LABOUR: U.S. Unions Back Ousted Mexican Leader

Support is growing in the United States for a "formidable advocate" of workers' rights in Mexico who was forced out of his job as union leader by the Mexican government just over a month ago.

POLITICS: Post-War Liberia Seeks Way Out of Poverty and Chaos

Liberia's newly-installed head of state, Pres. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, has been doing the rounds in Washington and the United Nations seeking assistance to lift her war-ravaged country out of abject poverty and economic chaos..

POLITICS-THAILAND: Anti-PM Protests Pick Up

A popular local expression that reveals Thailand's laid-back and non-confrontational character - mai pen rai(it is okay) - has been turned on its head over these past weeks as an opposition campaign to get Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to resign, picks up.

ECONOMY-INDIA: Power Reforms Opposed by the Rich

India's plans to reform its ailing power sector has been stalled by influential sections of society that benefit from subsidies provided by state-run utilities and from stealing electricity in collusion with officials, say experts.

TECHNOLOGY: Better Living Through Open Source?

Electronic governance promises to cut corruption and improve transparency, and open source software offers a way to break the South's technological dependence on industrialised countries, experts say.

RIGHTS: India Off Paedophile Destinations, Warns Judge

''Let paedophiles around the world know that India should not be their destination in future,'' said Mumbai judge P.S. Paranjape, as he sent two Britons off to jail, on the weekend, for sexually abusing street children under the guise of providing them shelter.

DEVELOPMENT: Trade Rules a Stumbling Block to Realising the MDGs

Less than a decade remains for countries to reach the ambitious targets laid out in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - agreed on by global leaders at a summit in 2000.

MEDIA-THAILAND: Libel Case Backfires on PM’s Firm

"This is a victory for freedom of speech and freedom of the press," said the plucky young woman as she stepped out of a criminal court Wednesday after winning a legal battle that may well mark the end of profit without public accountability in this country.

FINANCE-PERU: Pipeline Rupture Prompts “Overdue” Audit

Recent measures announced by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to correct persistent gas leaks from a controversial pipeline in the Amazon rainforest that has ruptured five times since its inception in 2004 do not go far enough to help protect the highly valuable bio-diverse area, watchdog groups say.

CORRUPTION: Keeping Ukraine Poor

Ukraine is preparing for parliamentary elections Mar. 26 amid political chaos and divisions, but little has been delivered so far on one of the main promises of last years' elections: to eradicate corruption.

CAMBODIA: Curb Corruption Now Say Donors

He may have received a vote of confidence from the international donor community, but recent changes in parliament will make it difficult for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to harp on the usual excuses to avoid cracking down on widespread corruption.

FINANCE-PERU: New Spill Intensifies Battle Over Leaky Pipeline

An independent research group and the company building one of Latin America's most ambitious gas pipelines are butting heads over claims that the company used shoddy materials and unqualified staff for a Peruvian pipeline in one of the world's most richly bio-diverse areas.

ARGENTINA: Young Women Lured into Trafficking by Job Ads

The ads read: "presentable young ladies", "no qualifications or experience required", "easy work," "good conditions," and "hours by arrangement". They often offer salaries of over 2,000 dollars.

POLITICS: U.N. Chief Seeks Radical Restructuring

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose beleaguered administration is facing charges of fraud, cronyism and mismanagement, wants to radically restructure the Secretariat by increasing investments in staff training, shrinking the organisation's bloated bureaucracy and streamlining budgetary management.

POLITICS: U.N. Forges Multi-Million-Dollar Reform Plan

A long-awaited U.N. report detailing far-reaching changes in the management structure of the world body is expected to call for more than 400 million dollars in new investments to revitalise an ailing Secretariat currently facing charges of fraud, corruption and mismanagement.

THAILAND: Anti-Thaksin Anger Vented on Singapore

Singaporeans living in Thailand or visiting as tourists may have reason to feel nervous at the manner in which the affluent city-state is portrayed in the increasingly bitter political debate that has engulfed Bangkok.

CORRUPTION-INDONESIA: Papuans Set for Showdown With US Gold Miner

After two weeks of protests and a sustained blockade, the United States miner, Freeport-McMoran, continues to hang on to the world's largest gold and copper mine in eastern Papua province, on the strength of assurances from the central government.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Rainforest Thrown Open to Illicit Logging

The link between the political elite and logging companies operating in Papua New Guinea (PNG), home to world's third largest remaining rainforest, is responsible for the failure of sustainable timber production there and the rapid exhaustion of its pristine forests, a new report says.

THAILAND: One-man Crusade Dogs Thaksin

It was an hour before midnight but there was hardly a hint of sleep on Sondhi Limthongkul's face. Dressed in his trademark white T-shirt and pants and yellow scarf knotted around his neck, the 58-year-old Thai paced behind a huge stage like a prize fighter who had drawn first blood.

INDIA: Social Security Millstone Slows Booming Economy

The Indian economy is growing at an impressive eight percent clip and stock markets are booming like never before. But there are fears that the country could get bogged down in an ambitious employment guarantee programme.

THAILAND: Thaksin Fights Back With Real People Power

Is democracy only about elections or is it much more? That question has come into relief as the countdown begins for a snap parliamentary poll that Thailand faces early April.