The United Nation's top humanitarian official is on his first official trip to assess the situation in Sudan's Darfur region. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with the BBC's East Africa correspondent, Karen Allen, who's travelling with Holmes.

The World's Mary Kay reports on China's mine safety record. It's not very good, but Chinese officials vow to make it better. Today, Beijing introduced new safety measures for mines. But the new plan doesn't address the many illegal coal mines where most of China's deadly mine accidents take place.

The work of 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner is going through a bit of Americanization by the Washington National Opera. Anchor Marco Werman explains.

The World's Alex Gallafent reports on the increasing influence Japan has on American pop culture. Japanese superheroes are popping up in Super Bowl commercials and Manga novels are preferred reading for many young Americans.

The Iraqi government is bringing Saddam Hussein's Baath party back into the fold. Today it approved a plan to end discrimination against Baath party members. Anchor Marco Werman finds out why from the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad.

Egypt votes for a constitutional amendment that will ban one of its largest opposition groups, the Muslim Brotherhood. Critics say the vote was fixed to give Egpyt's president, Hosni Mubarak, more power. Anchor Marco Werman finds out more from Essam el-Erian, a spokesman with the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo.

Condoleezza Rice

The World's Matthew Bell reports that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has wrapped up her latest trip to the Middle East. Rice was able to get agreement for a new round of limited talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. But there's little hope the talks would lead to a breakthrough.

Reporter Julie Siple tells us about the Berlin-based rock band called Orientation. Band members are of both German and Turkish background, and they're out to knock down cultural walls between Germany and Turkey.

We were looking for an island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea that was home to the world's oldest known perfume factory. The answer is the island of Cyprus, where fine fragrances were produced about 4,000 years ago. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Maria Rosario Belgiorno, the archaeologist who discovered the perfume factory 4 years ago and is curating a new exhibit that lets visitors smell the ancients scents.