CHILE: The Journalist Who Caught His Own Killer – On Film

Leonardo Henrichsen turned his film camera on the soldier who was aiming at him and held it steady until he was shot to death. But the justice system never caught up with the killer of the Argentine journalist, murdered 36 years ago in Chile while he was filming a military uprising for Swedish television.

BRAZIL: Bringing Community Mental Health to the Poor

Zilá Ferreira and Juraci Lisboa were in the grip of depression since 1996 – the former over the death of her mother, and the latter because she was "abandoned with seven children under 14."

MALAYSIA: New Govt Stifling Public Opinion

A huge public protest on Aug. 1 calling for the repeal of the Internal Security Act, a law that the authorities have used to jail extremist and legitimate political opponents alike without trial, was broken up using brute force.

SRI LANKA: As Fighting Stops, Sri Lanka Hopes to Woo Back Tourists

Hope has once again returned to Sri Lanka’s resplendent beaches. Everyone, including hoteliers, boat operators, and beach boys, are hopeful that the end of a three decade old civil war will herald better fortunes.

CULTURE: Young Women in Chat Rooms Beware

Internet and mobile phones have spawned a new kind of marriage in the Gulf.

RIGHTS: Outspoken Activists Defend Africa’s Sexual Diversity

The second World Outgames, held in the Danish capital, offered up a veritable smorgasbord of sport, politics and arts while celebrating sexual and gender diversity. But it also reminded participants that bigotry against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, sometimes culminating in violence, remains a scourge across the world.

INDIA: Rural Communities Turn to Traditional Climate Mitigation

In Tamilnadu, southern India, and Uttar Pradesh, northern India, villagers have revived ancient systems of storing surface and groundwater that are putting them in a good position to contend with today’s changing climate.

INDIA: Kashmir Carpet Industry Hit By Recession

Kashmir’s carpet industry has been hit very hard by the global economic slowdown, 47-year-old Bashir Ahmad Bhat explained while working on his loom in a run-down hut in downtown Srinagar.

CHILE: Dakar Rally Left Trail of Archaeological Damages

The Dakar rally, held this year for the first time in Chile and Argentina, caused severe damage to archaeological sites in northern Chile, according to a report by the Council on National Monuments.

PARAGUAY: Dance Helps Disabled Kids Leap Barriers

Nicolás, a 14-year-old disabled boy, was finally able to open up and begin expressing himself thanks to Open Wings, a project in Paraguay that uses modern dance as a tool to help youngsters with disabilities develop on both the physical and psychological level.

CUBA: Following the Trail of a Woman Who Lived as a Man

When Cuban historian and anthropologist Julio César González and his Spanish friend Alberto Góngora Sanz arrived at the birthplace of Swiss physician Enriqueta Favez, in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, their joy at finally reaching their destination was so great that they broke into tears and dropped to the ground in the square across the street from her house.

MEDIA-ASIA: Editorial Cartoonists Turn to Pens – and Mice

Against the backdrop of challenges ranging from the global financial crunch to the popularity of new media, editorial cartoonists are drawing up ways to be creative in more ways than one.

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Gay Community Takes Heart in Indian Court Ruling

This month, Sri Lanka’s gay and lesbian community, long struggling for acceptance and respect in a conservative, majority-Buddhist country, cheered a landmark court ruling in neighbouring India.

CULTURE-AUSTRALIA: Film on ‘Slavery’ Ignites Controversy

‘Stolen’, an Australian documentary film that premiered at the Sydney Film Festival last month, has ignited a controversy with its claims on slavery in the refugee camps of Western Sahara. The main protagonist has denounced the film for her portrayal as a 'slave’, but the filmmakers say they stand by their version of the story "one hundred per cent".

RIGHTS-SOUTH AFRICA: When the Goal Is Peace

Delivering his first state of the nation address in June 2009, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma described sport as 'a unifying force' that people must use to live together.

EUROPE: Not the Language to Speak

A controversial new law on foreign languages in Slovakia branded discriminatory and totalitarian by critics is fuelling tensions and destroying trust between Slovaks and ethnic Hungarians, political analysts have warned.

Q&A: "My Boyfriend Insisted I Quit Dancing, My Answer Was No"

She has had to change her name, sever links with her family and boyfriend, and even move cities because of male stalkers in the Bahraini capital. But no "sacrifice" is too much in the pursuit of her dream for Tufaha, just 24.

CHILE: Home Truths About the Dictator and His Family?

"La Familia. Historia privada de los Pinochet" (The Family: Private History of the Pinochets), a book that delves into the personal life of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his immediate family, has had a mixed reception in this country and in Ecuador, where a man claiming to be his illegitimate son may soon identify himself.

ARGENTINA: Women Writers Who Break the Mould

An Argentine woman’s first novel, narrated by a character that eludes female literary stereotypes, has surprisingly met with some nasty sexist comments from spheres where such biases were previously unheard of, such as literary criticism and sophisticated readership.

PUERTO RICO: Pride in Sotomayor Rekindles Debate Over Status

Sonia Sotomayor's nomination by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Supreme Court has turned her into a reason for national pride in Puerto Rico. But it has also added fresh fuel to the perpetual debate for self-determination of the people in the Caribbean island, which has been a commonwealth of the U.S. for over a hundred years.

HAITI: Deportees from U.S. Face Culture Shock, Retain Hope

In the shadow of the Eglise Sainte Claire in the Petite Place Cazeau neighbourhood of Haiti’s bustling capital, Frantz Saintil is visiting his daughter and reflecting on the more than two decades he spent abroad before finding himself back in his native country of Haiti seven years ago.