IRAQ: Women Resist Return to Sectarian Laws

As Iraq struggles to define its future, there is one important group that has been largely left out of the process: women.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Despite Cop’s Acquittal, Furore Far from Over

Despite last week’s acquittal of a policeman on charges relating to the death of an Aboriginal man in custody, the furore around it – along with concerns about discrimination against indigenous Australians - is far from over.

COLOMBIA: Civil Resistance Aimed at Recuperating Biodiverse Lands

Indigenous and black communities of Colombia's north-western department of Chocó are trying to recover their lands and food sources, lost to the decades-long civil war that has taken its toll on this area of vast biological diversity.

FILM: U.S. Military’s ‘Don’t Ask’ Policy and One Gay Marine

Jeff Key grew up in a small, conservative community in rural Alabama in the south-east United States. A large man standing well over six feet tall, he had already come out as gay to his friends and family, graduated with a degree in theatre, and moved to Los Angeles when, at age 34, he decided to join the Marine Corps.

VENEZUELA: Afro-descendants Seek Visibility in Numbers

As their counterparts in other countries of Latin America have begun to do, Afro-Venezuelans want to stop being statistically invisible, and are seeking more precise figures to help them in their struggle against racism and marginalisation.

BRAZIL: Floating House Made of Garbage – Art or Eyesore?

In a fetid canal filled with garbage from this Brazilian city, a bricklayer built a floating house and turned it into a symbol of recycling, leaving the authorities by turns applauding or frowning.

POLITICS: Iran-Britain Tensions Climb with Rushdie’s Knighthood

Tensions are rising between Britain and Iran over the knighthood awarded to British-Indian novelist Salman Rushie, the intimidation of guests invited to the birthday celebration of Queen Elizabeth II by the British embassy, and the row over the ownership of a British embassy-owned compound in the Iranian capital.

ROMANIA: Cannes Award Brings Back Memories

A Romanian triumph at the Cannes film festival this year has revived painful memories for thousands of women.

ALBANIA: Environment and Tourism Can Hold Hands

A pleasant hilly town of narrow, winding streets, Berat has survived the chaotic urban development of central Albania and hopes to grasp a unique opportunity in tourism. But it is also threatened by the unavoidable environmental and urban perils of a transition economy.

EGYPT: Clashes Could Bring Sectarian Conflict

After a year of relative tranquility, recent clashes between Muslims and Christians have again raised the spectre of sectarian discord in Egypt.

SPAIN-PORTUGAL: Binational Village Wants to Be Simply ‘European’

This tiny village of 109 people straddles the border between Portugal and Spain. On one side are the 50 houses of Rio de Onor de Braganza and on the other are the 20 houses of Ríohonor de Castilla. But the locals feel they are one community, and they want their hometown to be declared the first simply "European" village.

DEATH PENALTY-IRAN: U.N. Slams Scheduled Public Stoning

The United Nations Wednesday lashed out at the scheduled public stoning of a man and woman charged with adultery in Iran.

RIGHTS: Olympic Goods Made With Child Labour – Activists

With barely a year to go before the Beijing Olympics, a long shadow of labour and human rights violations in the production of games merchandise has been cast over the global sporting event.

POLITICS-ASIA: Turkey, Indonesia – Models in the Islamic World

People in Europe and the United States may tend to associate Islam with immigrants, autocratic regimes in the Middle East and political violence. But many more Muslims live in democratic countries in Asia, where political developments are less spectacular and not as headline-grabbling, but as decisive.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Cop in Rare Trial for Custodial Death of Aborigine

For the first time in decades an Australian policeman is facing trial on charges of manslaughter and assault in relation to the death of an aboriginal man while in custody.

ARGENTINA: Psychiatric Patients’ Radio Station Up in the Air

La Colifata was the first radio station in the world to broadcast live from a psychiatric hospital, and has played a key role in the reinsertion of patients in the community. But now the Argentine station, which has inspired the creation of around 40 similar stations in Latin America and Europe, has run out of financing.

DEATH PENALTY: China Considers Cash for Clemency

Under pressure to reduce its huge number of annual executions as it prepares to host the 2008 Olympic games, China has been experimenting with commuting death penalties to life sentences in exchange for compensation. But the practice is proving contentious.

AFRICA: “If You Want More Development, Include Women in Decision-making”

The '8th Triennial Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting' (8WAMM) has closed with an acknowledgement that gender equality is central to democracy, peace and economic growth; ministers also called for greater efforts to achieve parity between men and women.

SPORTS: Rumours Linger About Death of Pakistan Coach

Nearly three months later, the matter just refuses to die.

THAILAND: Schools Prime Targets for Malay-Muslim Rebels

The soldiers assigned to provide security for students and teachers at a school in the violence-torn southern province of Yala on Friday were part of a new plan by the military-appointed government in Bangkok. But they never made it.

HEALTH: Commonwealth Event Debates Why AIDS Wears “the Face of a Woman”

The issue of women continuing to be at higher risk of HIV infection than men has received considerable attention at a gathering of women's affairs ministers from Commonwealth countries underway in Uganda's capital, Kampala.