AUSTRALIA: Campaign Continues for Parliamentary Seats for Aborigines

Ken Wyatt stood, draped in a traditional kangaroo-skin shroud. In a voice wavering at times with emotion, the only indigenous Australian ever elected to this nation’s lower house of Parliament presented his inaugural address.

MEXICO: Juarez Residents Fight for Safe Public Spaces

The setting sun creates long shadows on the pavement in the crowded Del Safari neighbourhood in the southwest of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Casting the shadows are young people playing percussion instruments or children breakdancing or performing daring skateboard jumps.

MIDEAST: Treasure House Under Threat

Few outside of Gaza would consider its history much beyond the decades of Israeli occupation. But Gaza is a historical treasure house. Many of those treasures are now in Israeli museums, and those that remain are becoming difficult to preserve due to the Israeli siege.

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.

Q&A: Cuba’s Catholic Media Multiply, But Change Is Slow

In the context of ongoing conciliation between the Cuban government and the Roman Catholic Church, the communications media of the latter are growing quickly on this Caribbean island where the press remains under strict state control.

SOUTH AMERICA: Student Exchanges to Foster Mercosur Identity

An exchange programme was launched this week for university students in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, to foster a broader sense of belonging to South America's Mercosur bloc.

Homophobia-Free Churches in Mexico

Alejandro González left the Catholic Church to join the gay-supportive Metropolitan Community Churches in Mexico, in search of a more open and tolerant place of worship.

MALAYSIA: Battle Over Indigenous Groups’ Land Rights Shaping Up

As the tabling in Parliament of a proposed law affecting their ancestral land draws near, Malaysia’s Orang Asli or ‘original people’ are gearing up anew for moves to challenge it.

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.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Identity of Black People Recognised, But Needs Neglected

Although their human rights are increasingly recognised, blacks in Mexico and Central America are the poorest and most marginalised people in Latin America, according to experts.

Deaf Ecuadoreans Stand Up for Identity, Rights

Ximena Carrera discovered a new world at the university. After years of experts who had ruled out the use of hearing aids, she finally tried them -- and her life completely changed. That is what she now hopes will happen for many more hearing-impaired Ecuadoreans.

MALAYSIA: Clampdown On Political Satirists No Laughing Matter

As Malaysia gears up for what is expected to be a crucial general election in 2011, the government is tightening up against widely popular political cartoons and blogs that the ruling party fears will translate into voters’ support for the opposition.

RIGHTS-CHINA: For Too Many, Domestic Violence Part of Family Life

Despite successful campaigns to promote gender equality, China continues to struggle with high rates of domestic violence, which experts say impacts not only families but society as a whole.

SINGAPORE: As Country Mourns, Political Differences Set Aside

"Estimated waiting time: 3 hours", read a handwritten sign near the tail of the snaking queue outside the Istana, which is usually used to receive state guests. Yet thousands of Singaporeans waited patiently despite the sun beating down mercilessly.

Q&A: “Gender Not a Limiting Factor in Politics”

In the rural KwaZulu Natal town of Jozini, Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa has been the town’s mayor for a decade. And in contrast to the rest of the country, which has experienced numerous civil strikes and service delivery complaints, Jozini has rarely had any such problems.

Culinary Traditions Exhausting Spain’s Fisheries

"We have little boquerón (a type of anchovy), little jurel (scad), little salmon," recites a server at a restaurant on the coast in Málaga, the southern Spanish city known for its "small fried fish."

PHILIPPINES: Call Centre Boom Breeds New Culture – and Risky Behaviour

Anthony, a 22-year-old call centre agent, goes to work at 6 p.m. and finishes at around 2 a.m. But instead of going home, he heads to a bar to meet another male agent over beer, and if the late night looks promising, they spend more time together until daytime.

THAILAND: Teachers Take to Guns as Insurgency Targets Schools

Teachers heading for work in the 380 public schools across Thailand’s southernmost province of Narathiwat take more than a bag filled with textbooks and lecture notes. Many go armed with guns.