EDUCATION-IRAN: Students Brace for Second ‘Cultural Revolution’

Universities in Iran are bracing for a new academic year expected to be marked by tighter state control over student bodies and faculties and perhaps even the second ‘Cultural Revolution' that hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants to see.

BALKANS: Hollywood Brings Back Old Scenes

Hollywood is shooting in Bosnia these days, and bringing back scenarios of conflict long before the film gets made.

POLITICS: Thais Wait and See in Wake of Coup

Tuesday evening was just like any muggy night, except for telltale signs that suddenly had residents of the Thai capital sitting up. Troops in camouflage, fully armed with machine guns, were fanning out across the city streets, and news reports soon said tanks were taking over the Government House and that soldiers had gone into the Prime Minister's office.

POLITICS-US: Bush Loyalist Flounders in Florida

Katherine Harris, the former Florida secretary of state who played a key role in the hotly contested U.S. presidential vote recount in 2000, is now running a quixotic campaign against a Democratic incumbent for one of the state's two seats in the U.S. Senate.

IRAQ: Artists Speak For Lebanon

If art knows no boundaries, artists don't either. Through witnessing destruction all around them, Iraqi artists have found time to spare a thought and more for Lebanon.

RELIGION: Vatican Launches Peace Campaign

The Vatican, seat of the Roman Catholic faith, launched a diplomatic drive this week to explain the Pope's controversial references to Islam.

POPULATION-JAPAN: Protecting Working Mothers’ Rights

Kaori Tokoro, 37, gave up the job she held down for 12 years with a medium-sized interior design company when she became pregnant six years ago.

RIGHTS-US: Big Jump Found in Anti-Muslim Incidents

Complaints involving anti-Muslim discrimination, harassment and violence jumped over 30 percent in 2005 compared to 2004, according to a new report released here Monday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim organisation.

RELIGION: Apology May Not Calm Crisis

In another attempt to mollify the Islamic world following apologies from the Vatican earlier, Pope Benedict XVI personally intervened during his Angelus, the traditional Sunday noon blessing, to reject any anti-Islam sentiment, and appeal for dialogue.

AFGHANISTAN: Fighting Unlikely to Stop For Ramadan

Pitched battles on the ground were reported daily in Afghanistan just a week before the start of Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer for observing Muslims.

RELIGION: First Rabbis Ordained in Germany Since the Holocaust

The ordination of three rabbis in Germany - the first such event since the holocaust - has been lauded by politicians and Jewish organisations as a step forward in Germany's long battle to come to terms with its traumatic history.

CHINA: Moves to Rapidly Integrate Resource-Rich Tibet

China has intensified its long-term quest to integrate the remote land and people of Tibet by building new infrastructure and drawing up plans to tap the Himalayan region's virgin water sources and its rich reserves of copper, gold and hydrocarbons.

POLITICS-PAKISTAN: Suicide Bomber Cult Alive and Well

One morning in late August, a group of about 15 men from the Hizbul Mujahideen jihadist group walked into Lal Faqir's home to congratulate him for the 'martyrdom' of his son Bahar Ali who, they said, had died after ramming an explosives-laden car into a NATO vehicle in Afghanistan.

SRI LANKA: No Unconditional Talks With Tigers – Gov&#39t

The euphoria was short-lived. On Wednesday, the Sri Lankan government formally shot down hopes for a quick solution to escalating violence on the island by denying statements made by Norwegian mediators that spoke of unconditional talks with Tamil Tiger rebels early October in Oslo to restore the February 2002 ceasefire.

POLITICS: ‘Europe, Asia Can Show US the Multilateral Way’

At this week's Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Helsinki, experts were unanimous that if Europe and Asia keep investing in political and economic cooperation, it could pay huge dividends for a multilateral world.

POLITICS-INDIA: Blasts Test Counter-Terror Strategy

The three bomb explosions, which ripped through a mosque and an adjoining graveyard, killing 30 people in Malegaon in India's western state of Maharashtra on Friday, have outraged the Indian public. They have also set some tough challenges before the Manmohan Singh government.

RIGHTS: Dropping Knowledge, Picking It Up

Asking questions. This everyday activity is the key to sowing the seeds of change according to Dropping Knowledge, a German-U.S. non-governmental organisation which hopes to germinate those seeds online, and create an unprecedented database of the pressing social themes of our times.

MEDIA-IRAN: Ban on Newspaper Portends Tighter Censorship

Few were surprised by Monday's ban on Iran's leading reformist newspaper ‘Shargh' (East), which has for some time been boldly voicing dissatisfaction with the outcome of last year's elections that brought President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.

FRANCE: How Beautiful Was My Colony

A meaning of colonialism offered in the new edition of a French dictionary has stirred another debate on how France views its past.

POLITICS-US/ISRAEL: The Conversion Factor

As Christian evangelicals in the United States grow their support for Israel, conversion of Jews to Christianity continues to be a thorny issue for both Christians and Jews.

UAE-9/11: Arabs, Muslims Shy Away From Going West

Saif Al Shaali, who was a United States resident since 2001, vows never to return to that country due to the shabby treatment that he, his wife and three children received at the Los Angeles, California airport in August.