AFRICA: If Music Be the Food of Development, Play On

Forget religious fads, fast cars or the latest summer accessory. For many international celebrities the ultimate fashion must-have has become the 'Make Poverty History' wristband.

RIGHTS-EGYPT: Censorship Chills University Life, Report Charges

Academic freedom in Egypt is being constantly undermined by both the government and private groups through censorship, intimidation of students and professors, and even threats and physical violence, according to a report by a leading human rights organisation released Thursday.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Burma a Nightmare for Minorities

After enduring long food shortages and being a victim of forced labour, a 30-year-old woman from Burma's Karen ethnic community fled her village for the nearby Thai-Burmese border late last year.

POLITICS: Hawk or Dove, Advani Leads India’s Political Pack

The teeming crowds outside Lal Krishna Advani's bungalow on Thursday and the impassioned entreaties that he withdraw his resignation as party president say it all: India's powerful pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has no taller political leader than this 78-year-old man who now swears by secularism.

AFGHANISTAN: Women Candidates Face Own Attacks

As deadly attacks on military targets in Afghanistan rise prior to scheduled fall elections, women candidates are facing their own entrenched non-lethal barriers, says one contender.

U.S.: Surging Ethnic Media Speak in Many Tongues

Although largely ignored by advertisers, ethnic radio, television and newspapers in the United States now reach an astonishing 64 million people, about half of whom prefer them to the mainstream press, according to the first ever nationwide assessment of foreign-language and other ethnic media.

/UPDATE*/CULTURE: Book That Changed Indo-Pakistan Relations

If a single book can ever lay claim to having positively changed the tortuous course of Indo-Pakistan relations it would be the tome 'Jinnah - A Corrective Reading of Indian History' by Prof Asiananda (who uses one name only).

INDONESIA: Islamic Schools Preach ‘Green’ Activism

In the last two years Indonesia's West Java province has been regularly hit by natural disasters - from erosion, violent storms and floods to prolonged drought - bringing the province's economy closer to collapse.

MIDDLE EAST: Kuwaiti Women Sceptical of Voting Rights

In an historic move Kuwait has appointed two women to its municipal council for the first time, but activists say the development does not smooth the road to women effectively voting and contesting national elections in 2007.

POLITICS: Malaysia Moots Moderate Path for Islamic World

Despite its location on the margins of the Islamic world, the South-east Asian nation of Malaysia is coming out well ahead of other Muslim countries on the pivotal question of how to redeem the battered image of Islam and its followers.

AUSTRALIA: ‘Bio-Terror’ Attack Threatens Ties With Indonesia

An envelope of white powder posted to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra this week has put tension back into the improving relationship between Indonesia and Australia.

JAPAN: Healing the Wounds of Crime

A long overdue move to help the families of crime victims meet with offenders has been launched by a group of lawyers and experts in a bid to pave the way for a process of healing and reconciliation that they say is almost non-existent in Japan.

VIETNAM: Women Get Equality – And Cooking Courses

Vietnamese men and women are now said to be equal in the workplace and society in general. But rising sales of cookbooks and female enrolment in cooking courses signal that feeding the family is still seen as women's work.

DEVELOPMENT: Church Leaders Push EU

Church leaders from the developing world pressed the European Union to commit to action in the fight against poverty when they met José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission Monday.

ARGENTINA: First-Ever Permit for Indigenous Community Radio

The first operating licence ever granted by the Argentine government to an indigenous community radio station is being hailed as a major step forward in giving a voice to this sector of the population, while posing formidable challenges.

RELIGION-NIGERIA: One Year On, Perpetrators of Violence Remain At Large

One year after some 900 people were slaughtered in clashes between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo has failed to prosecute those responsible for the cycle of violence, a Human Rights Watch report charges.

DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Official Sees Language Bias Skewing Aid to Africa

Jan Egeland, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, says he is livid that the international donor community has brushed aside his appeal for 16.2 million dollars in emergency food assistance to Niger - as they have other urgent U.N. appeals for Africa.

MEDIA-LATIN AMERICA: New Regional Network of the South is Born

Telesur, a regional public TV network envisioned as a Latin American version of the Arab world's Al Jazeera broadcasting group, was officially launched Tuesday at a ceremony in the Venezuelan capital.

/CORRECTION*/ARTS WEEKLY/BOOKS-TIBET: The Karmapa’s Dance of Politics

It is over five years since a 14-year-old Tibetan monk made a dramatic escape over the Himalayas to India, travelling over 1,500 kilometres from his monastery in Tibet, evading Chinese border troops and risking death by exposure to the cold.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM: Of Music, a Man, and Social Revolution in a Feared Slum

Anderson Sa was 10 years old when he first witnessed a murder. Outside a store in Vigario Geral, one of the most violent of Rio de Janeiro's 600 favelas, or shantytowns, a man was dragged out of a car, beaten, and then shot in the head. Anderson's reaction as a 10-year-old boy?

/ARTS WEEKLY/JAPAN: 21st Century Museum Shows the Way to Oldies

Dare to breakaway from tradition and be different. That's the challenge thrown by a new Japanese museum to its older counterparts, as they struggle to survive with falling visitors and dwindling budgets.