Democratic presidential hopeful and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson released a statement reacting to the asssassination of Pakistani former prime minister and opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, saying "We mourn for Ms. Bhutto. She knew the dangers to her safety. Her death, and the deaths of so many of her supporters is more than just a tragedy. It is a testament to the will of the Pakistani people to see democracy restored. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who died today."

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Richardson stated, "It is in the interests of the US that there be a democratic Pakistan that relentlessly hunts down terrorists. Musharraf has failed,and his attempts to cling to power are destabilizing his country. He must go."

"Today all New Yorkers, including the more than 100,000 who can trace their heritage to Pakistan, are saddened to learn about the assassination of Pakistan's Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Hers was a voice for democracy, and the silencing of it - by such brutal means - is a shock to us all. Ms. Bhutto's death - and the deaths of the many other Pakistanis who were killed today simply for expressing their views - is a great loss for friends of democracy and for everyone who is united in the fight against terror. It's also a grim reminder that many people consider the freedoms we cherish a threat. The perpetrators of this violent act must be brought to justice, and it is my hope that President Musharraf will follow through on free and fair elections in January as a testament to Ms. Bhutto's legacy."

Pakistan put its paramilitary forces on "red alert" across the country on Thursday after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto sparked violent protests by her supporters.

President Pervez Musharraf denounced what he called a terrorist attack and appealed for calm after angry backers of the slain former prime minister took to the streets across Pakistan, from the Himalayas to the southern coast.

The unrest was predictably fiercest in her native Sindh province and its capital, Karachi.

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto threatens to plunge a nuclear armed Pakistan into civil war, opposition groups warned today.

The former prime minister was killed by a suicide bomber as she left a public rally in the city of Rawalpindi today.

Commentators said the killing would make the postponement of the upcoming elections almost certain and could spark further unrest.

The European paedophile ring that was targeted by police services across the European Union was led by a Belgian from Bruges (West Flanders).

Last week's joint police operation staged by police services in all 27 European Union countries was triggered by an investigation in Australia. Detectives there raided the home of a paedophile and discovered video images recorded in Belgium.

Take some new age music, mix it with Turkish rugs, Moroccan tiles and Chinese lanterns and finally, add some tea - what you get is a typical Czech cajovna or tearoom, a place which has gradually won its place alongside Czech pubs. Not that tea could ever pose a serious threat to beer - the most popular Czech beverage, but its position on the market seems to have become unshakable over the last two decades.

With the world's attention focused on energy problems, important developments have emerged in the Tehran meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Caspian Sea-area leaders. It seems that another regional entente based in energy is emerging, one composed of countries that control almost half of the world's natural gas assets and 20 percent of global oil reserves. The most important aspect of this meeting was the joint proposal by Iran and Russia to veto the construction of any pipeline traversing the Caspian states. This initiative will be decided in next year's conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, and if accepted by all interested parties will signify an important shift in energy issues that gives Russia a stronger hand in dictating the rules of the game in relation to Western oil multinational corporations. Of course, it will elevate the role of Iran as well.

Christmas should be downgraded in favour of festivals from other religions to improve race relations, says an explosive report.

Labour's favourite think-tank says that because it would be hard to 'expunge' Christmas from the national calendar, 'even-handedness' means public organisations must start giving other religions equal footing.

The new EU Reform Treaty is effectively the same as the constitution it was designed to replace, according to a leading architect of the constitution.

The treaty differs from the abandoned constitution in "approach rather than content", says former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing.

Women in the Chadian town of Abeche have been protesting about last week's alleged child-kidnapping attempt.

Sixteen Europeans were arrested in the town while trying to fly more than 100 children they believed were orphans from Sudan's Darfur region to France.

Belgium on Wednesday demanded the extradition of the convict known as the "jailbreak king" following his arrest for armed robbery in the Netherlands a day earlier.

Ten police officers were injured and 100 demonstrators detained when an anti-Kurdish protest of up to 800 people in the Belgian capital turned violent Wednesday, police said.

