VENEZUELA: US Neo-Cons Accuse Chavez of Anti-Semitism

Despite objections by major Jewish organisations in Venezuela and the United States, some influential U.S. neo-conservatives are charging President Hugo Chavez with anti-Semitism, which they say is consistent with the country's friendly relations with Iran.

IRAQ: Another Raid Brings Further Alienation

The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni organisation that was created in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion, was again targeted by the United States military last Sunday. The raid on its mosque served only to alienate Sunnis further.

MALAYSIA: Minorities Demand Protection From Islamic Laws

Malaysia's minorities are banding together to put up a united front against what they fear is a steady encroachment of Shariah or Islamic law into their lives.

DRUGS-BOLIVIA: A New Future for Coca Leaf

Criminalised in the international sphere, uprooted by hoe and machete in Bolivia, but venerated by Andean indigenous cultures, the coca leaf will seek a new future under the country's first indigenous president, the leader of the coca growers Evo Morales, who takes office on Jan. 22.

IRAQ: Shiites Escalate Conflict with US Over Sunni Strategy

In escalating their conflict with the United States over its efforts to weaken the Iraqi insurgency by coopting Sunni political figures, Shiite party leaders may have delivered a fatal blow to that strategy.

CHALLENGES 2005-2006: Schism Grows Between Religious Right and Left

The news stories chosen as the Top 10 of 2005 by members of the "righteous-wing" of the Republican Party offer significant insight into what U.S. religious conservatives consider most important.

RIGHTS: Justice Can End Thailand’s ‘Dirty War’ in Muslim Areas

Human rights activists are calling on the Thai government to place more faith in justice to end what is shaping out to be a ‘dirty war' in the Buddhist country's Muslim-dominated, southern provinces along the Malaysian border.

GERMANY: World Cup – a Magnet for Forced Prostitution?

Football players, fans and journalists from all over the world are getting ready to head to the World Cup in Germany. And among those packing their bags are about 40,000 sex workers who will be there to satisfy the high demand for their services.

PHILIPPINES: Church at Political Crossroads

The newly elected president of the highly influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) wishes to steer the organisation back to its pastoral mission and away from politics. His wish may be difficult in the Filipino political arena, where the Church has always had a central, if controversial, role.

HEALTH-NAMIBIA: In Prisons, a Little Latex Could Go a Long Way

A piece of legislation nearly 30 years old that outlaws male-to-male sodomy may, at first glance, appear more a target for gay rights activists than AIDS campaigners. Seen in the context of Namibia's prisons however, the 1977 Criminal Procedures Act raises questions that relate to both health and rights.

OMAN: Dolphin Watching Craze Worries Conservationists

The sight of a spinning, swirling dolphin or a whale leaping and diving in the clear blue waters off the coast of Oman rarely fails to delight tourists.

POLITICS: Once Taboo, Islam Turns Hot Topic in Malaysia

Islam tops Malaysia's long list of "sensitive subjects" that are forbidden from being raised in public but, over the last two weeks, it is as if nothing else can be discussed.

PAKISTAN: Both Hare and Hound in ‘War on Terror’

After Islamists defied an order by Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to expel foreigners enrolled in the madrasas (religious schools) by Dec 31, questions have been raised on the country's future role in the United States-led ‘war on terror'.

ARGENTINA: Education to Overcome Tradition of Tax Evasion

A novel plan for tax education in Argentina is using theatre, puppets, educational games, entertainment centres, and competitions to teach youngsters about the importance of paying taxes to finance and preserve what belongs to everybody. They are all useful methods, according to those in charge of the programme.

THAILAND: Grudging Flood Relief Further Alienates Muslim Areas

Lukewarm efforts by the Thai government to get relief to predominantly Malay-Muslim provinces in the south, badly hit by recent rain and floods, may obstruct efforts to find a solution to escalating insurgency in the area.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Forced Islamic Burial of Hindu Shocks Minorities

The forced Islamic burial, this week, of M. Moorthy, Malaysia’s first Everest climber and a born Hindu, was bad enough, but what has shocked people of all faiths was the refusal of a civil court to intervene in a case it deemed fell under Islamic Shariah laws.

CHALLENGES 2005-2006: No Turning Back on Gay Rights in Cuba

As hundreds of same-sex couples in Britain - including singer-songwriter Elton John and Canadian-born filmmaker David Furnish, his partner of 12 years - are taking advantage of a new law that allows them to enter into civil partnerships with the same rights as heterosexual marriages, gays and lesbians in Cuba are still struggling to achieve a bare minimum of social acceptance.

TSUNAMI-IMPACT: For Sex Workers, the Show Must Go On

Clad in skimpy black bikini and knee-length boots, the young Thai woman gyrated around the silver pole and blew kisses at the mainly European patrons of the go-go bar she was performing in.

SPAIN: Church Backs Down on Radio Hoax Against Bolivian Leader

The Catholic Church in Spain finally backed down on Thursday in the face of heavy pressure and criticism, and scolded the COPE radio station, which it owns, for a prank played on Bolivia's president-elect Evo Morales.

SOCIETY-BALKANS: Brcko – An Example for the Rest of Bosnia

Like hundreds of towns and villages, ten years after the war ended in Bosnia, Brcko bears some visible scars of the bloody conflicts, like the clock tower of the railway and bus station, wounded by artillery, with no hands to show the time.

SOCIETY-BALKANS: Kosovo Tops the News, but Not a Priority for Serbs

Judging merely from the media or from politicians' statements, one could assume that the Kosovo issue is a priority for a large portion of the Serbian public.