CULTURE-CUBA: Intolerance Cuts Both Ways

The death of Cuban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante brought back memories of controversies over the cultural policy of the socialist government of Fidel Castro, censorship, and intolerance.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CHINA: Antiques, Now the Craze of New Rich

Panjiayuan, the notorious ''dirt'' market of Beijing, is an unlikely place for China's new rich to flash their wealth. Famous for its tacky trinkets, Mao memorabilia and piles of junk carted from all over the country, this jumble-sale place has resisted numerous attempts by city officials to smarten it up.

/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC-ARGENTINA: New Generations Lead Tango Renaissance

Alejandro Schaikis is a violinist with Argentina's National Symphonic Orchestra, with the expected classical training. But since being bitten by the tango bug a few years back, he now says the mating of the two genres is giving birth to "a new form of Argentine music".

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM: Movie Queen’s Kiss and Tell Episode Rocks Pakistan

Is it really just ''a storm in a tea-cup'' and a ''non-issue'' that some people seem so ready to dismiss? Why such a hue and cry, after Meera - known as the 'queen of Pakistan cinema' - locked lips with her Indian co-star?

RIGHTS-CARIBBEAN: Arrr, Matey! The Curse of the Racist Sequel?

The 2003 blockbuster movie grossed 653 million dollars in theatres around the world, and the producers of "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" are eagerly gearing up to film the sequels.

FILM: Uruguayan Wins First Oscar Ever Awarded to a Song in Spanish

The Spanish language scored a major surprise victory in Hollywood when Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler won the Oscar for best original song, which formed part of the soundtrack of the movie "Motorcycle Diaries".

FILM-LATIN AMERICA: Che Guevara’s Journey Leads to the Oscars

Three Latin Americans could walk away with an Oscar on Sunday, two of them for the film "Motorcycle Diaries", about the youth of legendary Argentine-Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Ché" Guevara.

/ARTS WEEKLY/: Berlin Film Festival Produces Surprises

In a major surprise, the South African-made movie 'U-Carmen eKhayelitsha' hoisted the top Golden Bear award at the 55th Berlin International Film Festival last week.

/ARTS WEEKLY/BOOKS: Fear and Loathing in Colonial Kenya

In the annals of utterly shameless wartime propaganda, Britain's casting of the Kenyan Mau Mau as bloodthirsty savages, and its own colonial administrators as heroic benefactors, is pretty much the gold standard.

/ARTS WEEKLY/BOOKS-U.S.: The Other Ivy League

When the all-black student body of Pennsylvania's Lincoln University was confronted with the proposal of integrating its all-white faculty in 1928, opinion was starkly divided.

/ARTS WEEKLY/AFGHANISTAN: Muted Musicians See Hope in Young Performers

Music might have suffered terribly in the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, but a group of exiled Afghan musicians in neighbouring Pakistan have taken it upon themselves to preserve the musical tradition of their homeland by setting up music academies in this border city.

IRAQ-US: ‘Biggest Cultural Disaster Since 1258’, Says Expert

One million books, 10 million documents and 14,000 archaeological artifacts have been lost in the U.S.-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq - the biggest cultural disaster since the descendants of Genghis Khan destroyed Baghdad in 1258, Venezuelan writer Fernando Báez told IPS.

POLITICS: Embedded in the Spin Cycle…

An incisive new documentary is taking aim at the U.S. media's one-sided coverage of the war in Iraq, arguing that its collective complicity deceived the populace and made the war possible.

RIGHTS: World Still Blind to Genocide, Warns Former UN Officer

Ten years after Western nations silently watched the senseless murder of 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda's genocide, the international community is going "the same route" in Sudan, warns Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, former Force Commander of the U.N.'s mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR.)

CHILE: Andean Indigenous Carnival Comes to the City

For the second year in a row, the Chilean capital is hosting an Andean Carnival held to pay tribute to Mother Earth and celebrate the ancestral traditions of the indigenous peoples of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and northern Argentina and Chile.

CULTURE-URUGUAY: Candombe, Llamadas Give Unique Touch to Carnival

Once a year, hundreds of Uruguayans of mainly southern European descent paint their faces black and play the drums alongside their Afro-Uruguayan neighbours.

ARTS WEEKLY: Rich Fare at Berlin Film Festival

With 21 feature films entered for the top Golden Bear award, critics predict competition will again be fierce at the 55th International Berlin Film Festival Feb. 10 to Feb. 20.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ARGENTINA: Flea Markets are Income for Some, Treasures for Others

As the aftermath of the late 2001 economic meltdown in Argentina has forced a growing number of people to part with valuable antiques and family heirlooms as a way of raising much needed cash, flea markets have mushroomed around the capital, providing a source of unbelievable bargains for treasure-hunting visitors.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE-INDIA: Repository of Knowledge in Perilous State

Dubbed as one of the most ancient libraries in India - the 400-year-old Sarasvati Mahal Library in this south Indian town in Tamil Nadu state is badly in need of patronage.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE-MALAYSIA: The Night They Raided Zouks

One Saturday night recently, Sarinah Majid, a 23-year-old accountant, was dancing the night away with her Chinese boyfriend at Zouks nightclub - the most happening night spot in Malaysia's capital city. Then suddenly the world, as she knew it, collapsed dramatically around her.

ARGENTINA: Tragedy Creates New Safety Awareness Among Rock Bands, Fans

The year-end tragedy that claimed the lives of 189 young people in a dance club in the Argentine capital dealt a severe blow to the city's rock scene, and bands, fans and concert producers are now expressing their concern about creating a culture of safety.