RIGHTS-THAILAND: Army Reveals Two Faces

Calls by the country's army chief for the prime minister's reisgnation over the deaths of two anti-government demonstrators in clashes with the police have left the Malay-Muslim minority with reason to wonder if their lives are less valuable in this predominantly Buddhist country.

CULTURE: Rock Bands – Next Stop is Vietnam?

A recent rock concert in the capital attracted 1,600 fans and unusually, half were Vietnamese. With headlining Australian band ‘Regurgitator’ - one of the very first international acts for Hanoi - and the new star power of some of the country’s up-and-coming groups, change was discernible in this communist capital.

CAMBODIA/THAILAND: Temple Row May Lead to Wider Conflict

This week’s gun battle between Thai and Cambodian soldiers over the disputed Preah Vihear temple raises the possibility of wider conflict between the two South-east Asian nations.

COLOMBIA: Brutal Crackdown on Indigenous Protest

More than 75 people were injured and at least one was killed in a crackdown on indigenous protests being held in different areas of Colombia.

ARGENTINA: Rewakening the Ghosts of the 1970s Violence

Thirty-five years after the murder of prominent Argentine trade unionist José Ignacio Rucci, a book by an investigative journalist concludes that he was killed by the Montoneros guerrillas, as many already believed, rather than a right-wing death squad, as others argued.

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Picking Up The Peace Threads

India and Pakistan are trying to revitalise their mutual dialogue and pick up the threads of the peace process they launched in early 2004. This may be the last such effort before the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demits office by May next, if not sooner.

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: Sexual Harassment – Routine for Women Journos

Pakistan’s mushrooming electronic media has transformed the political landscape in this South Asian nation where illiteracy bars some 60 percent of the people from reading newspapers. It has also thrown up new challenges for young people entering media, particularly women.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Challenging Indigenous Alcohol Myths

While it may be a relic from the past, a common assumption in Australia is that indigenous people are particularly susceptible to alcohol and its effects. But a Canberra-based anthropologist is aiming to dispel such myths.

BOLIVIA: Morales Leads March for New Constitution

Bolivian President Evo Morales was at the head of a march that set off Monday to the capital from Caracollo, a town 200 km to the south, to press Congress to schedule a referendum on the new constitution that has been drafted by a constituent assembly.

PARAGUAY: Rally Clashes with Aid for Drought Victims

The suspension of a traditional rally in the western Paraguayan region of the Chaco, severely affected by a prolonged drought, has pitted the Fernando Lugo administration and local indigenous communities against the organisers of the automobile race.

RELIGION-INDIA: Canonisation Takes More Than Miracles

Christians who form 20 percent of the 32 million people of this southern Indian state are celebrating Sunday’s canonisation of their beloved Sister Alphonsa, unmindful of the controversies that surround the event and the life of the nun who lived at Bharananganam, a village 33 km from here.

ENVIRONMENT-CHILE: Pedalling Against Pollution

As greenhouse gas emissions drive global warming and fuel prices continue to soar, pedalling has come back in style in many cities of the industrialised world. In Chile, as well, public bicycle services, bike routes and special parking areas are some of the initiatives currently being developed.

POLITICS-SENEGAL: Ms. Mayor, Ms. Prefect

The Sicap Baobab neighborhood, one of the prettiest in the Senegalese capital, stands out, but not for the most obvious reasons. Not for its well-paved roads, or the number of naturalised immigrants from Cabo Verde, Togo or Benin, not for the hustle and bustle of the formal and informal economies.

BOOKS-IRAQ: Kurdish Jews Recall a Paradise Lost

It's become popular, when talking about ongoing violence in U.S.-occupied Iraq, for officials in Washington and the media to paint the Iraqi people as savages who can't help but keep killing each other.

CUBA: Churches Reject US Report on Religious Freedom

Pastors and representatives of Protestant churches expressed their disagreement with a report from the United States that describes Cuba as one of the countries that restrict the practice of religion and said that, on the contrary, they have absolute freedom to practise their faith.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Garifunas Confront Their Own Decline

"The Garífuna were the best sailors in the world," says Jermonino Barrios, standing barefoot on this slender thread of land between the Laguna de Los Micos and the blue Caribbean Sea.

DEATH PENALTY: Activists Reveal Japan's Death Row to the World

Japan’s death row inmates revealed to the world on Friday their personal stories of isolation and suffering, uninformed until the last minute when they will be taken to the gallows.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Mahathir May Return to Centre Stage

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s planned stepping down in March 2009 may well see a return to the authoritarian rule familiar to Malaysians during the 22-year iron rule of his predecessor Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

CHINA: Nothing Confucian About Toxic Milk

For a country with an enduring tradition of Confucian ethics, the poisoned milk scandal - possibly the worst crisis of its type in Chinese modern history - has had a devastating blow on the public's trust in its government's benevolence.

DEATH PENALTY-PAKISTAN: Reason For Hope on World Day

As rights groups mark the Sixth World Day Against the Death Penalty with an appeal for an end to executions in Asia, Pakistan pulled one man back from the gallows and hinted that it will soon honour pledges to commute the sentences of over 7,000 death row inmates.

MADAGASCAR: A Difficult Step For Women

The northern region of Diana is known for the beautiful beaches of the Nosy-Be district and the scent of fields of ylang-ylang flowers. But the political landscape of Diana is as extraordinary as its geography: the region's administrative head is a woman, Anjara Mantasara.