POPULATION-CUBA: Census to Measure Two Decades of Changes

Cuba is preparing for next month's population and housing census, which will measure the changes that have occurred since 1981, especially the consequences of the break- up of the Soviet Union - this socialist island nation's key source of economic support - 11 years ago.

DEVELOPMENT-INDIA: Reform Slow for Bedia Sex Workers, Say Experts

Here in the shadow of India's fabulous Taj Mahal, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan's 17th century marble monument to love, there is little evidence of social stigma attached to prostitution.

WSSD: Opponents of ‘Family Planning’ Keep Population off Agenda

Senior U.N. officials and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) say the upcoming sustainable development summit in Johannesburg will fail to stress one of the key causes of environmental destruction: population growth.

RIGHTS-THAILAND: Domestic Violence is Community Affair – Activists

"If half of the population can't live safely and happily under their own roof, then that is definitely a big community problem," said Pusadee Thamthai, an activist for women's rights here in Thailand.

REFUGEES: Canada to Accept More Cuban Asylum-Seekers – Report

Canada and the United States are close to a deal that would allow the U.S. government to send 200 refugees - mainly Haitians and Cubans - to Canada each year.

SOUTH AMERICA: Gov’ts Agree on Need to Fight People Smuggling

The Third South American Conference on International Migration ended Friday in the capital of Ecuador with the approval of a regional action plan and the launch of a campaign against the trafficking of people.

PAKISTAN: ‘Recycled’ Refugees Reflect Afghanistan’s Instability

An Afghan refugee tried to set himself ablaze at a refugee repatriation centre in Pakistan's capital city Islamabad earlier this month, supposedly after his appeal for assistance to return home was rejected as fraudulent because he had already been given aid.

POPULATION-INDIA: Silently, Provinces Enforce Two-Children Norm

Several Indian states have been silently enforcing a two-children norm that may worsen the country's already skewed sex ratio and in the long run ruin the chances of women taking part in local governance, experts here warn.

REFUGEES-FRANCE: Out of Sight, But Still Around

The discovery of 36 Kurdish refugees in an empty factory in northern France has confirmed fears that refugees will not disappear simply because the Sangatte camp is set to close next year.

POPULATION-INDIA: Silently, Provinces Enforce Two-Children Norm

Several Indian states have been silently enforcing a two-children norm that may worsen the country's already skewed sex ratio and in the long run ruin the chances of women taking part in local governance, experts here warn. India's National Population Policy (NPP), released in 2000, aims to have the country -- now with a population of more than one billion -- achieve a stable population by 2045. India is expected to have 1.63 billion people by 2050.

RIGHTS-THAILAND: Disabled Face Handicapped Laws

A recent court verdict barring a physically challenged lawyer from becoming a public prosecutor has put Thai laws and the judiciary completely at odds with public opinion.

IMMIGRATION-PORTUGAL: A Wave of Workers from the East

Portugal has long been the destination of immigrants from its former colonies in Africa and Latin America, but today is increasingly chosen by people from Eastern Europe who are leaving their own countries in search of a better standard of living.

ARGENTINA: Crisis Leads to Setbacks for Women’s Rights

One out of five couples in Argentina suffer episodes of domestic violence, 400,000 illegal abortions are practiced annually, and women earn wages 40 percent lower than men with similar educational levels, according to a new study on women's rights.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Tribal Justice Takes Toll on Women

A general may run Pakistan's government, but in many of this country's remote villages, it is the word of the elders that is law, and government writ often gets shunted aside for tribal justice.

NEW ZEALAND: Rise of Anti-Immigration Party Causes Worries

Perhaps more significant than the re-election of a minority Labour government at the New Zealand election over the weekend is the startling emergence of an anti-immigration party, New Zealand First Party.

RIGHTS-THAILAND: Case Shows Double Standards for Women -Activists

What began as just another court verdict -- on the killing by a Thai academic of his wife -- has become a larger debate about what critics say is society's double standards toward women.

DEVELOPMENT: India’s Presidents Show that Social Mobility Works

When the son of a boatman who once sold newspapers at a railway station was installed as India's president last week, it was yet another sign that social mobility does work in this democracy of billion-plus people.

RIGHTS-PERU: Sterilisation Outcry Stirs Family Planning Debate

Peru's Health Minister Fernando Carbone said Thursday that the family planning programme of the Alberto Fujimori administration (1990-2000) should be closely investigated, as a recent ministry report accuses the former president of supporting the forced sterilisation of more than 200,000 people, mostly from poor indigenous communities.

ECONOMY-COLOMBIA: Remittances Help Ease Impact of Crisis

Remittances sent home to Colombia by relatives abroad, mainly in the United States, are playing an increasingly decisive role in alleviating the impact of this war- torn South American country's economic crisis on the population.

RIGHTS: ‘Stranded’ Biharis Forgotten by Pakistan, Bangladesh

Squelching up the muddy narrow path, peering into the overcrowded, dark hovels and breathing in the stench emanating from the cramped existence of hundreds of humans huddled together, it is easy to forget that normal life in the Bangladeshi capital goes on outside these 'camps'.

POPULATION-THAILAND: Gamblers Feel Weight of World Cup Debts

It's been nearly a month since the 17th World Cup ended, but the woes of many Thai gamblers who borrowed heaps of money to bet on the games have just begun.