RELIGION-BOSNIA: Pope’s Apology Brings New Hope

The first visit of Pope John Paul II to a predominantly Serb Orthodox part of Bosnia Herzegovina brings hope of reconciliation after he apologised for the crimes of Catholic Croats.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Women Carve out Space within Islamic Society

Studying for a sociology degree at Tehran University has a double purpose for 21-year-old Negin Razaee - first, it is her investment toward a career and second, she is able to ward off a pre-arranged marriage.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: People’s Ire Undercuts ‘Moral Cleansing’ Effort

Being young and in love in a place like the Malaysian city of Ipoh is not always easy, as college student Sukdave Singh learned the hard way.

RELIGION-KENYA: Christians Fear Shariah Will Undermine Tolerance

Muslim leaders in Kenya are demanding shariah, or Islamic laws, which Christians fear could plunge the East African nation into a religious war like in Sudan and Nigeria.

INDIA: Controversial Mosque Not Built over Hindu Temple – Experts

Excavations at the site where a 16th-century mosque was demolished 10 years ago by pro-Hindu politicians reveal that the structure - today a magnet of communal politics - was built over a pre-existing mosque rather a Hindu temple, say Indian historians.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ FILM-PARAGUAY: First Digital Steps in a Nascent Industry

The premiere of the Paraguayan film "miramenometokéi" has been accompanied by signs of a nascent audiovisual industry in a country where film production has long been little more than a mirage.

/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC: U.S. Fans Will Not Let Go of Roots Reggae

Just because hip-hop is big among dancehall fans in Jamaica, does not mean that the same applies to Jamaicans living in the United States, as Johnny Gourzong, promoter of the inaugural Reggae Sumfest in Florida, found that out the hard way recently.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ THEATRE-CHILE: 1980s-era Playwright Rekindles Passion, Ideas

Ramón Griffero, one of the greatest playwrights to emerge in 1980s Chile, has returned to the stage with "Tus deseos en fragmentos" (Your desires in fragments), a play in which he reaffirms that today it is art, not politics, that generates passion and ideas.

SPORTS-SOUTH AMERICA: Football Violence, but No Red Card

The violence associated with football matches in South America is as relentless as a decade ago, as the new laws and other measures to combat it have achieved only the "yellow card" effect of a warning to aggressively dedicated fans.

RELIGION-LATAM: ‘Theology of the Poor’ Is Not Dead – Gutierrez

"Liberation theology has not lost validity, but rather quite the opposite," Peruvian theologian, philosopher and psychologist Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, winner of this year's Prince of Asturias Prize for the Humanities, said in a Tierramérica interview.

/ARTS WEEKLY/DRAMA-AFRICA: Persuade a Man, Without Hitting Him on the Head

''It's not easy to change the pattern of a man who is used to making love to ten women, who is polygamous in nature,'' says Nigerian Femi Jarret, executive producer of the African Radio Drama Association.

/ARTS WEEKLY/MIDEAST: Arabs Don Tradition with Flowing ‘Dishdasha’

The 'dishdasha' - a distinctive, floor-length white robe - is an enduring symbol of Arab identity, and its use today is a tribute to its simplicity, comfort and suitability to the harsh desert climes.

PAKISTAN: ‘Virtue Police’ is the Threat, Not ‘Shariah’ – Activists

The passage by Pakistan's North West Frontier Province of a bill on Islamic law or 'shariah' made international headlines, but many here say it will not affect life as much as the introduction of another law they would fear - the setting up of the 'virtue police'.

AFRICA: Cartoonists Fight Corruption Through Comics

Finnish cartoonist Leif Packalen is using comics to fight corruption in Africa.

/ARTS WEEKLY/U.S.: Champ Points Way for African-American Fencers

Inner-city African-Americans are breaking new national and international records in another formerly white-only sport - fencing. The man who helped make it happen is New Jersey native Peter Westbrook.

/ARTS WEEKLY/PAKISTAN: Forgotten Statues Await New Life

She looks on with lifeless eyes, the widow's veil poised on her graceful head. There is no sign of the orb or the sceptre, or the right arm or the left hand. The nose is brutally disfigured for a queen. Someone has cruelly dropped tar on her imperial robes.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ SPAIN: Fictional Rapist Sparks Row on Author Responsibility

The book "Todas Putas" (All Whores) has created a storm of debate on feminism and on the responsibilities of creators of fiction, drawing into the melee matters of discrimination against women, abuse, rape and paedophilia.

/ARTS WEEKLY/GERMANY: Berlin Gets Chinese Touch

Nimble in his movement, and quick in his mind at the age of 86, Chinese-born Ieoh Ming Pei, one of the world's greatest architects, grins as former German chancellor Helmut Kohl clasps both Pei's hands warmly. "Fantastic!" says Kohl. "It's a wonderful building. All my hopes have been fulfilled."

/ARTS WEEKLY/BRITAIN: Terrorism, Opera, and now Cinema

John Adams' searing opera 'The Death of Klinghoffer', which examines the hijacking of the Italian cruise liner the Achille Lauro, has had a strange and turbulent history.

/ARTS WEEKLY/AFRICA: Cartoonists Fight Corruption Through Comics

Finnish cartoonist Leif Packalen is using comics to fight corruption in Africa.

POLITICS-MIDEAST: Shiism in Iraq Doesn’t Mean Iranian-style Gov’t

It has become fashionable to say that Saddam Hussein's fall would prompt Shiite-dominated Iran to export of its kind of Islamic government to Iraq, but analysts say this is too simplistic - and reflects a poor understanding of the mix of religion and politics in the Middle East.