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Ugandan activists hold placards and chant slogans during an anti-homosexuality protest rally in the industrial city of Jinja, 72 km (43 miles) east of the capital Kampala, February 15, 2010. (REUTERS/James Akena)

Gay marriage? No in North Carolina, no in Uganda

by Jack Rodolico on May 11, 2012


As the world responds to Obama's acceptance of gay marriage, opposing American forces influence gay rights abroad. ...
The Mission Hills golf club, in Guangdong Province, China. The Chinese government has an official ban on building golf courses, in part over concern for displacing citizens. But they keep being built. (Reuters)

Forget Scotland: China stakes its claim to golf

by Jone Satran Fulkerson on May 10, 2012


Golf has become a global phenomenon, thanks in part to Asian growth. It has even come to Laos. But it's growing fastest in China, where new courses are sprouting like weeds. ...
Dancers perform under the portraits of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung (L) and the late leader Kim Jong-il during a gala show in Pyongyang, April 16, 2012. The performances are part of the celebration on the centenary of the birth of Kim Il-sung. (REUTERS/Bobby Yip)

Picture This: Huger-than-life kings, dictators, and leaders

by Jack Rodolico on May 9, 2012


This week's photo gallery features mundane, profane and insane portraits of leaders. ...
Dalma Rushdi Malhas of Saudi Arabia competes during the Singapore 2010nYouth Olympics Games. (Reuters)

Will Saudi women finally get their Olympic moment?

by Nicholas Nehamas on May 3, 2012


If you're a Saudi woman, you better not exercise in public. Compete in the Olympics? Hah! But as the 2012 Olympics draw near, Saudi Arabia says it is considering allowing female athletes to compete for the first time . . ....
U.S. President Barack Obama listens to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House. (Reuters/Jason Reed)

A race for re-election? Israel likely to go to the ballot before the U.S.

by Michael May on April 30, 2012


Some have speculated that Netanyahu wants to move the election date up before the U.S. elections in November. If Obama wins, he might up the pressure on Netanyahu to make a deal with the Palestinians. ...
Student protesters take cover from a jet of water during a demonstration against the government demanding changes in the public state education system in Santiago, Chile, April 25, 2012. (REUTERS/Carlos Vera)

Tuition battle in U.S. is a thumb war compared with Chile and Quebec

by Jack Rodolico on April 27, 2012


Riot police and water cannons greeted college students around the Americas this week. How much is too much to pay for a college education?...
Francois Hollande gives his first speech as President-elect of France. (Reuters/Regis Duvignau)

Hollande will add sauce to U.S.-France relationship

by Jone Satran Fulkerson on April 23, 2012


Nicolas Sarkozy was America's BFF as French president. Francois Hollande probably won't be....
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U.S., Muslim superheroes meet at first Middle East ComicCon

by Jess Holland on April 20, 2012


Make room, American superheroes. Superheroes from the Middle East are also fighting to save the world. ...
In Cartagena, a wall covered with posters for champeta shows. (Lombana)

From Colombia: Secret Service exploits, and the sound of champeta

by Michael May on April 20, 2012


Secret Service agents are trained for all sorts of situations. But they perhaps were unprepared for the force of Cartagena's party culture and the local booty-shaking rhythm champeta....
Breivik clenches his fist as he arrives to courtroom for the first day of his trial  in Oslo

Mass-murder trial begins in Norway – will the global press get it wrong?

by Jack Rodolico on April 16, 2012


Anders Behring Breivik goes on trial today for the murder of 77 Norwegians. As the world watches, one Norwegian wonders if the we'll continue to misinterpret the tragic story. (Photo: Reuters/Heiko Junge)...
One of Omar Suleiman's supporters wears his loyalties. (Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

Egypt’s presidential elections filled with intrigue

by Michael Fitzgerald on April 9, 2012


Politics junkies bored of the American presidential slog can get some kicks from Egypt's election next month: candidates are dropping out left and right and the most powerful political party hasn't settled on a candidate. ...
Some of the lucky ones. A scene from the "Parade of Brides" that takes place in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. (Reuters//Ilya Naymushin)

In Russia, a lack of men forces women to settle for less

by Deidre Dare on April 5, 2012


This fact profoundly affects relationships in Russia. Men have a monopoly on power that they wield with impunity. From my own experience dating a Russian man, I found out for myself just how much....
Supporters, clad in NLD red, celebrate outside party headquarters in Yangon (Reuters/Damir Sagolj)

