ENVIRONMENT-CUBA: Pipeline May Bring Relief to Drought-Stricken City

A pipeline constructed to bring water from the Cauto River, Cuba's largest, to the drought-stricken city of Holguín is finally up and running and should help bring relief to the more than 300,000 inhabitants of this major urban centre in eastern Cuba.

MALAYSIA: Pushed to the Edge, Domestic Workers Resort to Murder

A ripple of combined fear and anger has hit the lowly paid and brutally worked community of about 250,000 Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia after one of their compatriots was sentenced to death for killing her employer following a spat over burnt curry.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Workers Left Sterile by Pesticide Seek Justice

A new lawsuit filed by thousands of Costa Rican banana workers against U.S. companies is the latest in a so-far unsuccessful series of claims against the use of Nemagon, a pesticide widely associated with sterility and cancer.

INDONESIA: Ethnic Chinese Fear They Could be Made Scapegoats Again

The public image of ethnic Chinese as rich 'pariahs' is in danger of being resurrected in Indonesia with the recent comments of a key cabinet member in new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government. Many fear racial hatred could be directed against small Chinese businessmen and shopkeepers who constitute a critical part of the country's middle class.

LATIN AMERICA: Women Murdered, Raped – and Ignored

Women, especially if they are young, working class and poor, run the risk of having their murdered, mutilated and raped bodies show up some morning in the streets of numerous Latin American cities, as evidenced by the more than 1,500 cases reported in the last decade that remain unsolved and unpunished.

ARGENTINA: Where Inequality Reigns

Some 20,000 people live in miserable conditions in a slum not far from a pedestrian shopping street in the centre of the Argentine capital, where only prestigious brands are sold to well-heeled shoppers amidst the aroma of imported perfumes.

IMMIGRATION-SPAIN: Barred from the Classrooms in Madrid and Valencia

Activists, teachers and politicians with the ruling socialist party in Spain are worried about a decision by authorities in schools in the provinces of Madrid and Valencia, which are governed by the centre-right Popular Party, to bar undocumented immigrants who have completed the 10 years of compulsory schooling from continuing their education.

INDIA: Calls for Witness Protection Grow as Pogrom Survivor Turns Hostile

Human rights activists are calling for a better witness protection programme after a key survivor of the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in western Gujarat turned hostile and accused a leading voluntary agency of trying to coerce her into making statements.

U.S.-MEXICO: Our Lady of Guadalupe Brings a Message for Bush

A torch honouring Mexico's patron saint, Our Lady of Guadalupe, was carried across the border into the United States on Friday, as part of a two-month relay from Mexico City to New York aimed at demanding respect for the rights of Mexicans and other Hispanic immigrants in the United States.

HEALTH-KENYA: Contraceptives? You’re Lucky if You Get Them

Kenya's government has again been criticised for its failure to provide enough contraceptives for its citizens - this at a two-day conference on maternal deaths and unsafe abortions that was held in the capital, Nairobi.

RIGHTS: Calling Racism By Its Name

Non-governmental organisations representing African descendants are demanding that United Nations documents referring to discrimination make explicit reference to anti-Black racism.

INDIA: Top Hindu Hawks May Face Trial for Demolition of Mosque

The top leadership of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could stand trial for the December 1992 demolition of the medieval Babri Masjid mosque, which propelled the right wing, pro-Hindu party to national power but deeply polarised the country's two main religious communities - the Hindus and Muslims.

U.S. ELECTION: Asians Dismayed, Leaders Relieved by Bush Win

While many Asians were dismayed when they woke up to the news on Thursday morning that George W Bush had been re-elected to a second term as president of the United States, their leaders hailed his return and pledged to cooperate closely with Washington.

POLITICS-NEPAL: Women Now Swelling the Ranks of Maoists

Striking images of young women in fatigues, rifles hoisted on their shoulders and purposefully marching forward, stare back when one clicks on the official website of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Torture Still Instilled in Police Culture

When Anthony Michael Fernando, a 50 year-old trade union secretary in Sri Lanka, was sentenced to a year in prison for contempt of court, he thought his life could not get any worse.

HEALTH-NEPAL: No Sniggers on Condom Day

There were no sniggers at the National Condom Day rally in this Himalayan capital - not even when someone suggested that the 172 year-old Bhimsen tower stretching 50 meters into the clear blue mountain skies was ideal for a giant condom display.

AFGHAN ELECTIONS: Women Get to Sing and Want a Place in Mosques

In a move to exercise their rights in a new government to be headed by incumbent President Hamid Karzai, Afghan women have asked for separate places to worship in Afghanistan's mosques venturing for the first time into a controversy that has divided religious authorities in the war-torn country for years.

U.S. ELECTION: Kerry or Bush: Does it Matter to Mexico?

When the United States sneezes, Mexico catches a cold. It's a well-worn metaphor used to describe the relations between the two countries. But in the case of the upcoming presidential elections in the United States, many believe the outcome will have no effect whatsoever on its ties with Mexico.

U.S. ELECTION: New Citizens Rising – But at Risk

New citizen voters could make or break the U.S. presidential race, experts say, but they are also more vulnerable to intimidation and harassment on Election Day.

UAE: Increase in Foreign Beggars Provokes Stringent Action

Rashmi Mathur, an Indian housewife living in Dubai, dreads the sound of her doorbell in the mornings when she is alone at home. It is not because of fear. She is just fed-up of constant harassment by beggars.

ARGENTINA: Rural Activists Arrested in Land Rights Dispute

Rural activists involved in a struggle over land rights in an impoverished province in northern Argentina were arrested and accused of resisting an eviction attempt staged by a group of armed men in civilian clothes.