Rousseff regains edge in Brazil presidential race as Silva slips

7:13pm EDT

By Anthony Boadle

BRASILIA (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff has regained a slight edge in Brazil's presidential race after weeks of aggressive campaigning against environmentalist Marina Silva, who is losing some voter support in the campaign's homestretch, polls showed on Tuesday.

Rousseff and Silva are tied at 41 percent in a likely second-round runoff that is expected to decide the election, according to a survey by the Ibope polling firm.

Another survey by MDA showed Rousseff would get 42 percent of the votes against 41 percent for Silva if the runoff were held today, a one point advantage that amounts to a statistical tie as it is within the poll's margin of error.

Silva, who would be Brazil's first black president, was leading polls on the runoff before the Rousseff campaign unleashed a wave of negative campaign ads questioning Silva's ability to lead Latin America's largest economy.

Chilean government signals possible existence of other IED cells as Santiago bombing investigation focuses on city outskirts

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Rodrigo Peñailillo, Chile's Minister of the Interior, said on 20 September that he did not rule out the existence of more groups similar to the one that detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in a Santiago metro station on 8 September injuring 14 people.

Argentine doctors tried in 'dirty war' baby thefts

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA — Two Argentine doctors are being tried on suspicion of stealing babies from political prisoners during the country's 1976-1983 dictatorship.

Raul Eugenio Martin and Norberto Bianco are accused of taking nine babies from a clandestine maternity ward located inside military barracks. The trial, which began on Sept. 17, marks the first time that dictatorship-era physicians face a judge for this crime.

Despite Poor Optics, China-Argentina Deals Reflect Both Sides' Pragmatism

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, left, toasts with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a dinner in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2014 (AP photo by Victor R. Caivano).

By Sean Goforth, Sept. 23, 2014, Briefing

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In July, just days before a New York court ruling put Argentina in default on a $539 million payment to creditors, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner signed an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping whereby China would loan Argentina $11 billion worth of yuan, which the latter could use to either bolster its currency reserves or pay for imported Chinese goods. The first installment of $1 billion is expected by year’s end, according to the Buenos Aires daily La Nacion. The currency swap deal, as well as a secretive deal for a Chinese satellite-tracking station in Argentina, have drawn criticism from some quarters in Argentina and raised suspicion about China’s motives.

THE SURGE OF CHILD MIGRANTS TO US HAS DECLINED SHARPLY

THE SURGE OF CHILD MIGRANTS HAS DECLINED SHARPLY

Earlier this summer Washington was in a panic about the "border crisis" — the arrival of tens of thousands of families and children from Central America crossing over the Texas border.

But by the time Congress returned in September, the crisis had completely dropped off the radar of policymakers, the media, and the public. So what happened?

Argentina votes to move debt, ignores US ruling it's 'illegal'

Argentina is also considering adding France as a jurisdiction for making bond payments after $1.5bn default

Ecuador earthquake leaves at least two people dead

Earthquake near Quito causes a deadly landslide at a quarry with two dead and rescue teams still searching for others

A vehicle transports people along the Pan-American Highway after the 5.1 magnitude earthquake Photo: EPA

Reuters

Two people were killed in Ecuador on Tuesday after a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck near the capital of Quito, with eight others wounded and rescue workers still seeking to free others trapped after the tremor.

The National Risk Control Agency said the earthquake triggered a landslide at a quarry in the Quito area that killed two people who worked there, adding that firemen were searching for three others.

"Obviously the landslide was caused by the tremor, but there was already weakness there due to illegal mining ... or quarries being exploited improperly," President Rafael Correa told reporters in the port city of Guayaquil.

Mexico's Sonora state reports new mine spill

This pool of water with sulphuric acid is used to extract copper stones inside the "Buena Vista" copper mine, a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico.

Continue reading the main story

The Mexican authorities have issued a new alert about a toxic spill into a river from a copper mine run by the mining giant Grupo Mexico.

Venezuela's Maduro launches civilian disarmament plan

Argentinians stage strike over ailing economy

Union members and radical activists barricade major roads into capital over rising unemployment and inflation.

Obama unveils $500m plan to beat Ebola

US president to send 3,000 military personnel to West Africa for mission that will include training of health workers.

US President Barack Obama has said the US is prepared to take leadership in tackling Ebola, warning that the epidemic in West Africa is "spiraling out of control". Obama urged a global expanded effort to fight the deadly disease, as he unveiled a new $500m US initiative that will see 3,000 military personnel posted to the region to combat the health crisis. In addition to the troop deployment, the heightened US role in West Africa will include erecting new treatment and isolation facilities, training healthcare workers and boosting communications and transportation support.

• environment
• protest
• climate change

Americas

Thousands march worldwide over climate change

• economy
• Venezuela
• Nicolas Maduro

Americas

Fears of default as Venezuelan economy worsens

President Nicolas Maduro is reassuring foreign creditors that Venezuela’s government will make good on a $4.5 billion foreign debt payment due next month.

But economists are uttering the D-word for the first time, noting the inflation-ravaged economy is stumbling with basic goods in short supply and the currency eroding in value.

Maduro has repeatedly said default is not an option. On Wednesday, he reiterated his administration’s commitment to pay “down to the last dollar.”

The subject gained traction in recent days, and even got its own Twitter hashtag, after an article by former Venezuelan planning minister Ricardo Hausmann and Harvard economist Miguel Angel Santos argued that a managed default could help Maduro resuscitate the economy and help his people.