CO2 emissions from transport are rising, biodiversity is threatened, and more Europeans are suffering from depression, according to the Commission's first review of the EU's sustainable development strategy. The report also includes some positive indicators, including an increase in the introduction of climate change-related initiatives in member states.

When a small museum in the city of Rouen arranged to hand back a mummified Maori head to New Zealand, the local mayor called it a "symbolic act" of atonement for European colonialists' grotesque trade in human remains.

But a row has erupted after the French Government intervened to block the return, saying the head was part of France's national heritage.

The poster of a baby wearing a wristband labelled "homosexual" in an advertising campaign against homophobia has sparked a row in Italy.

The image of the rosy-cheeked newborn, with the slogan "Sexual orientation is not a choice", will soon go up on billboards across Tuscany as part of a drive by its regional government to curb discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Poland's centre-right election victors said on Monday they would seek a broad alliance in parliament to push through economic reforms and redirect Poland into the EU mainstream.

The Civic Platform defeated the conservative Law and Justice party of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski in Sunday's election after a record number of Poles turned up at the ballot box to reject social conservatism and isolationism.

According to a report from the Belgian Economy Ministry one in seven Belgians lives in poverty.

The report is published on the eve of World Poverty Day.

Singles on less than 822 euros a month and a couple with two children who have to get by on less than 1,726 euros a month are considered to be below the poverty line in Belgium.

In a press release on Thursday the Investigation and Information Centre for Consumer Organisations (OIVO) warned about misleading business practices of clairvoyants and healers.

Seven out of a hundred consumers have consulted clairvoyants and two in a hundred have made an appeal for help to healers. The average price per session is EUR 58 for a clairvoyant and EUR 21 for a healer. These averages however conceal much larger amounts; certain consultations can cost up to EUR 2,500.

China joined Western powers for the first time to deplore Myanmar's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations and call for political dialogue in a statement issued Thursday by the U.N. Security Council.

The statement urged the military regime, which has ruled Myanmar for 45 years, to free all political prisoners and protesters soon and prepare for a "genuine dialogue" with main opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Four months after a general election took Belgium to the brink of constitutional crisis, parties in coalition talks reached their first agreement Tuesday on the issue of immigration.

"What a relief! After 110 days, they took more than a week to reach agreement on one point," the president of the French-speaking Partie Socialiste, Elio di Rupo, said ironically.

CREG, the company that manages energy supplies in Belgium, warns that we could face an energy shortage from next year
The looming shortage of gas and electricity is mostly the consequence of a shortage of energy power stations.

The new parliamentary year began Tuesday in the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate. It is highly unusual to start a new parliamentary year without a federal policy declaration. The current government is only handling the most urgent matters, awaiting a new federal coalition.

A Chinese man will have to sue if he wants to get back any of the $23,000 he paid to a Christchurch company director to arrange a sham marriage so that he could get New Zealand residency.

Chinese national, Jiachang Lu, received a sentence of 180 hours community work for his part in the scam and it is understood he has now been deported.

The woman involved in the scheme, Nicola Sheree Bell, was sentenced to 120 hours' community work.

But the man who arranged it, Stephen William Adams, 46, was today jailed for 16 months after admitting supplying false or misleading information to an immigration officer.

"If the appeal court upholds the interim injunction in the case of the Ecuadorians, we might as well stop trying to carry out the repatriation policy altogether," says Philip Van Hamme, chairman of police union NSPV.

The repatriation officers who had to turn around and return Ana Cajamarca and her daughter Angelica on Monday are especially frustrated. Philip Van Hamme says that is why everyone is waiting anxiously for the decision of the appeal court.

"If that court upholds the decision from Monday, then we're through. Then we might as well just forget about picking up and repatriating illegal aliens. It will become a circus. We expect that the court's interim decision is just a stay of execution."

The wife of Ecuador's President Rafael Correa appealed to Belgian authorities Monday not to deport an 11-year-old girl and her mother back to Ecuador, away from family and friends.

The two - Ana Cajamarca and her daughter Angelica - were under orders to be deported on Monday because police said they had been living illegally in Belgium for four years.

