POLITICS-TAIWAN: Ties with China Overshadow Issues in Poll

When people of the democratically-governed island of Taiwan head for the polls Saturday, all domestic issues will be overshadowed by a single, external matter - how to deal with the island's giant neighbour, China.

POLITICS: Europe Prepares Another Message From the Street

Tens of thousands of people across Europe are expected to take to the streets Saturday to protest the continued occupation of Iraq.

MALAYSIA: Post-Mahathir Poll a Tussle for Malay Majority Vote

Under former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the government was blind to the kind of biting poverty found in places like Kuala Kedah in northern Kedah state, where poor Malay fishermen live in crowded stagnation in shanty-like conditions on the mouth of the Kedah river.

U.S.-EUROPE: Rift Over Iraq Belies Much Deeper Strains

The growing gap between the United States and its European allies over the Iraq war - most recently highlighted by last weekend's Spanish elections - belies deeper strains that date to the end of the Cold War, according to a report released Friday by the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

DEVELOPMENT: Privatisation No Answer to Water Scarcity – UN

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sceptical that privatisation of the world's water supplies will help resolve the problems facing more than 1.2 billion people globally who have little or no access to safe drinking water.

RIGHTS-CUBA: Wives of Jailed Dissidents Fast and Pray

The wives of many of the 75 Cuban dissidents sentenced to lengthy prison terms on charges of conspiring with the United States to ''destabilise'' the Cuban government gathered Thursday, the first anniversary of the arrests, to fast and pray.

HEALTH-AFRICA: A Church Group Makes Strides in Supplying ARVs

The case for providing anti-retroviral drugs to as many HIV-positive Africans as possible was made again this week in South Africa, by the Community of Sant' Egidio, a Catholic organisation.

BRAZIL: Government’s Amazon Plan Fails to Convince Environmentalists

An accurate diagnosis, but short on effective solutions, is how some environmentalists describe the Brazilian government's new plan to stop the destruction of the Amazon forests, a phenomenon that has intensified over the past few years.

POLITICS: U.S. Moves To Seize More Iraqi Assets

The United States is moving to freeze millions of dollars in accounts held by relatives of Saddam Hussein and other senior officials in his fallen regime, months after Washington seized billions of dollars in frozen Iraqi assets overseas.

POLITICS-LIBERIA: Investigation of Taylor’s Home Halted – For the Moment

Efforts by the United Nations war crimes tribunal for Sierra Leone to investigate Charles Taylor were put on hold this week, when lawyers acting for the former Liberian President applied for a court order to halt a search of his residence.

HAITI: Jamaica Welcomes Aristide to a Region Divided

"Jamaica is sending a message to the superpowers. From a long time, it's the first time me see Jamaica take a stand, and me love it," says 46-year-old Gloria Simms.
     For Simms, her government's hosting of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a courageous act. Others, however, are questioning the wisdom of this small island state alienating its impoverished Caribbean neighbour, and possibly the United States, France and Canada.

HAITI: Jamaica Welcomes Aristide to a Region Divided

"Jamaica is sending a message to the superpowers. From a long time, it's the first time me see Jamaica take a stand, and me love it," says 46-year-old Gloria Simms.

MEDIA-SPAIN: Silencing the Truth About the Attacks

A group representing reporters and editors at Spain's state-run news agency, EFE, says the agency knew about evidence pointing to involvement by Islamic terrorists in the Mar. 11 train bombings in Madrid that very morning, but kept it under wraps due to pressure from the government of Prime Minister José María Aznar.

HAITI: Interim Government Excludes Aristide’s Party

The interim Haitian government named Wednesday excludes members of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Lavalas Party and represents a "narrow sector of society", according to one group monitoring developments in the country.

ECONOMY-ZIMBABWE: Tussle Over Coal Prices Threatens Crucial Tobacco Sales

Hopes that Zimbabwe's enfeebled economy will benefit from tobacco sales have been thrown into doubt because of a shortage of coal, needed to cure the tobacco. With the sector already reeling under the controversial land reform programme, this could have severe implications for the import of food and other essential items.

MEDIA-NEPAL: Space for Free Press Shrinks in War

The casualties from among soldiers, civilians and rebels in the Nepal's Maoist rebellion have drawn a lot of attention, but just as serious is the toll that the conflict is taking on the space available for free media, say journalists and rights campaigners here.

POLITICS-KENYA: A Tug-of-War Over the Draft Constitution

Kenya has found itself grappling with a political crisis this week, after the National Constitutional Conference voted to have the country's new constitution strip the president of his powers - and transfer them to a prime minister.

SUSTAINABILITY: A River Becomes a Bridge

The Danube is to many 'The Blue Danube', that waltz of happy romance composed by Johann Strauss. But to people in 11 countries through which the river flows from the Black Forest in Germany down to the Black Sea, it means much more.

EDUCATION: EU Asked to Counter Child Labour

The EU must promote education as a way of eliminating child labour in developing countries, says an alliance of civil society groups.

SUSTAINABILITY: A River Becomes a Bridge

The Danube is to many 'The Blue Danube', that waltz of happy romance composed by Johann Strauss. But to people in 11 countries through which the river flows from the Black Forest in Germany down to the Black Sea, it means much more.

POLITICS: Pakistan Courts Resentment as it Seeks Tribal Militants

Pakistan is grappling with local resistance as it presses tribesmen along the Afghan border to hand over people accused of harbouring foreign militants, in an effort that coincides with a major U.S. offensive aimed at nabbing al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.