COMMUNICATION: This Fight Is Not Virtual Any More

The emails seemed inoffensive. The sender seemed to be a German official or a journalist with either the Der Spiegel weekly or the broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

JAPAN: Audiences Switching from Western to Asian TV Programmes

Nothing will persuade Michiko Suda, a 38- year-old homemaker, to leave home on Saturday evenings when her favourite drama is showing on television.

MEDIA-MIDEAST: Yemeni Journalists Fight for Rights

The Eastern Court in Yemeni capital Sana'a suspended publication of the al-Shamoa weekly for three months last week and sentenced its editor Abdulbasit al-Shameeri to imprisonment for that period. He was also fined a half million Yemeni Riyals (2,800 dollars).

CARIBBEAN: PM’s Lawsuit Sparks Latest Media-Government Tussle

An allegation by a Miami-based online newsletter against Grenada's Prime Minister Keith Mitchell is snowballing into accusations of curbs on press freedom, resignations and the possibility of a number of libel suits.

MEDIA-ZIMBABWE: A Nation of “Information Scavengers”

It's time for mid-week prayers at the Methodist Church in Main Street. But, spiritual affairs may be the least important matter on the minds of those present. Instead, a lot of time appears to be taken up by more worldly concerns, especially the pursuit of the latest information.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ TELEVISION-MEXICO: Big Brother Lawmaker

The Mexican version of the TV reality show "Big Brother" has boosted its viewing audience with the controversial participation of a Green Ecologist Party (PVE) legislative deputy, who has found in the programme an excellent venue to disseminate his ideas.

POLITICS-U.S.: Citizens Revolt Against Paperless Voting

Carroll County officials in the U.S. state of Ohio opted this week not to buy an electronic voting machine in time for November's presidential election, and Dan Kozminski says his group should get some of the credit for that decision.

IRAQ: Liberated Kurds Find Little Freedom

Fruit and vegetable vendors push their carts around a street market in Arbil, the seat of governance of Iraqi Kurdistan. The city is very different from Baghdad. Kurdish is spoken here, and written large on shop windows. Also, there is no visible American troop presence.

ENVIRONMENT DAY: Climate Change Film Has Potential to Change Minds

It is easy to dismiss Hollywood's big movie on climate change, 'The Day After Tomorrow', as fantasy, but small low-lying island states like Tuvalu take it seriously. It is already the day after tomorrow there, with rising seas forcing residents of the South Pacific nation to emigrate to New Zealand.

LATIN AMERICA: Telecentres for Digital and Social Inclusion

Access to the Internet offered by public telecentres in Sao Paulo, Brazil is not only helping narrow the digital divide, but also fomenting community life in poor neighbourhoods and providing cultural activities and job opportunities for youngsters at risk of falling into crime.

POLITICS: Latest U.S. Terror Warning Raises Questions

Two of the seven suspected terrorists linked by the Bush administration to an impending "hard" attack on the United States are probably not even in North America, said officials Wednesday.

ENVIRONMENT: Central America and Caribbean Under Satellite’s Eye

Central America has been monitoring its natural resources from outer space since the 1990s, through a project in conjunction with NASA. Now the aim is to incorporate 15 Caribbean countries into the initiative.

RIGHTS: Washington Urges Media Freedom – But Not for AlJazeera

When the U.S. state department shyly released a human rights report two weeks ago amidst an international outcry over U.S. soldiers' abuse of Iraqi prisoners, it slipped in some tough talk on media freedom - against the practice, not for it as would be expected.

AUSTRALIA: Pulling Plug on Ethnic TV Shrinks Space for Diversity

Sydney's ethnic community groups are outraged by the media regulating body's decision to pull the plug on an innovative television channel in Australia that has been giving a voice to them for 11 years now.

MEDIA-INDONESIA: Community TV Station Basks in Popularity, Quality

Ear-banging music filled the air, as lines of attractive dancers slid, hopped and rolled to the beat. Fireworks spiralled in the sky. The huge crowd, mostly teenagers, erupted in jubilant, noisy applause.

JOURNALISM-BRAZIL: A Drunken Spree of Errors

It is essential "to return the incident to its true dimensions: a case of poor journalism," says the Rio de Janeiro Union of Journalists about the controversy surrounding Brazil's expulsion of New York Times correspondent, Larry Rohter, for his story saying that the Brazilian president is a heavy drinker.

RIGHTS-TOGO: Minister Believes Quantity Equals Quality

Dozens of newspapers, scores of radio stations and five television channels...At first glance, Togo seems like a media junkie’s dream destination. But does being spoilt for choice translate into press freedom?

MEDIA-INDONESIA: Television Crime Shows Sell Well, But Jar Critics

Uni Z Lubis, the deputy chief editor of TV7, one of Indonesia's new television stations, has been spending more and more time lately on sensational crime reports.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Are the Watchdogs Being Muzzled?

"The stability of any government is measured by the freedom it gives to the press. If the government is clean in its dealings, then I see no reason why it should be worried about the press," says Kenyan media activist Mitch Odero. Recent statements by authorities indicate that they have a less sanguine view of the country's journalists, however.

POLITICS-PHILIPPINES: Internet, Mobile Phones Ease Hitches in Poll

When Filipinos troop to voting precincts on Monday to choose their new leaders, they will likely experience a reprise of hitches that are by now embarrassingly commonplace during elections in this South-east Asian country.

PRESS FREEDOM: Balkans Needs Media for Reconciliation

Independent local media is essential for reconciliation efforts within the Balkans, a meeting here declared on Press Freedom Day Monday.