RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: ‘Young and Poor’ at Risk from Trigger-Happy Police

In the 25 years since the end of one of the bloodiest dictatorships in the history of Latin America, Argentina has racked up a total of 2,557 deaths from abuses in police stations and prisons, summary executions or trigger-happy police, according to an organisation for families of the victims.

PERU: Open-Pit Mine Continues to Swallow City

An immense open-pit mine located 4380 metres above sea level is swallowing up the centre of the city of Cerro de Pasco in Peru’s central highlands, while the damages, in the form of toxic waste, spread to nearby villages.

VENEZUELA: The Cost of the World’s Cheapest Gasoline

The world’s most inexpensive gasoline is sold in Venezuela, through a longstanding subsidy programme that benefits car owners while depriving the oil industry of a large source of funds for reinvesting.

CHILE: Best Christmas Gift – a New House, Built by New Friends

Before the volunteers showed up at her house, Pamela Peña was nervous. She was embarrassed for others to see the poverty that her family lived in. But once the work started, she relaxed and enjoyed the unexpected Christmas present.

CUBA: Close Encounter with a Hurricane

Coffee was ready, documents and files had been removed to a safe place, communications equipment was switched off and the optical system was secured. With nothing left to do but wait, Cuban lighthouse keeper Miguel Chacón climbed the 218 stairs to the tower of the Cape Lucrecia lighthouse and looked out to sea.

COLOMBIA: New Meaning in Life for Young Shantytown Dwellers

After three of Viviana’s friends were killed, and one of them dismembered, she began to think things over, and decided to join the Legión del Afecto project in Colombia, leaving six years of gang life behind her.

VENEZUELA: “Children Can’t Even Play on Their Front Stoops”

Johana Bracamonte never had a chance to learn to read. She was just five years old the morning her uncle took her to kindergarten and they were both shot by thieves who stole his motorbike, in 23 de Enero, a shantytown on the west side of the Venezuelan capital.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Carving up Paradise

Located along white sand beaches on the north coast of the lush Samana peninsula, this is the latest Dominican boom town. Entering the town from across the high mountains, developers' signs are perched on the steep hills, with prices in dollars, promising a piece of paradise.

Q&A: ''The One Goal is to End Homelessness''

The week-long Homeless World Cup football competition came to a dramatic climax here on Dec.7, with Afghanistan and Zambia, respectively, winning the men’s and women’s competitions in what was the sixth edition of the annual tournament. But while the competition provides players with the opportunity to represent their country and gives spectators a chance to appreciate some exhilarating street soccer, the Homeless World Cup’s president and co-founder, Mel Young, told IPS that ending homelessness is the real goal.

CUBA: Even the Coral Reefs Shook

The years will pass and their children’s children will ask how much truth there was in their grandparents’ stories.

FILM-BRAZIL: “An Artist Only Bows His Head to Thank the Audience”

The first three times he saw the film he could not watch it through to the end; he was so overcome by emotion he burst into tears. The next five times he did manage to see the whole movie, but tears were constantly streaming down his cheeks. Brazilian Maestro Mozart Vieira was "extraordinarily" moved by seeing his own story on screen.

DEVELOPMENT-LATAM: The Greater the Solidarity, the Lower the Cost

Football in Belize does not aim for international achievements, but that does not matter to the environmental group that uses the sport to recruit children and young people to fight for the protection of local biodiversity under threat.

ENVIRONMENT-CUBA: ‘Forest Ranger’ Looks After Havana’s Trees

"It all began with the cutting of the ceiba," recalls Isbel Díaz, founder of the project "El Guardabosques" (The Forest Ranger), an environmental initiative that seeks to raise ecological awareness among residents of the Cuban capital and involve them in the protection of their natural surroundings, in particular the city’s trees.

COLOMBIA: Financial Scandal a Hurdle to Uribe’s Re-election

Five thousand people chanting anti-government slogans in the Colombian capital’s central Bolívar Square reflected the sharp fall in popularity of right-wing President Álvaro Uribe, whose bid to reform the constitution to allow him to run for a third term in 2010 has suffered serious setbacks in Congress.

POLITICS: Decentralisation, a Double-Edged Sword for Women

Decentralised governments have often been presented as a formula for strengthening democracy and citizen participation, and giving women greater access to power. But experiences like that of Eufrosina Cruz, who was denied the right to run for mayor of her Oaxaca village, on the argument of "uses and customs" of her indigenous community, show that this is not always true.

LABOUR-PERU: Protest Against Bush and Alan Garcia

A demonstration in the Peruvian capital by left-wing political movements against U.S. President George W. Bush’s visit to the country turned into a protest Friday by hundreds of laid-off workers and trade unions in conflict with local and foreign companies.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: When Terror Wears a Uniform

Herminia Lizarazo did not know what to respond when her seven-year-old grandson told her "Grandma, I want to know what the army is for." The boy, whose two uncles belong to the army in Colombia, wanted to wear a military costume for Halloween.

PERU: My Mining Deposits Are Under Your House

"Just imagine you’re told you have to leave your house, your livestock, the graves of your loved ones, and then they take you to an unfamiliar place without even asking you what you think about it. How would you feel?" asks Eduardo Sueldo, the local environment delegate in a highlands village in southern Peru.

CULTURE-SINGAPORE: Long Way to Go as Asia’s Arts Hub

Shubigi Rao was not too happy when her husband, a pilot, was asked by his company to relocate to Singapore. Rao did not think that Singapore could offer opportunities for a budding artist like her.

MEXICO: Cyclists Speed Up Transportation Changes

Cyclists in the Mexican capital who pedal nude once a year and organise tours through the city have overcome the suspicions of city officials and are now participating in designing plans to benefit this environmentally-friendly mode of transportation.

PARAGUAY: Agreement with Rural Activists Puts End to Protest

Rural and social activists ended three days of protests Friday in the Paraguayan capital after their leaders met with President Fernando Lugo and reached a preliminary agreement for addressing their demands.