to bury the dead.

COLOMBIA: Murders Down, but Indigenous Group Still Hemmed In

"It is not only beautiful, but it is rich in livestock, minerals and water," says a man wearing a wide-brimmed hat who looks every bit the tough cowboy, looking out at the spectacular view of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta from the airport at the northern Colombian city of Valledupar.

IMMIGRATION: Portugal Opens Doors, Bucks EU Trend

A decision reached Thursday by Portugal's Council of Ministers to facilitate the legalisation of undocumented migrants is a significant step towards integrating more than half a million foreign workers into society at large, and at the same time runs counter to the European trend of ever tighter border controls.

COLOMBIA: Kankuamo Indians Count Their Dead – in Photos

Every Kankuamo community member killed by armed groups in Colombia's civil war has a name, a face and a story. And each one of them can be found in the pages of a new book published by the indigenous group that calls the remote northern Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain chain home.

LATIN AMERICA: Jewish Communities Ratchet Up Complaints of Anti-Semitism

Every time armed conflict flares up in the Middle East, Israeli embassies and Jewish communities around the world step up their efforts in defence of the Israeli cause, regularly accusing the press, or governments that criticise Israel's foreign policy, of anti-Semitism.

POPULATION-INDIA: Crackdown on Sex Selective Abortions, Finally

For campaigners against the practice of selectively aborting unborn girls - that has already affected the gender balance in northern India - nurse Pooja Rani is something of a heroine.

COLOMBIA: Kankuamo Indians Have Paid High Price in Blood

The killings have decreased but "in Rioseco and Murillo we still have problems caused by the war," says Jaime Arias, the leader of the Kankuamo Indians, referring to two of the 12 villages and towns inhabited by the ethnic group in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in northern Colombia.

HEALTH-MEXICO: Second Place Ranking for a First Class Threat

Mexico has the highest proportion of people considered overweight or obese - 20 percent of children and 70 percent of adults - in the world, surpassed only by the United States.

ELECTIONS-MEXICO: Left Vows to Continue Pressure for Total Recount

The left in Mexico is aiming its artillery at President Vicente Fox in its demand for a total recount of the vote, which the top electoral court has already ruled out, while keeping up the pressure on the court with street blocks in the capital despite the irritation of businesses and the public.

JAPAN: Tackling Depression to Curb Suicide Rates

For years Mariko, 61, has suffered from depression. Her crushing sense of loss, following the death of her only son, has forced her to shut herself in her apartment for weeks together at a time.

MIDEAST: Staying Put Amid the Bombing

Residents of south Lebanon's biggest city and the refugees who have joined them are staying put despite warnings from Israel that it plans to bomb "Hezbollah rocket launching sites" in Sidon, according to the city's mayor.

ENVIRONMENT-NIGER: City Takes Step to Protect Forest

As fears of its destruction mount, city authorities have taken steps to protect the forest, or the greenbelt, around Niamey and evict squatters living within its confines. The forest protects the city from encroaching desertification and the extremes of Niger's climate.

PANAMA: Residents Evicted as Buildings Are Restored

The historic centre of Panama City has never looked better, thanks to the restoration of picturesque buildings, improved sidewalks and tighter security. However, thousands of residents have been forced to leave their homes as government and private investors have moved in.

MIDEAST: U.N. Inaction on Lebanon Under Heavy Fire

As the Israelis continue to defy the international community and refuse to agree to a ceasefire in the three-week old bombing of Lebanon, a hamstrung United Nations has come under heavy fire for merely watching the death and destruction from the sidelines.

BOLIVIA: Indigenous President Chalks Up Impressive Early Results

The "democratic and cultural revolution" launched by Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, when he took office in late January hit its six-month mark with impressive economic and political indicators.

RIGHTS: Thousands Face Expulsion From France

The French government is poised to expel about 20,000 illegal immigrants, mostly Sub-Saharan Africans, campaigners say. The French move runs contrary to the trend across Europe.

MIDEAST: ‘If You Haven’t Left, You’re Hezbollah’

The Israeli attack on Qana has taken the biggest toll of the war, but it is only one of countless lethal attacks on civilians in Lebanon.

MIDEAST: Humanitarian Crisis Building Up

As the humanitarian crisis deepens in Lebanon, life-saving relief supply needs to get there soon, aid experts say.

BRAZIL: Race Quotas – Accused of Racism

The imminent approval of a law that establishes obligatory quotas for Afro-Brazilians and indigenous peoples at public universities, and of a Racial Equality Statute that defines public policies for promoting ethnic groups who suffer discrimination, has sparked a resurgence of the controversy about how to combat racism and inequality in Brazil.

MIDEAST: Refugees Have Only Their Anger

Among hundreds of thousands of refugees scattered across city parks, schools and abandoned buildings in Beirut, new and chilling words have been doing the rounds.

MIDEAST: Bombings Hit Children Hardest

About 55 percent of all casualties at the Beirut Government University Hospital are children of 15 years of age or less, hospital records show.