CULTURE-IRAN: Holy Month Reveals Schism Between Shiite Youth, State

The holy month of Moharram, marked by ritual mourning, has highlighted a rift between official religious doctrine and young people who make up the large majority of this Shiite Islamic republic's population.

SOCIETY-CHINA: New Rich Trade Communal Blocks for Trendy Flats

-As China's Parliament meets to amend the communist country's constitution and protect private property rights, China's new rich are abandoning proletarian apartments in communal blocks and moving into trendy duplex apartments and suburban villas.

LABOUR-JAPAN: Human Rights Activists Assail Anti-Migrant Measures

Japan has started to further tighten its immigration policies, a move that officials say is driven by security concerns but which activists assail as violating the human rights of non-Japanese.

CULTURE-IRAN: Holy Month Reveals Schism Between Shiite Youth, State

The holy month of Moharram, marked by ritual mourning, has highlighted a rift between official religious doctrine and young people who make up the large majority of this Shiite Islamic republic's population.

CUBA: Dissidents Launch Petition Drive Against Death Penalty

Moderate dissidents in Cuba began to collect signatures Tuesday demanding a moratorium on the death penalty, which is applicable to around 100 offences in this Caribbean island nation.

ARGENTINA: Last-Minute IMF Agreement Averts Default

Argentina and the International Monetary Fund reached an accord Tuesday on steps for negotiating the country's debt with private creditors, which had become the crux of the difficult talks under way with the institution, even though the country had comfortably met the agreed fiscal goals.

MEDIA-VENEZUELA: Covering a Protest? Don’t Forget Your Flak Jacket

''I prayed to God that the wound was not a mortal one, so I could see my children grow up,'' said Carlos Montenegro, a photojournalist who was shot in the leg by a political police agent he was filming during the recent disturbances in Venezuela.

POLITICS-U.S.: Conservatives Use Oil to Keep Heat on Mideast

With threats of a Venezuelan oil blockade helping to push petroleum prices higher, neo-conservative politicians and analysts continue to insist the biggest threat to U.S. energy supplies is Washington's reliance on Middle East oil.

/UPDATE*/MEDIA-VENEZUELA: Covering a Protest? Don’t Forget Your Flak Jacket

''I prayed to God that the wound was not a mortal one, so I could see my children grow up,'' said Carlos Montenegro, a photojournalist who was shot in the leg by a political police agent he was filming during the recent disturbances in Venezuela.

DEVELOPMENT: Biotech for the Poor, Too – Forum

Scientists and government representatives have called for democratising biotechnology and ensuring that its benefits also reach poor countries, but they agreed during a meeting in Chile that, as always, there is a great divide between good intentions and reality.

RELIGION-SERBIA: Church Takes On a Sausage

It seemed like excommunication days again, and over a sausage.

IRAQ-U.S.: ‘Stay the Course’ but Give U.N. Larger Role – Panel

Almost one year after U.S. forces invaded Iraq, a bipartisan panel of 20 influential foreign-policy experts is calling on both Republicans and Democrats to "stay the course" but to also ask the United Nations to play a "leading role" in the transition to Iraqi sovereignty and beyond.

/CORRECTED UPDATE*/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-U.S.: ‘The Passion’ Incites New Divisions Among Neo-Cons

Increasingly split and defensive over whether the United States must cooperate more with the United Nations and Europe and whether Syria or Iran should be ''next'' in the war on terrorism, the neo-conservative movement is now beset by a new source of tension within its ranks - Mel Gibson's film, 'The Passion of the Christ'.

HAITI: Political Process Moving Forward Amid Disorder

At an inauguration ceremony guarded by U.S. Marines, Haiti's interim president on Monday called for "reconciliation" and "peace", but as shooting, looting, threats of a resurgent rebel army and political squabbling continue against a backdrop of foreign troops, these simple goals might remain illusive.

RIGHTS: Canadian Police Seize Algerian Asylum-Seeker From Church

Activists will rally across Canada on Tuesday to protest the deportation of a failed refugee claimant from Algeria, who was seized by police after taking sanctuary in a church, a first in this country observers say.

MEDIA-VENEZUELA: Covering a Protest? Don’t Forget Your Flak Jacket

''I prayed to God that the wound was not a mortal one, so I could see my children grow up,'' said Carlos Montenegro, a photojournalist who was shot in the leg by a political police agent he was filming during the recent disturbances in Venezuela.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Isolated Violence, Poverty Focus of Election Campaign

Campaigning for South Africa's general elections, to be held next month, has moved into top gear - with politicians scrambling for an endorsement from the country's 20.7 million registered voters.

DEVELOPMENT: In the Same Troubled Waters

After International Women's Day Monday this week, World Consumer Rights Day follows next Monday. But it is more than dates in the calendar that bring them closer. A leading consumers group is linking women's rights closely to consumer rights, particularly around the issue of water.

ASIA: Rice Bowl Being Snatched Away by Big Foreign Firms – Critics

Control over rice, Asia's staple food, is steadily passing into the hands of transnational corporations that are located far away in Europe and the United States and use ‘'unfair'' patents and genetic modification, warn food security experts here.

AUSTRALIA: Rebuff of U.N. Agency Riles Indonesia, Activists

Despite opposition from non-government organisations and Indonesia, the Australian government is determined to end its support for a U.N. agency that funds agricultural development projects to combat rural poverty.

FILM-U.S.: ‘The Passion’ Incites New Divisions Among Neo-Cons

Increasingly split and defensive over whether the United States has to cooperate more with the United Nations and the Europeans and whether Syria or Iran should be ''next'' in the war on terrorism, the neo-conservative movement is now beset by a new source of tension within its ranks - Mel Gibson's film, 'The Passion of the Christ'.