BANGLADESH: Lurching From Crisis to Crisis Over Polls

Bangladesh is faced with yet another round of protests and transport blockades after the election commission set national polls for Jan. 21, 2007, ignoring demands by an opposition coalition for deferment until electoral rolls are revised and the commission itself reconstituted.

IRAN: Is the World Getting Ahmadinejadised?

"The world is becoming rapidly Ahmadinejadised, if I'm allowed to make a joke," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told journalists last week. Given his habit of grabbing world headlines, such as with his "letter to the American people" released at the United Nations on Wednesday, that may not be an empty boast.

RIGHTS: Will FGM Fatwa Make a Difference?

Om Samar didn't believe the news. "Muslim scholars banning (female) circumcision? This must be a joke," she said.

COLOMBIA: Music Can Tame the Wildest – Even in Medellin

Ten years ago, even falling in love was dangerous in this city, the industrial capital of Colombia. A romance could mean death if one of the members of the couple belonged to a rival gang or neighbourhood.

TAJIKISTAN: Key to Continued Secularism in Central Asia

Tajikistan has few natural resources great powers would fight over, but recent events show that foreign capitals are vying for influence in the land-locked central Asian country, whose internal stability is seen as vital to keeping the peace in the region.

CHINA: Uygur Muslims – Swamped by Han Influx

The evening light dances on the glazed pink tiles of the shapely buildings around the ancient Idkah mosque and in the enfolding dusk the site evokes tales from the 'One thousand and one nights'. But the illusion is fleeting - none of the buildings in this spot, except for the revered mosque, is more than a few years old.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Malay Ethnic Assertion Unnerves Minorities

"Malay rights cannot be challenged, otherwise the Malays will run amok and the May 13 (1969) riots will happen all over again.''

COLOMBIA: Keeping the Words – and the Whales – Alive

"They take care of their children and drive their husbands away" sing the "cantaoras". Verse by verse, the traditional black singers describe the mating ritual of the humpback whales that visit their breeding grounds in Malaga Bay on Colombia's Pacific coast from June to November.

MEDIA-IRAN: Policing of Internet Will Continue

Iranian officials have scorned the labelling of this country by a journalists' rights watchdog as one of the world's 13 Internet ‘black holes' and said they will continue to protect what they claim are the morals of society.

POLITICS-MOROCCO: Discussions Over King’s Position on Constitutional Chessboard

Moroccans are currently engaged in a debate about the possibility of reducing the constitutional powers of their king - this after a collective of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) issued an appeal titled 'For a New Constitution That Works'.

JAPAN: Needs to Focus More on Asia – Experts

After cultivating closer relations with its traditional ally the United States, Japan under new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe needs to refocus attention on Asia, say experts.

MEDIA: South-South Communications Lag Behind Trade Flows

Vigorous expansion of trade between developing countries has created "a new geography of global trade," but communications have lagged behind this and other processes that have increased the gravitas of the South, participants agreed at a seminar in Brazil.

EDUCATION-CAMEROON: Poverty and Culture Conspire to Deny Girls Schooling

Of the 71 pupils in Daouda Soulé's class, only 18 are girls. "Last year there were about 20 girls, but even some...who were promoted to the next grade dropped out and are at home, although primary school is free," the teacher at the Central Public School in Garoua, northern Cameroon, told IPS.

RELIGION-EGYPT: A Society Divided by the Veil

The Islamic female veil has again become a bone of contention in this country after Egypt's long-time culture minister, Farouq Hosni, joined an international chorus decrying the practice, despite the growing number of Muslim women donning the attire.

CULTURE-CAMEROON: Little Unity in Diversity

For some time now, the sporadic eruption of inter-ethnic conflict in most of Cameroon, sometimes with tragic consequences, has prompted concern about the future of this Central African country.

COMMUNICATIONS-ARGENTINA: Indigenous People On the Air

When the project emerged three years ago, it involved communication between indigenous communities within one Argentine province, but it rapidly grew into a larger network that broadcasts their voice from more than a hundred community and commercial radio stations in the north of the country.

CULTURE: Creativity Has (Cash) Value

The culture and creativity economy and its contribution to sustainable development will be the central theme at a 10-day meeting of experts, artists and government delegates from more than 70 countries, which kicks off Friday in two Brazilian cities.

BALKANS: The Veil Comes Down, Again

It was 1950, towards the end of September, when hundreds of Muslim women came on to the streets of Bosnian capital Sarajevo and ceremonially took off their veils. The symbolic act was intended to mark the end of an era when they left their homes 'covered'.

MIGRATION: For U.S. Haitians, Home Is Both Near and Far Away

Roman Catholic Bishop Guy Sansaricq presides over his flock at St. Jerome's Church in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. Sitting on a busy, heavily Caribbean stretch of Nostrand Avenue, Sansaricq's office in the brick church is adorned with both a portrait of the Virgin Mary and a naïve painting depicting a lyrical scene of village life from his native Haiti.

POLITICS-BANGLADESH: A Tale of Two Ladies

Politics in Bangladesh, the world's third largest Muslim nation, revolves around two ladies who, for the past 15 years, have refused to even speak with each other.

ECONOMY-ALGERIA: What is the Best Week End for the Weekend?

Many Algerian employers are lobbying for a return to having their country's weekends over Saturdays and Sundays, rather than Thursdays and Fridays, saying the current policy is cutting into foreign trade revenues.