CUBA: Film Frenzy

María Martínez and her husband go home every evening after participating in a ritual that is repeated every December, when the Cuban capital hosts the New Latin American Film Festival, an audiovisual feast that revolutionises the city’s routine for two weeks every year.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Activists Unfazed by Anti-Terror Act Arrests

By arresting five lawyers for taking out a peaceful march, under the internal security act (ISA), Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s government may have invited intensified opposition to the draconian, colonial period law.

POLITICS-SIERRA LEONE: Whose Quota, Exactly?

A campaign to bring about greater gender balance in Sierra Leone's government has sparked debate on issues of class, with some fearing that a proposed quota for women could be monopolised by candidates who are unrepresentative of Sierra Leonean women overall.

AFRICA: Money, Media and Tradition Complicate Women&#39s Political Aspirations

The challenges confronting women politicians in Africa were given an airing recently during a press conference in South Africa's commercial hub, Johannesburg.

IRAQ: Not Even the Hajj is Free of Corruption

Many Iraqis are angry that the government seems to be picking favourites for the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

Q&A: Righting Past Wrongs – Defending the Right to Sexual Diversity in Cuba

Cuban sexologist Mariela Castro shocked the world, and a good number of people in Cuba, this year when she announced a proposed legal reform in this socialist Caribbean island nation which would include the full recognition of the rights of gays, lesbians, transsexuals, transvestites and transgender persons.

POLITICS: U.S. Jews Tilt Rightwards on Israel

U.S. Jews appear to have become more opposed both to Israel's making key concessions in renewed peace talks with Palestinians and to the U.S. carrying out a military attack against Iran's nuclear facilities, according to the latest in an annual series of surveys of Jewish opinion released here this week by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

POLITICS-US: Minority Solidarity Undercut by Mistrust

Serious tensions between major minority groups in the United States persist, but strong majorities of citizens of African, Hispanic, and Asian origin or descent believe that relations between their communities are likely to improve over the next decade, according to a new survey released here Wednesday by a consortium of minority media outlets.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Internal Security Act Flung at Peaceful Protestors

An old fear, not felt since the dictatorial Mahathir Mohamad retired as prime minister in 2003, has returned - fear of arrest without trial and indefinite incarceration without being charged.

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Bishop Fasts Again for Sao Francisco River

Brazilian Catholic Bishop Luiz Cappio has entered the third week of his hunger strike against the diversion of water from the Sao Francisco river, in the arid northeast of the country, amid expressions of support.

POLITICS-US: Clergy Joins “Tapegate” Battle

A coalition of more than 130 religious organisations has joined a growing chorus calling for appointment of a special counsel to investigate allegations regarding the Central Intelligence Agency's destruction of videotapes and its use of "harsh" interrogation techniques.

RELIGION-MEXICO: Outspoken Bishop Backed by Civil Society

Former members of the Catholic Church hierarchy and over 100 social organisations closed ranks behind Monsignor Raúl Vera, the only Catholic bishop in Mexico who still adheres to liberation theology, and whose unorthodox stances and confrontational style are disturbing conservative sectors.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Naming Hanged Convicts – Step Towards Reform

When Japan’s justice ministry departed from norm to name three convicts it hanged this month, many here saw it as a sign that the country was now prepared to adopt more humane policies towards capital punishment.

Q&A: “Where Is the Democracy in International Relations?”

It's about the oldest dispute around, which is good enough reason to hear more on it from those who can influence a possible resolution. So when Abdelwahab Derbal, head of the mission in Brussels of the League of Arab States speaks of his anger over the Palestine issue, these may be words to listen to, whichever side of the divide (if any) you are on.

MALAYSIA: Arrests of Peaceful Protestors Mar Rights Day

Malaysia is observing World Human Rights Day under a cloud, as the administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, rattled by a series of street protests over the last month, launches a tough crackdown against peaceful demonstrators.

DEVELOPMENT-TANZANIA: Tackling Corruption Through Song

Wailing into the microphone and feigning an exaggerated limp, singer Tominem pleaded with corruption-weary Tanzanians in the audience to assert their rights when fighting graft.

RIGHTS-US: Native Tribes Take on Ski Resort

Indigenous communities are up in arms against commercial plans to expand a ski resort on a mountain peak in the U.S. state of Arizona that has been held sacred by the natives for centuries.

POLITICS-US: Dark Horse Surges with Religious Right Backing

Although several of the leading Republican Party presidential candidates have won endorsements from Religious Right leaders and organisations, no one has brought more Christian conservative leaders into their camp than former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

RIGHTS-CUBA: Incident Could Hurt Relations With Catholic Church

A police raid on a church in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba to arrest a group of dissidents was called "a deplorable incident" by a member of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, who said it could harm the good relationship between the Catholic Church and the Cuban government.

EGYPT: Islamist Draft Manifesto Stirs Controversy

For the last several months, politicians of all stripes have awaited release of the Muslim Brotherhood movement's political party manifesto. According to spokesmen for the group, the document is intended to clarify the positions of the Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt's largest opposition force - on a range of issues.

BRAZIL: Modelling Change in the Favelas

When police in Brazil discovered an enormous detailed scale model of the Pereirão favela, they were going to destroy it because they thought it was part of a drug trafficking gang’s plan to invade a nearby neighbourhood. Ten years later, portions of the miniature reproduction built by children have travelled around the world to art exhibits and festivals.