EGYPT: Constitutional Position of Islam Questioned

Another constitutional debate has erupted this month after a number of academics and rights activists called for the amendment of Article 2 of the national charter that defines a role for Islam.

WATER DAY-GULF: Forced to Look Beyond Desalination Plants

The holy month of Ramadan is a time when Muslims retreat into fasting and prayer. Last September though, devotees near the Saudi port city of Jeddah had violence on their minds as they broke a day-long fast. Fists flew when told that water brought them in tankers had run out.

RIGHTS: U.S.-led Terror War Victimises World’s Minorities

The U.S.-led war on terror has triggered a strong backlash against some of the world's minorities, including ethnic and religious groups, according to a study released here Tuesday.

AFGHANISTAN: Italian Scribe Swapped for Five Taliban Prisoners

Freed Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo returned to Kabul Tuesday after being in Taliban custody for 15 days on charges of "spying" for the British.

RELIGION-US: Who Says Halal and Kosher Don’t Mix?

If you happen to visit Fredericksburg, Maryland soon or other U.S. towns, you may find yourself invited to a local mosque for dinner - especially if you are Christian or Jewish.

MUSIC-CUBA: Hip Hop Sidelined but Still Rapping

Cuban hip hop music is past its peak, and is struggling to survive in a context where it lacks performance venues, receives only weak institutional support, and has to compete with more commercial music styles alien to the critical discourse that the movement has promoted since its origins.

DEATH PENALTY-PAKISTAN: A Jail Superintendent’s Aversion

Superintendent Nusrat Hussain Mangan of the central jail in the southern port city of Karachi considers himself fortunate that he has never had to witness a man being hanged.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban Give Italy Three Days for Italian Reporter

The Taliban may have sent their clearest signal about the fate of abducted Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo by executing his driver, preceded by a taped warning that the Italian government has "only two days to save his life by starting negotiations."

Q&A: "U.S. Funding Armed Groups to Overthrow Iranian Govt"

Author of the upcoming book "The Iran Agenda: the Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis", due for release in September from Polipoint Press, Reese Erlich recently spent three weeks investigating Kurdish resistance organisations in Iran and Iraq's Kurdish region. He tells IPS that "the United States is officially funding armed groups to overthrow the Islamic government" in Tehran.

POLITICS-US: Bush’s Book List Gets More Islamophobic

Accounts of a Feb. 28 "literary luncheon" at the White House suggest that President George W. Bush's reading tastes - until now a remarkably good predictor of his policy views - are moving ever rightward, even apocalyptic, despite his administration's recent suggestions that it is more disposed to engage Washington's foes, even in the Middle East.

EGYPT: Persecuted Islamists Pledge Peace

This month has seen the detention of numerous members of the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood movement, in a continuation of the ongoing arrest campaign targeting the Islamist opposition.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Anti-Stoning Women Activists Held Indefinitely

The indefinite detentions of the prominent lawyer Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a leading campaigner against the award of stoning sentences for adultery, are being seen here as part of increasing pressure on women’s rights activists by the Islamic republic.

AFGHANISTAN: Italy Talks With Taliban Over Abducted Journalist

A day after an Italian journalist kidnapped in Afghanistan appeared in a video, shown over television, appealing to Prime Minister Romano Prodi to work for his release, both the Italian Embassy in Kabul and the Taliban have confirmed they are in negotiations.

CHILE-PERU: Censorship or Prudent Relations?

Fears of censorship were triggered by a decision by Chile's public television station to postpone the broadcast of a documentary on the 1879-1883 war between Chile, Peru and Bolivia in response to a request by Chilean Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley, who had been contacted by the Peruvian government.

POLITICS-US/IRAN: The Religious Right’s New Bugbear

Last Sunday, Pastor John Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel, received a rousing reception at the opening dinner plenary of the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference.

JAPAN: ‘Baby Hatch’ Plan Still on Hold

Three months after a private Japanese hospital proposed the setting up of a ‘baby hatch' to save unwanted infants, conservative officials continue to resist its launch in what critics say illustrates indifference to female reproductive rights in this tradition-bound country.

AUSTRALIA: Sudan Survivors Lost in Their New Home

While Australia magnanimously accepted large numbers of young Sudanese, who survived one of the most vicious wars of the last century, many have serious adjustment problems in their new home.

ARGENTINA: Digital Library for the Blind

Armed with a computer and their passion for literature, a group of blind people in Argentina have created the first digital library for Spanish-speaking people who are visually impaired. It already has some 20,000 volumes and over 3,000 subscribers in 40 countries.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Preparing for Snap Polls

While Malaysia's parliament is due to be dissolved only in May 2009, election fever is already gripping this racially divided nation following speculation that the stumbling administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi may prefer to face the voters before economic and social conditions worsen.

PAKISTAN: Taliban Writ Runs in Border Areas

"Shaving beard isn't done here. Contact only for hair cut", reads a sign pasted outside the entrance of a barber's shop in Upper Dir, a rugged and mountainous district in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that borders Afghanistan.

KENYA: Opposition to Anti-Terror Law That “Violates Even Basic Rights”

Rights activists in Kenya have intensified their campaign against a proposed anti-terrorism law, this after a travel advisory issued by the United States warned of possible terrorist attacks in the East African country during the upcoming World Cross Country Championships (WCCC).