POLITICS-THAILAND: Muzzling the Press Could Backfire say Editors

A showdown between Thailand's often feisty print media and the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is looming up as a draconian decree to quell the escalating violence in the country's south came into effect this week.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Religious Deviance Gets Zero Tolerance

Probably because it was laughable, Ayah Pin's cult -that revolved around worship of a giant, two-storey high teapot - was tolerated for a decade.

RIGHTS: Yes to Miss Tibet, No to Miss Tibet-China

Tibetan youths, in this Indian Himalayan town, are furious that Miss Tibet has been barred from participating in a beauty pageant in Malaysia after China lodged an official complaint with the organisers. Beijing, in turn, wants Miss Tibet Tashi Yangchen to compete as Miss Tibet-China instead.

VENEZUELA-US: Looming War of the Airwaves

The Venezuelan Congress approved a resolution opposing a decision by the U.S. House of Representatives to finance radio and TV broadcasts to Venezuela with the aim of countering Telesur, a new pan-Latin American station.

POLITICS-US: Fear and Loathing in the Heartland

Two highly influential sectors in U.S. politics - the neo-conservatives and the Jewish community - are showing signs of renouncing their traditionally liberal views about immigration.

POLITICS-PAKISTAN: Taliban-Style Law, Another Blow for Liberals

Liberal-minded people in this country are concerned at the 'Hasba Bill' passed in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) assembly that seeks to severely restrict women's rights and institute a 'moral police' in the territory that borders Afghanistan.

/ARTS WEEKLY/US: Film Exposes Plight of 9/11 Rescuers

While Washington continues to spend billions of dollars on its global "war on terror," thousands of ordinary people who took part in cleaning up the World Trade Centre site after the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks are left wondering if they will ever receive a single penny from the government for medical treatment.

/ARTS WEEKLY/INDIA: Bollywood Gets Serious About HIV/AIDS

Song and dance against a verdant valley. Good pitted against evil. Fantastical villains. Bright colours. Spectacle and turmoil. No more, no less, this is Bollywood as the Indian film industry has been known for decades.

/ARTS WEEKLY/TELEVISION-CHILE: Battle of Prime Time Soaps Heats Up

Chile has not joined the ranks of Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela - Latin America's big producers of soap operas that are sold around the region and the world.

RIGHTS: Gay Ex-Ministers Preach Acceptance

When Steven Parelli and José Ortiz were evangelical ministers, they tried desperately to "cure" their homosexuality through religious support groups, which merely added to their feelings of guilt and depression.

RELIGION: ‘Reclaim Islam From Terrorism’

A leading Islamic scholar in Britain has asked for the Muslim community to come together to ''reclaim Islam from terrorism''.

JAPAN: Graves Speak of Peace to the Living

Isamu Endo, 65, has built a cemetery for Chinese foster parents who took care of hundreds of Japanese abandoned as children in northern China as their settler parents fled before advancing Soviet and Chinese troops at the end of the Second World War.

HEALTH-SWAZILAND: A Message to Teenagers – Take Charge!

A new advertising campaign aimed at curtailing teenage HIV rates by promoting abstinence is using a combination of traditional and modern values in its appeal to Swazi youth.

CHILE: Football Clubs Turn to Stock Market for Survival

Chile's football teams are counting on more than victories in the stadiums to pull them out of the crisis facing professional football in this South American country. They have started to look towards the stock market as well.

POLITICS: "Islamic Extremism" Alienates Most in Muslim World

Concerns about "Islamic extremism" and disapproval over violence motivated by it are growing in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries, according to a major new survey that also found declining support for Osama bin Laden in most of the Islamic world, with the exception of Jordan and Pakistan.

POLITICS: Pakistan Analysts Link London Blasts to Afghanistan

Prominent citizens in this country are calling for a deeper understanding of the complex situation that led to the Jul. 7 London bombings as British police confirmed that three of the bombers were of Pakistani descent and probably trained here or in neighbouring Afghanistan.

ENVIRONMENT-UAE: "Perfume of Arabia Tree" Still Endangered

When Shakespeare wrote ''All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand'' in 'Macbeth', he was perhaps unaware of the intoxicating and strong-smelling 'oudh' - a heady perfume that is part and parcel of Arab tradition and folklore and a fragrance that defines the very essence of an Arab household.

RIGHTS-TIBET: Stories from Hell Make their Way to Spanish Court

For former political prisoner Adhe Tapontsang, the 27 years she spent in a Chinese jail, for aiding the Tibetan resistance in the 1950s, was sheer hell.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM: Indian Cinema Examines Lesbian, Gay Themes

A city known for film literacy and great directors like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen this eastern metropolis witnessed something unique recently - a film award instituted on the theme of gay rights.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ARGENTINA: Tracking Dictatorship’s Missing Children on TV

For more than 27 years, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo have been searching for young people who were kidnapped as small children during Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship or were born topolitical prisoners in clandestine detention centres.

POLITICS-US: Ralph Reed’s Reckoning

Ralph Reed, the wunderkind of the U.S. religious right during the 1990s, recently gathered supporters together for a rally promoting his candidacy for the lieutenant governor of Georgia - a campaign many political observers believe is the former leader of the Christian Coalition's first step on the road toward higher office.