Opinion

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hailed the discovery of oil near the Amazon coast as a "passport to the future," despite strong opposition to drilling in the area from environmentalists.

Nicknamed "The Happy Place," Ayetoro -- home to around 10,000 people -- was founded in 1947 by a group of communist-inspired Christians seeking to create a society based on the communal sharing of assets.

Almost a week after the quake, fatigue and anguish have taken a tough toll on volunteers and the families of the dead and missing.

On the walls where gang members in El Salvador once marked their turf, urban artists are now creating large murals in a traveling festival that fills the streets of the Central American country with color.

Plans to equip US immigration enforcement agents with gloves capable of delivering debilitating electric shocks have fueled concerns over potential abuses by a force that critics say is already overzealous and under-trained.