German conductor Daniel Barenboim says his participation in the West-Eastern Divan represented his support for peace in the Middle East. By co-founding the youth orchestra in 1999 with late academic Edward Said, Barenboim said he was trying to bring young musicians of Palestinian, Egyptian and Israeli descent a chance to find a common bond, The New York Times reported Sunday. The idea was to give each person a forum to articulate his or her thoughts and beliefs in front of the other, he said.

By Dennis Lim When referring to the Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, it is now - and has been for some time - customary to affix the phrase "world's oldest active filmmaker." The operative word is "active." Oliveira, who turns 100 in December, has made at least one movie a year since 1990 (when he was 82).

By McCarraher, Eugene This Book Is Not Good God Is Not Great How Religion Poisons Everything Christopher Hitchens Twelve, $24.99, 294 pp. Christopher Hitchens used to be a courageous and electrifying writer.

By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Music is one of few certainties in the life of Ahmad Al-Khatib, a 31-year-old classically trained Palestinian musician touring the United States this month with the four-man Oriental Music Ensemble.

CLEVELAND, Oct.