MIDEAST: Animal Farm Finds a Palestinian Stage

"Intifadah", scream the animals as they chase Jones from the farm. Strobe lights flash and loud music blares as the packed audience sits captivated, eyes trained on the stage below.

CHILE: Images of Exile

Painful images of the exile suffered by thousands of Chileans during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet and of the expressions of solidarity from the countries that took them in are presented in a new book with a prologue by internationally renowned writer Ariel Dorfman.

MEXICO: Chronicler of Oaxaca Struggle Finds Himself in a Lead Role

Photographing revolutionary movements seems to run in Gustavo Vilchis's family. Four generations ago, his great-grandfather snapped a picture of Emiliano Zapata. Vilchis, a 29-year-old photographer and human rights activist from Guerrero, Mexico, keeps the photo of the mustachioed Mexican revolutionary hero taped to the inside cover of his notebook.

TRADE-AFRICA: Flip-flops Transformed Into Toys to Save Turtles

Art and fashion, environmental conservation, poverty alleviation and fair trade come together at UniqEco’s Marula Studios in an upscale suburb of Nairobi. A visit to its workshop and display centre is a delight to the eyes as well as an occasion to learn about the problem of marine pollution and its eco-friendly, community-based and business-savvy solutions.

MUSIC-VENEZUELA: “The System” Continues to Collect Accolades

"Another prize...let’s go get ice cream to celebrate," said their mother, and the boys jumped up to get their shoes on and head out for their reward, as the TV set in their tiny living room broadcast the news about the tribute paid at OAS headquarters to the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela.

EAST TIMOR: Indonesian Artist Adopts Local Talents

Yahiya Lambert won’t leave East Timor until he’s set up the country’s first art academy. He’s been here for 28 years, so a few more won’t be a problem for the 37-year-old Indonesian, a native of the Maluku Islands.

ARGENTINA: In the Shadows of Mentally Disabled Siblings

"He’s the favourite. I always have to let him play," complains a boy with a mentally disabled brother. "Will she have to come live with me?" is a common worry among siblings of the disabled.

FRANCE: Film on Migrants Sparks Legal Debate

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

MUSIC-ITALY: Nurturing Opera

Fabrizio tells a young woman, Eriko, that it is very cold outside, while logs crackle in the fireplace and the sun sets behind the mountains, adorned with last night's snowfall. It is all true, but they are acting, rehearsing a famous scene from the opera La Bohème, by Giacomo Puccini.

CULTURE-ETHIOPIA: Old Master Challenges Film-makers to Look Within

Haile Gerima's film "Teza" may only have come to the world's attention when it won Africa’s highest prize in Ouagadougou on Mar. 7, but it has been a sensation in his native Ethiopia since it premiered in Addis Ababa at the start of the year.

TRADE-TANZANIA: Crafts Charity Disproves Myths About Disability

After Joel Haule developed a crippling childhood disease that left him wheelchair-bound, his parents began calling him ‘‘Matatizo’’, the Kiswahili word for ‘‘problems’’.

FILM-US: Latino Fest in the Fray of Pop Culture’s Lucha Libre

The San Diego Latino Film Festival is perhaps the biggest little film festival most people outside of Southern California have never heard of.

NEW ZEALAND: Asian Muslims Tell Their Own Stories

A new book and accompanying exhibit provide rare insight into the lives of Asian Muslims, who have become an intrinsic part of New Zealand's diverse community since the first Muslim Chinese gold miners landed on its distant shores 130 years ago.

CULTURE: Ethiopian Film Takes Top Honours at FESPACO

Filmmaker Haile Gerima’s Ethiopian movie "Teza" has won the Golden Stallion of Yennenga at the 21st Panafrican Festival of Cinema and Television (Fespaco) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

MIDEAST: Singing Across the Divide

From the flattened buildings in Gaza, through angry demonstrations outside a Swedish tennis stadium, to the web pages of human rights reports, battles continue to rage over Israel's policies and the legacy of its Gaza war.

KENYA: Words that Reshape a Country’s Identity

The goal is ambitious: Kenya’s first literary journal, Kwani?, wants to bring new thinking to the country - and ultimately the continent - and reshape African identities. The journal aims to provoke, create, entertain and develop a literary community that isn’t afraid to question the status quo.

PERU: Drama Exposes Rape as Weapon of War

The film La Teta Asustada/The Milk of Sorrow, the big winner at the Berlin Film Festival, drives home the brutal effects of Peru’s armed conflict on thousands of women who were raped and have lived with the pain and a lingering sense of shame and fear ever since.

EL SALVADOR: Guerrilla Ecotourism

La Montañona, a forested mountain in northern El Salvador that reaches 1,800 metres above sea level, was a stronghold of the FMLN guerrillas during the country's armed conflict. Today, its forests and stories of bombings and rebel hideouts have begun to draw ecotourism.

POLITICS: Dutch Foe of Islam Ignores US Allies' Far Right Ties

The fiercely anti-Islam Dutch MP Geert Wilders has been traveling through the U.S. this week on a highly-publicised trip to meet with politicians, promote his controversial film ‘Fitna’, and raise money for his legal defence back home.

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.

U.S.: Gen Y Reads – But Only for Nine Minutes a Day

Are twentysomethings changing the culture of literature?