Hamilton Spectator

Childbirth is killing poor mothers at the rate of 1,600 a day.

Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ resonates because it poignantly reveals God's mysterious love.

We're reading the papers in the heart of Africa and this is what we see: How a woman's derriere needs the right jeans. Photo included. A cartoon of a married fellow who'd rather give up drinking than sex on the side. And a story about boda-bodas — the motorcycle- taxis everyone here uses — and how ladies of the night like to proposition drivers while on board. One driver says he gets headaches if he refuses.

Yemen is an arms bazaar, but has far fewer firearms than the U.S., with its almost one gun per person.

As obesity becomes an issue in developing nations, I ask you this: Will you go hungry with me?

You don't want to raise a generation that cares about others, do you?

Let's hope any pursuit of justice takes the highest road possible.

The booby prize given by the U.K.-based Plain English Campaign for funniest remark last year by a public figure goes to U.S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Christmas doesn't ask, Who is Jesus? It asks, Who are we?

In the Middle East there s as big a debate over the media as there is here. Some back Al-Jazeera and some CNN. And some read independent papers.

Call me a dreamer, but ever wonder how things would look if John F. Kennedy was involved in today's so-called war of civilizations?

Liberal democracies almost never fight each other. They'd rather have the good things.

Iraq. Can it be saved? Six months after its liberation, Iraqis are still short on power, electrical and otherwise. The Yanks are still being greeted with grenades as much as with flowers and hugs. And how did those weapons of mass destruction disappear?

This country is one of contrasts. Red-dirt roads cross lush- green landscapes. People familiar with war smile easily and greet you genuinely. Beauty meets ugliness, plenty meets want, and life meets death here. Uganda may be, as Winston Churchill said, the Pearl of Africa. But, if so, it's a tarnished jewel.

Today, Jean and I, with our bright-eyed bambino, Elizabeth, are on a jet plane flying back to Yemen. Our condo in Ancaster is again a speck that has disappeared over the horizon.