CHINA: Talks With Dalai Lama's Envoys Leading Nowhere

With Tibetan unrest smouldering and international pressure building up on Beijing to negotiate with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Chinese officials have met with his envoys and pledged more talks in the future.

DEATH PENALTY-PAKISTAN: Stonings – Sign of Taliban Resurgence

The Taliban have confirmed that their sympathisers have executed by stoning a runaway couple in this remote tribal region bordering Afghanistan - their first known use here of this long drawn-out death sentence for a so-called "honour crime".

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: &#39My Daughter, the Terrorist&#39

In Sri Lanka's brutal civil war some rebel women end their lives as suicide bombers that have killed hundreds over the years. A Norwegian documentary film that follows two 24-year-olds training to do just this has enraged the Sri Lankan government, but raises important questions about the conduct of war and its consequences.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Inquiry Into Terror Suspect Haneef&#39s Case &#39Pointless&#39

Concerns are being raised that the judicial inquiry into the case of former terrorism suspect, Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, could be a waste of time and taxpayers’ money.

ECUADOR: New Constitution Addresses Demand for ‘Plurinational’ State

Ecuador’s new constitution, which a constituent assembly expects to finish drafting by mid-June, establishes a united "plurinational" state, recognising equality along with ethnic diversity, as agreed between the government and indigenous organisations.

GERMANY: Churches Going on Sale

What do you do with churches that have long since lost their congregations? In Germany, some are put up for sale, and get converted into luxury apartments, offices, theatres, bistros and restaurants.

RELIGION: Ethics – The Best Weapon Against Domestic Violence

Domestic violence, which is widespread in Latin America as in the rest of the world, makes it imperative to recover ethics as the core value for practices and efforts aimed at creating more equitable and just societies.

Q&A: Circumcision an “Opportunity To Take Great Strides Forward” Against HIV

Results from trials in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda in 2006 showed that male circumcision reduced the transmission of HIV from women to men by up to 60 percent. On the basis of these results, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organisation have recommended that countries encourage men to be circumcised.

Q&A: How Faith Communities Can Help Fight Violence Against Children

"It’s important to know how families view the power relations that make them protective or destructive of rights," in a world where every year 275 million children witness scenes of domestic violence, said United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expert Eduardo Gallardo.

AFGHANISTAN: Death Row Numbers Raise Grave Doubts

By lifting the shroud of secrecy over the number of Afghans on death row - some 100 - the government has ended up raising grave doubts about the trial procedures that led to the extreme sentences.

PERU: Preserving the Potato in Its Birthplace

Thousands of varieties of potato (Solanum tuberosum), one of the most widely-eaten and well-known foods in the world, have been developed in the heart of South America’s Andes mountains, where the crop was domesticated more than 8,000 years ago.

ARGENTINA: Training Health Agents to Reduce Child Mortality

An ambitious new programme for training health agents to help reduce infant mortality in small rural communities and indigenous villages, launched by one of Argentina’s best-known human rights groups, drew many more applicants than the organisers had hoped for.

Q&A: Singing to a Political Beat

If a European rock music fan has just one album by an African artist in his or her collection, there is a higher than average chance it was recorded by Youssou N'Dour. The Senegalese man's status as his continent's most lucrative cultural export was underscored in 2005, when he was the only African to appear at the main Live8 concert in London's Hyde Park, an event that attracted several billion TV viewers, according to its organisers.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Ainu People to Press Demands at G8 Summit

Japan's hosting of the G8 summit in Hokkaido in July will afford a rare opportunity for the Ainu people who live on the island to press their long-standing demand to be recognised as an indigenous people.

AFRICA: Agricultural Extension Work Both Important and Under-valued

At a time of international concern about the future of the world's food supply, it's a comment that gives pause for thought: "I teach university students agriculture and extension but many of them opt for other professions, especially in ICTs, because agriculture is 'for those who haven't gone to school'."

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Equitable Distribution of Wealth – The Challenge

With Malaysia's opposition pact in the ascendancy after stunning gains in a general election last month, some are wondering how different their economic policies are likely to be if they do wrest power, as many expect them to do, eventually.

JAPAN: Zenkoji Temple Leads Pro-Tibet Protests

As Olympic torchbearer Senichi Hoshino started the Japanese leg of the relay in Nagano - home of the 1998 Winter Games - a prayer vigil began at the landmark Zenkoji Buddhist shrine in the city for those who have died in Tibet following the Mar.10 crackdown.

HEALTH-TANZANIA: A Hazardous Route to the Cradle

Tatu Shabani Tumbo's first born was diagnosed with strength-sapping anaemia, and died a toddler. Doctors had no medical explanation for the sudden death of her second child at age one. She then tried to get pregnant a third time, initially without success.

JAPAN: Law Against Possession of Child Porn Soon

When a visiting U.S. justice department official urged the Japanese government to not delay banning the individual possession of child pornographic material, it was a sign of the enormity of the problem stemming from this country.

ENVIRONMENT-US: Poll Finds Deep Concern Among Hispanics

Hispanic voters in the United States show a high degree of awareness and concern about environmental issues, particularly global warming, according to an unprecedented national survey on Latino opinion and the environment released here Wednesday by the Sierra Club.

AUSTRALIA: Olympic Torch Set to Light Passions

With demonstrations and counter-demonstrations anticipated this week when the Olympic torch relay makes its way through Canberra, a leading Chinese student’s association has called for politics to make way for harmony.