IMMIGRATION-SPAIN: No Way to Fence Off the Sea

An unusually heavy influx of undocumented immigrants, who arrived on the coasts of Spain's Canary Islands over the weekend, has highlighted the ineffectiveness of wire fences and other police measures designed to keep people from sub-Saharan Africa from seeking a better life in Europe.

BRAZIL: Activists ‘Responsibly Optimistic’ on Child Labour Reduction

Activists in Brazil are somewhat sceptical with regard to the fact that Brazil was held up as an example of what can be done to eradicate child labour.

SUDAN: For Vendors, It’s a Case of Struggle – and Struggle Again

Suzie Bernardo arrives at the market in the centre of Sudan's capital, Khartoum, at dawn, after a long bus ride from a remote slum. There she erects her portable charcoal stove, and sets out tea glasses clouded with fingerprints, and jars of tea, coffee and sugar.

MEXICO: Zapatista Leader Reaches Out to Neglected Minorities

"They torture and kill us because we are different. But we are going to put an end to that from below, where the best people are found," Zapatista guerrilla leader ‘Subcomandante' Marcos said in the Mexican capital Wednesday, addressing a crowd made up of transvestites, homosexuals, prostitutes and indigenous people, who cheered him on.

RIGHTS: Assyrians Face Escalating Abuses in “New Iraq”

The longstanding persecution of ethnic minorities in Iraq is quietly writing the end chapter to Iraqi Assyrian history: if the world doesn't wake up to the plight of this people, they will soon be shoved through the door of extinction, warn patrons and human rights defenders.

INDIA: Rural Job Guarantee Scheme Passes Muster

An unusual ‘padyatra' or march by members of some 165 civil society groups from across India has just concluded in this dry, treeless district of northwestern Rajasthan state.

INT’L LABOUR DAY: Portugal Opens Doors to East European Workers

Along with Spain and Finland, Portugal will open up its borders on May 1 to workers from the eight central and East European countries that joined the European Union (EU) two years ago.

INT’L LABOUR DAY-SPAIN: Second Class Workers

In Spain and the rest of the European Union (EU), the right to work does not apply equally to everyone. Temporary and informal sector employment, which mainly involves immigrants, forces a large portion of the population to live in poverty, without social security coverage, and facing the risk of deportation because their papers are not in order.

SOCIETY: Germany Confronts a Grey Future

Silent playgrounds, boarded up schools, new old people's homes. What sounds far-fetched is actually a glimpse of the future for many German towns if the country's dwindling birth rate fails to stall.

MEXICO: Network to Track Down Pedophile Priests

Some 40 Catholic priests fleeing charges of child abuse in the United States are reportedly living in Mexico. But they are being tracked down by an international organisation that will also encourage abuse victims in this country to step forward and seek help and justice.

RIGHTS-US: Battered Women Left in Asylum Limbo

In the unlikely event that the U.S. Congress reaches agreement on an immigration bill, it remains doubtful that legislators will include one of the simpler issues in this complex debate: granting asylum to battered women.

RIGHTS-NAMIBIA: Bushmen Survive Millennia – But Perhaps Not Modernity

"They have no voice, no jobs; poverty is excruciating, slavery is there - because they work for others for nothing, like in only getting a plate of food or tombo (traditional beer). They are just suffering."

SUDAN: Putting the First Tarred Roads “Since Creation” in Place

For about two decades, aid agencies have been airlifting relief supplies to south Sudan because of the poor condition of the roads in this region - devastated by more than two decades of civil war.

BRAZIL: Social Forum Points to Different Ways of Educating

Making full use of neighbourhood resources to educate youngsters and developing rural education that respects local values and knowledge are several new ways of educating that were demonstrated at various sessions of the Brazilian Social Forum on Friday, the first day of the three-day gathering.

PAKISTAN: Quake Relief Camps Shut Before Villages Are Rebuilt

The Pakistan government has come under scathing criticism from relief organisations for its recent decision to close down relief camps for the survivors of the massive earthquake last year which killed close to 73,000 people.

BRAZIL: Indigenous Peoples’ Conference at Odds with Government

The first National Conference of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil made little progress on defining specific policies and was sharply criticised by some leaders, but it opened up new possibilities for dialogue between the government and indigenous peoples.

MIGRATION-CUBA: Mothers Face Legal Action for Risking Children’s Lives

Cuban parents who endanger the lives of their children in an attempt to leave the island face stiff penalties under a law that protects children. Seven Cuban women are currently in custody facing legal proceedings for that reason.

EDUCATION-LATIN AMERICA: Let’s (Not) Talk About Sex

Although many countries in Latin America have laws stating that sex education must be made available in primary and secondary schools, these are implemented in a haphazard way, and in some cases not at all.

PAKISTAN: Courts, Clerics Resist DNA Tests for Paternity

Although Pakistan has fine DNA testing laboratories, these facilities remain closed to the public and results obtained from them are not recognised by the Islamic clergy and the judiciary.

JAPAN: Women Juggle Careers and Caregiving With Cell Phones

Mobile phone technology is helping many Japanese career women cope with a traditional role they are unable to shake off - that of providing care for the elderly.

SOCIETY: School Chaos Reignites German Immigration Debate

Frightened teachers, Turkish and Arabic speaking teenagers swearing at the cameras, police frisking students at the school gates...headlines and television pictures of a violent Berlin secondary school have shocked Germans and fanned the country's already heated immigration debate.