CARIBBEAN: Recognising the Legacy of Slavery

Slavery is inextricably intertwined with the history of the countries of the Caribbean, and a new Sites of Memory on the Slave Route project is focusing on the African influence in Aruba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

BRAZIL: The Elderly – Victims in Their Own Homes

In most cases of mistreatment of the elderly, it is family members who commit the abuse, according to complaints filed in a public assistance centre in Natal, the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte.

DEVELOPMENT-BRAZIL: Music Can Conquer Poverty

Mozart's music has transformed the small, impoverished town of Sao Caetano, a forgotten backwater in the state of Pernambuco in northeast Brazil, ever since its children's orchestra began to win national and international fame, 13 years ago.

MIGRATION-US: Reform Draws Applause and Criticism from Mexico

Mexican President Vicente Fox may be premature in celebrating U.S. Senate approval of legislative reform that would grant legal status to around seven million immigrants, warn activists and academics critical of the bill's scope.

ELECTIONS-PERU: Voting for the Accused

In a seeming paradox, ex-military commander Ollanta Humala - accused of kidnapping, torture and mass killings - was the first-round presidential election favourite in areas that suffered major human-rights violations during Peru's counterinsurgency struggle.

ARGENTINA: Fair Prices for Indigenous Crafts

"With this purchase, you are helping craftspeople feed their families, educate their children and stay on their land," says the label on products sold by the Silataj fair trade crafts association in Argentina, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

BRAZIL: Strides and Continued Challenges for the Disabled

The first national conference for the disabled sponsored by the government in Brazil showed the strides made in the past few decades towards rights for the country's 24.5 million people living with disabilities. But it also made it clear that solutions making life easier for this diverse group are far from evenly available, due to the poverty in which so many Brazilians are steeped.

BRAZIL: Human Rights – the Hidden Victim of the São Paulo Killings

Strong evidence indicates that Brazilian police have summarily executed a number of suspects in harsh retaliation for organised-crime attacks staged the May 12 weekend in the southern city of São Paulo.

RIGHTS-EUROPE: Cracking Down on Corporal Punishment of Children

Zero tolerance for the use of physical punishment against children and all forms of domestic violence was the policy consensus reached when the Council of Europe (CE) turned its attention to family matters in Lisbon this week.

PORTUGAL: Brazilian Families Resettle the Heartland

Four Brazilian families came to live in Portugal this month, as the advance party of another 250 families intent on fulfilling their European dream, and at the same time to stem the depopulation of rural areas in this country.

GUATEMALA: Indigenous Groups Sceptical about Social Dialogue

Labour and campesino organisations in Guatemala are sceptical of recent government calls for a formal national dialogue to address the social agenda set out in the 1996 peace accords that officially ended the country's 36-year civil war.

CHILE: Law on Civil Union for Gays Within Reach

Chile may soon have a law to regulate the inheritance rights of both homosexual and unmarried heterosexual couples, according to activists and lawyers who are working on a draft version of the law.

POPULATION: Global Food Supply Near the Breaking Point

The world is now eating more food than farmers grow, pushing global grain stocks to their lowest level in 30 years.

CUBA: Soap Opera Spotlights Sexual Diversity

"La cara oculta de la luna" (The Dark Side of the Moon) - the latest soap opera to be beamed into thousands of Cuban homes - will forever be remembered as triggering unprecedented social debate on sexual diversity and homophobia in the country.

MIGRATION-SPAIN: High Technology Against Canoes and Fishing Boats

In order to stem the unceasing influx of migrants, the Spanish government announced Monday that it will make use of high technology - including a new satellite - , step up naval and air force surveillance, and deport people immediately if they arrive without visas.

MEDIA: Ten Stories That Desperately Need to Be Told

Every year, the U.N.'s Department of Public Information (DPI) unveils its list of the world's 10 most under-reported stories, implying that politics, murder and sex scandals still take precedence over poverty, peace-building or economic development.

COLOMBIA: Magistrates Excommunicated for Partially Lifting Abortion Ban

Twenty-seven years after Congresswoman Consuelo Lleras unsuccessfully submitted a bill to legalise abortion in Colombia, the country’s Constitutional Court has recognised the right to terminate a pregnancy in case of rape, a threat to the woman’s life or health, or if the foetus has a deformity that would prevent survival outside the womb.

DEVELOPMENT-INDIA: Vendors Everywhere, But Invisible

For nearly two decades, Tamil Selvi, 45, has been rendering a silent service on the dusty corner of a street in a residential area of this major town in southern Tamil Nadu state.

CHILE: Mapuche Prisoners on Verge of Starving to Death for Cause

Three members of the Mapuche indigenous community and a supporter of their cause are in critical condition almost two months into a hunger strike in a prison in southern Chile.

MALAYSIA: Street Vendors Fear City Hall, Await New Policy

Rain is what Kadar Sultan, a seller of the native dessert called ‘chendol' on the streets, fears most. Next comes City Hall.

FRANCE: Making it Harder for Immigrants

Less than three years after passing a tough law to curb immigration, the French government has proposed another law to further restrict the rights of immigrants and asylum-seekers.