MEXICO: New Demands for Return of Aztec Headdress from Austria

Mexico has not given up on its campaign to get Austria to return what is thought to be the headdress worn by Aztec emperor Moctezuma. But there is little hope for success, despite the optimism of indigenous activists and others fighting to reclaim it from the Ethnological Museum in Vienna.

RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: Activist Artists Subvert the Message

From a distance it looks like an ordinary traffic sign, a yellow rhombus like so many others in the Argentine capital. But on approach, the sign can be seen to contain an unusual warning message: "A former torturer lives 100 metres from here."

CULTURE-MEXICO: Bull’s Blood – Seeing Red

A bull leaping into the stands at the main bullfighting arena in Mexico City was for many fans an exciting moment, worthy of celebration. But for activists opposed to cruelty to animals, it was more evidence of the "savagery" of the blood sport.

ARGENTINA: ‘Storytelling Grandmothers’ Spark Interest in Reading

In the northeastern Argentine province of Chaco, the poorest part of the country, the Storytelling Grandmothers programme has been so successful that the Ministry of Education has taken up the idea and turned it into national policy.

ARGENTINA: World’s First Homeless TV Talk Show Host

A plaza in a residential neighbourhood of the Argentine capital has become "Stellita's Living Room" for the first TV programme in the world hosted by a homeless person.

POLITICS: Bungled Peace-Building Opens Door to Terrorism

Washington's attempts to bring security to Iraq and Afghanistan are not only making life harder for local people, they are breeding more terrorists, warn international security experts.

CULTURE: Mexico’s First International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Nearly a dozen full-length films, more than 50 shorts, five plays and several discussion panels are among the fare offered this week at the First International Gay and Lesbian Film and Theatre Festival in Mexico, a groundbreaking event that has taken 10 years to come to fruition.

SOCIETY: Peace Can Be a Lot of Fun in Belgrade

Young people from Croatia and Serbia are rapidly putting aside the hatred that tore the two apart into separate countries through the bloody wars of the 1990s.

ARGENTINA: Education to Overcome Tradition of Tax Evasion

A novel plan for tax education in Argentina is using theatre, puppets, educational games, entertainment centres, and competitions to teach youngsters about the importance of paying taxes to finance and preserve what belongs to everybody. They are all useful methods, according to those in charge of the programme.

MIGRATION: What Some People Brought to Germany

Two interlocking exhibitions depicting the rich ebb and flow of migrant workers in Germany over the past 500 years are currently being staged at Berlin's German Historical Museum. One is called 'Migration 1500 to 2005', and the other 'Immigration Land Germany - The Hugeuenots'.

/ARTS WEEKLY/BOOKS: A Diamond in the New York Rough

Since the September 2001 suicide attacks on New York, the city's bookstores have been flooded with volumes of nonfiction works attempting to explain the phenomenon of terrorism and its links with the world of Islam and the Middle East.

POLITICS-US: The Mogul, the Movie and the Mission

As moviegoers flocked to see the first major film adaptation of C.S. Lewis' popular children's book, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", this weekend, its backer, conservative billionaire Philip Anschutz, is on his way to becoming one of the most powerful media moguls in the United States.

MEXICO: Massive Turnout at Fair Shows Interest in Books Is Alive and Well

The belief that people in Mexico do not read much may have to be revisited, said literary critic Carmen Vargas, who declared that she was greatly impressed by the size of the Guadalajara International Book Fair that ended Sunday with the participation of 1,614 publishing houses from 39 countries and just under 500,000 visitors.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CUBA: Restoring Old Havana – With a Social Twist

Colonial era houses converted into hostels, pharmacies that double as museums, concerts in colonial era courtyards, taverns and coffee shops: all of these have sprung up from the ruins of the historic city centre in the Cuban capital.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires, a City that Inspires Design

A large number of young people are at the centre of an explosion of creativity in the Argentine capital. Now that the country has finally pulled out of a severe economic crisis, thousands of graduates of design courses have found much to be done, and they have set to with a will.

/ARTS WEEKLY/LITERATURE: Will the Real Bond Please Stand Up?

Was there ever a real superspy like James Bond, Her Majesty's secret agent with a licence to kill? A resounding "No" was the answer given by Dusan "Dusko" Popov, himself the real character who inspired writer Ian Fleming to create agent 007.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ARTS: “Pessoptimism” Colours Palestinian Experience

As the settlements lie in rubble, and Gazans reclaim the right to cross into Egypt and sell the first fruits and vegetables of the autumn harvest, Palestinian writers, directors and actors are reminding audiences far from the conflict that it's not quite time to pop the champagne cork.

RIGHTS: The Harsh Education of an Iraqi Feminist

Zainab Salbi was 11 years old when her father was handpicked to serve as Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, regularly ferrying the former Iraqi president from Baghdad to his hometown of Tikrit.

VENEZUELA: Mural’s Demolition Draws Mixed Reviews

Instead of laying the cornerstone or cutting the ribbon at its inauguration, the mayor of La Guaira, Venezuela performed a rather unusual ceremonial act for the Chromatic Wall, a mural by world-renowned painter Carlos Cruz-Diez stretching two kilometres around the city's port: he struck the first hammer blow in its demolition.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ CULTURE-UAE: Breaking Records to Break Records

The tallest hotel, the largest excavated dry docks, the biggest bowl of spaghetti, the largest stained glass mural - the list is endless for the number of Guinness records that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) holds.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ FILM-BRAZIL: Laughter in the House of Pain

The Brazilian documentary "Doutores da alegría" (Doctors of Happiness) won prizes at two international festivals this year, as a tribute to its special mission - to share the experience of a group of Brazilian actors who decided to dress up as clowns and bring joy to children in hospitals rather than at the circus.