RIGHTS: Handing Out Condoms to Students Causes Uproar in Trinidad

On two occasions last month, Svenn Miki Grant, the community outreach co-ordinator of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) stood outside a secondary school and the main library in the city and handed out condoms and sex education literature to school children.

ECUADOR: Logging Activity Forms Backdrop to Conflict between Indians

Illegal logging activity in Ecuador's Amazon region appears to form the backdrop to conflict between indigenous groups that recently claimed the lives of around 30 Tagaeri Indians at the hands of the Huaorani in the remote eastern jungle province of Pastaza.

SOUTH ASIA: Women Get Short Shrift in Health Priorities

Miru, her husband, three children and mother all live in a windowless tiny hole in a congested, stuffy slum in the western periphery of Bangladesh's capital, one that is accessible through narrow lanes overflowing with tannery wastes.

JAPAN: Widespread Personal Debt Forces Gov’t to Act

Maeda tumbled into the debt vortex with alarming swiftness. The 54-year-old, who asked that his full name not be revealed, worked for an apparel maker in Japan until he was laid off three years ago.

POLITICS: The Call of the Lottery Binds the Divided Koreas

North and South Korea are divided by a heavily armed border, different political ideologies and an economic gulf, but they share a hot, new trend: Both have been bitten by the lottery bug.

IRAQ: No Place Yet for Women in Reconstruction

Early this month, U.S. President George W. Bush proclaimed from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln that, ''the United States and our allies have prevailed ... And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing" Iraq.

POPULATION: ‘War on Terror’ Fuels Rise in Refugee Numbers

Providing yet more evidence that the ''war on terrorism'' has had deep impacts worldwide, the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) has called on the administration of President George W. Bush to re-open its doors to tens of thousands of people in limbo since the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001.

SRI LANKA: Anti-Poverty Reforms Will Add Poverty – Critics

H M Bandara Menike, a 52-year old widow with three children who cultivates two acres at Karuwalagaswewa, about 140 kilometres north-west of Sri Lankan capital, says: '' I don't know anything about poverty reduction reforms.''

AUSTRALIA: Gov’t Dodges Queries on Sinking of Asylum Seekers’ Boat

Months after a row erupted over the Australian government's role in the 2001 sinking of a boat carrying asylum seekers from Indonesia, a government minister and the head of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) have refused to discuss crucial details of what was known about the ill-fated voyage.

PAKISTAN: Truckers’ Sexual Behaviour a Risky Journey to HIV/AIDS

Khurshid, a truck driver for more than seven years now, says he is enticed by the charm of this southern Pakistani city, but would not bring his wife and children here even if he earned enough money to do that.

REFUGEES-GUINEA: No Place Like Home

Sheltered only by tents in the sweltering heat, Maika Kourouma describes life in Laine Refugee Camp as a nightmare.

RIGHTS-BANGLADESH: Reversal of History Welcomed by Refugees

-For nearly 325,000 Pakistanis in refugee camps in Bangladesh, some of whom have lived there for as long as 30 years, a ruling passed by the High Court this month holds out the hope that they will no longer be living in limbo, denied both homeland and rights.

JAPAN: Divorced Women Fight Financial Woes, Stigma

Sue Nagashima, 57, recalls her days as a single mother of two young sons as a "terrifying struggle for survival".

POPULATION: Canada Targets Dodgy Immigration ‘Consultants’

When Mohammed Khozan handed 10,000 U.S. dollars to a London-based immigration consultant, he expected to be resettled in Canada within a few weeks.

BRAZIL-COLOMBIA: Inequality as Much a Cause of Violence as Drugs

The rise in violent crime in the cities of Brazil and Colombia in the past few decades is often squarely blamed on organised crime and drug trafficking. But would the bloodbath come to an end if the drug trade suddenly disappeared?

SRI LANKA: Returning Migrant Women Get Shelter, Time to Think

Sithy Umma can count herself lucky. Returning from Saudi Arabia pregnant after being raped by her employer's brother in 1993, she was accepted by her husband when she came home to Sri Lanka.

POPULATION-SPAIN: Aznar Moves to Beef Up Immigration Law

Immigrants will soon face more barriers as they try to enter Spain, the result of the imminent reform of the Law on Aliens, Prime Minister José María Aznar announced Monday.

POLITICS: Focusing on Iraq, U.N. Ignores Crises in West Africa

The international community is paying too much attention to Iraq and too little to a growing military and humanitarian crisis in West Africa, senior U.N. officials warn.

NEPAL: Workers in India Burdened by Alienation, Low Pay, Neglect

Sharpa Raj Karki is not entirely happy to see fellow Nepalis here. Because too many migrant workers like him are coming to Mussourie, in India's Uttaranchal state, daily wages are going down.

POPULATION: Salvadorans Worry Over End to Temporary U.S. Status

While observers and officials disagree on whether nearly 300,000 Salvadoran immigrants living in the United States will have their temporary status extended like their Nicaraguan and Honduran peers, the workers say the stress will weigh heavier as the July decision deadline nears.

MEXICO-US: Immigrant Deaths Occurred at a Time of Tense Relations

A new report of deaths of undocumented immigrants in the United States made the headlines at a time when Mexico is keen on reviving negotiations on migration issues with its northern neighbour, which is distant and angry today.