CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE: Success Stories Amongst Growing Numbers of Street Kids

Sixteen-year-old Bamanandoki Pitchou hasn't finished his apprenticeship in hairdressing yet, but he already has a small business. A former street child who lives in Kinsoundi - a suburb in the south of the Congolese capital, Brazzaville - Pitchou trains in the morning, and attends to clients in the afternoon.

CANADA: Peace Scholars See Shrinking Space for Dissent

Can Canadians have a fair debate on their military mission in southern Afghanistan when so many of the sources quoted in the domestic press are bankrolled by the Department of National Defence (DND)?

EDUCATION-US: Ivory Tower Still Blindingly White

A premier U.S. research institute has agreed to address possible racial discrimination in hiring, following a 12-day hunger fast by one of its African American scientists.

DEVELOPMENT-ZIMBABWE: A Herculean Effort Is Needed

‘‘You cannot talk of halving poverty when our country is going in the opposite direction. We are totally lost,’’ says Maxwell Tambarare, a teacher in Chiredzi, a region to the south east of Zimbabwe.

HEALTH-CHILE: Teen Pregnancy Bucks Global Downward Trend

She is only 24 and has already had three children. The first was born when she was 14, the second when she was 20, and the third, who she gave in adoption, was born just a few weeks ago. Her story is a reflection of teen pregnancy and early motherhood, which are on the rise in Chile.

HEALTH-INDONESIA: Mothers Join Bird Flu Awareness Campaign

Not content with the government’s public awareness campaign against bird flu, a group of parents in Bekasi regency has taken the initiative in educating the poor and the marginalised about the deadly disease.

CULTURE-ARGENTINA: Recuperating Indigenous Languages

With the aim of strengthening linguistic diversity in Argentina, the University of Buenos Aires language school has launched a successful programme providing instruction in the country’s most widely-spoken indigenous languages.

CUBA: Snail’s-Pace Internet Is Washington’s Fault

Authorities in Cuba blame the U.S. embargo for the high local cost of Internet connections, and for the serious problems in web services in this socialist Caribbean island nation.

TECHNOLOGY-AFRICA: A Rural-Urban Digital Divide Challenges Women

Janet Malika owes her success to the little gadget that is her cell phone. Formerly a struggling food hawker in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, she has become a cafeteria owner since acquiring the device about five years ago, and using it to conduct business.

DEVELOPMENT-TANZANIA: High Growth Still to Benefit the Poor

Just more than a year after Jakaya Kikwete was elected president of Tanzania his name was mentioned in the halls at the Africa Union (AU) summit in January in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as the possible new chairperson of the AU.

POLITICS-US: Bush Library to Boost a Sagging Legacy

In the midst of the United States Senate debate over whether to allow a non-binding resolution opposing President George W. Bush's 21,000-plus troop surge in Iraq, and the United Nations climate change panel's report attributing global warming to human activity, it seems a little strange perhaps that a debate over a proposed presidential library would stir so many passions.

EDUCATION-MOZAMBIQUE: Orphans’ Choice: School or Survival?

The school year kicks off in Mozambique with more children enrolling for primary school than ever in the past. But educational prospects remain bleak for orphans like Regina Massango.

DEVELOPMENT-SUDAN: Oil Boom Causing Land Prices to Skyrocket

Sudan's oil reserves paired with a dearth of water make it a nation of fierce battles for land - most notably in Darfur and southern Sudan where, for centuries, squabbles over rich terrain have ignited into brutal conflicts.

HUMAN RIGHTS-MALAWI: Violence Threatens Women’s Meagre Gains

Chanju Mwale is a true role model. Not only does the 28-year-old possess good academic credentials as a lawyer, landing her the job of the Malawi Defence Force’s legal officer, but she is also the only female officer in the force who holds the rank of captain.

SOUTH AFRICA: Fallen Anti-Apartheid Icon Leaves Behind Inequality

Leading anti-apartheid campaigner Adelaide Tambo's struggle for equality in South Africa has paid off in areas of political participation, but the economy still remains in the hands of the country's white minority, say researchers and campaigners.

SWAZILAND: Keep School Doors Open to AIDS Orphans, Vulnerable Kids

AIDS orphans aren't the only children suffering in Swaziland. Those who have lost one or both parents to the epidemic have it rough, but so do tens of thousands of other Swazi children vulnerable to food shortages, scant medical care, and unsettled home life.

IRAQ: Students, Professors Flee to the Kurdish North

Academic life in Iraq's volatile southern and central regions has become increasingly paralysed, with hundreds of students and professors targeted and many more abandoning their educational institutions in search of a refuge.

DEVELOPMENT: Morocco on a Slow March to Literacy

Morocco's "march towards light" as its literacy programme is called is brightening up as official figures go, but with far too many shady areas still.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: The Struggle Continues for Mozambican Women

The contradictions in Maria’s life are typical of many women in Mozambique.

ENVIRONMENT-CHILE: UV Radiation, the Dark Side of the Sun

The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, where the ozone thins out every southern hemisphere springtime, is recovering for the time being, but all regions in Chile will receive extremely high levels of ultraviolet radiation this month.

COLOMBIA: Open Your Books, Please, Bogota

For the first time, a Latin American city has been named World Book Capital. Bogotá will have this honour in 2007 by courtesy of UNESCO, with the main aim of promoting a dying habit: reading.