HEALTH-NIGER: Battle Against Fistula Moves Ahead

Zeinabou Baba had just about given up on the prospect of living a normal life by the time aid workers arrived in her village of Tera, west of Niger's capital û Niamey.

RIGHTS-SENEGAL: President Takes on Islamic Groups in Death Penalty Debate

A move to outlaw the death penalty in Senegal has ignited a debate about capital punishment in the country.

OLYMPICS: First Two Gold Medals Ever for Chile

Chile woke up Monday in a state of bliss, after a weekend in which tennis brought this South American country the greatest sports glories in its history, with two gold medals in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

POLITICS-SOMALIA: Women’s Representation in New Parliament at Issue

Women from Somalia have expressed concern at the fact that they risk being under-represented in their country's new transitional parliament, which was sworn in Sunday, Aug. 22.

RELIGION: That Men and Women Question Again

A new missive on women from the Vatican followed by a strong response to it has brought new spark to an old debate.

CUBA: Hurricane Charley Swept Away the Legend – and Village – of Cajio

The statue of chief Cajío standing with arms crossed and head held high must face the sea to live up to its mission: protecting this fishing village in southern Cuba.

TOURISM: Southern Europe Loses Its Edge

Tempting and affordable offers of vacations in "paradise" settings in developing countries are causing serious harm to the powerful tourism industries of southern Europe.

CULTURE-KENYA: The Churches That Aren’t

A curious case involving 13 so-called "miracle babies" has sparked concern about the proliferation of new church groups in Kenya.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: Helping the Continent to Grow Old Gracefully

"If only I can stop sewing for a month, my cough will come down...I spend the money from my sewing for buying food and making sandwiches for my grandchildren to take to school," says an old South African woman captured on video while working at an archaic sewing machine.

RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: Time’s Up for the "Kerb Crawlers"

A recent crackdown on men who frequent prostitutes in Zimbabwe has left human rights activists there a little confused.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-CHILE: The Wall of Shame to be Used as a Screen

Chilean director Miguel Littin plans to complete his film "La última luna" (The Last Moon) in September, aiming to release it in Chile this year and also project it onto the "wall of shame" that the Israeli government is building to close off the Palestinian West Bank.

/ARTS WEEKLY/U.S.: Anti-Bush Musicians Hit the Road

In any other election year, having some of the biggest names in U.S. popular music sign up for a tour to defeat the incumbent president might provoke little more than yawns from all but the headline hungry media and the singers' most loyal fans.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE-SRI LANKA: Retelling the People’s History

It has been nearly five centuries but the memories are still hard to erase. The day was Nov 15, 1505 when Dom Lourenco de Almeida landed off the harbour of Colombo with his nine ships, quite by accident after being caught in a storm.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-VENEZUELA: Politics Invades the Silver Screen

As Venezuela's recall referendum on President Hugo Chávez approaches, the battle has hit the screen in two films with an impact that some compare, in local terms, to the controversy raised by films like "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the United States.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE-INDIA: Happiness is One Very Big Family

Dining with the world's largest 178-member joint family in India's southern Karnataka state is a hospitable but hurried affair.

CANADA: Ottawa Wants Churches to Turn Away Refugees

Six weeks ago Fred Cappuccino, a 78-year-old retired Unitarian minister, went into sanctuary in his own church to protest Canada's refugee deportation policy.

CULTURE: Congolese Welcome Swahili As Official African Language

News that Swahili has been adopted as one of the African Union’s working languages has been well received in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where nearly half the population speaks it, writes it, or understands it.

LABOUR-ASIA: ”We Want Fair Play,” Demand Workers

When they gather in Athens this week for the start of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, the athletes from over 190 countries will have no time for names like Chrek Sophea, an attractive 24- year-old Cambodian woman.

POLITICS: Pakistan the Place to Watch for Islamic Extremism

From a new U.S. angle, the 9/11 Commission Report stresses two highly significant points - the 'war against terror' is a misconceived description and the real enemy is religious extremism. The second point concerns Pakistan - it is held to be both a problem and necessary part of the solution.

IRAQ: Anguished Christians Flee to Syria

IPS annuls with apologies the above story moved Aug. 07, 2004, which contained a serious error.

JAPAN: Rebel Teachers Spark Debate About Identity Crisis

Nearly 60 years after it renounced the militarism of the 1930s and 40s, at the end of World War II, Japan still cannot decide what kind of country it wants to be. And this has manifested itself in the current row over the singing of the national anthem in schools.