RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Too Little, Too Late for Lost Generation Aborigines

A decade after the release of the landmark 'Bringing Them Home Report' on the forced removal of indigenous children from their families - known as the Stolen Generations - the situation for indigenous Australians remains desperate.

POLITICS-US: A New General for God’s Army?

In recent appearances on two U.S. cable news networks, he was slinging and zinging - the well-rehearsed pitchman for the Biblical "End Times" was dead certain that "Iran is going to have to be attacked" before 2008.

INDIA: Land Developers Eye Top Cultural Campus

Intellectuals in this famous university town founded by nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, 210 km from Kolkata, have taken the state government to court for defacing its unique cultural and environmental heritage in the name of development.

IRAQ: Violence Now Corners Christians

For Janet Petros's family it all started when the al-Mahdi militia of the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took control of their mixed neighbourhood Hay Muwasalat in Baghdad last year.

RUSSIA: Talking Its Own Language

Russia is looking to promote its language and culture as a way to improve its image abroad.

ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN: Eels Off Menus

A revered tradition during Japan's hot and humid summer is eating broiled eel, a dish believed to induce energy. But this year, the item has been elusive on menus following a decision by the European Union to slash eel exports

SRI LANKA: Gov&#39t in Serious Image Crisis

"Somewhere in the jungles of Vanni (northern Sri Lanka), Velupillai Prabhakaran (Tamil Tiger rebel leader) is rubbing his hands in glee. The actions of the Sri Lankan government during the last week, however quickly reversed, best served his interests, and his alone," 'The Nation' commented in its Sunday editorial.

DEATH PENALTY-JAPAN: Deposing Survivors May Hit Abolition Campaign

A proposal under discussion in the Japanese Diet (parliament) to allow survivors of murder victims to address the courts is being watched with growing dread by death penalty opponents in this country.

CULTURE-FINLAND: ‘Living Books’ Help Fight Prejudice

Books cannot talk back to a reader and answer all of their questions. So if one is seeking concrete information on, say, a gay person, the library is perhaps the wrong place to visit.

SRI LANKA: Court Stays Eviction of Tamils From Capital

The nationalist government of President Mahinda Rajapakse received a rap on the knuckles from the country's apex court Friday when it ordered a stop to the indiscriminate deportation of ethnic Tamils from the national capital to their homes in the island's north and east.

RELIGION-MALAYSIA: Mired in Holy Quandary

After a landmark superior court decision downgraded secular law and constitutional guarantees against Islamic rules, a storm of protest has been building up as government and civil society rush to find a solution to the religious impasse.

RIGHTS: Millions Displaced by Olympic Games

Governments may fiercely compete for the honour of hosting the world's premier sporting event. But for minority groups and the poor, the Olympic Games have been anything but a windfall.

DEVELOPMENT: The ‘Good Guys’ Chastise the G8 ‘Villains’

"You shouldn't have any doubts, the good guys are us," says Patrick, 20, dressed in jeans, t-shirt, and a sport jacket, with a flamboyant pink Mohawk haircut, as he reads a pamphlet on development aid for Africa.

MEDIA: Young Journalists Explore What It Means to Be Muslim in Italy

With the help of a new monthly magazine, 'Yalla Italia' (Come On, Italy), some young second-generation Egyptian, Moroccan and Tunisian immigrants are attempting to explore and address the stereotypes considered an obstacle to their full integration in this predominantly Catholic European country.

IRAQ: Broken Lives and Broken Hearts

With the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq in its fifth year, one leading study estimates that more than 655,000 Iraqis have been killed - with no end to the violence yet in sight. Left behind are loved ones who continue to mourn their loss, as well as what might have been.

AFGHANISTAN: Return of the Uzbek Warlord

The ugly riots and police firing that resulted in the deaths of at least a dozen people in northern Jowzjan province in the last week of May are being seen as signs of rebellion against the government of President Hamid Karzai by the warlord Gen. Abdorrrashid Dostum and his Uzbek community.

POLITICS-US: Arab, Jewish Communities Share Peace Goals

Almost exactly 40 years after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the Arab and Jewish communities of the United States appear largely agreed on the general outlines of a final settlement and the importance of Washington playing a stronger role in bringing it about.

IRAN/US: Iraq Talks – Rare Chance for Regional Security

While limited to the issue of security in Iraq, the direct talks between Iran and the United States in Baghdad is being seen as a breakthrough and an opportunity for both countries to deal with pressing issues of national interest as well as security in a region extending from Afghanistan in the east to Iraq and to Palestine and Lebanon in the west.

MEDIA-SRI LANKA: Building Ethnic Harmony With Community Radio

In this tea-growing hill country, about 150 km from Colombo, a state-run community radio station is creating harmony among the country's Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim ethnic groups by broadcasting from the villages and opening up the airwaves to people's participation.

MIDDLE EAST: Iranian Art Bridges Regional Divide

While Iran's leaders maintain a confrontationist attitude towards the international community, Iranian artists are playing a friendlier tune in the immediate neighbourhood.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Don’t Cross that Invisible Line

"We can't go from one barrio to another. Whoever does that is at risk of losing their life," a community organiser in this Pacific port city in Colombia told IPS.