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Monday, January 30, 2012 18:45 GMT

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PAKISTAN-INDIA
Women Expose Secret Genital Cutting Rite

Zofeen Ebrahim

KARACHI - "It was a dark and dingy room, where an elderly woman asked me to take off my panties, made me sit on a low wooden stool with my legs parted and then did something…I screamed out in pain," recalls Alefia Mustansir, 40, of her childhood experience.

U.N. Intensifies Campaign Against Female Genital Mutilation

Slowly Winning Fight Against FGM in Northern Senegal

CHINA
In Chains, And Writing Out
Emily-Anne Owen
BEIJING - Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, has been placed at the forefront of the fight for human rights in China once again with a new collection of works published in translation this January.

The Ancient Wither in New Iraq
Karlos Zurutuza
BASRA - "I’d say there are around 5,000 of us in the country, but if you ask me next week we may well be under 3,000. After twenty centuries of history in Mesopotamia, we Mandaeans, are about to vanish." Anxiety about the future of his people is more than evident in the figures given by Saad Atiah Majid, chairman of Basra’s Mandaean Council.

U.N. Arms Embargoes Busted by Ships from the West
	When the Security Council penalises governments with economic sanctions and arms embargoes, the world body's 193 member states are mandated to help implement the wide-ranging punitive measures imposed on these countries.

THEMATIC SOCIAL FORUM: Working Towards a Never-Ending Democracy

DEVELOPMENT: Uniting Against Extreme Poverty

UGANDA: Rural Women's Banks Ease Tough Times
	For most Ugandan women, obtaining a commercial loan to start a business has been very difficult. Many do not have the required collateral of land title deeds and many cannot afford the interest rates charged by commercial banks.

DEVELOPMENT: Uniting Against Extreme Poverty

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: HIV-Related Deaths Slow Economy

CHINA: In Chains, And Writing Out
	Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, has been placed at the forefront of the fight for human rights in China once again with a new collection of works published in translation this January.

PAKISTAN-INDIA: Women Expose Secret Genital Cutting Rite

PAKISTAN: New Rehab Plan Brings Hope for War-Disabled

BELARUS: Political Prisoners Facing Oppression
	"I had to fight to be treated like a human, not animal," dissident Nikolai Avtukhovich wrote from prison. Last month Avtukhovich, Belarusian political activist and entrepreneur, convicted to five years in the penal colony for illegal storage of five cartridges for a hunting rifle, cut his veins.

Romanians Discover Street Protest

CZECH REPUBLIC: Castration for Sex Offenders Triumphs

THEMATIC SOCIAL FORUM: Working Towards a Never-Ending Democracy
	For five centuries, Europe has taken it upon itself to enlighten the world, teaching it ways to address and overcome crises, from ideas and wars to missionary work and genocides.

GUATEMALA: Ríos Montt to Stand Trial for Genocide

Falklands/Malvinas, From Rhetoric to Pressure

SYRIA: "Street Fighting Rages" Near Damascus
	Fighting is continuing in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, according to activists, as Syrian security forces appeared to be reasserting their control over the restive fringes of the country's capital.

The Ancient Wither in New Iraq

MIDEAST: Censorship Changes Colours

U.S.: Growing Elite Opposition to Military Option Against Iran
	Like the imminent prospect of one's hanging, to paraphrase the 18th century British essayist Dr. (Samuel) Johnson, the suddenly looming possibility of war can concentrate the mind wonderfully.

U.S.: Plan for Popular Presidential Vote Quietly Advances

U.S.: Forced Marriages Still an Ugly Secret

THEMATIC SOCIAL FORUM: Working Towards a Never-Ending Democracy
	For five centuries, Europe has taken it upon itself to enlighten the world, teaching it ways to address and overcome crises, from ideas and wars to missionary work and genocides.

ARGENTINA: Drought Threat Looms Again

AFRICA: Miracle Tree is Like a Supermarket

U.N. Arms Embargoes Busted by Ships from the West
	When the Security Council penalises governments with economic sanctions and arms embargoes, the world body's 193 member states are mandated to help implement the wide-ranging punitive measures imposed on these countries.

SYRIA: "Street Fighting Rages" Near Damascus

CHINA: In Chains, And Writing Out

PAKISTAN-INDIA: Women Expose Secret Genital Cutting Rite
	"It was a dark and dingy room, where an elderly woman asked me to take off my panties, made me sit on a low wooden stool with my legs parted and then did something…I screamed out in pain," recalls Alefia Mustansir, 40, of her childhood experience.

PAKISTAN: New Rehab Plan Brings Hope for War-Disabled

INDIA: Male Activists Enhance Pre and Postnatal Care

SYRIA: "Street Fighting Rages" Near Damascus
	Fighting is continuing in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, according to activists, as Syrian security forces appeared to be reasserting their control over the restive fringes of the country's capital.

PAKISTAN: New Rehab Plan Brings Hope for War-Disabled

THEMATIC SOCIAL FORUM: Working Towards a Never-Ending Democracy