BRAZIL: The Emptying of the Mega-Cities

It is difficult to believe that Brazilian mega-cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, with millions of inhabitants and traffic-clogged streets, are seeing their population densities decrease, which experts say aggravates the cities' problems and makes solutions even more difficult to find.

COLOMBIA: Ethnic Groups Demand Respect for Their Neutrality in Conflict

In four open letters addressed to all of the armed actors in Colombia's civil war, 47 organisations of indigenous people, afro-Colombians, peasant farmers, women, local residents and trade unionists from the jungle province of Chocó demand respect for their territory and their neutrality in the armed conflict.

RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Blacks Demand Adoption of Promised Measures

The Brazilian state has failed to make good on promises to adopt a series of measures aimed at promoting racial equality, the country’s black movement complained Wednesday in a march in the capital dubbed Zumbi + 10.

HONDURAS: Election Campaign Takes Tough Stance on Crime, Ignores Poverty

Voters in Honduras are getting ready to go to the polls on Nov. 27 in the midst of a campaign in which the overriding issue has been the country's soaring crime rates, while pressing concerns like poverty have been ignored, according to analysts and activists.

BOLIVIA: Delays in Land Reform a ‘Time Bomb”

Nine years after the enactment of Bolivia's last agrarian reform law, just 17 percent of the 107 million hectares included in the legislation have been regularised, a delay that experts consulted by Tierramérica call a social and political "timebomb".

FRANCE: What Immigrants Brought With Them

The contribution of immigrants to France is immeasurable, and cannot in any case be counted simply in economic terms, experts and artists of Maghrib origin say.

POLITICS-DR CONGO: Exiled Soldiers Returning Home

People on both sides of the Congo River are breathing sighs of relief following the repatriation of former soldiers back to Kinshasa. The combatants had spent eight years in exile in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville.

JAPAN: Neo-Nationalism Endangers Gender Equality

When her husband committed suicide five years ago, Mariko, 56, was left alone to fend for herself in a society that not only offered few opportunities to start life again but also blamed the desperate widow for the tragedy.

EUROPE: New Spread of Unrest Feared

Political leaders and experts are fearing a spread of the recent French unrest across Europe.

MEDIA: Telling the Burma Story, in Exile

Few journalists are better equipped to reveal the inside story of the narcotics trade in Burma than Khuensai Jaiyen, a 57-year-old editor who wears thick glasses and has an impish sense of humour.

LATIN AMERICA: Only a Few Reap the Benefits of Growth in Agriculture

Latin America and the Caribbean are demanding that the world's rich countries dismantle their protectionist systems of farm subsidies as they seek to sustain and expand on the success enjoyed by farm exports in the region, which have, however, failed to provide significant benefits for the broader population.

PERU: Afro-Descendants Fight Ingrained Racism, Invisibility

There is a saying in Peru that everyone has a bit of either "Inga" or "Mandinga" in them, meaning that all Peruvians have some indigenous (Inca) or African blood.

FRANCE: Riots Spread Into Rebellion

Rioting by immigrant youth around Paris has begun to take the shape of a nationwide rebellion against racial and social segregation, and repressive police action.

REFUGEES-BALKANS: A Homecoming of Sorts

Thousands of Serbs in refugee camps will be 'adopted' by farmers in Serbia from this month under a new plan.

MEXICO: Spread of Central American Youth Gangs Uncurbed

Authorities in Mexico have made little headway in their efforts to curb the spread of Central American youth gangs known as "maras", whose members are now active in 24 of this country's 32 states.

RIGHTS-FRANCE: Where Immigrants are ‘Scum’

The urban guerrilla war between immigrant youth and police forces on the outskirts of Paris, and the war of words between politicians this week have again shaken claims that France is the "cradle of human rights".

AMERICAS: Counter-Summit Celebrates Rollback of US Influence

Activists taking part in this week's civil society gathering parallel to the fourth Summit of the Americas, which opens Friday in Argentina, are already celebrating what they see as a rolling back of U.S. influence over the hemispheric agenda.

GUATEMALA: Hurricane Alerts, Disaster Prevention Plans Made Little Difference

Even though meteorologists had accurately predicted one of the most active hurricane seasons with especially devastating storms this year, it has become clear once again that the political will is lacking in Central America to implement effective disaster preparedness measures, despite the fact that the legal instruments and plans are in place.

NEPAL: Court Verdicts Bring Small Victories to Women

Legislation providing that Nepali women be treated on par with men is no guarantee that such treatment will occur.

EDUCATION: Venezuela Declares Itself Illiteracy-Free

Venezuela declared itself an "illiteracy-free territory" Friday, announcing that 1.482 million adults have learned to read and write in the past two years, and that less than two percent of the population of 26 million remains illiterate.

MEXICO: Double Standards in Treatment of Hurricane Victims

Most signs of the damages caused by Hurricane Wilma in Mexico's Caribbean resort of Cancún will have been wiped away before the Christmas holidays. But for those left homeless by Hurricane Stan in the nearby impoverished state of Chiapas, recovery is a distant goal.