Disbelief prevails after a 'lover boy' managed to run off after being given a 12 year-prison sentence. The man was accused of serious abuse, human trafficking, rape, attempted manslaughter and fraud.

This [note: sham marriages] comprises about nine per cent of Kenyan marriages. The marriage is contracted for reasons other than love and family and is orchestrated for personal gain such as immigration, wealth and social status.

This type of marriage is also known as a "sham marriage".

Rosaline wanted to migrate to the USA or Germany, but her numerous visa applications were rejected. Someone advised her that the easiest way out was to get married to a citizen of any of those two countries.

Fortunately for her she met a German and married him within a year. She has been living in Germany for the last seven years.

But money is the main reason people get into such marriages.

About 10 years ago, Ken, a 32-year-old lawyer, was on the verge of bankruptcy. His law firm was doing badly and debts were piling up. It was hard to come across new and well paying clients. He was single and dating a jobless girl who entirely depended on him. Along came Faith, a not so-good-looking woman who was head over heels in love with Ken. The icing on the cake was her family background: wealthy and influential politically.

Ken ditched his long-time girlfriend for the moneyed Faith. As soon as he declared undying love for Faith, his fortunes started changing. Clients started trickling in, and with them money. Within one year, Ken was mingling with the high and mighty, a wedding ring on his finger and Faith by his side.

The pace of change has accelerated.

In the last year, the trends reshaping journalism didn't just quicken, they seemed to be nearing a pivot point.

On Madison Avenue, talk has turned to whether the business model that has financed the news for more than a century — product advertising — still fits the way people consume media.

With audiences splintering across ever more platforms, nearly every metric for measuring audience is now under challenge as either flawed or obsolete — from circulation in print, to ratings in TV, to page views and unique visitors online.

Every media sector except for two is now losing popularity. Even the number of people who go online for news — or anything else — has stopped growing. Only the ethnic press is up.

"I am Gabor Szetey. A faithful Hungarian-European. Citizen, public official, member of the government. And gay."

Of all the arenas in which a senior government politician could come out, Szetey's choice -- two days before a Gay Pride march earlier this month in post-communist eastern Europe -- was one of the most defiant.

Hungary's Secretary of State for Human Resources risked hostility because he wanted to highlight persistent intolerance, not just of gay people, but also of other minorities, in eastern Europe.

The full scale of London's bogus marriage scandal was revealed yesterday. One in every four couples tying the knot at register offices in the capital may have been a sham to get around immigration rules.

More than 20,000 people braved heavy rain and clouds of cannabis smoke to celebrate the summer solstice at Stonehenge.

The ancient monument rang to the sounds of drumming and a saxophone as the Sun rose unseen above the Heel Stone at 4:58 a.m.

Druids, pagans, punks and New Age travellers mingled with the merely curious, despite the unfortunate weather.It was the first gathering at Stonehenge since the reclassification of cannabis and police were concentrating their attention on those suspected of possession with intent to supply rather than just smoking it.

Glastonbury revellers welcomed the summer solstice dancing on top of a 'Stonehenge' of festival lavatories created by artist Banksy today.

They celebrated the year's longest day after a rare dry night at the site in Pilton, Somerset, which is due to host 180,000 music fans at the weekend.

Another 24,000 revellers gathered at the real Stonehenge to watch dawn break.

Rebecca Pointer's four-year-old daughter raised some eyebrows when she recently drew her family tree at playschool.

Pointer and her husband are polyamorous — and have for the past two years shared their home in the Cape seaside suburb of Muizenberg with another man, the father of Pointer's eight-month-old son.

A British tourist coach has crashed into a house in Belgium leaving 23 people injured, police have said.

A Spanish court has ordered the interception of two US boats should they leave Gibraltar, amid a row over treasure from a shipwreck.

Migrants would have to "earn" British citizenship under a points-based system to be proposed by two ministers.

he former head of the state public defender's office in St. Louis faces federal charges for arranging a sham marriage to keep his boyfriend in the United States, U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said Friday.

It became the most controversial Dutch TV programme ever, and a talking point from Brussels to Berlin.

