PAKISTAN: Campaign against ‘Un-Islamic’ Practices Picks up

A snowball effect appears to be underway - with conservative elements in Pakistan's federal government limping back into action - after religious parties won control of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) bordering Afghanistan last year and recently Islamised its laws.

IRAQ: U.S. Pyrrhic Victory Should be a Humbling Experience

The United States' war on Iraq, notwithstanding its predictable military outcome, should serve as a humbling experience for the sole superpower.

IRAQ-LATIN AMERICA: Children React to a Distant War

Children in Argentina, Chile and Mexico are a long way from the conflict in Iraq, but that does not mean they are unaware of what has happened there.

IRAQ: Muslim Paradoxes Exposed as Regime is Collapsing

For how long will Muslims across Asia, like their co-religionists in the Arab world, live in denial? That is the question looms ahead in the wake of the jubilation spilling onto Iraq's streets as Saddam Hussein's regime collapses.

SPORTS: Nigeria Prepares to Host All African Games

The rich Nigerian culture was on showcase this week as the country opened its new National Stadium in Abuja, the nation's capital, in preparatory for the 8th All African Games scheduled for Oct 4-18.

IRAQ-CULTURE: War Could Wipe Out Ancient History

When the U.S.-led war against Iraq finally ends, experts in archaeology and ancient culture will have the bitter task of assessing what damage bombs and missiles have wrought on the vestiges of millennia-old history in the cradle of Western civilisation.

IRAQ: Media Wage Their Own War

Much like the claims and counter-claims made by Iraq and U.S.-led forces on the battlefront, the Arab and Western media too are engaged in a war of accusations and counter-accusations.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: As Hordes of Tourists Come, Heritage Goes

By 5:30 a.m., the Buddhist monks, clad in saffron robes, were already walking down Sisavangvong main street, which leads toward the ancient quarter of this country's ancient capital, a World Heritage site.

CULTURE: Never Forget What They Should Remember

We would like future generations to remember so much, of course. It is a harder job figuring out what we would like them to remember.

IRAQ: After Saddam’s Call, All Eyes on Asia’s Angry Young Muslims

Just like U.S. President George W Bush did before him, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has, in a manner of speaking, used the 'are you with us or against us' approach to international politics to rally Muslim support behind his cause.

RIGHTS-CANADA: Transsexual Former Cop Links Police, Gay Community

Police in Canada's capital city have enlisted the country's first transsexual police officer to bridge the gap between investigators and the city's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

IRAQ: French Fear ‘Dr. Strangelove’ May Have Stepped Out of Fiction

French commentators are comparing the behaviour of U.S. military leaders in Iraq with that of the fictive figures in Stanley Kubrick's black comedy of militarism and nuclear age 'Dr Strangelove or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb'.

IRAQ: War on Everyone’s Minds on Afghan-Pakistani Border

In this town on the border with Afghanistan, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq is on everybody's minds - whether it is Pakistanis, Islamic leaders or refugees who not too long ago saw U.S. bombs rain on their country, Afghanistan.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM: Long Ago is Today in Zimbabwe Political Tales

According to a Zimbabwean proverb, Long ago did not live long ago.

/ARTS WEEKLY/INDIA: On Film, The Life and Times of a Nationalist Hero

A film that seeks to portray the turbulent final years of one of India's greatest heroes of its freedom struggle is finally under way, but not without controversy.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-ARGENTINA: The Set Is Enormous, and Keeps Growing

Some 10,000 workers from the film, television and advertising industries in Argentina have been enjoying a boom during the past year, thanks to the depreciation of the currency, which turned this country into an affordable, attractive and multifaceted film set.

/ARTS WEEKLY/THEATRE-KENYA: On the Receiving End of Abusive Words

The word vagina is just a biological term for a woman's genitalia. But try mentioning it in public in Kenya and you will find yourself on the receiving end of a stream of far more shocking, abusive words.

IRAQ: Arab Australians Fear Being Used to Blunt Anti-War Protests

Before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the 400,000 strong Arab Australian community was bracing for another bout of harassment and abuse in the streets from the Anglo-Australian community.

IRAQ: Artists in Latin America Act Out Against the War

To protest the war on Iraq, actors in Argentina are taking anti-war performances to schools, demonstrators have stripped naked in Chile and Venezuela, artists are painting an enormous mural in Cuba, rock groups in Brazil are singing out against the war, and young theatre students staged a mock battle scene outside the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.

IRAQ: Holocaust Colours German Jews’ View of the War

In no other city in the world is the horror of war more keenly felt than in Berlin, where Adolf Hitler's tyrannical reign led to the city being laid waste by allied bombs in World War II 58 years ago.

IRAQ: The Memory of a Civilisation is under Attack

The heavy U.S.-British assault on Iraq threatens a wealth of archaeological and architectural heritage, experts say.