
Brazil's unpredictable election took another twist Sunday, with populist President Dilma Rousseff forced into a runoff race as expected, but against a center-right challenger who only surged in the final week of the campaign.

President Barack Obama condemned on Friday the brutal murder of British captive Alan Henning on Friday, saying the United States would bring those responsible to justice.

Latin American currencies weakened on Friday after strong U.S. jobs data was seen as increasing the likelihood of higher interest rates in the world's largest economy, while Brazil markets fluttered in the last trading session before Oct. 5 elections.

The US unemployment rate dipped to 5.9% in September, a six-year low, official figure has shown. The rate fell from 6.1% in August and is the lowest recorded since July 2008. US Labor Department also said that employers added 248,000 jobs last month, and the job growth figures for August and July were revised upwards.

One year after the tragic shipwreck off the island of Lampedusa in Italy, wars such as in Syria, protracted crises and chaos in Libya continue to push an unprecedented number of refugees to Europe.

A first meeting to assess opportunities for accords between the Alliance of the Pacific and Mercosur will take place next November in Santiago de Chile confirmed, confirmed Chilean foreign minister Heraldo Muñoz.

With the agreement of Prime Minister David Cameron, the Foreign Secretary announced on Friday that Alex Younger has been appointed as successor to Sir John Sawers as Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service. Alex will take up his appointment next month.

Hooliganism and mobbing by government officials seem to be the norm in Argentina following on the experience of two incidents, one involving a BBC crew forced out of the country for their alleged 'disrespectful attitude' towards the Falklands/Malvinas conflict memory, and a second calling on hecklers to impede a conference in Buenos Aires of a former minister.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has extended her lead over environmentalist Marina Silva ahead of Sunday's Oct. 5 presidential election and would win a likely second-round runoff, a new poll showed on Thursday.

The first sign of oil industry impact on the face of the Falkland Islands capital, Stanley is in the offing with the planning approval given for an 80 room portable hotel near The Trough.