ENVIRONMENT: The Greening of the French, Finally

Compost boxes on the balcony of small apartments. Queues at market stalls selling organic produce. Massive audiences for a film about the state of the earth. Unprecedented votes for environmental politicians in the European elections...

DEVELOPMENT: UNESCO Race Wide Open

The contest for a new UNESCO director-general is now wide open with the addition of last-minute nominees for the post, following the controversy around leading contender Farouk Hosny.

ENERGY: New Moves to Bring More Light to Africa

Looking at night-time satellite pictures of Africa, most of the continent seems to be suffering a giant power cut, especially when compared with brightly lit Europe or the United States.

FRANCE: Sharing a Recipe for Peace

Fourteen women are gathered in a Jewish kosher bakery on a sunny afternoon in Creteil, a multi-ethnic commune southeast of Paris. Bent over bowls of flour, tubs of butter and cartons of eggs, the women share jokes and anecdotes, speaking in both French and Arabic, as they knead dough and crack eggs open.

MIDEAST: Political Clouds Hang Over UNESCO Selection

With only a few days left before the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) nominates final candidates for the post of director-general, controversy continues to swirl around the leading contender, Egyptian culture minister Farouk Hosni.

FRANCE: Under the Eiffel Tower, a Desperate Game Plays Out

It's a common sight at France's most famed monument: the police chasing groups of young African and Indian men while tourists stare open-mouthed.

FRANCE: Film on Migrants Sparks Legal Debate

A new film on undocumented migrants has sparked heated discussion among the public and lawmakers here.

ENERGY: Oil Producers Look for Ways out of Crisis

With the price of crude oil down more than 50 percent from a year ago, and with U.S. President Barack Obama championing alternative forms of energy, oil producers are scrambling to find ways to protect their industry.

FRANCE: Young Face a Jobless Future

Carole is an 18-year-old student of African descent at a high school in central Paris. She is currently studying for the baccalauréat, an exam at the end of secondary school. When she graduates, she would like to leave France as soon as possible, preferably for the United States.

FRANCE: Rights Junior Minister Loses Out to Economic Interests

Rama Yade, France's secretary of state for human rights, is not having an easy time on a number of fronts.

ARTS: A Way of Seeing African Women

It would be easy to walk past the Dapper Museum without giving the building a second glance were it not for the striking images of African women at the entrance. Tucked in a side street of the 16th arrondissement, just off the chic avenue Victor Hugo, the Dapper has an unremarkable facade and lies far from the gleaming Louvre and Orsay museums. But its exhibitions stand out in a city filled with museums, galleries and blockbuster art shows.

CULTURE-ASIA: Collectors Turn to Filipino Art

As the contemporary art market continues to boom, interest in Asian art grows and certain works fetch huge prices, Filipino artists are suddenly finding themselves a hot commodity.

AGRICULTURE-ASIA: Boom in Organic Farming Has Roots in Crises

It is a swelteringly hot day on the farm, and as Evelyn Eng-Lim harvests vegetables such as 'kailan' or Chinese broccoli and okra, perspiration streams down her face.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE: Singapore Aims to be Asia’s Publishing Hub

Imagine caustic writer and Nobel laureate V S Naipaul flying to this city state to sign copies of his latest book that has just been published here.

SINGAPORE: SARS Drags Quiet Farming Industry into Spotlight

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-linked closure of the largest wholesale vegetable market in Singapore has cast the spotlight on a little known industry in this modern island state: farming.

HEALTH-SINGAPORE: Closed Schools, Empty Cabs Spell Fear

Closed schools, empty taxicabs and people wearing face masks at the airport - these are just some of the signs that it is not business as usual in this South-east Asian city state known for its cleanliness, efficiency and discipline.

LITERATURE-PHILIPPINES: Eating Curses, Breathing Humiliation

In one of Nadine Sarreal's stories, a Filipino domestic worker who has been physically and sexually abused by her employers in Hong Kong says, "Ay, I have to work. I have to hold on. I can cry later, maybe at night. But while there is light, I must keep on working."

MUSIC: Cape Verde’s ‘Barefoot Diva’ Wows Europe

They call her the 'Barefoot Diva' because she always performs without shoes, but sitting in her dressing room before her appearance at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Cesaria Evora is wearing a sedate pair of black house slippers.

LITERATURE: What is Commonwealth Literature?

Commonwealth Literature, Post-Colonial Literature in English, New Literature in English, World Writing in English - these are just some of the terms being used to describe the writings of 'members' of the former British Empire.