The huge inflow of asylum seekers to European countries in the early 1990s drove those countries to initiate policies that restricted asylum seekers’ rights and benefits. Were these policies spontaneous responses to the mounting inflow or instead political outcomes determined by political factors such as partisanship and election timing? This journal article finds that upcoming elections increase the likelihood of policy introduction. This election effect is greater in the presence of right-wing parties.

Corruption in Africa commenced with colonial governance. How can African governments search out ways to restore ethical principles?

Units of Spain’s paramilitary Civil Guard rounded up a group of would-be African immigrants recently on an otherwise uninhabited Spanish rock off the North African coast and shipped them back to the Moroccan shore just a few dozen yards away. As European governments impose austerity measures in the face of the Continent’s debt crisis, they are under domestic pressure to stem illegal immigration that is seen as putting additional pressure on scarce resources, reports the New York Times. Human rights groups have expressed concern that, in their zeal to protect Europe’s borders, authorities are neglecting the rights of would-be migrants and particularly of those who might have a legitimate claim to asylum.

This UN document contains graphs and maps which break down international migrants by age and sex. It includes information on median age, youth migrants, migrants of working age and older migrants.

As the nineteenth International AIDS Conference continued in Washington, thousands of protesters marched on the White House with a set of demands to end the epidemic. At the forefront were calls for an end to free trade deals that protesters argue make vital AIDS medicines unaffordable. The march comprised a coalition of AIDS advocacy and activist groups organised under the mantra 'We Can End AIDS', and ended with a dramatic display when activists gathered symbols of the fight against AIDS – pill bottles and money – tied them with red ribbons, and threw them in front of the White House.

Global funding for humanitarian aid interventions saw the biggest shortfalls in 10 years in 2011, according to a new report, raising questions about the international community’s ability to meet a 20-per cent greater need for 2012 driven by drought and conflict. The launch of the 2012 Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA) report last week coincided with the release of new mid-year data by the UN that scaled up earlier projections of humanitarian needs from 7.9 billion to 8.8 billion dollars for 2012.

Hopes of a new, more effective therapy for tuberculosis have been raised following the results of early trials. The study showed three drugs given in combination killed more than 99 per cent of TB bacteria after two weeks of treatment. The therapy appeared to be equally effective on the drug-resistant form of the disease in the trials of 85 patients, a team led by Stellenbosch University in South Africa reported.

An activist serving life imprisonment with hard labour for printing and distributing T-shirts calling for an end to dictatorship in The Gambia must be freed, global rights body, Amnesty International (AI), has said. The global rights body made the call as it marked its annual Day of Action, calling for improved human rights in the West African country.

‘The challenge is not how the state can regulate the market, but how society can regulate both the state and the market.’

The mysterious collapse of honey-bee colonies is becoming a global phenomenon, scientists working for the United Nations have revealed. Declines in managed bee colonies, seen increasingly in Europe and the US in the past decade, are also now being observed in China and Japan and there are the first signs of African collapses from Egypt, according to the report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The authors, who include some of the world's leading honey-bee experts, issue a stark warning about the disappearance of bees, which are increasingly important as crop pollinators around the globe.

The international workshop and seminar, 'Agrarian Reform and the Defense of Land and Territory in the 21st century: The Challenge and Future' culminated on 15 July in a celebration in Sibaladuang, Sungai Kamuyang Village, Limapuluh Kota Regent, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Delegates from 26 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe attended. The final declaration of the international workshop was read out, outlining some of the key elements of a new vision of agrarian reform and the sovereignty of peoples over their territories. Among them were that peasants and family farm production play the central role in the building of food sovereignty.

A global super-rich elite had at least $21 trillion (£13tn) hidden in secret tax havens by the end of 2010, according to a major study. The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies combined. The Price of Offshore Revisited was written by James Henry, a former chief economist at the consultancy McKinsey, for the Tax Justice Network.

The United States said Sunday it is suspending military aid to Rwanda because of 'deep concerns' over evidence it is supporting a mutiny in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. State Department spokeswoman Darby Holladay said Washington 'has decided it can no longer provide foreign military financing appropriated in the current fiscal year to Rwanda.'

Can shopping save the world? The Story of Change urges viewers to put down their credit cards and start exercising their citizen muscles to build a more sustainable, just and fulfilling world.

Alliance Magazine aims to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas among philanthropists, social investors and others working for social change worldwide in order to maximize the impact of funding for social development. To help achieve this, Alliance offers free electronic subscriptions to those in countries not designated as high-income countries by the World Bank. Visit their website to find your country on an interactive map and to sign up.

The David Kato Vision & Voice Award was launched to recognize those who are working to eliminate violence, stigma and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. The award celebrates the life and work of human rights activist David Kato, who was murdered in his home in Kampala, Uganda on 26 January 2011. Maurice Tomlinson, an outspoken advocate for LGBTI rights in Jamaica, received the inaugural award in January 2012.

The recent Nairobi conference by Kenya, IGAD, AU and UN is another misfortune that will remain in the hearts of many Somalis, and it’s again showing how the international community is using a negative approach to resolve the crisis in Jubbaland regions.

The US government’s growing reliance on aerial drones to pursue its war on al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Yemen, Afghanistan and elsewhere is proving controversial. As governments are increasingly relying on drones, this Al Jazeera People and Power documentary asks what are the consequences for civil liberties and the future of war?

After 18 months of having its funding nearly completely cut off by a payment industry blockade, WikiLeaks says it’s finally found a new workaround that allows it to receive credit card donations. And after a legal victory against Visa in Iceland, the group is literally daring the card companies to shut down payments to his site again.

Beijing is eager to rewrite negative perceptions of its growing ties with Africa at a summit this week, citing expanding private investment and a push to shift low-end manufacturing to the continent long seen as a commodities and energy cache for China. Chinese state-owned firms in Africa face criticism for using imported labour to build government-financed projects like roads and hospitals, while pumping out resources and leaving little for local economies, an image Beijing wants to change at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.