But in general, the US is very skittish when it comes to accepting international legal obligations. That's true not only concerning Kyoto, but also of the American stance toward human rights or the issue of Iraq in the UN Security Council.

A Dutch TV contest which purported to show a dying woman choose a patient to receive her kidneys was a hoax.

John Reid failed yesterday in his attempt to overturn a ruling that Home Office regulations to curb sham marriages were in breach of the human right to marry.

The Tories have pledged to raise the minimum age at which non-EU nationals can come to Britain to marry, to 21.

Shadow minister Damien Green said they should also pass an English test, to cut the number of young spouses unable to integrate into British society.

Will elections change the struggling oil-rich nation?
Photographs by Jacob Silberberg / Panos and Thomas Dworzak / Magnum for TIME

"Forgive me, my daughter, as I burden your little back with milestones as heavy as rocks and sadness and woes as large and wide as the mountains and land? If only you could understand that the homeland is more precious than your beautiful eyes "Forgive me, Noor, for you have no place in your mother's lap. They killed your mother and crushed my dreams and hers? and you were the victim! "Forgive me, my daughter, that I was never someone you could be proud of. I was not a doctor or an engineer. I was not even highly educated, but I loved and worshipped you just as I adore and breathe the soil of our homeland. I only hope that one day when you are older and wiser you will be proud of me. This is my wish for you my daughter so listen carefully and understand?You will take on the responsibility of jihad after me. I want to meet you in heaven, God willing, as a mother of men who liberated Baghdad. "There must be a price? there must be a price? and you my little one will pay that price..!

Two Frenchmen who appeared to be good fathers, with steady jobs and a clean criminal record, hatched a monstrous plan over the past few months to kidnap a little girl, torture her for a weekend and brand her before releasing her, so that she would never forget what happened to her.

Mrs Macaskill revealed that she and her husband believe in polyamory, a system that condones open relationships and loving many people at the same time. The love may be sexual, emotional or spiritual.

The phenomenon developed in the US but has since become increasingly popular in the UK.

The couple, who had been married for 12 years, had been trying to find a way of including Angelika in their lives when she was killed.

A Nigerian woman reported to have "married" four women last weekend in Kano State has denied the allegations.

Aunty Maiduguri told the BBC the reports of her wedding were false, and that she was not a lesbian.

She had gone to the police and lawyers and would take the case to court in an effort to clear her name, she said.

Under Sharia law, adopted in the state seven years ago, homosexuality and same-sex marriages are outlawed and considered very serious offences.

Lesbianism is also illegal under Nigeria's national penal code.

With rising oil prices and growing demand for ethanol as an alternative fuel, US corn producers anticipate a huge boost in profitability. Any spike in corn prices caused by increasing ethanol consumption, however, could devastate the developing world. Billions of impoverished people depend on corn and other staples for their caloric intake, but higher corn prices would decrease affordability of basic foods. Adding to the complications: The biofuel industry is dominated not by market forces but by politics and the interests of a few large companies. As corn growers in the developed world receive hefty subsidies from their governments, counterparts in the developing world become less competitive in the global market. Political and corporate interests have also diverted funds away from investment in more efficient and environmentally-friendly sources of ethanol, more sustainable options in the long run.

After four a half years of intensive studies, civil engineer Jonas Pihlström thought he had found a job for which he was perfectly suited - but his girlfriend's blog may have put paid to his ambitions as the company instead opted for a candidate with fewer qualifications.

The Punjab government on Wednesday announced that an officer of the rank of an additional director general of police will probe all cases pertaining to illegal immigration and sham marriages of non-resident Indians (NRIs).

Police and immigration officers yesterday broke up a gang behind a major sham marriage scam.

Four men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of marrying off vulnerable Glasgow women, including drug addicts and prostitutes, to Africans wishing to stay in Britain. The members of the gang were seized in a series of dawn raids early yesterday in Paisley, Cambuslang, London and Reading, Berkshire.

New marriage guidelines are being drawn up by the Church of England amid fears that its clergy may be unwittingly conducting bogus weddings.

Officials have noticed a sharp rise in the number of migrants seeking church weddings since the Government imposed a crackdown on marriages of convenience at register offices.

