VIETNAM: Buddhist Leader Relevant in Death – As in Life

In death, the patriarch of an outlawed Buddhist movement in Vietnam has proved to be as politically relevant and controversial as in life. Thich Huyen Quang died on Jul 5, at the age of 87.

POPULATION-PAKISTAN: Illegality Inducing Unsafe Abortions

For thousands of Pakistani women, the World Population Day message of ‘Family planning is a right, let’s make it real’’ must sound hollow when they must resort to unsafe, illegal abortions while a debate on whether termination of pregnancy is Islamic or not rages on.

POPULATION-MIDEAST: Israel Fears the Womb More Than the Bomb

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has laid it out in the starkest possible terms for his fellow Israelis. If they do not relinquish control of the occupied territories, he has warned them, Israel will ultimately cease to exist as a Jewish and democratic state.

POPULATION-MIDEAST: Time Bomb Ticking Away in Gaza

Crowded into a tiny strip of territory of 360 square kilometres, plagued by poverty, malnutrition and unemployment, Gaza's 1.5 million people face a demographic time bomb as the fragile infrastructure struggles to cope with a soaring birth rate.

POLITICS-US: In Search of a Legacy, Bush Looks to the Past

Before 9/11, before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, before the suspension of habeas corpus, before the administration's tardy and shameful response to Hurricane Katrina, before cronies and Republican congressional leaders were dropping like flies, before former administration operatives were writing unflattering tell-all books, before Dick Cheney said "So?" in response to a question about public opinion being firmly against the administration, before the Valerie Plame affair, before gas prices were nearly five dollars a gallon, before housing foreclosures hit record numbers, and before his approval rating dipped to all-time lows, there was President George W. Bush's faith-based initiative.

LEBANON: Civil Wars Find New Fronts

An eerie calm reigns over the new demarcation lines drawn in northern Tripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon, which gets its name from the Greek 'tri-polis', or 'three cities'. One week after violent combat erupted between the Alawite minority from the Jabal Mohsen area and the Sunni community of Bab el-Tebbaneh - separated by the wide Syria Street - tensions still run high.

EGYPT: Muslim Brotherhood ‘Stronger’ After Party Election

Recent internal elections within the Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement were trumpeted in the local press as a victory for the group's "conservative" faction over its "reformist" rivals. But according to independent commentators and a Brotherhood spokesman, media claims of a split within the movement's ranks are unfounded.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Fear of US-Sunni Ties Undercut Security Talks

The threat by the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier this month to reject the U.S.-Iraq status of forces and strategic framework agreements was prompted in part by U.S. demands for access to bases that were unacceptable to a highly nationalistic Iraqi population.

Q&A: “I Tell People How the Death Penalty Is Actually Practiced”

For over 20 years, Sister Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun, has worked to educate the public about the death penalty. She has been spiritual adviser to eight death row inmates, turning her experience visiting one into the best-selling book, "Dead Man Walking". In 1995, the book was made into a film starring Susan Sarandon, winning the actress an Oscar for her performance.

RIGHTS-US: California Says, "We Do"

On Monday evening, with all the Bay Area local television stations and some of the national news networks on hand, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, two longtime gay rights activists, (re)married at City Hall in San Francisco, California.

LEBANON: Divided We Arm

Despite the new peace agreement in Doha, Lebanese are becoming increasingly polarised, with confrontation between groups affecting the population at every level.

POLITICS-US: Christian Zionist Gathering Mired In Controversy

The battle lines over Pastor John Hagee have been drawn, redrawn, and are no doubt being drawn again as this is being written. The San Antonio, Texas-based mega-preacher with the multi-million-dollar empire has always been controversial, but these days, the pastor is a lightning rod for critics.

HEALTH-PAKISTAN: Anti-Polio Campaign Resumes With Taliban Support

Health workers fanned out into hundreds of villages in a troubled north-western district of Pakistan to immunise children against polio following a peace agreement with a pro-Taliban faction that had campaigned against the vaccine.

HEALTH: Cultural Double Standards Undercut HIV/AIDS Fight

The United Nations says religion and culture continue to have a significant impact - both good and bad - on the spread and prevention of HIV/AIDS worldwide.

IRAN: Corruption Scandal Could Become a “Gladiator’s Game”

An Iranian official who accused more than 40 high-ranking officials and grand ayatollahs of financial corruption in a speech to a student group early last month in the city of Hamadan was arrested in Tehran Wednesday.

AUSTRALIA: Olympics Terror Threat a Bogy – Experts

With less than two months to go before the Beijing Olympics begin, analysts have rejected claims that terrorism is a major threat to the Games, despite recent reports from China of militant activity.

LABOUR-SRI LANKA: Working Children Get Second Chance

Sujit is 22-years-old and studying hard to graduate in 2010 as a professional electrician. The handsome young man, speaking at a workshop on eliminating child labour, talked proudly of how his life changed dramatically when he was given the opportunity to enter an electrical course and re-start his life again.

TURKEY: Headscarves Ruling Leading to Bigger Confrontation

In Phase One of what has been called a "judicial coup", Turkey's Constitutional Court has ruled against amendments spearheaded by the Islamic-rooted ruling party to allow headscarves at universities. Headscarves are considered an expression of political Islam by opponents, and an expression of freedom by their proponents.

EL SALVADOR: President’s ‘Path to Peace’ Award Draws Outcry

The decision by a Catholic foundation with links to the Vatican to award its highest distinction to Salvadoran President Antonio Saca drew a wave of protests from local analysts and representatives of civil society in this Central American country.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad Faces Heavyweight Foe in Larijani

This week, Iran's new speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, proposed forming two joint committees of the legislative and judiciary branches in an effort to reconcile new legislation with the Islamic penal code.

LEBANON: Celebrities and Celebration Take Their Own Toll

In the dark streets across from the main Hamra road, one of the major commercial arteries in Lebanese capital Beirut, light streams from behind the drapes of a first floor apartment. A politician's speech blaring from a TV resonates loudly in the night. As music cues the closing credits of the show, sudden celebratory gunfire from the political figure's supporters erupts outside.