HEALTH-MEXICO: Preventing Diabetes Cases from Doubling Over Next 20 Years

Six-year-old Rosa is diabetic and needs regular insulin injections. She is one of eight million people with diabetes in Mexico, where the health authorities are struggling to prevent that number from doubling in the next 20 years.

RIGHTS: French Show Immigrants a Sick Way Out

The French government decision to tie medical care to legal status has cut off about 400,000 illegal immigrants from access to treatment.

BALKANS: Ten Years Later, Lost Homeland Beckons

Ten years ago Dragoslav Dupor woke up one day to the sound of Croatian artillery shelling his village Karin Gornji on the Adriatic Coast.

SPAIN: Ten Infants on Intercepted Migrant-Smuggling Boat

The closure of Spain's borders to immigrants wishing to enter and live in this country without first obtaining a work contract has not curbed the continuous influx of undocumented migrants, including infants, who by law cannot be deported.

PARAGUAY: Not a Single Conviction, a Year After Supermarket Tragedy

"I saw a ball of fire and started to run, following an employee to a door, but it was locked. We ended up trapped in a bathroom. We were weak and exhausted. Then I heard a huge noise and I made it out through a hole they smashed in the wall."

RIGHTS-UAE: Arab Women to Gain from New Divorce Rules

In a major breakthrough for women's rights in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the cabinet has approved a draft personal law that will soon allow women to end marriage after petitioning the Shariah (religious) court and paying compensation to husbands.

INDIA: After the Deluge, Mumbai Puts Construction on Pause

After authorities counted 420 dead in rain- triggered floods and estimated billions of dollars worth of losses in damaged property and stalled rail, air and road traffic over the week, Mumbai's citizenry has begun questioning frenetic construction in India's main commercial hub and port city.

POLITICS-DRC: “Stronger Commitment” Needed for Peace

Ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has underscored the difficulties of bringing lasting peace to this vast Central African country.

HEALTH-INDONESIA: Under ‘Reformasi’ Malnutrition Stalks Children

Assessments by the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and other voluntary agencies that at least 2.2 million children in the country under five years of age suffer from malnutrition would not surprise many.

RIGHTS-KENYA: In the Aftermath of a Massacre

He describes himself as an old man, and one ignorant of many things in life - especially "women and the ways of Waq (God)". But Huka Kanchoro, a wizened Borana elder, knows that he holds a position of influence in the northern Kenyan district of Marsabit.

MEXICO: 120,000 Missing Children

Four-year-old Ian was kidnapped from his home near Mexico City. His body, showing signs that he had been severely beaten and sexually abused, was found shortly afterwards under a hotel room bed by the cleaning staff.

SPAIN: Gay Marriage Takes Root Despite Opposition

The recent legalisation of same-sex marriage in Spain is taking root, in spite of continued opposition from conservative parties and the Catholic Church.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Children Take Brunt of Immigration Detention Policy

Forcibly removed from classes, 12-year-old Ian Hwang and his six-year-old Australian-born sister, Janie are now back at school from the Villawood immigration detention centre where they were taken four months ago because their mother had overstayed her visa.

BRAZIL: Hometown Mourns Brazilian Slain by Police in London

Gonzaga, a small Brazilian town with a population of roughly 2,600, came to a standstill on Monday as residents took to the streets to protest the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, the young Brazilian shot down by police in London on Friday.

COLOMBIA: Indigenous Women Brave War Zone to Express Solidarity

A caravan of around 1,250 indigenous and afro-Colombian women and women's rights activists drove Saturday into an area of southwestern Colombia that is caught up in fighting between leftist guerrillas and the army, for a "Visit to the Family".

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: To Loan, or Not To Loan

Zimbabwe's decision to seek a loan from neighbouring South Africa has sparked a heated debate in that country. Some have urged South Africa to turn down the request, while others say the loan should be granted - with stringent conditions attached. They fear a refusal to extend this financial lifeline to President Robert Mugabe would exacerbate Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis.

RIGHTS-TOGO: Plus Ca Change…

The human rights group Amnesty International has issued a report alleging serious human rights violations in Togo during the West African country's recent elections.

VENEZUELA: More Young Lives Cut Short by Violence

Eight-year-old Roger Guzmán had just stepped out for a moment onto the balcony of his 14th floor apartment in a crowded Caracas neighbourhood when he was struck dead by a bullet to the forehead, an innocent victim in a shootout between the police and a gang of criminals.

HEALTH-BURMA: HIV Threat Overshadows Political Instability

While political reform in Burma is set to dominate next week's meeting of South-east Asian foreign ministers in Laos, a deadlier subject, HIV spread in the region, cries for attention.

BOLIVIA: Getting Off the Streets on the Cold Winter Nights

Cold nights can spell death for homeless people on the streets of La Paz in the southern hemisphere winter. But a new municipal programme in this city located 3600 metres above sea level is now offering emergency shelter and two square meals during the coldest months of the year.

MALAYSIA: Privatising Health Insurance Is Anti-Poor Say Activists

A senior health ministry official has sought to allay fears that Malaysia's proposed national health insurance scheme could be privatised - but civil society activists are still worried.