Twenty-five Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) have been convicted and sentenced to jail for arranging "marriages of convenience" of Indians with British nationals in order to let them gain entry into Britain.

The Legislature has approved a bill giving the Division of Immigration more teeth in its campaign against sham marriages.

House Bill 15-224, authored by Vice Speaker Justo S. Quitugua, passed the Senate in a 7-2 vote. It will become law once signed by the governor.

If enacted, the bill would strengthen an existing law created to deter fraudulent marriages. A person who enters into marriage for immigration purposes would no longer be guilty of just immigration fraud, but of marriage fraud. Penalties are up to five years in prison, or a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Supermarket chain Asda has withdrawn a T-shirt from sale following complaints it was an incitement to rape.

The grey headed albatross could become extinct in Australia if funding delays continue for pest eradication on the World Heritage listed Macquarie Island, conservationists warned on Thursday.

The delays also would be devastating for the sub-Antarctic island's penguins, petrels and other seabirds, said WWF scientific advisory committee member Dr Andrew Burbidge.

A mainland breeding program designed to help save the Tasmanian devil from extinction has had its first success, with the birth of four baby devils at a Wildlife Park in Queensland.

Global warming is starting to have a significant impact on Australian marine life, driving fish and seabirds south and threatening coral reefs, Australia's premier science organization said yesterday.

But much more severe impacts could occur in coming decades, affecting sea life, fishing communities and tourism. In particular, warmer oceans, changes in currents, disruption of reproductive cycles and mass migration of species would affect Australia's marine life, particularly in the southeast.

A man who married an heiress more than twice his age and then sold her flat, emptied her bank accounts and left her bankrupt was jailed yesterday for three and a half years.

When one military wife got the news that her husband was coming home from Iraq, they didn't tell her he was going to bring the war back with him.

As the players began preparing to travel to the United States for spring training, they headed to the consulate with their new wives to get their work visas in order. But players told ESPN that officials became suspicious after noticing that so many minor leaguers had been married in recent days, and the same witness had been present at many of the shotgun weddings. Oriental, Paredes and numerous other minor league ballplayers were summoned back to the consulate and faced with their worst nightmare -- their visas were permanently canceled and they were banned from setting foot on American soil.

Authorities in Suriname are currently taking steps to tackle sham marriages in the country, officials have confirmed. In its weekly cabinet meeting Wednesday, the government sanctioned a bill put forward by justice minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi to curb this illegal practice.

AN EGYPTIAN blogger was jailed for four years yesterday after being convicted of insulting Islam and Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak.

Abdel Karim Suleiman, 22, a former law student, was the first blogger to stand trial in Egypt for his internet writings. He was charged in connection with eight articles written since 2004.

A former Radford High School teacher has apparently fled the country to avoid trial on charges he arranged an illegal marriage for his gay lover, according to authorities.

Bob Loren faces up to five years for allegedly arranging a sham marriage for Hang Duan, a 20-year-old man from China.

An Italian judge who ordered 25 CIA operatives to stand trial June 8 – as well as the large public protest in Vicenza, Italy, last week over the expansion of a US military base – adds momentum and edge to a widening division between the US and Europe over tactics in the international "war on terror" – even if a recent upstart attitude in Europe is not expected to be a relations-wrecker with Washington.

A beauty pageant in Spain disqualified its winner two weeks after she won her crown after learning she was the mother of a three-year-old boy, sparking criticism from left-wing parties and a governmental woman's institute.

Mr. Aramin, a Palestinian ex-fighter who was imprisoned by Israel at age 16 and spent seven years behind bars, has been a key figure in Combatants for Peace's recent high-profile public campaigns, participating in public lectures in Israel alongside Israeli cofounders Zohar Shapira and his brother, Yonatan. A father of six children who range in age from 4 to 13, Aramin says he has sought peace ever since his release from prison in 1992 in order "to defend all our children, both Palestinian and Israeli."