In Burma, a vote for freedom (photos)

by Nicholas Nehamas on April 4, 2012


Guess what happened when Burma's military junta allowed a free by-election? A pro-democracy opposition party won in a landslide. The military remains firmly in control, but it is allowing foreign and local journalists to work relatively freely. They brought their cameras and we bring you some of their photos....
A man reads the newspaper outside his home near the ballot station during the elections. (Reuters)

Burmese head to polls and wonder exactly what it all means for the future

by Chi Liquicia on April 2, 2012


The international press has been cheering Burma's move toward democracy, but, as reports from inside the country show, there's still quite a bit of skepticism about whether the military dictatorship will ever hand over power....
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Joseph Kony’s new enemy, “Buy My Face,” and the Koch brothers

by Jack Rodolico on March 31, 2012


The African Union grows up, college students use a clever approach to getting rid of debt, and Al Jazeera takes a look at the Koch brothers...
Islamic Hip-Hop group Native Deen performs at the Al Hussein Cultural Center in Amman

The Arab Spring has a dope beat

by Michael May on March 30, 2012


Fight the Power? That's what Khaled M, Omar Offendum and other artists do via their hip hop-fueled protest songs. Don't believe the hype? Have a listen....
Student protesters burn tires during a protest against the government's plans to raise fuel prices. The protest took place in Medan in Indonesia's North Sumatra province, March 28, 2012. (REUTERS/Tarmizy Harva)

Indonesian petrol riots and the global debate on gas taxes

by Jack Rodolico on March 28, 2012


As Indonesians riot over the potential loss of a fuel subsidy, Latitude News wonders: How important is a gas tax to Americans? ...
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Where’s Medvedev’s cat? After gaffe with Obama, Russians laugh at leader

by Charles Maynes on March 28, 2012


Russia's outgoing President Dmtri Medvedev has long touted his high-tech chops. He's going viral on Twitter, for all the wrong reasons. ...
Charles Graner prior to his 2004 trial over prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. (Reuters)

Book tour illuminates U.S. soldiers’ impulses to avenge, torture

by Joshua Phillips on March 13, 2012


It might seem unthinkable that a U.S. soldier could slaughter and burn children, but Abu Ghraib was unthinkable, too. Joshua Phillips has gone on tour with the unthinkable, promoting his book "None of Us Were Like This Before." He takes us inside this difficult topic. ...
A 2006 photo of Joseph Kony, head of the brutal Lord's Resistance Army. (Reuters/Adam Pletts)

How Kony2012 gets it wrong

by Jackee Batanda on March 9, 2012


Invisible Children has successfully changed the scope of humanitarian marketing. Its film, however, is rife with half-truths....
No racing under the palms, or so activists hope. (Reuters/Yannis Behrakis)

F1 drivers asked to boycott Bahrain

by Nicholas Nehamas on March 8, 2012


Gentlemen, stop your engines. That's the call from Bahrain, where activists want the Grand Prix canceled, to put pressure on Bahrain's monarchy....
Where are the police? That was the question people asked after the soccer riot at Port Said stadium, and there are no police evident in this photo at Ramses metro station in Cairo. (Reuters)

Egypt: where have all the police gone?

by Magdi Abdelhadi on March 7, 2012


What would you do if cars drove down the wrong side of the road? If your walk home meant dodging random street vendors? Cairo is unstable in a thousand small ways....
Comedian Daniyal Malik (Eleanor Wason Kahn)

In Pakistan, improv comedy is a form of protest

by Eleanor Wason Khan on March 5, 2012


It’s open-mic night at a cultural center in the Pakistani city of Lahore. A group of young comedians takes the stage and asks the audience to suggest figures for them to poke fun at, using the tag-line “the world’s worst…” Somebody shouts out “terrorist!”...
Children take part in a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Kafranbel, near Idlib, February 27, 2012. The word on the girl's forehead reads: "Freedom." (REUTERS/Handout)

Photo Gallery: Syria implodes as U.N. condemns Assad

by Jack Rodolico on February 29, 2012


Shelled cities, a defiant regime and thousands dead - the situation in Syria is going from bad to worse. This week's Latitude News photo gallery zooms in on the conflict. ...
Muslims shout slogans against author Salman Rushdie in Jaipur January 2012 (REUTERS/Altaf Hussain)

Islam and tolerance: the view from South Africa

by Nicholas Nehamas on February 26, 2012


A young Muslim writer from South Africa argues the Prophet would have been appalled by the violence over Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses"...
Greek steelworkers, who have been on strike for months over job losses, march to the Labor Ministry in protest over new minimum wage cuts. They are joined by university students also angered over budget cuts. Feb. 24, 2012 (REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis)

