/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.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-BRAZIL: Delirious Critique of Corruption

There is no paradise in Brazil that is not be surrounded by hell, corruption often becomes the route to fulfilling modest dreams such as owning a home, justice is glaringly absent, and the only thing left to hope for is divine intervention.

ARGENTINA: Film Industry Booming, Despite Economic Challenges

Actor Nacho Toselli is still scaring people for a living, at the "haunted house" in a Buenos Aires shopping mall.

HEALTH-BURKINA FASO: Activism Clashes With Tradition

Government and civil society representatives from around the world met in Kenya recently to debate how best to end female genital mutilation - a laudable effort. However, a case in Burkina Faso has exposed the limitations of their campaign.

ENVIRONMENT-ARGENTINA: Film on Deforestation Censored

The manager of a cinema owned by local authorities in the northeastern Argentine province of Salta cancelled the screening of a film on the damages caused by deforestation in neighbouring Chaco province.

ELECTIONS-U.S.: Environmental and Latino Votes for Candidate Kerry

U.S. environmental groups are rallying behind presidential contender John Kerry, whose environmental record they say is much greener than that of President George W. Bush. The two will face off in the Nov. 2 national election.

MEXICO: Dalai Lama’s Visit Proves Uncomfortable for President Fox

President Vicente Fox welcomed the Dalai Lama to Mexico this week - but he did so from a distance, after deciding not to meet with the Tibetan Buddhist leader in person.

CULTURE-SUDAN: The Fall and Rise of English

Crumbling masonry, peeling paint and dusty patches where once were manicured lawns...The University of Khartoum has worn poorly under the searing Sudanese sun – as much as the language that the buttoned-up colonialists who built it came to spread.

PARALYMPIC GAMES: Latin American Athletes Shine Despite Limited Support

Sports can play a crucial role in helping people with disabilities live up to their fullest potential. At the most recent Paralympic Games, Latin American athletes proved that they are developing that potential to an ever greater extent, despite limited government support.

MIDEAST: New Stars Shine on Israel

The Israeli Tourism Authority has taken to organising high profile visits of Hollywood stars and pop divas to lure tourists to the Holy Land.

CULTURE-CHINA: Moon Cake Tradition Spoiled by Show-Offs

Moon cakes, the traditional delicacy of the mid-autumn festival, were once regarded as symbols of family reunion and represented the round harvest moon. But in recent years as Chinese palates have become more fastidious and customers grown richer, the cakes have morphed into an ostentatious show of wealth.

RIGHTS-KENYA: In the Name of Chastity, Girls Go Through Pain, Humiliation

Judy Santeyan and her sister Dorcas Keiwua have been badly mutilated, after being forced by eight persons to undergo unsafe traditional circumcision in Kenya.

MUSIC-MEXICO: Gloria Trevi Pardoned by Courts – and the Media

After almost five years in prison, Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi has suddenly become a hot commodity once again, with offers pouring in from television networks, publishers and record labels.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-CHILE: A Child’s Eye View of the 1973 Military Coup

With the premiere last month of director Andrés Wood's Machuca, it appeared that the Chilean film industry had finally reached adulthood - an unusual accomplishment for a movie that tells its story through the eyes of three children.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE-TIBET: Snow Land is also Show Land

With her back to Shigatse's famed Tashilumpu monastery, the scantily clad woman with ample bosom and derriere outlined in a revealing mini-skirt, is training her video camera at a young Tibetan mother and her daughter of about five or six years, both smiling irrepressibly in typical Socialist Realism fashion.

CULTURE-CUBA: Hidden Story of the Daughters of Galicia

They were poor women from the northern Spanish province of Galicia. They came alone to Cuba in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and like so many Latin American women now emigrating to Europe, many of them ended up in poor-paying jobs as domestics or on the fringes of society as prostitutes.

CULTURE: Rwanda ‘Turning’ Its Back on French Language

Since the 1994 genocide, relations between France and Rwanda have been chilly due to France’s links to the Hutu-dominated regime which incited the carnage.

RIGHTS-LIBERIA: Women Demand Greater Participation in Politics

With general elections slated for next year, Liberian women - staunch advocates for peace in their homeland - are demanding greater participation in their country’s male-dominated politics.

CULTURE-SOUTH AFRICA: Helping Men Become Men

In the Nguni languages, which include Zulu and Xhosa, an "indlavini" is a violent and reckless man who disrespects elders and tradition. The indlavini emerged in the early twentieth century, when millions of South African men migrated to towns – looking for jobs in the gold and diamond mines.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: Female Genital Mutilation in the Spotlight

Difficult to speak about and dreadful to endure, female genital mutilation is taking a toll on the women of Africa.

MEXICO: Pride in Indigenous Heritage – Literally a Thing of the Past

Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology and History (MNAH), one of the ten most important institutions of its kind in the world, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with cocktail receptions and new exhibitions. Sadly, however, there is little to celebrate for the impoverished descendants of the peoples whose cultures are proudly preserved in the museum's halls.