The mastermind of a bogus marriage syndicate received record-high 28-month jail sentence after appearing in the District Court today (February 8). Dai Chun-yin, 48, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of conspiracy to defraud, one count of aiding and abetting the making of a false representation to an Immigration officer and one count of perverting the course of public justice. His sentence was the biggest imposed on someone convicted in relation to bogus marriages.

As activists and international civil rights groups condemn the deteriorating state of press freedom in Egypt, more Egyptians seem to drink their morning coffee reading the Egyptian blogs instead of flipping through the newspaper.

The disappearance of hundreds of government opponents is Pakistan's most critical human rights issue, a leading campaign group there has said.

Can you imagine having to take an exam – or "The Exam," as it's ominously known around here – before you could buy a house? In this vibrant, friendly town on Galway Bay, potential home buyers must submit to a rigorous oral test to see if they're worthy of receiving the keys to a new home. They aren't tested on housekeeping skills, or health-and-safety know-how, or willingness to lend cups of sugar to neighbors in need. Rather, they're tested to see if they can speak Irish Gaelic – because fluent and committed Irish-speakers are welcomed here over others.

Reaction in Germany was hardly neutral when a prosecutor in Munich indicted 13 CIA officials last week for kidnapping a German of Lebanese descent and interrogating him in Afghanistan before apparently realizing they had the wrong man. Germans solidly backed the prosecutor.

Fantasist Emma Golightly was jailed for two years yesterday for plundering the bank accounts of men she met through lonely heart adverts.

Golightly created an extravagant web of deceit - posing as a rich businesswoman with homes abroad and a chauffeur-driven car, before fleecing their accounts.

The 22-year-old, of Meadowfield Gardens, Walkerville, Newcastle, even tricked two into marrying her so she would not die of cancer "unwed", Newcastle Crown Court heard.

She pretended to lavish them with cars, exotic holidays and expensive hotels, but was instead raiding their accounts.

The fugitive who admitted he masterminded a marriage scam involving sailors from Mayport Naval Station and European women said Thursday that he fled the country because he thought his deal for probation fell apart.

Federal prosecutors said they made no such deal.

Dariusz Stanley Baranski, 26, said in a phone call that he just left Detroit, where he had been living since he pleaded guilty in August. He said he is now in Poland.

Court proceedings started Sunday against Howaida Taha, an Al Jazeera journalist arrested while producing a documentary on police torture in Egypt. She's charged with harming national interests and faces five years in prison.

Meanwhile, Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer has been in jail since November awaiting trial, charged with criticizing Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Indonesia could lose about 2,000 islands by 2030 due to climate change, the country's environment minister said on Monday.

Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela joined top leaders, nobel laureates and elder statesmen on Monday calling on the world to reinvent Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent approach to solving conflicts. Mandela, who spent 28 years in prison for fighting white rule before leading South Africa to multi-racial democracy as the country's first black president in 1994, said Gandhi's non-violent approach which won India freedom from British colonial rule 60 years ago was an inspiration.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday accused unidentified outsiders of instigating Palestinian factional strife that he said was threatening civil war and hindering a relaunch of peace talks with Israel.

The Vienna City Council, in an attempt to fight bias, has launched a campaign to show images of women as well as men on public information signs.

An Indian man accused of raping a girl has married his alleged victim in a religious ceremony in a temple within the compound of a law court.

Kamalnath Patel, a 22-year-old farmer, offered to marry the girl during the trial in Madhya Pradesh state.

He is accused of kidnapping and raping her two years ago, when she was 16.

Prosecutors said the marriage may mean the court takes a more lenient view if Mr Patel is convicted. Campaigners called the marriage "shameful".

A US-based rights group has called on Tamil Tiger rebels and a breakaway faction called the Karuna group in Sri Lanka to stop using child soldiers.

Climate change, the rise of Asia and the next web revolution will dominate the agenda when the World Economic Forum starts on Wednesday in Davos.

Taiwan has made "moderate progress" in combating human trafficking since it was put on the Special Watch List last June, according to an interim assessment released by the US State Department.

The assessment evaluates the performance of 39 countries placed on the Special Watch List in the department's 2006 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report published last June.

US forces have stormed an Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil and seized five members of staff.

