/ARTS WEEKLY/MEXICO: Wrestling Superhero El Santo Takes on the World

After decades of cult status in his homeland, Mexican wrestler/superhero El Santo (The Saint) is now being introduced to the rest of the world through a new animated series.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM: A ‘Leaf Doctor’ Serving Haiti’s Poor

Madam Ti Zo, nearly 100 years old, has lost track of how many babies she has delivered in six decades as a "medsen fey," "leaf doctor" or traditional Haitian herbalist and midwife.

/ARTS WEEKLY/TELEVISION-BRAZIL: Latest Soap Opera Keeps Viewers Glued to Seats

A woman from the impoverished Brazilian northeast who triumphs as a business owner in Rio, a newspaper shut down by the military dictatorship, the 20-year search for a kidnapped daughter, homosexuality and corrupt politicians are just a few of the plot threads keeping Brazilians glued to their TV sets waiting for the next episode of the latest hit soap opera, Senhora do Destino (Lady of Destiny).

CULTURE: Safeguarding Spanish in the Age of the Internet

Does the fact that cyberspace is full of ignorant people mean that ignorance should be accepted as the new norm? If millions of people speak their own language poorly, and their writing is even worse, should we simply sit back and witness the "downward democratisation" of a "dumbing down" of society?

CULTURE: Alternative Congress Celebrates Linguistic Diversity

Many people realise that legendary Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara's name was actually Ernesto, and that "Che" was a nickname given to him by his Cuban comrades.

ANTARCTICA: The Cinema at the Bottom of the World

Some will hike or ride in on snowmobiles, others will come by boat, navigating around the icebergs, and some will even hop a small plane.

CHILE: Porn Star Launches Election Campaign

Her real name is Maritza Gáez Arismendi, but she's better known as Reichell, the stage name she adopted to become one of the leading stars in Chile's new erotic film industry - and the name under which she is running for a seat in the lower house of parliament in the federal elections of December 2005.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE-CUBA: Salvaging a National Heritage Treasure

The crumbling columns of the old Plaza de la Marqueta will once again become the heart of Holguín, a Cuban city that was founded in 1725 and is located more than 700 kilometres from the capital.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE: Swinging Seniors Step Into People’s Hall of Fame

The Swinging Seniors of Harlem are keeping the shim-sham shimmy and the dance traditions of the jazz age alive.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ARGENTINA: Arts Collection is Food for Thought

Ham, cheese, smoked trout, deer meat paté and crackers are just some of the highly unconventional materials used by the Argentine art collective Mondongo for their latest exhibition, and they have clearly served as a "recipe" for success with the public, as well as collectors and museums around the world.

CULTURE: Portugal Surrenders to Brazil

Both the rapid modernisation of Portugal since it joined the European Union (EU, or European Economic Community at the time) in 1986 and the fact that Brazil is now among the world's ten largest economies have increased the mutual respect between the two countries.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CUBA: Fascination with Argentine Culture Spans Generations

Carlos Gardel album covers, newspaper clippings and yellowed photographs once covered every inch of the walls in the narrow entryway on Havana's Neptuno Street where someone had turned their home into a tango museum.

/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC-CHINA: From Mozart to Puccini, But Where’s the Soul?

When the 'Three Tenors' gave a mega-concert in the capital's Forbidden City in 2000, there were more than one or two listeners among the ecstatic audience who complained the world virtuosos didn't sing any Chinese melodies.

/ARTS WEEKLY/VENEZUELA: When Recycling Stirs Creative Juices

An exhibit of paintings and sculptures produced with recycled materials has arrived at the Sofía Imber Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas after nine years of travelling around public spaces.

/ARTS WEEKLY/BOOKS-INDIA: A Saviour for Asian Elephants

Every creature, from a louse to a lyrebird, is a marvel of nature. But some marvels are just more marvellous than others - and none more so than an elephant.

/ARTS WEEKLY/POETRY-SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Tower of Babel Hinders Dialogue

Ceasar Ruiz Aquino's journey as a poet wound its way to the Thai capital this month, when the 62-year-old Filipinio was awarded a prize for being among the best contemporary writers in South-east Asia.

LITERATURE: Garcia Marquez Gives Another Twist to Love

"Memories of My Melancholy Whores", a new novel by Colombian Nobel Literature Prize-winner Gabriel García Márquez that is scheduled for release in Spanish on Oct. 20, is an untold page in the life of Florentino Ariza, the central character in "Love in the Time of Cholera", which was published in 1985.

MEXICO: Wal-Mart Superstore Set to Open Near Pyramids

With permits in hand and even approval from UNESCO, the U.S.-based retail giant Wal-Mart is overcoming local resistance and preparing to open a store less than two km from the ancient Teotihuacan pyramids of Mexico.

/ARTS WEEKLY/BOOKS: U.S. Immigration Jails Have Long History of Abuse

"Long before Abu Ghraib, and even before Sep. 11, detainee in America's immigration prisons were being stripped, beaten, and sexually abused."

/ARTS WEEKLY/LITERATURE-GERMANY: Politics Hangs over Books Festival

The 4th International Literary Festival ended in Berlin at the weekend (Oct 2). For 12 days,150 writers and poets from 46 countries participated in more than 350 book readings, poetry recitals and literary debates staged in a variety of different venues, including theatres, cafes, schools, libraries, cemeteries and city prisons.

/ARTS WEEKLY/LITERATURE-CUBA: A Year of Homage to Alejo Carpentier

After years of veritable famine in the publishing industry, brought on by the economic crisis, Cuban readers can now feast upon new editions of works by one of the country's most important literary figures, Alejo Carpentier.