Focus On Music: Persia Goes Pop

In the 1990s, Iranian officials decided to produce and promote a "decent" pop music to compete with the informal mainstream Persian pop music, mostly produced in California (so-called "LA-type" music). Ali Moallem (a poet) and Fereydoun Shahbazian (a renowned musician) headed a council at IRIB that supervised the revival of domestic pop music. Singers such as Shadmehr Aghili, Khashayar Etemadi, Mohammad Isfahani, were among the first singers who got significant support, including promotion by national TV, to produce new pop songs. Domestic pop music received a warm welcome by many people, while it was criticized by the elites as "superficial music" (in the sense of lyrics, music, and the cultural impact). Unhappy with common trends, Shahbazian decided to quit and officially join the critics of this music after a while.

Recently, as a result of easing cultural restrictions within Iran, a number of Persian pop singers have emerged from within the country.

At the end of 2009, Sirvan Khosravi was the first (domestic) Iranian artist to get high-rotation airplay on a regular radio station in Europe. He made his debut with the title song of his second album Saate 9, which also made headlines in the Iranian on-line media.

click any track below to listen

World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.

World AIDS Day has become a time to reflect on the obstacles we face in the fight against HIV and AIDS. UNAIDS estimates that 32.9 million people were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide as of the end of 2007, up from 29.5 million in 2001. Although huge strides have been made over the past two decades, we are, in many respects, continuing to lose ground as new infections outpace our ability to deliver treatment. Despite nearly a quarter of a century of treatment and research, nearly two million die from AIDS every year.

The pandemic only gains momentum: nearly three million new cases of the disease occurred this year, and only a small percentage of these patients will receive treatment before they die. In June 2008, a joint WHO/UNAIDS report showed that nearly three million people were receiving anti-retroviral drugs in the developing world, less than a third of the 9.7 million people who needed them at that time. That's a polite way of saying that 6.7 million were dying for lack of drugs.

India's Skin Trade

In Bombay, children as young as 9 are bought for up to 60,000 rupees, or US$2,000, at auctions where foreigners bid against Indian men who believe sleeping with a virgin cures gonorrhea and syphilis.