“The fact that his

Cuba deploys ‘world’s finest medics’ to Ebola-hit Sierra Leone

Cuba is joining the fight against Ebola by sending a 165-strong army of doctors and specialists to West Africa. Despite decades of financial hardship, the communist country remains at the forefront of the world’s medical expertise and know-how.

The team, which includes doctors, nurses, epidemiologists and intensive care specialists, is due to touch down in Sierra Leone in the beginning of October.

Margaret Chan, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), has hailed it as the “largest offer of a foreign medical team from a single country” since the start of the outbreak. So far, the deadly Ebolavirus has claimed more than 2,600 lives in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

SUCCESSFUL LOCKDOWN IN SIERRA LEONE

Although Cuba has suffered from a full economic embargo imposed by the United States since the early 1960’s, the island remains one of the best training grounds for health care professionals.

“Cuba is known the world over for its ability to train excellent doctors and nurses,” WHO said, which has previously described the island nation as “a role-model” when it comes to its proactive medical approach and research.

How Mexico’s cartel crackdown smashed its iron industry

A government offensive against the Knights Templar cartel has had the side effect of leaving thousands of miners out of work.

By Ioan Grillo

AGUILILLA, Mexico— Iron ore lies abandoned in titanic piles like a gray lunar landscape amid these green hills.

War Is Not the Word

The U.S. is not at war with the Islamic State group, but Iraq is.

By Dick Hoffman 

As Secretary of State John Kerry and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi work to assemble a coalition to support Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State group (also known as ISIS or ISIL) and U.S. forces ramp up their airstrikes, the American public should understand some important aspects of irregular warfare.

First and foremost, the United States is not and should not consider itself at war with the Islamic State group. Doing so gives terrorists publicity and gravitas they do not deserve. Granted, the group threatens U.S. interests, but characterizing U.S. support to Iraqi operations as “war” is unnecessary and counterproductive.

Iraq is at war with the Islamic State group. This distinction is important because it helps everyone understand what the U.S. role is and what Iraq’s role is. The Iraqi government and the Iraqi military need to work together to defeat the militants. Coalition forces need to carefully balance their efforts and provide just enough support to keep Iraq successful, but not so much that Iraq is no longer in the lead. Intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and air strikes, along with limited special operations and training, can support Iraq without subverting its sovereignty.

If coalition forces were to push the Iraqi military aside and solve its problems for it, this operation may defeat the Islamic State group, but it will not leave Iraq with self-sufficient, reliable security forces for the future. The primary U.S. objective should be to support Iraqi forces, as they defeat the Islamic State group.

Brazil Removed From UN World Hunger Map

United Nation report removes Brazil from World Hunger Map

The Associated Press

SAO PAULO

The Brazilian government Tuesday hailed a new United Nations report that for the first time removed Latin America's biggest country from the World Hunger Map.
"Leaving the Hunger Map is a historic milestone for Brazil. We are very proud because overcoming hunger was a priority for the Brazilian state," Social Development Minister Tereza Campello said in a statement.
The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2014 was released Tuesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the United Nations World Food Program.
According to the report, the number of undernourished Brazilians has fallen by more than 80 percent in 10 years.

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  drugs
• Peru
• drug trafficking

Americas

Peru seizes record 6.5 tonnes of Europe-bound cocaine

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Peruvian police seized a record 6.5 tonnes of cocaine in a quiet coastal town this week, arresting seven Peruvians and two Mexicans suspected of trying to smuggle the load to Europe as coal, President Ollanta Humala said on Thursday.

Authorities have raised their initial estimate of 3 tonnes of cocaine since uncovering the illicit cargo in a warehouse on Tuesday in Huanchaco, near the city of Trujillo in northern Peru.

The cocaine was packed into brick-sized packets and glued inside large chunks of coal, according to images provided by the government.

Police, who made the bust following weeks of investigations, are still examining the load.

The total amount of cocaine confiscated might surpass 6.5 tonnes, Humala said.

“This is, without doubt, the most important blow to drug trafficking in the history of the republic,” he added. Peru is the world’s top cocaine and coca producer, according to the United States and United Nations.

The export companies linked to the smuggling operation have been exporting coal to Spain and Belgium since at least 2011, police said.

Counter-narcotics police chief Vicente Romero flew reporters from the capital to see the drugs on Tuesday.

He said the raid was made after a six-week joint operation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration that included wiretapping.

The suspects arrested likely belong to an important global drug cartel, said Interior Minister Daniel Urresti, declining to identify which one.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, REUTERS)

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Olympics bus route to displace 900 families from Rio favela

Some residents eagerly await brand-new apartments, while others lament loss of community

September 1, 2014 5:00AM ET

by Donna Bowater

RIO DE JANEIRO — As José Paulo Barcellos’ family grew, so did his house.

Over time, the two-bedroom bungalow he built at the end of Brazil’s military dictatorship spawned another story, where his daughter and her two children now live, above him and his wife. His patchwork carport, which doubled as his workshop, is now also a playground for his 2-year-old granddaughter, Nicole.

But like many in the Vila União favela in western Rio de Janeiro, Barcellos’ home has been marked like a condemned house with “SMH” — the initials of the municipal housing secretary.

Guatemala prisons director arrested

3 September 2014 Last updated at 17:06 ET

Guatemala's Prison Service Director Edgar Camargo has been arrested and charged with involvement in a lucrative corruption and extortion scheme.

Prosecutors say the scheme was run by a high profile convicted criminal, Byron Oliva Lima, who paid bribes to Camargo.