PAKISTAN: Conversions, Modernity Change Lives of Small Community

Mir Swat Khan, who fought alongside the Taliban after the U.S.-led attacks against Afghanistan in November 2001, is waiting to be freed by Pakistani authorities from Central Jail here.

IMMIGRATION-U.S.: Bush Floats Plan to Legalise Guest Workers

In a bid to boost battered ties with Mexico and encourage Hispanic voters to back his re-election, President George W. Bush on Wednesday proposed a major guest-worker programme that could legalise the status of millions of undocumented workers in the United States.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Displaced Increasingly Turning into Refugees

The latest statistics released by a local human rights group in Colombia indicate that the number of people fleeing the armed conflict in this country to take refuge in neighbouring Ecuador has risen 36-fold since 2000.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Nauru Condemns Failure to Care for Hunger Strikers

A senior Nauru government minister has condemned the Australian government for failing to provide proper medical care to 35 asylum seekers, who are taking part in a four week-long hunger strike in an Australian government-funded immigration prison on the tiny Pacific island.

LATAM: Europe’s Vacation Benefits – Another Draw for Immigrants

Immigrants from Latin America are drawn to the European Union not only because of the higher wages, but also due to more attractive vacation, maternity and other social benefits.

HONG KONG: Nepali Migrants Come, Despite Many Woes

Twenty-seven year old Regina (not her real name) sits pensively on a sofa in a tiny apartment in Hong Kong's central neighbourhood as Chinese soap opera stars jabber away on television in a language that sounds both harsh and alien to her.

RIGHTS-NEPAL: Migrants Come, Despite Discrimination, Other Woes

Twenty-seven year old Regina (not her real name) sits pensively on a sofa in a tiny apartment in Hong Kong's central neighbourhood as Chinese soap opera stars jabber away on television in a language that sounds both harsh and alien to her.

LABOUR-UAE: Poor Living Conditions Prompt Protests, Action

The room measures just 10 square metres, but six people live in it. Their belongings are stored outside, where they have to weather the sun, dust and wind.

SOCIETY-UAE: Despite Woes in Alien Land, Workers Pursue Dreams

Raju and Jasmine do not know each other. They have one thing in common, though: They both came here to follow a dream.

MEXICO: Zapatista Movement Continues its Struggle – But Without Arms

A decade after the Zapatista guerrillas burst on the scene in southern Mexico, the rebels in the remote mountainous jungle region of Chiapas are no longer demanding change, but are exercising their rights through autonomous local government councils.

/CORRECTED REPEAT/SRI LANKA: Attacks on Churches Reflect Religious Tensions

The attacks on two churches in Buddhist-dominated Sri Lanka highlights the religious tensions that have been growing over the years between Buddhists and Christians in this South Asian country.

CUBA: Remittances, a Major Source of Foreign Exchange – and Inequality

The remittances sent to their families in Cuba by the hundreds of thousands of Cubans living abroad help cover basic necessities and household expenses, while widening gaps in income and wealth that become especially noticeable during the year-end holiday season.

/REPEAT/SOCIETY-VIETNAM: Victims Break Silence over Sexual Harassment

A 23-year-old information technology graduate is fond of working out and taking aerobics classes at the gym, but her fit physique has become a work hazard.

JAPAN: Children Born through Artificial Insemination Speak up

When Haru, a 22-year-old graduate student, was told by her mother that she was the product of artificial insemination, her world fell apart.

DEVELOPMENT-INDIA: Winter Deaths Climb, but Gov’t Indifferent

Winter in the Indian capital brings with it a Christmas charm that is great for fashionable bonfire parties and chic clothes, but a look into the thick fog reveals nameless, shapeless forms huddled on the cold pavements for want of shelter.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Justice System Harsh on Foreigners – Activists

Reports about rising statistics of crimes committed by foreigners in Japan have put the spotlight on the vulnerability of non-Japanese in their host country's justice and criminal procedures, say human rights activists here.

PORTUGAL: Televised Trial Rekindles Abortion Debate

The image of a young Portuguese woman wearing a cut-off T-shirt and snug trousers, writing in bold letters across her belly "This is my business", is becoming a recognised symbol of protest against laws banning abortion, laws that are being challenged even by some of Portugal's Roman Catholic bishops.

/INT’L MIGRANTS DAY/RIGHTS: Rich Countries Must Sign Treaty

Wealthy nations that benefit from migrant labour must ratify a global treaty designed to protect those workers and their families, which to date has been confirmed only by labour-sending countries, advocates for migrants urged Thursday.

/INT’L MIGRANTS DAY/BANGLADESH: Women Learn Tough Lessons from Work in

With calm confidence and quiet reassurance, Mosammat Bedana Khatun encourages the women to open up. Outside it is raining heavily, the downpour splashing on the corrugated iron roof in a steady drone. The women, including Bedana, have one common context: their husbands have gone to Malaysia over the last decade in search of fortune. Many are still there.

INT’L MIGRANTS DAY/ BANGLADESH: Wives at Home Worry about Husbands’ Fidelity

Hamida Begum (not her real name) of this district in northern Bangladesh has a startled look about her. She barely raises the veil from her face. The timid eyes look too prominent on her thin and sharp face.

/INT’L MIGRANTS DAY/PHILIPPINES: Migrant Workers’ Children Left Behind, Left Out

"Please come home this Christmas. We didn't talk the last time you were here. I was afraid of you; I didn't know how to talk to you. I want you to know that it's very difficult to grow up without a father'' - Your only girl, Jessa