Surviving in Greece

by Nick Malkoutzis on February 24, 2012


This week Greece's Eurozone partners agreed the biggest sovereign bailout the world has ever seen - contingent on all kinds of budget cuts and austerity measures. We hear what this means, concretely, for ordinary Greeks. ...
A protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Hula, near Homs. (REUTERS/Handout)

Syrians sing for freedom

by Michael May on February 24, 2012


In Syria today, singing the wrong song can bring a death sentence. Here's the revolution in song, including a rousing performance of a revolutionary chant that cost the singer his life....
Putin watches over the town of Kirov, Russia (Charles Maynes)

Far from Moscow, Putin’s power faces off with the grassroots

by Charles Maynes on February 24, 2012


Vladimir Putin has exerted control over far-flung areas in Moscow by doling out tax rubles. The system has ensured that he and his people control rural cities and towns. But that approach is being challenged by an online grassroots movement that's spreading fast....
Police arrest an anti-government protestor during clashes in Senegal's capital Dakar. Feb. 19, 2012. (Reuters/Joe Penney)

Violent clashes ahead of Senegalese election

by Jack Rodolico on February 22, 2012


Rocks, batons, tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons - riot police have used whatever they can to subdue protests against President Wade's bid for a third term. But protestors are still hitting the pavement in Dakar, Senegal. ...
Chris Treter takes a break from ultra-marathoning his way across the West Bank (Credit: Aubrey Anne Parker)

A run to save olive trees in Palestine

by Howard Lovy on February 21, 2012


Would you run an ultra-marathon to save some olive trees? One Michigan store owner decides that fair trade means replacing olive trees damaged and uprooted in the West Bank. ...
In Barcelona, protestors march against the labor reforms of Spain's conservative government (Reuters/Albert Gea)

Stories to watch: Spain protests austerity

by Nicholas Nehamas on February 20, 2012


Whereas Greece was dragged kicking and screaming down the path of austerity, Spain has gone more willingly. At least initially. Spain now has the highest unemployment rate in the EU - a massive 23 per cent. People are beginning to get angry. ...
Tinariwen band member, from Mali, performs at the World of Music Arts and Dance Festival in Singapore.

Tinariwen rocks the Tuareg rebellion

by Michael May on February 10, 2012


It isn't every day that a separatist movement produces a great band. Listen, learn and enjoy!...
A Libyan bride. (Rueters/Louafi Larb)

Love and the Libyan Revolution

by Saleyha Ahsan on February 8, 2012


"Marriage for a Libyan woman is an essential part of taking control of her life." But these days, in the aftermath of the revolution that killed 30,000 men, it's not that easy to find an eligible mate. The first in a Latitude News series on international love and marriage ...
Army defectors join an anti-Assad protest in the town of Hula, near Homs, several days ago. (Reuters)

Russia says “nyet” to Damascus Spring

by Nicholas Nehamas on February 7, 2012


Syria burns and the West squirms as Russia takes its turn during talks in Damascus. The Russians called for "peace and harmony." That seems to involve a lot of shelling. Syrians are hoping to avoid a repeat of the Hama massacre. ...
A mourner at the mass funeral for victims of the Christmas Day bombing, February 1. (REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde)

Nigeria’s homegrown terrorists

by Jackee Batanda on February 5, 2012


The headlines from Nigeria are shocking. 250 dead in January alone, all at the hands of the Islamist sect Boko Haram. Just who are the Boko Haram? And are they really a threat to U.S. global interests? ...
Al Ahli Soccer players try to leave the stadium as chaos erupts at a soccer stadium in Port Said city

Egypt’s political football

by David Goldblatt on February 3, 2012


In Egypt and throughout the Gulf region, football is politics. The stadium is a place for displays of power as well as fanfare. What happened in Port Said was a message, not a mistake... ...
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Happy Anniversary, Egyptian Revolution

by Magdi Abdelhadi on January 25, 2012


Faces in the crowd from Cairo’s Tahrir Square on the first anniversary of the Egyptian revolution...
Young people demonstrate on the fences surrounding the parliament in Cairo (Magdi Abdelhadi)

Shaking the patriarchal cage in Egypt

by Magdi Abdelhadi on January 25, 2012


The Islamists won the elections in a landslide. The military are still in control. And the young revolutionaries who sparked the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak? They're still protesting and they're using the media to channel their discontent ...
A Guatemalan anthropologists examines a skull from a mass grave in La Verbena cemetary in Guatemala City, July 2011. (Reuters/Jorge Dan Lopez)

