Demonstrators carrying Israeli and Brazilian flags protest the upcoming visit of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as they march along Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009. Ahmadinejad will arrive to Brazil's capital, Brasilia, on Monday.

Felipe Dana/AP Photo

Iran prez seeks new legitimacy in visit to Brazil

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is seeking a new source of legitimacy while making his first visit to Brazil, a nation that maintains close ties to the U.S., Israel and other countries trying to halt Iran's nuclear push. 1258961892

Mexico City's famed dance-for-peso halls fading

Mirna Torres salsas with a gray-bearded man for $1.50 a dance in the Barba Azul, a dark yet garish cabaret decorated like an erotic carnival fun house. 1258958331
Bermuda dismisses ammunition case against US woman

Bermuda's highest court has struck down the conviction of a Florida woman who accidentally brought the ammunition magazine from her gun to the British island territory. 1258948744
Honduras election sets return to business as usual

The coup last summer in this tiny, Central American country blew up into an international incident, with thousands of Hondurans taking to the streets while everyone from Barack Obama to Fidel Castro lined up behind ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
Venezuela to get 300 tanks, armored vehicles

President Hugo Chavez is hailing the forthcoming arrival of 300 Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles, and urging civilians to join government-organized militias to be ready to defend Venezuela from a foreign invasion.
Hugo Chavez invites Fidel Castro to Venezuela

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is inviting his mentor Fidel Castro to visit Venezuela during the coming months.
Venezuela: No direct talks with Colombia on bases

Venezuela has no interest in talking directly to Colombia to end a monthslong crisis but would support an effort by other South American nations to broker a solution, a top government official said Sunday.
Reports: 101-yr-old Brazil architect back at work

Famed 101-year-old Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer is reportedly back at work just weeks after surgery for gallstones and an intestinal tumor.
Chavez praises alleged terrorist Carlos the Jackal

President Hugo Chavez is praising Carlos the Jackal, the imprisoned Venezuelan once notorious for a series of Cold War-era bombings, assassinations and hostage dramas, saying he was a "revolutionary fighter" and not a terrorist.
Pro-Castro mob attacks spouse of top Cuban blogger

The husband of an acclaimed dissident Cuban blogger was punched and shouted down by a pro-government mob Friday after he challenged the presumed state agents who earlier roughed up his wife to a street corner debate.
Mexico says drug witness died in apparent suicide

A top drug cartel suspect who turned state's evidence has been found dead in an apparent suicide, while a body found in Guerrero state was identified as a rebel leader who accused the state governor of drug ties, Mexican law enforcement said Saturday.
Argentina forces dirty war orphans to provide DNA

Valuing truth over the right to privacy, Argentina's Congress has authorized the forced extraction of DNA from people who may have been born to political prisoners slain a quarter-century ago - even when they don't want to know their birth parents.
Mexican reporter on organized crime goes missing

Authorities in the western Mexican state of Michoacan are investigating the disappearance of a journalist who wrote about organized crime.
Guatemala reopening international adoptions

Guatemalan officials on Friday announced the resumption of international adoptions after a nearly two-year suspension prompted by the discovery that some babies were being sold.
Brazil leader urges freeze on Israeli settlements

Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is joining his Palestinian counterpart in calling on Israel to stop building new settlements in areas claimed by Palestinians.
Honduras interim president may take leave for vote

Honduras' interim president said Thursday he may step down temporarily to allow voters to concentrate on the upcoming presidential elections.
Peruvian police: Gang killed people for their fat

Police say a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics, although medical experts say they doubt a major market for fat exists.
Mexican once put up for oldest woman dies at 119

A Mexican once put forward for the title of world's oldest woman has died at 119, government officials said Thursday.
Mexico City's transit improvements on track

Cash-strapped Mexico City is pressing ahead with new bus lines and bike lanes in 2010, buoyed by prestigious recognition for a world-class transit system that has reduced pollution in one of the globe's largest cities.
1st monument at Guyana's Jonestown suicide site

It has taken more than 30 years, but the government of Guyana has erected a memorial plaque at the site of the Jonestown cult massacre, a dark episode the South American country had long sought to downplay.