RIGHTS-US: Courts Scrutinise Post-9/11 Powers

More than six months ago, a federal district judge ordered former U.S. attorney-general John Ashcroft and other senior officials to testify in a lawsuit brought by an Egyptian who claims he was beaten and starved after being arrested following the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks.

UAE: After Iraq, Arabs Wary of ‘Western’ Democracy

In the evolving debate on reforms, Arab intellectuals and common people continue to emphasise the need for culture and region-specific democratic reforms in the Middle East, and strongly oppose the imposition of Western models.

EAST ASIA: Sino-Japanese Ties Hit New Low

If bilateral ties between China and Japan can be described as "cold politically and warm economically", then they have hit a new low. Differences over the wartime past and regional influence have now spilled over into business and economic issues, threatening to damage the fragile status quo between Tokyo and Beijing.

BIODIVERSITY: Creating a Network Against Biopiracy

Two patents granted in the United States between 2000 and 2002 and another for which an application has been filed have put "maca", a high altitude Andean plant that is used by indigenous people in Peru, at the centre of a new battle against biopiracy, which involves the construction of an international network against the misappropriation of traditional knowledge.

RIGHTS-US: Major Church Groups Back Undocumented Workers

Faith-based groups around the United States are speaking out against an anti-immigrant bill in a new display of activism by the religious community.

AFGHANISTAN: Women, Socially Bound and Officially Neglected

Every 30 minutes, an Afghan woman dies from delivery-related complications. Girls have minimal access to education in many parts of the country and forced marriages are widespread, say rights watchdogs.

SRI LANKA: Sinhala Groups Tire of Norwegian Peace Brokers

''Norwegians who conspire to divide Sri Lanka, get out'', read a large banner carried by a group of 150 saffron-clad, shaven-head, Buddhist monks, demonstrating in front of Norway's misson here, this week.

BIODIVERSITY: A New Ethics Needed to Save Life on Earth

Affect, care, cooperation and responsibility are the four central principles of a new ethics that humanity urgently needs to adopt, in order to avoid becoming extinct as "a victim of itself," Leonardo Boff, one of the founders of liberation theology, said Thursday.

POLITICS-SUDAN: No “Happily Ever After” Just Yet

Fifteen African heads of state were in attendance, and thousands of spectators - witnesses to the signing of a peace deal more than two years in the making, that was ending war between Sudan's government and southern rebels.

BIODIVERSITY: Local Action for Global Change

"Community Taba" consists of four Brazilian-style indigenous huts, built of wood and thatch, with earth floors. Inside the biggest and airiest one, small farmers, forest workers, fisherfolk and indigenous people exchange experiences and discuss how best to defend the planet's biodiversity.

RELIGION-US: Evangelical Christians Most Distrustful of Muslims

Evangelical Protestants tend to view Islam much more unfavourably than do mainline U.S. Protestants and Catholics, according to a new analysis of recent public opinion surveys published here Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

POLITICS: Racism Rife in Malaysia’s Melting Pot – Survey

Malaysia's first serious survey of race relations, in 50 years, shows that behind the façade of outward unity and peace, racism runs deep in this multi-ethnic 'melting pot'.

RIGHTS-NAMIBIA: No Rest – and Limited Government Support – for the Aged

The sight of an elderly person caring for children with AIDS-related illnesses – and grandchildren who may have been orphaned by the pandemic - has become a common one in Namibia, and the Southern African region as a whole.

SOUTH ASIA: India, Bangladesh Ready to Mend Political Fences

The fact that Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's first visit to India, starting Monday, comes more than four years after she came to power, speaks for her government's indifferent bilateral relations with the large and powerful next-door neighbour.

MIDEAST: Hamas Followed a Long Road to the Top

Hamas's win in the January elections in the Palestinian territories was not just the result of a national uprising against the former Fatah government's ineffectiveness, but came on the back of a long history of serving a suffering population.

CHILE: Film Celebrates ‘Swedish Schindler’s’ Gift to Humanity

Filming of "The Black Pimpernel", about Swedish ambassador Harald Edelstam, has been taking place in Chile since January. The film focuses on the three months following the Sept. 11, 1973 coup d'etat, when the diplomat saved more than 1,300 people from death or imprisonment.

JAPAN: No Home Away From Home for Refugees

Despite spending more than half his life in Japan, Min Maung Nyo, a Burmese national who first arrived in 1989 to study agriculture and never went back after the military junta took over, says he longs to return some day.

IRAN: Crackdown Won’t Stop Women’s Movement, Activists Vow

Despite suffering under some of the most draconian laws in the world, Iranian women remain at the forefront of the battle for equality and democracy, as shown by their courage on International Women's Day last week, Iranian women's rights advocates here say.

SRI LANKA: Tsunami Victims Worry About War, Not Housing

The famed sand mines of Manalkadhu vanished in a swirl of houses and people when gigantic waves crashed into the village on Dec. 26, 2004.

UAE: Ports Row May Divert Arab Investments From US

Although the Dubai-based DP World has withdrawn its bid to manage key ports in the United States, questions linger as to what prompted Congress resistance to the deal- genuine security concerns, protectionism, Islamophobia or domestic politics.

POLITICS-SOUTH ASIA: Bangladesh Link Seen in Varanasi Blasts

Investigations into the serial blasts, which killed 14 people in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi last week, are narrowing down to the possibility that Islamist militants groups from neighbouring Bangladesh were involved.