WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Kenya’s Forum to Debate Democracy

During the World Social Forum (WSF) held in Kenya in January of 2007 one of the many presentations was about democracy and the general elections that were to be held here in December.

RIGHTS: Virtual Eyes on Taylor Trial

After a delay of six months, the Charles Taylor case resumed at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) on Jan. 7. The former president of Liberia is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes during the civil war in Sierra Leone (1991-2001), including murder, rape, enslavement, acts of terrorism and the recruitment of child soldiers.

KENYA: Senior Women Editors Campaign For Peace

The story of a 12-year-old girl stabbed by her 14-year-old neighbour just because their parents supported different presidential candidates in the Dec. 27 elections will hardly make headlines here. Neither will the story of a woman in President Mwai Kibaki’s backyard sheltering about 100 workers who have fled the post-election violence.

SLOVAKIA: Government-Media War Escalates

In the midst of a war between government and the media, a new and controversial press bill will force media outlets to publish anyone's reactions to articles considered offensive.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Plight of Kisii Refugees Grim

A group of men who a couple of weeks ago were busy at work huddle together idle. They have grown tired of rehashing tales of their horrendous experiences at the hands of their hitherto neighbours and friends. Now they watch the entrance to the church here, in the hope that any visitor brings something to silence their rumbling stomachs.

CULTURE: Indian Cinema – Fewer Bump and Grind Routines

The voluptuous heroine playing a coy hide-and-seek game of love around a tree in Indian cinema has produced derisive scoffs from Western audiences and sophisticated film buffs at home and abroad.

MEDIA-THAILAND: Interference Mars Community Radio

Pride evident in his voice, Weerapol Charoenthum expressed his satisfaction with ‘Maung Loei’, a community radio station run by the youth of the north-eastern Thai province of Loei.

MEDIA-MEXICO: Freedom of the Press?

In the last seven years in Mexico, 35 journalists were killed and six went missing, 84 media workers filed complaints of insults or attacks in 2007, and in the first few days of 2008, the prestigious independent radio commentator Carmen Aristegui, who has often criticised the powers that be, was fired.

POLITICS: Pakistanis See U.S. as Greatest Threat

Amid reports that the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is considering aggressive covert actions against armed Islamist forces in western Pakistan, a new survey released here Monday suggested that such an effort would be opposed by an overwhelming majority of Pakistanis themselves.

EUROPE: Little Slovenia Takes Charge

Slovenia saw one of the greatest honours in its short history of 16 years as an independent state Jan. 1 when it took the rotating presidency of the 27-member European Union (EU) for the next six months.

HEALTH-BURMA: Bird-Flu Awareness Campaigns Show Results

An outbreak of bird flu virus among poultry in Burma’s eastern Shan State, close to the Thai border, is being greeted with a mix of concern and relief.

MEDIA-US: Foreign TV News Fell to Pre-9/11 Levels in 2007

With the exception of the Iraq war, foreign news coverage by the three major U.S. television networks declined significantly in 2007, according to the latest annual review by the authoritative Tyndall Report.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: No Immediate End to Kidnap Victims’ Pain

While the eyes of the world are on the imminent release of three hostages held by Colombia’s FARC guerrillas, hundreds of other kidnapping victims in this South American country are living their own personal nightmares, but outside the glare of the spotlight.

COLOMBIA: Hostages Release Goes Far Beyond Personal Ordeal

The long ordeal of two of the 45 hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), whose release was promised by the guerrilla leadership on Dec. 18, appears at long last to be coming to an end.

Q&A: PGTF Disburses $10M to 179 Regional Projects

"We have provided financial support to 179 South-South cooperation projects since 1987 in the fields of food and agriculture, trade, technology, energy, raw materials, technical cooperation, finance, industrialisation, and health," Eduardo Praselj, chairman of the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund (PGTF), told IPS.

POLITICS-US: Religious Right Bringing In &#39More Money Than Ever&#39

In 1897, the great American author and humorist Mark Twain, responding to stories that had him lying at death’s door declared, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." One hundred ten years later, Twain’s rejoinder could be applied to mainstream media reports about the demise of the Christian Right in the United States.

CULTURE: The Made in Hong Kong Literary Challenge

Asian writers may not be manning the cultural barricades as their Hollywood counterparts from the Writers Guild do, but they face an equally daunting foe - the capricious and formidable monopoly of English-language publishing.

MEDIA-US: Gas Prices, Iraq, Disasters Rated as ’07’s Hottest Stories

While the Iraq war remained the most consistently monitored story by U.S. media consumers through most of 2007, the public found the rise in gasoline prices and various natural and man-made disasters more compelling, according to a new survey released here Wednesday by the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press.

POLITICS-US: Bush&#39s New Spin Master a Lame Duck?

As Karen Hughes, the close confidante of President George W. Bush, gives up her mission to improve the U.S. image abroad - amid dedicedly mixed reviews of her performance - her replacement is already facing criticism for his support of the Iraq war and a number of alleged ethical lapses.

FILM-PORTUGAL: Ninety-Nine and Still Going Strong

On the threshold of 2008, 99-year-old Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira, the oldest active director in the world, says he has several projects planned for the coming years.

Q&A: Righting Past Wrongs – Defending the Right to Sexual Diversity in Cuba

Cuban sexologist Mariela Castro shocked the world, and a good number of people in Cuba, this year when she announced a proposed legal reform in this socialist Caribbean island nation which would include the full recognition of the rights of gays, lesbians, transsexuals, transvestites and transgender persons.