EGYPT: Muslim Brotherhood Shows Its Muscle

Confirming its longstanding reputation as Egypt's strongest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood performed even better than expected in the latest round of parliamentary elections.

HEALTH-JAPAN: HIV Breeds on Complacent Attitudes Among Youth

Eri Iwase, 19, a pretty first year university student, says she is not worried about being infected with HIV virus that causes Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), even though she is sexually active.

IVORY COAST: The Kindest Cut of All – Severing a Harmful Tradition

Thirty practitioners of female circumcision in the Ivorian financial capital, Abidjan, have publicly laid aside their blades, knives and scissors. This is the result of an ongoing campaign in the West African country to eradicate the practice, estimated by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to affect 40 percent of women living there.

RUSSIA: New Constraints on ‘Religious Extremism’

The Russian parliament is preparing new legislation to restrict missionary work suspected of sparking religious extremism.

RELIGION: Dispute Rises Over Cartoons of Prophet

Islamic organisations are engaged in growing conflict with a Danish newspaper over its publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

PAKISTAN: Militants Gain Legitimacy Through Quake Relief

It is a safe bet that at least some of the 5.8 billion dollars worth of relief that the world has pledged for the quake-ravaged areas of northern Pakistan will pass through the hands of several banned jehadi militant groups that have found new legitimacy in humanitarian work.

BALKANS: Bruce Lee Returns to Calm a Fight

It took a long dead martial arts star to bring the divided people of this war-torn town together Saturday, at least for a while.

POLITICS-THAILAND: Talking About a Coup

Judging by the language of the independent press, this week, and the chatter among the capital city’s political class, anyone would be led to believe that Thailand is teetering on the brink of a coup d'etat.

POLITICS: Friends Help Iran Win Nuclear Match

The fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), meeting in Vienna, has steered clear of referring Iran to the United Nations Security Council, is being seen here as a sign of wide support for the country’s right to enrich uranium.

SOUTH ASIA: Bhutanese Refugees Forgotten in Nepal’s Turmoil

King Gyanendra’s military-backed ‘royal coup’, on Feb. 1, has proven a major setback for the Lhotsampas (Bhutanese nationals of Nepali origin) fleeing the autocratic regime of the world’s other Himalayan kingdom.

MEDIA: New Network to Promote Journalism with a Gender Perspective

More than 100 journalists from 14 countries have started networking to find ways round censorship, give gender equality greater prominence in the media, and promote the use of non-sexist language.

RIGHTS-THAILAND: Battered Women, No Longer Alone

The frequent telephone calls that a women's rights group in Bangkok receives are one of the many indicators of a dark side of this country known for its smiling, hospitable people.

INDONESIA: Fatwa May Tackle Jehad, Not Root Social Problems

Sickened by a spate of senseless suicide bombings, the religious elite in the world’s largest Muslim country, has come up with a fatwa (edict) against jehadi terrorism-but worries remain about the roots of the phenomenon in underlying social problems.

PHILIPPINES: ‘Church, a Goliath Against Reproductive Health’

When Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told the U.N. General Assembly recently to "respect the deep Catholicism of the Filipino people" and said that natural family planning is more effective than artificial means like condoms, Filipino activists reacted with disbelief, others with anger.

HEALTH-ASIA: Sex Education Can Be Creative, Say Experts

Many Asian countries now have sexual health education in schools, but teachers often focus on health and biology and leave out the very issue they need to address - sexuality, said experts at a regional conference here, this week.

WSIS: Internet Can Create, Not Crush, Culture

You cannot resist the Internet, so you might as well bathe in its tidal wave-like wash over the world's cultures, says the director of the centuries old Alexandria Library in Egypt.

POLITICS: South Korea Wields ‘Soft Power’

Not long ago if you mentioned South Korea and 'regional power' in the same sentence, your audience would have laughed you out of business.

VENEZUELA: State-Financed Experiments in the Solidarity Economy

"I used to be a buhonera (street vendor), but I got tired of working in all weather conditions, rain or shine, so I joined the Venezuela Avanza (Venezuela Advances) cooperative. Here I earn less money and the heat in the warehouse is stifling, but we hope our working conditions will improve with time," Ana Ortiz, a mother of seven, told IPS as she sat at her sewing machine.

TRINIDAD: “Soca Warriors” Get a Shot at the World Cup

Sixteen years after it failed to make the World Cup Championships in Italy, Trinidad and Tobago is heading to Germany next year as the smallest country, both in size and population, on the world's premier soccer stage.

BRAZIL: Changing a City Name to Facilitate Web Searches

"It's like advertising one product and selling another," Brazilian city councillor Djalma Pastorello summed up in favour of his proposal to change the name of his city, Foz do Iguaçu, so as not to confuse people searching for it on the Internet.

RIGHTS: Sports Increasingly Mirror a Racist World

When soccer was considered an unruly spectator sport in years gone by, there was the story of a referee assigned to officiate at a tension-charged football match in a Latin American country arriving in an armoured battle tank just to protect himself from a violence-prone crowd.