/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-LATAM: Finance at the Service of the Arts

The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) has thrown its support behind cultural projects that reaffirm Latin American identity and traditions, complementing efforts towards the region's economic integration and sustainable development, say its executives.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/LITERATURE-NICARAGUA: A Former Vice- President’s ‘Little Creatures’

The protagonists of "Catalina y Catalina", the most recent collection of short stories by Nicaraguan writer and former vice-president Sergio Ramírez, are "simple creatures" whose journey through life paints the world as it is, full of insecurities.

/ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-INDIA: Rare Collection of Jewellery Draws Crowds

For a stone that once served as a paperweight it has remarkable sparkle. But the last ruler of the former princely state of Hyderabad saw no better use for the fabulous Jacob diamond.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC-ANGOLA: Life-Saving Beats

Big Nelo looks like your typical thugged-out rapper, dressed in designer baggies with several heavy silver chains draped round his neck.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/FILM-JAMAICA: Festival Honours World Trade Centre Fallen

Despite the spate of cancellations that has hit the entertainment industry since the Sep. 11 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, the show will go on as far as the Jamerican Film Festival in Montego Bay is concerned.

FILM-SENEGAL: Curses Fall on ‘Karmen’

Screened at the Cannes film festival and feted by critics abroad, 'Karmen' should have been Senegal's film of the year.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-SRI LANKA: Arts Students Face Few Options After School

Despite a rich history in the plastic arts which goes back to pre-Christian times, Sri Lanka's contemporary arts scene leaves much to be desired.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/THEATRE-PERU: Diabolic Temptation Times Four

"Faust", Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's drama about the tormented scientist who hands his soul to the devil in exchange for power and knowledge, is transformed into an ironic reflection on four temptations in the version being staged by the Catholic University's theatre troupe in the Peruvian capital.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-TRINIDAD: Comedy Queen Looks Beyond Local Shores

When comedienne Rachel Price takes to the stage during a break in the FIFA World Cup under-17 soccer championships this weekend, she will be looking to impress more than just local fans. Her mind will be set on winning a contract with the U.S. cable television network Home Box Office (HBO).

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/FILM-CHILE: Behind Greed and Idiosyncrasy, a Rare Mollusc

On a distant island in southern Chile, inhabited by no more than 400 people, filmmaker Andrés Wood came up with a story that would give rise to "La fiebre del loco" (Loco Fever), which may keep the boom in the local film industry alive.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC-JAMAICA: Peter Tosh a Hard Sell in His Homeland

Fourteen years after he was murdered by gunmen at his home here, reggae legend Peter Tosh's major label catalogue was relaunched here Sep. 11. Given the sparse presence of his music in local retail stores, however, it is uncertain what kind of homecoming the self-proclaimed "Stepping Razor" will receive.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/ARCHITECTURE-MEXICO: Historic Landmark vs Shopping Centre

A run-down hotel in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca, an architectural landmark with a rich history and spectacular murals, has begun to be demolished to make way for a shopping centre. However, its future will be decided by the courts.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC-CUBA: Ibero-American Singers Shine with ‘Trova’ Star

Some 20 Ibero-American luminaries of song are accompanying star Cuban troubadour Pablo Milanés in a recording project, the first edition of which is slated for release in Mexico next month.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/BOOKS-CHINA: Erotic Novel Sparks Heated Debate

A novel about the steamy romance between British poet Julian Bell and his mysterious Chinese mistress promises to create a precedent in the history of artistic expression in China not the least because of the number of pirated versions it has generated even before being published here.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/BOOKS-U.S.: Rise and Fall of a Colombian Drug Lord

In 1999, Mark Bowden's book 'Black Hawk Down' - about the ill-fated U.S. peacekeeping operation in Somalia - became a bestseller. In his latest offering, 'Killing Pablo', Bowden details the joint U.S.-Colombian efforts to track down Pablo Escobar, one of most powerful drug lords of his time.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/FILM-VENEZUELA: Romulo Gallegos’ Other Passion

Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuela's most noted author of the early 20th century, also had a close and prolific relationship with the cinema, an aspect of his life that biographers generally forget.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-COLOMBIA: Storytelling Regains Centre Stage

Storytellers from Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela and the islands of the Caribbean gathered to breath life into the word in the Colombian port city of Barranquilla, engaging in a weeklong celebration of their age-old art.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-INDONESIA: Sundanese Traditions in Danger

A rich and colourful history that includes the rise and fall of at least four powerful ancient kingdoms has given the Sundanese people of Indonesia a cultural heritage to be proud of.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC-JAMAICA: Dancehall’s TOK Welcomes Controversy Over Lyrics

A song with anti-gay overtones has caught the attention of rabid dancehall fans and a political party here, helping to catapult the vocal group who perform it into the national spotlight.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-NEPAL: Pilgrims Find Refuge at World’s Highest Lake

Up here on the shores of Tilicho, the highest lake in the world, devout Hindu pilgrims are camped out on religious retreat.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-LATIN AMERICA: Resurrection of the Radio Soap Opera

An organisation that produces alternative radio shows has resurrected the radio soap opera in Costa Rica, breathing life into an old genre by incorporating edgy stories with a social conscience, and now plans to let the rest of Latin America in on the fun.