EGYPT: Attacks Raise Fear of Religious Discord

Seemingly random attacks on Coptic churches in the port city of Alexandria last week followed by violent clashes between Coptic Christians and Muslims have again raised the spectre of sectarian conflict.

POLITICS: Pakistan Stressed by US Designs on Iran

As the crisis around Iran over its alleged nuclear ambitions assumes an ugly shape, Pakistan finds itself once again, under enormous political pressure because of aggressive United States policy towards a Muslim country in its immediate neighbourhood.

SOUTH PACIFIC: ‘Fear of Domination Sparked Anti-Chinese Riots’

This week's looting and burning down of businesses in the Chinatown area of Honiara, capital of the Solomon Islands, reflects local fears of Asian economic domination of the poverty-ridden South Pacific islands.

NEPAL: ‘Human Tsunami’ Swamps King

"There it is - that's our human tsunami," Communist party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said Friday, watching more than 100,000 people flow past his house in the capital's outskirts.

POLITICS-THAILAND: Muslim Minority Shows Anger Through Ballots

On the morning after his remarkable triumph at the elections for Thailand's upper house, Dr. Waemahadi Waedaoh had the smile of the vindicated. From being a wanted terror suspect and a prisoner for two years, he has become the new senator for this troubled region in the south.

KENYA: Mother Tongue Education Both Effective and Elusive

A debate about the extent to which mother tongue schooling improves the quality of education is emerging in Kenya, with certain experts campaigning for children's mother tongue to be used as the language of instruction in schools.

POLITICS-US: In Terror War, Not All Names Are Equal

A major government watchdog group is charging that Muslim charities are being shut down for supposedly backing terrorist causes, while giant firms like Halliburton are receiving the full protection of U.S. law for allegedly breaking government sanctions against doing business with Iran - a country designated as a sponsor of terrorism.

POLITICS: China Turns Charm Offensive on South-east Asia

As the world's most populous country and the fourth largest economy, China has undeniable global influence. Chinese President Hu Jintao's meeting this week in Washington with U.S. President George W. Bush, their fifth in little over a year, further underscores Beijing's central role on the global stage.

RUSSIA: Gay Parade Plan Runs Into Resistance

Moves to hold a gay parade and meeting have run into strong resistance from Moscow authorities and religious leaders.

IRAQ: Baghdad Slipping Into Civil War

The new clashes between Shia militiamen dressed in Iraqi military and police uniforms and resistance fighters and residents from the Sunni Adhamiya district of Baghdad have convinced many that what Baghdad is witnessing is no less than a civil war.

COLOMBIA: Latest News on the FARC

In Colombia, which has been steeped in civil war for decades, every reporter has refrained from writing up hundreds of stories to avoid endangering people or communities merely by mentioning or revealing specific places like villages or roads, or repeating conversations.

PAKISTAN: Courts, Clerics Resist DNA Tests for Paternity

Although Pakistan has fine DNA testing laboratories, these facilities remain closed to the public and results obtained from them are not recognised by the Islamic clergy and the judiciary.

LIBERIA: Political Will and Resources Needed to Cut Child Mortality

Of the ten countries in the world that have the worst rates of child mortality, six* are in West Africa - a region that has seen more than its share of repression and civil strife over recent years.

ENVIRONMENT-COLOMBIA: Via Crucis for Endangered Turtles

Environmental authorities released around 1,200 freshwater turtles that were seized by police in Colombia's Caribbean region in a crackdown to halt illegal sales, which see a boom during Catholic Holy Week.

CUBA: TV Serial Stirs Up Social Controversy

A television series which reflects on and portrays sexual behaviours and touches on the question of AIDS has provoked unusual public controversy in Cuba.

JAPAN: Women Juggle Careers and Caregiving With Cell Phones

Mobile phone technology is helping many Japanese career women cope with a traditional role they are unable to shake off - that of providing care for the elderly.

ASIA: India, Flavour of the Season in Japan

Noriko Kobayashi, a yoga teacher, has seen her business boom this past year - a phenomenon which, she says, is the consequence of a new interest in Indian culture in Japan.

SPORTS: The World Kicks Around in Germany

From Africa to Iceland, from Brazil to South Korea, from Paraguay to Tunisia, a galaxy of foreign stars come to play football in the Bundesliga, Germany's top soccer league.

CULTURE-LATIN AMERICA: Indigenous Languages in Final Throes

Hundreds of languages disappeared from Latin America and the Caribbean over the past 500 years, and many of the more than 600 that have survived could face the same fate in the not-so-distant future.

JAPAN: Foster Parents in New Role as Population Slumps

A government plan to boost Japan's fledgling foster parent system as a means of stemming the population slide has revived the social debate on abortion and sex education for teenagers.

HEALTH-AFRICA: “An Opportunity to Change the Course of History”

An Africa-wide campaign has been launched to halt HIV infections, this as the continent continues to be the worst affected by AIDS globally.