ARGENTINA: Toppling the Wall Blocking the Poor from Justice

Access to justice is a human right guaranteed by Argentine law. But lack of money or time often prevents the poor and most vulnerable from taking their complaints to the courts.

LABOUR: Villages Taste the Fruits of China’s Urban Boom

As the amounts of money migrant workers send home globally every year continue to grow, a new study estimates the volume of money transferred by migrants within China's borders to be bigger than any cross-border market in the world.

DEVELOPMENT: ‘Human Forum’ – Networking Service for a New Humanity

Neither the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland nor its counterpoint, the World Social Forum, will lead to a better world, since the former seeks only to create more wealth and the latter to distribute it more evenly, stated one of the leaders of the Human Forum, which is holding its annual meeting Thursday through Saturday in Puerto Rico.

POLITICS-UAE: On the Road to Democracy

Modest as they seem, new policy changes announced by the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, favouring greater citizen participation in governance, are being hailed as the first steps towards full-fledged democracy.

BURMA: Ban on Marriages, Another Yoke on Rohingya Muslims

In Burma's remote west, young men and women are subject to a form of discrimination, considered harsh, even for the military regime in this country. They are banned from getting married.

HUMAN RIGHTS: Slavery Not Just a Thing of the Past

African, Latin American or eastern European women searching for a better life in the European Union, children labouring in clothing and footwear factories in southeast Asia, young single men who lack skills and training or even the ability to read and write: these are the faces of slavery in the early 21st century.

ARGENTINA: Slave Labour Alive and Well

"They exploit us and threaten to hand us over to the police. When I was single I could claim my rights, but now with three children I have to accept the humiliation and submit to slavery," said José Orellana, a Bolivian immigrant who was able to escape with his family from a clandestine textile factory in Buenos Aires.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ARTS: “Pessoptimism” Colours Palestinian Experience

As the settlements lie in rubble, and Gazans reclaim the right to cross into Egypt and sell the first fruits and vegetables of the autumn harvest, Palestinian writers, directors and actors are reminding audiences far from the conflict that it's not quite time to pop the champagne cork.

HEALTH-JAPAN: HIV Breeds on Complacent Attitudes Among Youth

Eri Iwase, 19, a pretty first year university student, says she is not worried about being infected with HIV virus that causes Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), even though she is sexually active.

YEMEN: Children Pushed by Parents Into Slavery

Twenty children, five of them handicapped, were rescued from a gang of traffickers in Yemen earlier this month. Rights group say the arrests point to large-scale operations.

GUATEMALA: Violence Against Women Unchecked and Unpunished

Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Guatemala City Friday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, painting X's on judicial buildings and security agencies to protest the failure to protect women and bring the perpetrators to justice.

LATIN AMERICA: Remittances Rescue Millions from Poverty

The money sent home by migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to 45 billion dollars last year, double the total from 10 years ago. Thanks to these remittances, an estimated 2.5 million people in the region have been able to escape poverty.

SPAIN: Nowhere to Turn – Immigrant Women Especially Vulnerable to Domestic Violence

Immigrant women are the least protected against domestic violence in Spain, since they often have nowhere to turn for help, civil society groups underscored Friday, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

RIGHTS: For Too Many Women, Silence Equals Death

Despite improved laws and international treaties signed by various governments in the past few years, millions of women continue to suffer from violence at the hands of men.

SOUTH ASIA: Bhutanese Refugees Forgotten in Nepal’s Turmoil

King Gyanendra’s military-backed ‘royal coup’, on Feb. 1, has proven a major setback for the Lhotsampas (Bhutanese nationals of Nepali origin) fleeing the autocratic regime of the world’s other Himalayan kingdom.

VENEZUELA: Violent Death a Young Man’s Burden

A few days before he passed away, Juancho confessed to IPS that he had chosen to die by the age of 25 if that was the price he had to pay to live among his people in Cartanal, a shantytown on the outskirts of the Venezuelan capital named for the houses made from cardboard ("carton" in Spanish) by its first settlers.

MEDIA: New Network to Promote Journalism with a Gender Perspective

More than 100 journalists from 14 countries have started networking to find ways round censorship, give gender equality greater prominence in the media, and promote the use of non-sexist language.

CUBA: New Hikes in Electricity Rates, Pensions and Salaries

The Cuban government will implement new economic measures aimed at reducing energy consumption among some sectors of the Cuban population while counteracting growing social inequalities.

PHILIPPINES: ‘Church, a Goliath Against Reproductive Health’

When Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told the U.N. General Assembly recently to "respect the deep Catholicism of the Filipino people" and said that natural family planning is more effective than artificial means like condoms, Filipino activists reacted with disbelief, others with anger.

CUBA: Waging War on Day-to-Day Corruption

The Cuban government has launched a wide-reaching anti-corruption campaign that is aimed at curbing diversion of funds, theft and abuse of power in state-owned companies and businesses, but also threatens to clamp down even further on the already limited opportunities for private enterprise.

DEVELOPMENT: Migration Casts Its Shadow

Development groups insist that the European Union's development policy statement due to be adopted by member states next week must not compromise its poverty focus for migration policies.