LATIN AMERICA: Prizes for Communities Fighting Exclusion

They work in the deep heartland of Brazil, or in urban slums. They all seek social inclusion, and their starting point is the bottom of the social ladder, with people who have a wide experience of life, contrasting with their short years.

IRAQ: Education Becomes the New Casualty in Baquba

The alarming security situation in Diyala province north of Baghdad has killed off much of the education system.

CUBA: (Some) Men Renounce Violence Against Women

Orlando Berrios, 53, works over eight hours a day as a barber in the Párraga district in the Cuban capital, and shares household tasks with his wife, to the astonishment of their neighbours, who regard him as an "odd character."

GUATEMALA: Teaching With Two Voices

In the Xepanil village school in Santa Apolonia, to the west of the Guatemalan capital, 20 children are learning both Spanish and the Mayan indigenous language Kaqchikel. Their teacher, Marta Lidia Rodríguez, one of thousands of bilingual education teachers in this country today, walks an hour a day to get to the school.

POLITICS-US: Peace Group Barred From Florida Schools

Public school districts in two Florida counties are refusing to allow members of a peace organisation to counter the presence of military recruiters by talking with high school students about options other than joining the service, according to a spokesperson for the group.

CUBA: Machismo Not O.K. – But Not Yet K.O.’d

Gradually, more men in Cuba are declining to take on traditional masculine behaviour patterns, and women who oppose the machismo and sexism that still predominates are opening up ways of changing gender relations, beyond the effects of official measures taken to promote equality over the last 50 years.

COLOMBIA: The Chibcha Culture – Forgotten, But Still Alive

Use of the sacred coca leaf, respect for water and nature, and other practices of the pre-Columbian Chibcha or Muisca culture survive in Colombia in spite of five centuries under attack. The culture was as highly-developed as those of the better-known Inca, Maya and Aztec people, according to scholars.

SOUTH AMERICA: In Street Football, Playing Is Winning

Football can cause excitement and euphoria, or anger and even aggression, but the Second South American Street Football Championship taking place this week in the Paraguayan capital puts the emphasis on solidarity, fair play and social participation.

AFGHANISTAN: Teaching Counterinsurgency – Too Little, Too Late

The Afghanistan Counterinsurgency Academy is a work in progress - the clamour of construction, the bulldozing of garbage and the sparse staff are all clear signs.

CUBA: Sails of Popular Education Catch Winds of Socialist Change

The growing role of popular education in local experiences of social change is spurring debate about the need for more active participation by the people of Cuba in the social transformations that are inevitable if it is to remain a socialist country.

CUBA: Popular Education Transforms Women’s Lives

"I have the spirit of a 15-year-old girl, and the wisdom of a 66-year-old woman," says Felicia Pérez, who recovered her joie de vivre after attending a handicrafts course, and became a promoter of urban values and the creator of a crafts workshop in her own neighbourhood.

ARGENTINA: University Opens Doors to the World

The University of Buenos Aires (UBA) is the alma mater of four of Argentina’s five Nobel Prize winners. It is regarded as one of Latin America’s most prestigious universities, and thousands of young foreign students are entering its halls of learning.

EDUCATION: After Lull, Foreign Students Return to U.S.

For the first time since the 2001-02 school year, there has been an increase in the number of foreign students enrolled at colleges and universities in the United States, according to the latest annual report of the Institute of International Education.

MIDEAST-US: New Scholars Group Seen as Close to White House

A small group of Middle East and African studies scholars in the United States has announced the creation of a new professional association to change the direction of scholarship in the field.

EDUCATION: Schools, Academics in the Gun Sights

A "dramatic increase" in targeted violence against schools and educational institutions, mostly in conflict zones, is having a devastating effect on students, teachers, trade unionists, administrators and education officials, according to a new U.N. study released here.

DEVELOPMENT: Our Youth, Their Future

With young people a growing segment of the world's poorest, their voices in setting global development policies at the highest levels have never been more important.

BULGARIA: Teachers Launch Unprecedented Strike

Bulgarian teachers are starting the sixth week of general strike after rejecting a final offer made by the government before it went on to adopt next year's budget.

SOUTH ASIA: Youth Demand Sex Education in Schools

Sahinaz Khatun, who is preparing for her school finals in a village in West Bengal state, has for the last two years kept condoms (and birth control pills) at her home and thinks nothing of discussing subjects like menstruation hygiene and masturbation with other adolescents.

TECHNOLOGY-SRI LANKA: Leapfrogging Out of Poverty on IT

In a north-central village, deep inside Sri Lanka’s backwoods, a young man is glued to a computer screen, pushing a mouse and filling in figures.

EDUCATION-UAE: ‘Dubai Cares’ Charity a Runaway Success

After the ‘Dubai Cares’ charity initiative to provide education for underprivileged children raised more than 220 million US dollars, it became clear that this wealthy global business hub is serious about doing its bit to help meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

EGYPT: An Environmental Make-Over for an Ancient Industry

Air pollution is so bad in Cairo that living in the sprawling city of 18 million residents is said to be akin to smoking 20 cigarettes a day. According to the World Health Organisation, the average Cairene ingests more than 20 times the acceptable level of air pollution a day.