A country’s underbelly is an ugly thing. And it always takes you by surprise, like a slap in the face of progress and thought. In M magazine, out tomorrow with The Times, Veronica Stivala charts the rise of homophobia and interviews the victims of such prejudice.

In another take on prejudice and discrimination, Rosemarie Dorekens visits a gypsy camp on the outskirts of Rome and experiences the Roma people’s struggle against hunger, unemployment and abysmal living conditions.

As the Libyan uprising rages on, leaving thousands homeless, injured and dead, Nikki Abela Mercieca joins the Red Cross to deliver some 400 tonnes of aid to the city of Misurata. She tells M how Libya’s third largest city is trying to get back on its feet.

Just a few days before his death, renowned sculptor Joseph Casha gave M an interview which, sadly, was to be his last. In this last interview, he tells Sandy Calleja Portelli about finding forms, his fantasies and realities and how nothing could keep him away from his art.