ELECTIONS-BRAZIL: Weakened Lula Faces Second Round

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took nearly 49 percent of the vote in Sunday's elections, but he is facing difficult conditions as he starts out on the campaign for a second round on Oct. 29 against his main rival, Geraldo Alckmin.

NICARAGUA: It’s Always Greener on the Other Side of the Border

Some 20 percent of the Nicaraguan population have left the country over the last 16 years, most in search of work and better pay. The youth are the ones who are leaving, in a trend that separates families in exchange for remittances..

PANAMA: To Expand or Not to Expand: That’s the Canal Question

On Oct. 22, Panamanians will head to the polls in a referendum to decide the future and possible expansion of the Panama Canal, the main economic driver of this country of three million people.

DEATH PENALTY: No One Too Young in Iran

In Iran it is difficult to figure out when a person is considered an adult. According to Article 49 of the Islamic Penal Code the age of legal responsibility is nine years for girls and 15 for boys. Youngsters of both sexes, however, have to wait until they are 16 to vote in elections, and 18 to open a bank account, get a driver's license, or sell property in their names.

MEXICO: Oaxaca Protesters Fear Major Police Crackdown

Thousands of local residents, teachers and social activists in the front line of a historic movement against local authorities in the capital of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca are preparing to resist a police operation they believe may be imminent.

GUATEMALA: Army Losing Fight Against Crime

Although the military has not returned to power in Guatemala, it has returned to the streets.

ARGENTINA: Former ‘Disappeared’, Key Trial Witness, Missing Again

Thirty years after he was forcibly disappeared by Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship, a survivor of the "dirty war" who played a key role in the first conviction of a former torturer on charges of genocide has once again gone missing.

VENEZUELA: Crackdown on Illegal Miners Draws Blood

Witnesses say six people were gunned down by Venezuelan army troops last weekend in illegal gold mines in the jungle region of La Paragua, some 600 kilometres southeast of the capital. But so far, authorities have acknowledged only four deaths.

ARGENTINA: Bringing Films – and Filmmakers – to Prison

A pilot project with recreational and social reinsertion goals was launched in Argentina to show films in prison, followed by discussions between the inmates, the filmmakers and actors, and experts on the issues touched on by the movies.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Children Gone, but Remittances Flow In

At 70 years of age she counts herself lucky, more so than when she was a child living in poverty. Aquilina de la Paz Reyes gave birth to five children in the Dominican Republic, and they all emigrated to Spain. Now she wants for nothing, she told IPS. Every month she receives money to cover all her expenses.

HEALTH-VENEZUELA: Working on Behalf of the Deafblind

An organisation that assists the deafblind has helped make their plight more visible in Venezuela, while knitting a network aimed at improving the quality of life of those who are dual sensory impaired.

LATIN AMERICA: Women Lawmakers Find Strength in Unity

More and more women legislators in Latin America are setting aside their differences and coming together around the cause of women’s rights, in women’s caucuses. The last to have done so are female congresswomen in Colombia and Peru, who say they realised there is strength in unity.

CHILE: Therapeutic Abortion – A Distant but Not Impossible Prospect

Activists fighting for the decriminalisation of therapeutic abortion in Chile have long faced a depressing scenario: zero political will, stiff opposition from the Catholic Church and limited public support. Today, though, they are encouraged by positive signals on contraception from the government of Michelle Bachelet.

PERU: President Garcia Floats Hope for Waterless City Dwellers

Seventy percent of residents in the Peruvian capital’s northwestern Carabayllo district lack drinking water - but they represent only a fraction of the seven million people in this South American country of 27 million with no piped water.

HEALTH-NEPAL: Custom, Ignorance Breed Severe Malnutrition

In Nepal's western terai (plains) districts, a silent epidemic is brewing. Children and women are racked by diseases arising from malnutrition and anaemia-not because of a lack of food but because of faulty food habits and traditional customs, say health workers in the region.

COLOMBIA: Flu, War Hem in Nukak Indigenous Nomads

Decimated by a flu epidemic and driven from their territory by the civil war, Colombia's Nukak indigenous people are teetering on the brink of extinction.

SPAIN: Latin Kings Gang a “Cultural Association” in Barcelona

The Spanish chapter of the Latin Kings, a gang that emerged in Chicago decades ago and spread throughout the United States and more recently to Spain, is undergoing a legalisation and integration process in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region, although its members continue to be targets for law enforcement.

COSTA RICA: Congress to Study Bill on Homosexual Civil Unions

The Diversity Movement in Costa Rica is sponsoring a draft law on civil unions for same-sex couples which will be presented formally to the legislature this week.

POPULATION-JAPAN: Protecting Working Mothers’ Rights

Kaori Tokoro, 37, gave up the job she held down for 12 years with a medium-sized interior design company when she became pregnant six years ago.

NEPAL: Selling Daughters Into Bondage May End

With a young daughter in her lap, Sudhani Chaudhary, 30, carefully picks freshly harvested corn inside a small mud hut in Deukhuri Valley of Nepal's south-western Dang district. One of her four young daughters, not quite aged 10, lives in a distant town working as a housemaid for a family, she says. "I am told she is attending school.''

DEVELOPMENT: Pros and Cons of International Migration

As the number of international migrants from poor to rich nations continues to rise - reaching a record 191 million in 2005 - most Western countries have either imposed or are planning to impose restrictions to reduce the flow of humans into their territories.