Sikkim, that tiny outcrop in the eastern Himalayas, is a little jewel that makes an interesting contribution to the bewildering cultural and ethnic diversity of India. On the face of it, Sikkim has always seemed an idyllic, lost- in- the clouds abode of beatific Buddhist monks and smiling inscrutabl

When it comes to democratic development in the Arab world, the ball is now squarely in the court of Islamic opposition movements. US President Barack Obama has spoken. Defying expectations that he would downplay domestic affairs and democracy promotion in favour of a more realist outlook, Obama used

While in Sarajevo to receive the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding's 2006 Peacemaker in Action award at a religious peace makers' conference, Azhar Hussain stayed up late every night talking to local taxi drivers. In addition to an appreciation for good stories, he conversed with the

Pakistan is in the middle of its largest operation against the Taliban in the troubled Swat Valley and adjacent areas.
Although a small first wave of refugees has begun to return as part of the government's efforts, up to 2.5 million people are believed to have fled the once quiet, scenic mountain

On 11 August 1947, a newly-formed Pakistan had its first session of the Constituent Assembly, which was formed to write Pakistan's constitution and serve as its first parliament. Joginder Nath Mandal, a Hindu from a caste that traditionally had been socially marginalised, was nominated as its chairm

Rohini Singh is still waiting for justice to be done after being brutally physically abused by the police constable Subhas Mishra, who entered and ransacked her home and also misbehaved with her two minor daughters, all because she was asking for protection against the harassment and domestic violen

Today in Pakistan there are two extremes: there are those who wish to impose a rigid, literalist interpretation of religion and then there are the world-weary agnostics who are blindly averse to anything having to do with religion. Both mindsets are dangerous as they both lead to a spiritual vacuum.

The juxtaposition of the views of President Obama and President Sarkozy on the wearing of the veil by Muslim women can tempt us into easy condemnation of one position and praise of the other. Through one prism, their positions could be characterised as respect for religious freedom on the one hand,

Like a dilapidated house, the US-Syria relationship has been in need of repair and renovation for years. Since President Obama's 20 January inauguration call for engagement with "adversaries", slow but steady and serious work by both sides has begun to restore the structure and substance of the rams

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and the World Heart Federation (WHF) called today on the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to take immediate action to avert the fastest growing threat by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to global hea

2 Samuel 5: 1-5, 9, 10, Psalm 48, 2 Cor. 12: 2-10, Mark 6:1-13
This has been a great weekend of the celebration of July Fourth, a powerful icon in the history of our nation. It is the anniversary of our nation’s birth, the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia sayi

"The new strategy for economic growth in poor countries should not, as today, focus on increasing exports and liberalizing international trade, but should foster internal demand through job creation and pay raises resulting from a social bottom line." –from Global Development, by Frans Doorman, 1998

In the hours following Michael Jackson’s death, people around the globe shared common pain, resuscitated old vinyl records stored in their basements and stayed up later than usual watching 1980s VHS or Youtube videos of Thriller and Billy Jean. Michael Jackson was adored by a wide spectrum of global

Since the 1970s, France has been evolving into a culturally and ethnically diverse country, though this has gone largely unnoticed. Yet throughout this process, entire populations on the margins of the privileged circles have been left out of the country’s economic progress, and in the 1980s and 199

According to a poll recently conducted by the University of Maryland and Zogby International, Germany’s popularity is on the rise in the Arab world. The poll revealed that large segments of Arab society approve of Germany’s potentially greater role in world politics. Twenty-three percent of Arabs in