PHILIPPINES-CULTURE: Old, Withering Writing Style Being Revived

Banosa Umbali's hands trembled as he scrawled his name.

ARTS: Japanese Artists Raise Money for Kobe Victims

Toronto's Canada/Japan Building is currently hosting an exhibit of Japanese posters to help raise money for the Kobe disaster victims.

MUSIC-BARBADOS: The Priest Who Sings Calypso Songs in Church

In Barbados, calypso music is associated with revelry, particularly during the annual Crop Over Festival -- a kind of Carnival held between June and August.

CULTURE-USA: Heroin Chic Comes Back

It's stylish, it's current, it's the focus of immense media coverage and political debate, and it can kill you if you try it.

CULTURE-TURKEY: Cartoons in Handcuffs

An arrow points the way to Ertan Aydin's exhibition in the Sultanahmet district here. Above it there is a sign bearing words as eye-catching as the works being displayed: "Handcuffed cartoons".

CULTURE-COLOMBIA: Treasure of an Unknown Culture

Archaeologists and anthropologists were startled at the discovery of a large collection of works of gold and ceramics, around 2,000 years old, by the inhabitants of what is today Valle del Cauca in the southeast of Colombia.

CINEMA: Colombian Movie Tipped to Shine at Venice Festival

Colombia's 'Ilona Arrives with the Rain', which has already excited interest among Italian movie critics, is the Latin American hope for top honours at this year's Venice film festival.

CINEMA-BRAZIL: Hollywood Stifling Competition in Movies

Hollywood's domination of the world movie scene is so great there is virtually no room for competition, complain those associated with the film industry in Brazil.

TRAVEL-INDIA: Off the Beaten Track

There is only one temple in India where the Hindu god Rama is worshipped as a king.

CINEMA-USA: ‘Lone Star’ Dispels Myths About the Past

Amid all of the hi-tech special effects of this summer's Hollywood block-busters, 'Lone Star' by writer- director John Sayles, stands out as a thoughtful, even haunting, commentary on the United States.

CULTURE-CONGO: When Dressing Becomes a Religion

Dressing elegantly is an obsession among many young Congolese, who do not think twice before spending huge sums of money to buy the latest European fashions.

CULTURE-CARIBBEAN: Mr Biswas to be Homeless?

If some 50,000 dollars is not raised really soon now, a house that has achieved folkloric stature among the literati in Trinidad and Tobago could be "modernised" out of existence and, according to a committee called The Friends of Mr. Biswas, a national treasure could be lost forever.

TELEVISION: Quality of TV Under Fire in Chile

The quality of Chilean TV - warts and all - came under scrutiny in a supposed closed session of the Senate this month with mixed results, after criticism split along political party lines.

CINEMA: Europe’s Oldest Studios Enter Digital Age

The oldest European motion picture site, Berlin's 'Babelsberg', is transforming itself into the continent's most modern multi-media resource centre and film studios.

CULTURE-TURKEY: Locals Fight for the Return of Their Legacy

Present day Turkish inheritors of the historical sites of Troy, Pergamon and Hattusas, once capitals of ancient Greek and Hittite kingdoms, have launched a worldwide campaign to reclaim pillaged legacy of their ancestors.

CULTURE: Soap Sells in Jamaica

Ten years after its bubble burst in the United States, soap operas are all the rage in Jamaica.

CULTURE: Filipino’s Hooked on the Tale of a Mexican Girl

Policemen disappear from the city's congested streets to watch it every evening, office workers rush home to catch it on time, and some teachers reportedly give bonus points to pupils who know the latest twists in it.

ARTS: Rwandese Arts on Display

From his hotel annex miniature art museum, Jean Baptiste Sebukangaga is trying to make Rwandan art known, both at home and abroad.

SPORTS-WOMEN: Venus Takes Centre Stage

The world is especially proud of its women this year -- its women athletes that is.

(ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/06)

Cuban theatre, like virtually every sector of life in Cuba, is in crisis. Productions have been been limited to weekend showings, ticket prices have quadrupled, actors have been seeking contracts abroad and, for the first time in more than three decades, artists have had to think in commercial terms in order to obtain financing for their work.

BOOKS-BRAZIL: Publishers Benefit from Globalisation

Though literature still is very much part of a nation's heritage, the actual book making is becoming more and more internationalised.