DEVELOPMENT: UNFPA Battles “Norm” of Gender Inequality

Despite a slew of U.N. conventions and international agreements against discrimination of women, gender inequality is widespread and remains deeply rooted in many cultures, according to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA).

EGYPT: Islamists Hounded, On Campus and Off

Candidates associated with opposition movements, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, were reportedly barred from participating in last month's student union elections in universities across Egypt. Recent weeks have seen dozens of Brotherhood members detained.

POLITICS: World Leaders Seek Culture of Peace

When more than a dozen world leaders meet in New York next week to discuss "the culture of peace", the primary focus will be the growing misperception of religion, specifically Islam, and the increase in racism, xenophobia and intolerance worldwide.

IRAQ: U.S. Pushes In Their Excellencies

More than five years after the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, Arab capitals are beginning to send ambassadors to Baghdad. But some Egyptian commentators question the timing of the move, which they attribute to pressure from Washington.

POLITICS-US: Religious Right Down but Not Out

The election of Sen. Barack Obama as the first African American president of the United States will not mark the end of the religious right.

PAKISTAN/US: ‘Obama’s Muslim Heritage Will Help’

The most watched polls ever in the world had their share of attention in Pakistan, complete with news updates, TV talk shows, call-ins from Pakistanis living in the United States and speeches by President-elect Barack Hussein Obama.

RELIGION-INDIA: Secular Fabric Under Threat

Police in India have unearthed a well-organised terrorist network inspired by intensely Hindu-chauvinist ideas, which they suspect, has been involved in a series of bombings since 2003, primarily targeting mosques and intended to kill Muslims.

POLITICS: ‘New US President Must Review Pakistan Policy’

Tensions between the United States and Pakistan - on the eve of the keenly-watched U.S. Presidential elections - accompanying a visit by U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus over unabated air strikes into Pakistani territory bode ill for peace in the region say analysts.

LEBANON: Another Rupture Sealed, For Now

Over the past few months, Tripoli, a large harbour city sitting on Lebanon's northern shores, known for its mazy souks, century-old mansions and oriental sweets, has made front page headlines, falling prey to a series of deadly security threats. Following the recent political reconciliation between warring politicians, however, the army made headway towards establishing stability by infiltrating a terrorist cell accused of orchestrating attacks against the Lebanese army.

EL SALVADOR: Young People Get Summit, But No Convention

On the eve of the 18th Ibero-American Summit in the capital of El Salvador, President Antonio Saca still refuses to sign the bloc's Convention protecting young people's rights, even though the main theme of the meeting is youth and development.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Condemned Pin Hopes on Amnesty

Zulfiqar Ali, 38, has been snatched from the gallows once again after Pakistan's president agreed to give his relatives more time to negotiate clemency from the families of two persons shot dead during a violent dispute.

YEMEN: Govt Holding More Than 1,000 Political Prisoners

A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) urges Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to launch an independent commission to investigate arbitrary arrests and disappearances and to hold those responsible to account.

CULTURE-NEPAL: Religious Tradition vs Maoist Secularism

Nepalis, religious and tradition-bound as they are, have in recent months worried over the fate of their centuries-old rituals and customs in the newly minted Maoist republic.

INDIA: Tata Motors Move to Gujarat Less Than Secular

Tata Motors' decision to shift the production site of its ultra-cheap, iconic Nano car from communist-ruled West Bengal state to Gujarat - scene of the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom - has caused consternation and dismay among liberals and secular-minded people all over India.

RIGHTS-US: Freedom Recedes for Uighurs at Guantanamo

Seventeen Chinese Muslims who have been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay for seven years will now have to wait still longer to discover whether a U.S. appeals court will confirm or reverse a judge's earlier decision that they be immediately released into the United States.

RIGHTS-THAILAND: Army Reveals Two Faces

Calls by the country's army chief for the prime minister's reisgnation over the deaths of two anti-government demonstrators in clashes with the police have left the Malay-Muslim minority with reason to wonder if their lives are less valuable in this predominantly Buddhist country.

EUROPE: Brussels Finds a Way to Welcome Muslims

The aroma of roasted chickens wafts through the air. Bakeries teem with baklava and other calorie-laden delights.

Q&A: “How Does Killing Impact Individual Soldiers?”

In their latest documentary "Soldiers of Conscience", husband and wife filmmakers Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg probe the nature of war and the human condition, asking the question: when is killing in combat permissible?

POLITICS-US: Palin and Christian Right on Abortion Warpath

Although the issue of abortion has not come up in either of the U.S. presidential or vice presidential debates, it is very much in play on the campaign trail, especially in a number of battleground states.

RELIGION-INDIA: Canonisation Takes More Than Miracles

Christians who form 20 percent of the 32 million people of this southern Indian state are celebrating Sunday’s canonisation of their beloved Sister Alphonsa, unmindful of the controversies that surround the event and the life of the nun who lived at Bharananganam, a village 33 km from here.

RIGHTS-US: Muslim Charity to Get Its Day in Court

In what appears to be another stunning legal rebuke to President George W. Bush's policies in the "global war on terrorism", a federal judge has blocked the government from blacklisting a Muslim-oriented charity to give the group a chance to defend itself after its assets were frozen almost three years ago.