In Guatemala, an American anthropologist digs up bodies and builds a case

by Saul Elbein on January 23, 2012


One of the most controversial figures in Guatemalan history, General Efraín Ríos Montt, has been ordered to appear in court this week. This could be the first step to him being charged for ordering massacres that took place decades ago. A critical part of the evidence comes from the work of pioneering forensic scientists. ...
Mohammad - left side profile (Noel King)

One Syrian activist’s lonely exile

by Noel King on January 21, 2012


As the uprising and the brutal repression of it continue in Syria, the story of one young man who felt he had no choice but to protest and now lives a shadow life in Egypt ...
Fazal Mehusd interviews a tribal leader on Radio Miranshah

Radio host wants to remake Pakistan

by Kahar Zalmay on January 10, 2012


Bombings, killings, fighting -- we're used to hearing that from Pakistan. But one man thinks that music, talk shows and the occasional militant reciting a poem -- will make a difference in Waziristan....
Hanan

Christmas in Egypt with checkpoints and protests

by Magdi Abdelhadi on January 7, 2012


The Coptic Christmas celebrations this weekend come at a time of unprecedented political upheaval. What will the Islamist victory at Egypt's elections mean for the Middle East's largest Christian community? Two Copts tell us what they are going to do. ...
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Syria lurches towards an endgame?

by Michael Fitzgerald on January 5, 2012


The new year brings new intensity for Syria's protests. No one knows when -- or if -- Assad's regime will fall, or what will happen next. But we do know this: Filipino migrant workers are choosing to stay put....
"It's forbidden to enter with weapons"

Taking on Libya’s gun culture

by Saleyha Ahsan on December 27, 2011


The story of how one Libyan businessman and doctor put together an initiative to shame people into giving up their guns. ...
Ticket booths at the Egypt Museum wait for someone to come see its treasures.

After the Spring, tourism falls in Egypt

by Magdi Abdelhadi on December 16, 2011


No lines. No waits. Great sights. What better time to go to Egypt? But as our photo essay shows, the tourists have yet to return to Tahrir Square. ...
Dmitri Surnin's vote card reads: A Just Russia, 218 votes; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, 133 votes; Patriots of Russia, 15 votes; Communist, 285 votes; Yabloko, 167 votes; United Russia, 271 votes; Right Cause, 16 votes. (Courtesy of Surnin)

In Russia, election monitoring gets hip

by Charles Maynes on December 14, 2011


You want to participate in politics? Be an election monitor! That’s what a lot of people did for the first time in Russia this month. They found themselves in the middle of the story ...
Zarteef Afridi

In Pakistan, an unlikely hero dies for his cause

by Beena Sarwar on December 12, 2011


A government school headmaster is assassinated near the Afghan border in Pakistan. The reason? He advocated democracy and stood up for women's rights. ...
The writer at Bab Aziza with Aiyman Elhinsheri

The guns of war make peace uneasy in Libya

by Saleyha Ahsan on December 8, 2011


Freedom from Gaddafi has also meant freedom to bear arms, including portable surface-to-air missiles. As the Libya's fledgling government tries to get militias to turn in their weapons, ordinary Libyans are worried. Some have opted not to return to the country. ...
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The cotton kings and the carpet pharoah

by Hugh Miles on December 2, 2011


Mohamed Mansour once worked in a pizza parlor in North Carolina. Today his family firm represents General Motors and McDonalds. Mohammed Farid Khamis started with a single loom. Today he makes carpets for Target and Walmart. ...
Azra Husain in her office (Credit: Kahar Zalmay)

Spending billions no aid to U.S. image in Pakistan

by Kahar Zalmay on November 30, 2011


Despite nearly $19 billion in aid to Pakistan since 9/11, ordinary Pakistanis remain hostile to America. In part, that's because much of the money has gone to the military...
A message to President Obama outside  the U.S. Embassy in Cairo (Magdi Abdulhadi)

“I don’t tell people I am American any more”

by Magdi Abdelhadi on November 17, 2011


Individual Americans living in Egypt report that the atmosphere is becoming more hostile towards them. Is anti-Americanism really getting worse? Magdi Abdelhadi reports ...
Dr takes a break on the steps of Tatouine Hospital

On the medical front line of Libya’s uprising – Dr. Emad

by Saleyha Ahsan on September 30, 2011


A profile of the chief doctor for the war wounded in a desert hospital ...
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On the medical frontline of Libya’s uprising – day one

by Saleyha Ahsan on September 28, 2011


Saleyha Ahsan, a doctor and an award winning journalist has been working as a medical volunteer with Libya’s war wounded. ...
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From Brooklyn to Tehran: the House of Hope

by Julia Rooke on September 7, 2011


A film maker in Brooklyn uncovers the stories of the House of Hope - an unusual therapy center for women in Teheran ...