Slovenia extends helping hand to Kosovo refugees

Slovenian generosity gives Kosovo family warm place to spend winter

By Kevin Grieves
CNN World Report

In this story: Grim future for Ugandan children living in streets Christ-child statue figures in centuries-old Philippine tradition  Exhibit makes big impression on Italian museum-goers Malaysians ring in Chinese New Year with a kick Joy of music knows no boundaries for Azerbaijan visitor Abandoned pups find motherly care in sty RELATED STORIES, SITES

A bank is open for business, judges are reviewing court cases, and people are beginning to go about their daily affairs. A routine Monday morning for many places around the world, perhaps, but in Kosovo, these are important signs that things may be returning to normal. Kosovo has been struggling to return to normal life following more than a year of violence and warfare; NATO-led peacekeepers entered the former Yugoslav province last June to try to re-establish peace and to stabilize the region.

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Stability is slow in coming for the many refugees displaced by the conflict in Kosovo. TV Slovenia recently visited a "village" in Dakovica, Kosovo, where hundreds of refugees are living in containers until permanent housing is available for them. The containers may not feel like home, but they do provide heat, running water and electricity. Additional containers house kitchen, laundry and medical facilities, amenities that border on the luxurious for the displaced Kosovars.

TV Slovenia reporter Petra Kercmar explained to CNN World Report viewers that the emergency housing was made possible by a joint effort of the Slovenian branches of three relief agencies: Caritas, the Red Cross, and UNICEF. Slovenian television crews covering the Kosovo refugees' story even pitched in by collecting donations at home.

TV Slovenia says U.N. officials praised Slovenian generosity in reaching out to the homeless people of Kosovo. Villagers also expressed their gratitude to Slovenia: "I'm very thankful to all Slovenes who participated in this project," says Valentina Gjuraj, a Dakovica resident. "It's not just a project, but the idea of building a village and thus providing new homes to 216 people. It was the best idea ever to put into life."

Grim future for Ugandan children living in streets

Street children beg from passing motorists in Uganda

Some of them are runaways from home, seeking refuge far from parental control. But others among Uganda's large population of so-called "street children" simply have no home and no parents to turn to.

Uganda's WBS recently shone its spotlight on the issue of that country's homeless children, a problem which is taking on increasing urgency. WBS reporter Yusuf Kalyango Jr. told viewers that the numbers of street children in Uganda have increased some 30 percent in the past decade. But he says poverty is not the sole factor driving children into a life on the streets: Cultural attitudes play a role as well: For example, when traditional families refuse to provide for an education for their offspring, limiting the youngsters' options in life.

Many Ugandans place much of the blame for the growing homeless youth problem on the Ugandan government, accusing the country's leadership of not doing enough to address the issue. WBS's Kalyango points to rampant child labor abuses such as bonded labor and sexual exploitation of children. "The government has not yet taken adequate measures to stop these root causes," Kalyango says.

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GMA 7 News, in the Philippines, shows the festival. QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

Christ-child statue figures in centuries-old Philippine tradition

Each year, many Filipinos carry on the tradition of the festival of Santo Nino. The observance is highlighted by a procession featuring figures of the Christ child, or Santo Nino, through the streets of Manila and other cities.

GMA-7 News showed CNN World Report viewers a bit of the ambiance surrounding the festival, which is a vestige of the Spanish colonial heritage in the Philippines. Some of the celebrants' statues of Santo Nino took on an individual personality, since they came in various shapes and sizes. Some were even decorated with colorful items of apparel.

Exhibit makes big impression on Italian museum-goers

Monet, Cezanne, Renoir... famous names of Impressionist art are the talk of the town in Rome right now as art lovers flock to a new exhibition of paintings on loan from Russia. "I cento capolavori dell'Ermitage," as the exhibition is called, features 100 works of art from the renowned Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Rome art afficionados examine impressionist paintings

Viewers were treated to a tour of the paintings on display courtesy of Italia News Network (INN), a new member of the CNN World Report family of contributors. INN reporter Alessandra Chertizza explained that the paintings in the collection trace the development of the Impressionist movement, from its beginnings with artists such as Gauguin and Cezanne, to its later manifestations in the works of Picasso and Cubist artists.

Chertizza says the setting of the exhibition is as notable as the art itself: A former papal palace on the hill of Quirinale in the heart of Rome houses the Impressionist works during their stay in the Italian capital. The palace's restoration balances a contemporary display setting with the building's historic structure.

Malaysians ring in Chinese New Year with a kick

Shaolin monks wow crowds during New Year's celebration in Malaysia

The first weekend in February brings with it a new year for millions of Chinese and people of Chinese origin around the world. The date is determined by the lunar calendar, and each year is associated with a zodiac animal, with celebrants currently ushering in the year of the dragon.

The ethnic Chinese population of Malaysia prepared to welcome in this new year with some lively activities, and CNN World Report contributor RTM shared some of the highlights. Among those highlights was a visit to a Kuala Lumpur shopping center by a group of monks from the Shaolin Temple in Henan, China, who demonstrated an age-old martial art to the delight of the onlookers. Shaolin kung fu combines fluid movement and athletic skill to form a graceful performance.

RTM spoke with the Shaolin troupe's leader, Chief Master Wang Zhang Tong, who explained that the 12-member group is on a tour of twenty countries. The monks hope to spread enthusiasm for the art form, especially in places like Malaysia, which are home to large ethnic Chinese populations. The performance in Kuala Lumpur culminated in a show of "chi-gung," or inner strength, featuring a monk withstanding blows to the body from fellow monks brandishing pieces of wood.

Joy of music knows no boundaries for Azerbaijan visitor

Tomoko left her native Japan some three years ago and now lives thousands of miles away in Baku, Azerbaijan. But instead of suffering from culture shock, she has developed a strong bond with her host country by embracing an important element of Azerbaijani culture: the saz. A saz is a guitar-like musical instrument whose roots go back centuries, and CNN World Report contributor MIR explained to viewers that the saz is favored by folk singers and poets in Azerbaijan.

While Tomoko is relatively new to Azerbaijan, her saz-playing talents have quickly become evident: MIR reporter Afag Aleskerly says she's already made a great impression on her music teacher. Tomoko also is taking to the stage, engaging in several saz recitals. Tomoko says she never dreamed she would be able to connect so well with Azerbaijani folk art through her newfound love for saz music. "When I came to Azerbaijan ... I saw this ancient musical instrument as 'live culture.' I decided I wanted to study it," she said.

Abandoned pups find motherly care in sty

Mismatched family feels right at home in pig sty

A litter of four fuzzy puppies in a small Greek village had nowhere to turn after their mother abandoned them ... but in one of life's unusual turns, the young dogs found a new mother -- along with some mismatched siblings -- in a nearby pig sty. A sow with five little ones of her own "adopted" the puppies, and the canines are living right alongside the piglets.

Greece's Star Channel dropped in on the unusual family to find that the mother pig is caring for the puppies as if they were her own, and the puppies either don't know or don't mind that "mom" is of a different species. Farmer Giorgos Kiosses told viewers that the puppies' mother was frightened off after giving birth and left her babies behind, and the sow took over the nurturing role without hesitation. "She put all the newborns together, she feeds them ... they grow up together, and there's no problem at all," Kiosses says.

Maternal instinct seems to have triumphed over adversity in this case. "The pig is protective and doesn't allow strangers to come close to her nine children ... both natural and adopted," said Star Channel reporter Demie Hadji.