/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/MEDIA-US: Cartoonist Entertains with Daily Strip about Race, Politics

Artist Aaron McGruder draws like a Japanese animator and writes like a black revolutionary from the Harlem Renaissance. That's perhaps the best way to describe his politically and socially charged comic strip 'The Boondocks'.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/BOOKS-LATIN AMERICA: Portrait of Agustin Lara, Mexico’s Bolero King

Agustín Lara, the Mexican musician who made the bolero famous in Latin America, is the protagonist of a new novel by Costa Rican author José León Sánchez, which tells the story of Lara's bohemian life, ranging from opulence to misery, amid nights of frenetic creativity.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/THEATRE-US: Race, Politics and the King of New York

With an end to the US election spectacle nowhere in sight, a new play by the Synasthetic Theatre company called 'Ubu 2000' offers a sometimes brutal, often hilarious look at the "circus sideshow" of American politics.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC-ZIMBABWE: The Politics of Song

Zimbabwe's current musical hit album, 'Bvuma-Tolerance', by superstar Oliver 'Tuku' Mtukudzi is not only topping the charts for its musical ingenuity, but also for the political undertones of the songs.

LITERATURE-CHILE: The Risks of Being Bold Enough to Ponder

Upon launching the Portuguese version of 'El desgano de un hombre ocupado' (Reluctance Of A Busy Man), editor Carlos Veiga underscored that this novel by Chilean author Michel Bonnefoy had captured an "Onettian atmosphere". Was it praise or a warning?

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/DANCE-MEXICO: Ballrooms Surviving with Older Rhythms, Clientele

Far from the latest trends, and with a live band and no alcohol, ballrooms in Mexico are surviving, thanks to a faithful, though increasingly older public.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/ FILM-US: Youthful Idealism Alive and Well

The ebb and flow of the so-called New Left student movement in the United States over four decades emerges in two new documentaries, one on last year's Battle of Seattle, and the other on the architects of militant campus activism, a now-defunct group called Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/DANCE-MEXICO: Ballrooms Surviving with Older Rhythms, Clientele

Far from the latest trends, and with a live band and no alcohol, ballrooms in Mexico are surviving, thanks to a faithful, though increasingly older public.

MUSIC-COLOMBIA: ‘La Champeta’ Beat of Pleasure and Resistance

The young people of "Nelson Mandela," an area of Cartagena where 16,000 of those displaced by the Colombian armed conflict now live, are cultivating "champeta" music, a fusion of Afro- Caribbean rhythms that has infiltrated the neighbourhood - and has become the subject of controversy.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/ FILM-US: Youthful Idealism Alive and Well

The ebb and flow of the so-called New Left student movement in the United States over four decades emerges in two new documentaries, one on last year's Battle of Seattle, and the other on the architects of militant campus activism, a now-defunct group called Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

BOOKS-INDONESIA: Written Word Fails to Carve Out Niche in Oral Society

á - Indonesia's book industry finally seems to be recovering from a three-year slump, but to many observers, the rise in the number of book titles produced in 2000 means little.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-INDIA: The Forgotten Jews

As images appear daily on our television screens of the escalating violence in Israel and the Occupied Territories, it is apparent to all those who see this unfolding tragedy, the passions which that land arouses.

FILM-PERU: ‘Red Ink’ a Look Inside the Tabloid Press

The Peruvian film 'Tinta roja' (Red Ink) gives audiences a unique glimpse into the world of the tabloid press and how its journalists deal with the ethical problems associated with their work.

MUSIC-TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Visitors’ Panmanship Shock Pan Birthplace

¡ For many Trinidadians, it was the unthinkable, even though the organisers had warned long before that "they coming for us".

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/BOOKS-VENEZUELA: Former Soap Opera Writer Tells All

Ibsen Martínez has combined his famed sarcasm and his knowledge as a scriptwriter for one of Venezuela's most-watched soap operas in the creation of his first novel, which lays bare the world of the television industry.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-INDIA: Indo-Anglian Writing Rediscovers the ‘Untouchable’

When Mulk Raj Anand, the famous Indian author writing in English, penned his classic 'Untouchable', it articulated the hope of deliverance from social oppression, given to India's low castes by the conquering Englishman.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC-JAMAICA: New Album to Highlight Greatness of Reggae Singer Dennis Brown

When Dennis Brown, dubbed the Crown Prince of Reggae, died in July 1999, he left behind a catalogue of hits unmatched in the annals of reggae music.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/FILM-BRAZIL: Diversity Consolidates Industry Upswing

The variety of good films targeting audiences that are themselves diverse stands out as a trait that could fortify the latest upturn of the Brazilian movie industry.

TELEVISION-ARGENTINA: Out to Conquer Europe

Argentine television programmes, which have won top billing as the favourites of Latin American viewers for their originality, are now gaining ground in Europe.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/INDONESIA: Ex-military Chief Sings a Different Tune

Call it a face-saving manoeuvre or a sign of remorse, but retired general Wiranto, Indonesia's former military chief, is fighting back.

CULTURE: St. Kitts Celebrates Newest World Heritage Site

Constructed in the 100 years between 1690 and 1790, Brimstone Hill Fortress, St. Kitts' new world heritage site, is being celebrated as one of the finest remains of the rich past of the people who helped form the Caribbean society of today.