A Vancouver man, convicted of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, has been sentenced in federal court to three years' probation for his role in organizing sham marriages between Vietnam residents and U.S. citizens.

A system sending e-mail terror alerts to the public is being launched by security chiefs at MI5.

In India, where being gay is a crime, a royal son was shunned when he told his secret. Now he fights to change the law and public mind-set.

Rebecca Chiao, a spokesperson for the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights, outlined a campaign to stop sexual harassment, involving media and public outreach, lobbying for new laws and penalties, and an educational film for primary school children. "The Street is Ours" has garnered unprecedented public support, suggesting women's concern about being pressured into remaining at home when their economic and other civic contributions are most desperately needed.

Despite the state's official stance of fostering women's participation in development, the ECWR affirms that sexual harassment has become "an official tool of intimidation." The ECWR cites the abuse of Sinai women at the hands of police interrogators following the 2004 terrorist attacks, and the intimidation of women voters at the 2005 election polls.

The dying flickers of the Teleut language can be found here in southern Siberia, where the coal industry blackens the sky and hems in what once was a thriving nomadic nation enlivened by shamans and holy mountains.

A French revisionist academic who denies the existence of the Nazi Holocaust could face legal action for speaking on the topic at a controversial Iranian conference, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Wednesday.

Prince Laurent once again finds himself the centre of press attention in Belgium with the focus now on his well-documented financial problems in the 1990s.

At the time, it is well known that the powers-that-be wanted to keep the prince "busy" and, in the process, teach him responsibility.

Stonehenge was the Lourdes of its day, to which diseased and injured ancient Britons flocked seeking cures for their ailments, according to a new theory.

Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Turkey tomorrow for a visit not only dogged by controversy but fraught with security worries.

About the only good news for the Pope is that Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who tried to assassinate his predecessor, is still behind bars. Since shooting John Paul II outside St Peter's Basilica in 1981, Agca has been in jail in Italy and Turkey.

This month he asked to be released, saying he wanted to meet Pope Benedict; John Paul II once visited Agca in his cell to ask why he had tried to kill him. But the Turkish authorities have remained firm; Agca will remain in prison till 2010.

But in every other respect, the Pope's four-day Turkish trip is beginning to look like the pontifical voyage from hell. Or to it.

Ministers from Europe and Africa have pledged to co-operate to tackle illegal immigration through development.

The Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, has told African and European government ministers that they must accept high levels of cross-border migration.

Prominent Muslim scholars from around the world, including conservative religious leaders from Egypt and Africa, met Wednesday to speak out against female genital mutilation at a rare high-level conference on the age-old practice.

The meeting was organized by a German human rights and held under the patronage of Dar Al-Iftaa, Egypt's main religious-edicts organization. It was held at the conference center of Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni Islamic institution in the world.

A Virginia man's guilty plea Wednesday to arranging sham marriages between U.S. citizens and Ghanaian immigrants reflects the government's increased focus on marriage fraud.

Eric Amoah, 42, a pharmacy technician from Ghana, was one of 22 people charged in the Washington, D.C., area two months ago with participating in a marriage and immigration fraud scheme. His sentence is pending.

Similar busts have occurred in the past year in California, New York and Utah. An investigation is underway in Gwinnett County, Ga., where two men are charged with bigamy for marrying at least 13 African women.

"We're definitely seeing more organizations" involved in marriage fraud, says James Spero, head of the Identity and Benefits Fraud Unit at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "We're stepping up our efforts."

Foreign women are increasingly willing to pay Singaporean men to engage in sham marriages, police data said on Wednesday.

Most of the cases reported over the last year involved Chinese nationals.

The Israeli Supreme Court touched off a fresh controversy over gay rights Tuesday when it ordered the government to register same-sex marriages performed abroad.

The ruling by a seven-judge panel, though limited in scope, reignited a debate over the rights of homosexuals in Israel after ultra-Orthodox religious leaders led protests that resulted in the cancellation of a gay pride parade this month in Jerusalem.

The vital importance of voluntary collective action in the fight against climate change is spotlighted with the launch of a new campaign to plant a billion trees.