POLITICS-PAKISTAN: Lawless North Turns Hostile to NGOs

Threats to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have brought development work to a halt in Pakistan’s lawless North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

ENVIRONMENT- SOUTH PACIFIC: Sea Turtles – Iconic but Going Extinct

Reports of the extinction of China’s iconic Yangtze River dolphins have some conservationists in the South Pacific fearing that the same fate awaits certain migratory species of sea turtles, which are similarly imperilled.

CULTURE-JAPAN: Theatre as Trauma Therapy for Children

Theatre can help children cope with violence they face during conflict situations, says a group of professional directors and peace activists.

KENYA: Legislation to Get More Women in Parliament – the Next Chapter…

Activists in Kenya have resumed efforts to legislate an increase in the number of women occupying seats in the East African country's parliament, this after a constitutional amendment bill that would have created 50 special seats for women was thrown out by the governing body.

HEALTH-ASIA: Unheard Voices Resonate at AIDS Photo Show

Sabina Yeasmin Putul has a silent, determined look with her left fist clenched tight in front of her face - a vision of strength, grace, and resilience all in one.

HEALTH-ASIA: &#39Tackling HIV/AIDS Goes Beyond Morality&#39

On the second day of the three-day Interfaith Community Forum ahead of the 8th International Congress for AIDS in the Asia-Pacific (ICAAP) here, different religious groups gathered together to share their experiences dealing with HIV and AIDS - once a controversial, taboo issue for many of them.

POLITICS-MALI: Worst Expectations Confounded

As former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once remarked, "A week is a long time in politics." By this token, a political landscape can alter even more in a month, recent developments in Mali being a case in point.

JAMAICA: On 120th Anniversary, Garvey Finally Wins Respect at Home

The gates to Marcus Garvey's Liberty Hall on King Street in downtown Kingston are imposing. Tall, red bars tower above visitors, and between the bars, black birds can be seen peering backwards at intervals.

SRI LANKA: Probe French Aid Agency For Massacre – Gov&#39t

A year after 17 workers of the French aid agency Action Against Hunger (ACF) were lined up and shot dead in the eastern town of Muttur, no one is sure who is responsible for the gruesome massacre - government forces or Tamil separatist rebels.

JAPAN: Surrendering Influence in Asia

Japan, 62 years after the traumatic surrender that ended World War ll on Aug. 15, 1945, has the satisfaction of rising to be a powerful influence in Asia. But it is also facing new and painful choices, say analysts here.

AFGHANISTAN: Women Defy Tradition, Run Shops in Mazar Town

Women have stormed a male bastion in this historic city, capital of the northern province of Balkh, and traditionalists are clicking their tongues in disapproval.

CULTURE-AUSTRALIA: Trauma of Partition Haunts Indians, Pakistanis

As Indians and Pakistanis celebrate the 60th anniversary of their independence, people affected by the simultaneous partition of the sub-continent and now living Down Under still find it difficult to make sense of a colossal man-made tragedy.

BRAZIL: Schools as Tools to Combat Violence

The assault on a physical education teacher was the last straw. Three teenagers beat him with sticks, causing a head injury which required 17 stitches. The school closed for three weeks from that day, Apr. 30, 2003.

EGYPT: U.S. Funnels Aid to Coptic Christians, Documents Show

The United States has quietly funnelled millions of dollars of its annual aid to Egypt to groups among the country's increasingly restless Christian Coptic community and to areas with large Christian populations as part of an effort to "empower" the religious minority in a little-noticed multi-year aid programme, according to a review of several recent congressional documents.

MUSIC-CUBA: Rap Calls for ‘Revolution Within the Revolution’

In makeshift studios, Cuba’s hip hop movement keeps on recording music that goes to the heart of the country’s troubles, in spite of the indifference of record companies and the media, and the negative response of society, which is perhaps afraid of hearing its defects exposed in song lyrics.

PAKISTAN: Looking to Women to Preserve the Peace

''The idea is to ensure that a May 12 never happens again,'' said Nasir Aslam Zahid, former judge and one of the members of the Women’s Commission for Peace (WCP) formed in time for Tuesday when Pakistan celebrates its 60th year of independence.

TURKEY: It’s About What the Wife Wears

The ten-day campaign for election of the 11th president of the Turkish Republic kicked off last Friday, but the names of the candidates are still unknown. The name of Abdullah Gul, minister for foreign affairs, remains on top of the aspirants list. However, there is growing speculation that a more moderate leader may be nominated through multi-party consensus.

CUBA: Black Women Rap Against Discrimination

They are few in number, but women’s loud chants of resistance against sexism, racism and discrimination against sexual minorities have left an indelible mark on the hip hop movement in Cuba, a little more than a decade old.

Q&A: Elections "Will Indicate Maturity in the Democratic Process"

Just hours remain before polling stations are scheduled to open in Sierra Leone for general elections that will see seven parties vie for the presidency, and control of the West African nation's parliament.

POLITICS-SIERRA LEONE: Women As An Antidote to Corruption?

Sierra Leone will hold general elections Saturday with a number of significant achievements in hand, not least maintaining peace for five years.

ALBANIA: Forget Communism…or Sell It

Bunkers? Underground catacombs? Submarine bases? Albania has been shaped by one of the most bizarre communist regimes ever and the potential to exploit it for tourism is inestimable.