SOCIETY-CHINA: New Rich Trade Communal Blocks for Trendy Flats

-As China's Parliament meets to amend the communist country's constitution and protect private property rights, China's new rich are abandoning proletarian apartments in communal blocks and moving into trendy duplex apartments and suburban villas.

LABOUR-JAPAN: Human Rights Activists Assail Anti-Migrant Measures

Japan has started to further tighten its immigration policies, a move that officials say is driven by security concerns but which activists assail as violating the human rights of non-Japanese.

RIGHTS: Canadian Police Seize Algerian Asylum-Seeker From Church

Activists will rally across Canada on Tuesday to protest the deportation of a failed refugee claimant from Algeria, who was seized by police after taking sanctuary in a church, a first in this country observers say.

SOCIETY-JAPAN: Young Drug Addicts Lack Support

Ryo recalls how he started inhaling paint thinner when he was 10 years old, at a time when he was trying to cope after his parents divorced and he was forced to live with his strict Japanese father.

/INT’L WOMEN’S DAY/MALAYSIA: Women Create Space in Coming Polls

- I am a most reluctant candidate,'' laughs former academic and women's activist Rohana Ariffin from Malaysia. ‘‘I got pushed and dragged into it.''

AUSTRALIA: Activists Amazed at Progress in Curbing Trafficking

Softspoken Kathleen Maltzahn, who heads a support and advocacy group on sexual slavery, is amazed when she reflects on how much has been achieved in the last year to counter the trafficking of mostly South-east Asian women into the Australian sex industry.

U.S.-MEXICO: Migration Accord Remains a Remote Possibility

Presidents George W. Bush of the United States and Vicente Fox of Mexico are meeting Friday and Saturday to discuss for the umpteenth time an agreement on migration issues that they promised back in 2001, but which will still has a tense, rocky road ahead, say analysts.

SOCIETY-VIETNAM: Sex Case Highlights Scandals Involving Officials

Accusations that a senior government official had sex with a young girl have not only created an uproar, but have also allowed room to discuss and debate the sensitive issue as well as scandals involving high officials.

POPULATION-INDIA: Film on Gender Cleansing Shocking but Timely

Married off at a young age to five brothers, Kalki is compelled to provide sexual services to her father-in-law as well because their village in eastern Bihar state is bereft of women, thanks to decades of systematic female foeticide.

MEDIA-PORTUGAL: The New Voices of Immigrant Communities

A number of newspapers and magazines catering to immigrant communities in Portugal and published in Russian, Portuguese and Mandarin have relatively wide circulations and provide an important link to "home" for their readers.

CUBA: Red Tape Makes Travel Expensive – or Impossible

The difficulty of obtaining a visa to visit other countries often frustrates the dream of travelling abroad shared by many Cubans, who are already overwhelmed by the cumbersome internal requirements that make it hard to even leave this socialist island nation in the first place.

JAPAN: Conviction of Cult Leader Ends Wait, But Concern Remains

Friday's death sentence meted out to the founder of a Japanese doomsday cult that carried out murder and gas attacks years ago ends a long, tortuous wait for justice by thousands of survivors, but concern remains over the susceptibility of youngsters to joining such groups.

CHINA: Beijing’s Ambitions Revive Debate about Huge Megacities

Beijing's ambition to re-invent itself as an ultra-modern capital of the future has sparked a frenzy of copycat metropolises all over the country, infuriating preservationists and state planners, and re-igniting an old debate about the emergence of megacities in China.

RIGHTS: Indigenous Children’s Survival Tied to Aboriginal Culture

The world's indigenous children face greater threats to survival than other youngsters, but that can only be changed by recognising that their well-being is tied to the survival of aboriginal cultures, including rights to land and resources, says a United Nations report released Wednesday.

RIGHTS- NEPAL: Bhutanese Refugees Face Doomed Future

More than 100,000 refugees from neighbouring Bhutan confront dimmed prospects amid an impasse over repatriation and cutbacks in aid.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Changes Add Teeth to Law on Domestic Violence

A bill that strengthens the law on domestic violence - by offering better protection for victims - has boosted the morale of Japanese women and groups that have long lobbied against spousal abuse in this patriarchial society.

POPULATION-MALI: An Ever-Growing Diaspora

It's a common sight in the Malian capital: large groups of young people queuing in front of the French and American consulates with one objective in mind - to obtain an immigration visa.

CHINA: Lifting of Veil on Celebrities’ Wealth Causes Furore

The first list of rich Chinese celebrities published by the U.S.-based 'Forbes' magazine is lifting the veil on the country's reluctant rich entertainers - and causing a storm with its assessment of growing wealth in an industry once assigned by the Communist Party to serve the masses.

CHINA: Open Borders, Lure of Better Life Aid Trafficking

The fruits of Yu Lian and her sister's hard work can be readily seen by anyone who takes a good look at this village in south-western China - the gleaming two-storey house that stands out among the traditional, black-roofed homes made of bamboo.

MEXICO: Spread of Salvadoran Gang Triggers Alarm

Carlos Ramírez, from El Salvador, says he wouldn't care if his sister were raped and murdered, as long as the crime was committed by a member of his gang, the 'Mara Salvatrucha' - a violent Central America-based youth gang that has recently spread to Mexico.

POLITICS: Sri Lanka, Israel Must Share Power with Minorities – Professor

Bloody conflicts in Israel and Sri Lanka could be brought to an end if the countries adopted new, federal constitutions allowing extensive and genuine power sharing, according to a prominent Israeli academic here.