After an emergency meeting, the World Health Organization (WHO) has finally declared a global flu pandemic, a first in 40 years after the 1968 Hong Kong flu that killed approximately 1 million people. Health authorities admit, however, that ‘the current pandemic seems to be moderate and causing mild illness in most people.’
Professor John Oxford, a flu expert, says [...]

Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa criticized the unfounded discrimination experienced by some Mexican citizens in other countries due to the fear of infection from the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, formerly known as swine flu.
At a press conference, the secretary said that she was surprised with the decision of ‘brother’ countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, [...]

Russian arms sales to Latin America increased by 900 percent in 2004-2008 as compared to the period 1999-2003, according to the new report on arms transfers issued by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Most of the Russian sales in Latin America went to Venezuela which, in the period 2003-2008, was the eighteenth largest arms [...]

‘The Portrait in the Rock’ by Pablo Neruda is a poem about a man who was tired and disillusioned with life in Paraguay. He eventually left his country of origin, his home, and family and went into a self-imposed exile in a foreign land. Life, though, did not treat him kindly in his new country. [...]