CHILE: Grassroots Heritage Preservation Efforts Growing

With the first National Congress on Heritage Neighbourhoods and Areas, community groups in Chile plan to draw attention to their struggle to defend the country's vulnerable historic heritage.

ARGENTINA: Indie Bands Find New Outlet on the Web

A new way of sharing music has caught on in Argentina, with bands -- both new and established -- filmed in impromptu performances on rooftops or in markets and other public spaces in Argentina. The high-quality videos, which are shot in one single take, are then posted on the Internet.

ECUADOR: Keeping Age-old Weaving Technique Alive

Outside the modest two-story adobe house, a flag of Ecuador flutters alongside a large sign that reads "Ikat: weaving demonstrations and sales." Hanks of yarn and colourful fabrics hang from the handrail running around the edge of the courtyard and balcony, and weaving looms can be seen inside.

Anonymous Afro-Cubans Heroes Remembered for Posterity

Under the spreading shade of a wild fig tree in Old Havana, a small plaque now recalls the sacrifice made by five Afro-Cubans, "anonymous Abakuá who died trying to save medical students" shot by firing squad, when this island was still a Spanish colony.

Culture Vulture Kids on Argentine TV

A public children’s television channel broadcasting high quality fiction, animation and documentary programmes designed by the Argentine Education Ministry for the two-to-12 age range can now be viewed elsewhere in Latin America via the internet.

CULTURE-CUBA: Night of One Thousand and One Texts

The legendary Scheherazade has exchanged her enthralling tales of "One Thousand and One Nights" for a compact disc with 1,001 academic articles, essays and books, giving Cubans access to materials that would otherwise be very difficult to obtain.

CUBA: Urban Tribes Prowl Havana Nights

A different city emerges on the weekends in Havana. Young people, whose faces are as strange as they are common, take possession of the city and reinvent it. They are the "urban tribes," a global phenomenon that has made its mark on Cuba.

CUBA: Drag Queens and Volunteers Promote Safe Sex

Margot Parapar gets plenty of laughs from the audience with this joke: "Now the human body is divided into five parts: head, trunk, upper and lower limbs, and condom." Using his female stage name, Cuban drag queen, comedian and health promoter Oliver Alarcón includes HIV/AIDS prevention messages in his shows.

THAILAND: Photo Exhibition Captures Human Rights – And Wrongs

In this fast-developing South-east Asian country where dizzying neon signboards and glass-clad skyscrapers have been overshadowed only by a colourful political battle, a group of young photographers are hoping their work behind the lens can bring human rights back into focus.

ARGENTINA: Show Drives Home the Reality of Obesity

"I can't even walk because I run out of breath. Food is my drug," says a 31-year-old man who weighs 215 kilos. "I hide to eat; it's something I can't control," says a 21-year-old woman who weighs 152 kilos.

BOOKS-US: Dissecting the Perpetual War Machine

Andrew J. Bacevich emerged in the first decade of the century as this country's most widely read and widely respected critic of U.S. militarism and empire.

CHILE: Documentary Reveals Injustices Endured by Mapuches – and Filmmaker

Finally, her documentary film about the indigenous Mapuche people has reached theatres in Chile and in other countries. Elena Varela was in the midst of making the film when she was imprisoned on charges for which she has now been completely cleared.

Churchill Denied Relief to Bengal Famine Victims, Book Says

A new book on the Indian famine of 1943, also known as the Bengal famine named after the specific region where it occurred, has squarely put the responsibility for the famine on then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Chinese Art Appears With Health Warning

China's rebel artist Ai Weiwei had intended a political message. And may be a truly memorable metaphor for the state of modern China and humanity as a whole. But the final outcome of his multimedia installation at the London's Tate Modern may have been rather unexpected, for what he got was a striking symbol of the 'Made in China' effect on the world.

CUBA: The Environment Plays the Lead in Low-Budget Cinema

Scientists and experts took on the challenge of sharing their environmental concerns with filmmakers at the Third Thematic Showcase of the Humberto Solás Low-Budget Film Festival in the Cuban capital.

’12 Angry Lebanese’ Touch So Many More

Straddling the hills overlooking the Mediterranean Sea is Roumieh, Lebanon's largest and most notorious high-security men's prison. Crowded into its dank and depressing concrete cells are those convicted as religious extremists, murderers, mobsters and spies.

PAKISTAN: Truck Art Makes For Moving Canvasses on Highways

For Karachi-based event manager Shabnam Abdullah, it is a "primary representation of Pakistan". Quite enamoured with the unique art form, Abdullah has even used it for a few workshops she arranged for her corporate clients.

Gypsies, or How to Be Invisible in Mexico

In the story "Gente bella" (Beautiful People), the Mexican dictator of the day sends a mission to Europe to import 300 families and thus "whiten the race, to put an end to laziness." Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria cheats him and sends, for the price of gold, gypsies.

Cuba Maps Its Rock Music History

Cuban rock 'n' roll, once an underground movement, is being mapped for inclusion in an exhaustive compendium of Latin American rock -- from the music itself to its transformation into a lifestyle.

MIDEAST: Documentary Probes Death of a Peace Activist

The 2003 death of young peace activist Rachel Corrie, crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer, inspired worldwide press coverage, demonstrations and debates – and eventually at least two plays and a number of songs.

U.S.: Librarians Lead Fight Against Banned Books

Penguins are indisputably cute. And a children's book about such inoffensive animals could hardly be expected to trigger a nationwide controversy. But then came "And Tango Makes Three" and a heated debate was fired up.