CHILE: Rebuilding Smiles

Alongside crucial emergency relief efforts, numerous organisations are offering free movies, concerts, plays, comedy performances and other cultural events aimed at lifting the spirits of people suffering the after-effects of the earthquake and tsunami that struck central and southern Chile on Feb. 27.

PHILIPPINES: Women’s College Corrects Gender Miseducation

Flip open a typical textbook used in many Philippine schools and you will likely find images of women illustrating verbs such as ‘cook’ or ‘clean’, but hardly appearing anywhere much in economics and history textbooks.

ENVIRONMENT: A Different Kind of Green

The colour green has long been associated with Islam, but if some recent Muslim visitors here could have their way, it’s a link that could intensify some more in the future.

CHINA: Thirty Years On, Debate Emerges Over One-child Policy

Adept at navigating through politically sensitive anniversaries, the Chinese government has one more socially volatile date marked in its calendar: this year’s 30th anniversary of its one-child policy.

ECONOMY: Get the Cab From Shanghai to London

The black, curvy London cab is so much more than just a taxi. It is an icon without which the picture of London can never be complete.

THAILAND: Uncertainty Hovers Over New Year Revelry

Very few things – not even the political gridlock that erupted into violence a few days ago – can prevent Thais from celebrating the traditional New Year, marked by drenching one another with water. But this year's festivities were more muted than usual amid the uncertainty around the anti-government protests, which have lasted for more than a month now.

ARGENTINA: Fathers of the Plaza de Mayo – the “Rearguard”

Through their decades-long struggle to uncover the fate of their missing children, forcibly disappeared during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship in Argentina, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in their emblematic white headscarves have earned international renown. Now a new documentary shines the spotlight on the men who supported and encouraged these brave women from the shadows: the fathers of the Plaza de Mayo.

CHINA: Women Want to Hold Up the Half the Sky – in Style

For decades, women have been "holding up half the sky in China," as the late Chairman Mao Zedong had exhorted them to do. But in recent years, a growing number of Chinese women want to do so with loads of charm and more than a hint of the social graces.

GUATEMALA: Bringing Murdered Activist Bishop Back to Life on the Screen

On the evening of Apr. 26, 1998, as Bishop Juan Gerardi returned to the parish house at St. Sebastian's Church, three blocks from the seat of national government in the heart of the Guatemalan capital, he had no idea it would be the last day of his life. That night, his head was bludgeoned with a concrete block.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Africans Target of Racism, Harassment by Police

The police "picked me up, they put me in the back of the car. Then they took me to (locality withheld) and beat (expletive) me, and they left me there," a young person of African background said in a new study into the treatment of youths of African background by Australian police in Melbourne.

THAILAND: Media Crackdown a Mistake, Say Analysts

For press freedom advocates, it was bad enough, though not totally surprising, to hear that the government had shut down the opposition media amid the state of emergency in the Thai capital. But alarming to them is the gagging even of independent news sites.

RIGHTS: UNESCO in Disarray Over Controversial Prize

As UNESCO’s executive board meets here in the first of its two sessions per year, behind-the-scenes wrangling could result in a controversial life sciences prize being put on hold indefinitely.

RIGHTS-NEPAL: Laws Have Changed, Mindsets Haven’t

When Ranjit Thapa applied for citizenship by descent through his mother at the Kathmandu District Administration Office, little did he know that the road ahead was fraught with obstacles.

SRI LANKA: Islamic Convert’s Detention Sparks Debate on Tolerance

Issues of religious tolerance, the rule of law and freedom of expression in this mainly Buddhist country are being thrown into debate by the detention of a Sri Lankan Buddhist woman who converted to Islam and was writing a book on her conversion.

LATIN AMERICA: Controversial ‘Man Jesus Christ’ Pulls in Followers

"Abba, father," call out the people gathered in the meeting hall. They raise up their hands and stare enraptured at a television screen, where they are addressed by their spiritual leader, José Luis de Jesús Miranda, or as he calls himself, "the Man Jesus Christ."

CUBA: Skilful Surfing by Digital Culture Project

Buoyant in the storm and sailing for new horizons, the Cuban cultural project Esquife (Skiff) has spent over a decade navigating the rough waters of thought-provoking digital journalism, stirring up opinions rather than wallowing in complacency.

CUBA: Old Havana Reaches Out to Hearing Impaired

An innovative programme in Old Havana has given the hearing impaired greater access to the historical and cultural wealth of the restored historic city centre.

INDIA: After Slowdown, Art Market Picking Up

After sitting out the slowdown in the art market until last year, Ambica Beri, owner of an upscale art gallery here in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, is cautiously hosting shows again this year.

MEXICO: Soundtrack to Violence

"What a sad childhood Juanito had/ when shooting started in his barrio/ he was left lying on the ground/ so young/ he went to his grave".

RELIGION-LATIN AMERICA: Scarred for Life

As Catholic Church authorities in Latin America close ranks around the Vatican, whose credibility has been undermined by countless cases of child sex abuse committed by priests, other sectors are calling for major structural reforms in the institution.

RIGHTS-BAHRAIN: It’s Time to Abolish the Death Penalty – Activists

Bahrain has observed a de facto moratorium on the death penalty for years, but many are watching to see if the Gulf country will follow the international trend toward the abolition of capital punishment in the future.