PAKISTAN: Concern Rises over Torching of Foreign-Funded Schools

Arsonists have struck nine schools in the remote hills of northern Pakistan, sparking official concern that Taliban or other Islamist groups critical of organisations that get foreign aid could be targeting the area.

COMMUNICATION: Egyptian Poor Find Virtual Wealth

In a small, unadorned room young Egyptians complete homework assignments on PCs and browse the Internet oblivious of the incessant din of car horns, scratchy music and calls to prayer from a nearby mosque.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ SCULPTURE-VENEZUELA: Virgins Along the Highway

Fourteen sculptures of virgins and saints of the Catholic Church will be put on permanent display along the highways of the northwestern Venezuelan state of Yaracuy, the country's first "religious roadside museum", picking up on an arts initiative begun more than 20 years ago.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE-INDIA: Traditional Basket Weaving Endangered

Kannama, a 70-year-old resident of Konapet hamlet in the arid Chettinad region of southern Tamil Nadu state, is among the last living master practitioners of the craft of making kottans, or palm-leaf baskets.

/ARTS WEEKLY/THEATRE-CUBA: Play Revisits Censorship of Beatles Music

A middle-aged Cuban rock 'n roll lover takes home the bronze statue of John Lennon that sits on a park bench in the Cuban capital, to make his biggest dream come true: to reunite his old amateur rock band and play for the former Beatle.

PAKISTAN: Concern Rises over Torching of Foreign-Funded Schools

Arsonists have struck nine schools in the remote hills of northern Pakistan, sparking official concern that Taliban or other Islamist groups critical of organisations that get foreign aid could be targeting the area.

VENEZUELA: Days of Anger and Barricades for the Middle Class

Street violence in the last four days has reached the middle class residential areas of Venezuela's big cities, where the angry foes of the Hugo Chávez government clash with the military as they protest in demand of a presidential recall referendum.

/CORRECTED REPEAT*/HAITI-U.S.: Will Malign Neglect Lead to New Nation-Building?

After three years of malign neglect toward the Americas' first black republic, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush now finds itself confronting a nation-building challenge in Haiti of staggering proportions.

HAITI-U.S.: Will Malign Neglect Lead to New Nation-Building?

After three years of malign neglect toward the Americas' first black republic, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush now finds itself confronting a nation-building challenge in Haiti of staggering proportions.

HAITI-U.S.: Will Malign Neglect Lead to New Nation-Building?

After three years of malign neglect toward the Americas' first black republic, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush now finds itself confronting a nation-building challenge in Haiti of staggering proportions.

TRADE-EUROPE: Sanctions Threaten Relations with U.S.

The EU decision to impose trade sanctions on the United States is likely to strain relations between the two.

POLITICS-BRAZIL: The Bingo Resistance

Since the Brazilian government issued a decree that closed down bingo parlours and slot machines across the country, hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs and have taken to the streets in protest.

DEVELOPMENT-LIBERIA: Women Fighters Try to Reclaim a Normal Existence

The journey back to normal life was never going to be an easy one for the ex-combatants of Liberia's civil war. But, it could be argued that women fighters face a particularly tough challenge.

CHILE-ENVIRONMENT: Melting of Glaciers Requires Urgent Action

The melting of glaciers in the Patagonian region at the southern tip of Latin America requires urgent international action, without waiting for the United States to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, Chilean environmentalists and government experts told IPS.

POLITICS-US: Military Spending Outdated, Ineffective – Task Force

More than one-fifth of the proposed 2005 U.S. military budget could be cut and the money spent on projects that would better protect the nation's security, according to a task force report released Monday.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Haitian Leader’s Plight Fails to Move Opposition

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who fled a rebel onslaught Sunday, is searching for a new home – and it appears that he may take up exile in South Africa.

POLITICS-IRAN: Propaganda, the Media Mob, and Retreating Reformists

Last month's elections, in which Conservatives declared a resounding victory and reformist politicians failed to pull off a nationwide boycott of the polls, remind some Iranians of propaganda's power.

RIGHTS: EU Intervention Sought on Child Soldiers

European parliamentarians and a coalition of civil society groups are asking the EU to investigate the growing use of children in armed conflict.

HAITI: Caribbean Questions Aristide Exit

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders will meet in an emergency session Tuesday to discuss Haiti, but already Sunday one spokesman expressed disappointment that the international community refused to heed their call earlier for a peacekeeping force to end the crisis in the strife-torn country.

AUSTRALIA: Government Embarrassed for Seeking Support for Illegal Mine

-The Australian government has been embarrassed by revelations by Indonesian government officials that an Australian-owned mining company operating in a protected forest does not have legal permission for its mine.

ECONOMY-JAPAN: Some Good Figures Buoy Hopes for Recovery

A dramatic jump in corporate productivity rates has raised hopes here that the long-awaited turnaround in Japan's economy, the second largest in the world, has finally begun.