AFGHANISTAN: Ignorance Feared Speeding HIV Spread

Afghan men, women and children returning home after years of living in the squalor of refugee camps in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran may be coming back with more than just their belongings.

PAKISTAN: Veiled but Women More Visible After Quake

On a bitter cold afternoon, late January, about 600 women, quite a few with eyes barely showing through veils, trooped into a huge marquee to make their feelings known about the poor progress of rehabilitation after the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Elderly Sidelined in Recovery Efforts

Unable to compete with younger survivors for scarce resources and largely excluded from international aid efforts, thousands of elderly people were neglected in the initial aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

BRAZIL: History of Neglect Is Key Factor in Child Abandonment

Women who abandon their own babies tend to have suffered a complete lack of nurturing, and were often abused themselves as children, according to a study on a tragic phenomenon that has been catapulted into the headlines in Brazil over the past few weeks.

TOBACCO CONVENTION: Zambia’s Dilemma

Tobacco violates one of the fundamental rights of consumers: the right to safety, argues Muyunda Ililonga, executive secretary of the Zambia Consumers Association (ZACA), who pointed out that tobacco is the only consumer product that kills when used as directed.

RIGHTS: Homeless But Not Stateless, Living in Limbo

Forced by war or humanitarian disasters to flee their homes but keeping within the borders of their own countries, 12 million so-called "internally displaced persons" (IDPs) face a legal and human tragedy in Africa.

PORTUGAL: Nationality Extended to Second and Third-Generation Immigrants

A new law approved Thursday by the Portuguese parliament which extends the right of nationality to second- and third-generation immigrants is a key step in fighting the social exclusion suffered by many of the roughly 600,000 immigrants and their descendants living in this southern European nation, according to parties along the political spectrum as well as non-governmental organisations.

ARGENTINA: Public Aid Generous but Hard to Get

The Argentine government announced substantial improvements to the social programmes created in 2002 at the height of the economic crisis. But analysts observe that the changes favour those beneficiaries who have already registered, while nearly half a million families remain outside the system.

ECONOMY-SUDAN: Service With a Smile Not Yet a Priority, Say Investors

The sprawling nation of Sudan is known for many things, but delectable food is not one of them. The unofficial national dish, "foul" (pronounced "fuul") is a mixture of beans, watery cheese, tomatoes, and limp arugula.

AFRICA-BRAZIL: Lula Includes Blacks on Foreign and Domestic Agendas

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to Brasilia Monday after his fifth tour of Africa, while the controversy over quotas for black and indigenous students in Brazil's public universities continues to rage.

ARGENTINA: Allegations of Illegal Adoptions Implicate Church

María Jerez remembers her first daughter, who would be 17 today. She says that when the baby was born, she gave her to Catholic nuns in the northern Argentine province of Santiago del Estero in exchange for a promise of a house.

VIETNAM: No Red Lights for Trafficking Women to China

Searching Nguyen Thi Hien's house in the northern province of Lai Chaau, last November, police discovered a diary in which she had meticulously recorded the names of 142 Vietnamese women that she had sold into sexual slavery in China.

ASIA: Bleak Future Awaits ‘Stateless’ Children

While in South-east Asia's capitals there is talk of regional integration and easier movement of people within the region, the border towns are home to thousands of stateless children with little expectation from such stirrings of regional solidarity.

AFGHANISTAN: Women Stay Vulnerable to Violence

Gul Zarina, a mother of three, wants divorce from her husband. Sitting in front of the women's affairs department in this provincial capital in Afghanistan, she insists that maltreatment and domestic violence are her reasons.

SOUTH AMERICA: Guarani Indians Unite

The unity of Guaraní Indians, whose communities are spread out over five South American nations, was sealed in a gathering that ended Tuesday with a march by around 8,000 demonstrators in the southern Brazilian city of Sao Gabriel, where indigenous hero Sepé Tiarajú died on Feb. 7, 1756.

CUBA: Despite Raises, Incomes Still Fall Short

Despite a series of government measures adopted last year to strengthen the local currency, boost incomes and improve economic conditions for the neediest segments of society in Cuba, wages and pensions still fall short in relation to the high cost of living.

ARGENTINA: World’s First Homeless TV Talk Show Host

A plaza in a residential neighbourhood of the Argentine capital has become "Stellita's Living Room" for the first TV programme in the world hosted by a homeless person.

NEPAL: Guinea Pigs in Hepatitis E Vaccine Trials

The best way to prevent water-borne diseases is to provide people with clean water-that seems obvious. So when Dr. Sharad Onta saw United States researchers arrive in Nepal to test a vaccine for hepatitis E on local people, he started asking why the money was not being spent on that simple solution.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Civil Society to Remain Vigilant, Even With Progressive Gov’ts

The tension between civil society organisations and the leftist and centre-left governments in power in a number of South American nations, which often depart from their common objectives, became evident at the portion of the 6th World Social Forum held in the Venezuelan capital.

BRAZIL: Indigenous People Fight for Their Rights

Land conflicts involving indigenous people have multiplied in Brazil over the last few months, generating greater tension and showing once again that the country's roughly 400,000 indigenous people still have a long way to go to win respect for their rights.

ARGENTINA: Bringing Preschool Education to the Slums

Almost half of all children in Argentina between the ages of three and five are not enrolled in any preschool programme. The Oscarcito Project was conceived to help fill the gap and provide an early boost to the linguistic and cognitive development of children living in extreme poverty.