• Mercosur Promotes South American Unity. [People's Weekly World] Also in Cordoba, while Mercosur was in session, 50,000 people representing Latin American social, labor and human rights organizations were gathered at the “4th Summit of the Peoples for Sovereignty and South American Integration.” Participants discussed environmental and women’s issues, oppression of indigenous peoples, energy policies and the role of the universities.

• Big Love, Big Business. [World Screen News] Over the years, telenovelas have evolved from their traditional Cinderella formula -beautiful, poor girl falls in love with handsome, rich man and together they fight all odds to live happily ever after. Today, contemporary themes and social issues, from cloning to domestic abuse, are interwoven into plot lines. And novelas are no longer targeted only to adult women.

Argentina

• Mother With Cancer Refused Abortion to Save Her Life. [LifeNews.com] A prayer campaign has been launched for a mother who was stricken with cancer but refused to have an abortion to spare her life. Laura Figeroa is in the terminal stage of her illness, a brain metastasis that is considered irreversible. Figeroa could have had an abortion so she could obtain chemotherapy to address her cancer, but she refused to take the life of her unborn child to save her own.

• Brazil Endorses Law to Curb Violence Against Women. [People's Daily Online, China] Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed on Monday a piece of legislation imposing strict rules aimed at preventing violence against women. The legislation hopes to deter men from beating up their wives or companions at home. People committing this type of crime will be subject to a maximum of 3 years of solitary confinement up from a maximum of just one year.

• Woman Has 14-Pound Baby. [Breitbart.com] A 14-pound girl delivered by Caesarean section is so large that her feet reach over the edge of her small crib, hospital officials said. The baby measured 23.23 inches, is far from the largest baby born in Brazil - a baby born in January 2005 in the northeastern city of Salvador weighed 16 pounds, 11 ounces. Ribeiro is diabetic, and doctors said it was common for women with diabetes to give birth to large babies.

• Brazil Women Basketball Plays China. [People's Daily Online, China] Brazil's women basketball national team head coach Antonio Carlos Barbosa said he believes the series of matches against China will be important for the preparation for the 15th FIBA World Championship for Women in 2006. Brazil and China are among the 16 teams taking part in the event, which will take place in the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo, Brazils largest city, from September 12-23.

Chile

• Chile's Isabel Allende to Release New Book. [Santiago Times] Chilean author Isabel Allende will celebrate the release of her latest book, “Inés Del Alma Mía” (Inés from My Own Soul) on August 22 in Santiago. In “Inés Del Alma Mía” Allende describes the Spanish conquest of Chile from the eyes of Chilean heroine and historic icon Inés de Suárez.

• Woman Sought in Magic Cheese Scam. [BBC News] Police in Chile are asking Paris to extradite a French woman after a massive pyramid-selling scam in which thousands of people were conned. People were persuaded to buy a powder which they could allegedly turn into "Magic Cheese", said to make skin look younger and to be highly valuable.

• First Legal Abortion in Colombia. [News-Medical.net, Australia] The first legal abortion in Colombia recently was performed following the legalization of the procedure in certain cases earlier this year. The country's highest court in May voted to effectively legalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, to save the life of the woman or when the fetus is expected to die after birth because of severe fetal abnormalities. Under the ruling, abortion in all other cases still will carry a sentence of up to three years in prison for the woman undergoing an abortion and for the physician performing the procedure. According to BBC News, the abortion was performed on an 11-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by her stepfather.

• Cardinal: No Threat Linked to 1st Abortion. [Chicago Tribune] A news report that a cardinal threatened doctors who performed an abortion with excommunication sparked a denial Wednesday from the prelate. Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo denied saying that the Vatican will excommunicate the doctors who performed Colombia's first legal abortion on an 11-year-old girl allegedly raped by her stepfather. The report touched off a storm of controversy, making the front page of Colombia's leading newspapers and revealing how abortion remains a sensitive topic in this heavily Catholic country.

• Colombia Quits Women's Softball Championship Due to Visa Delay. [People's Daily Online, China] Colombia failed to participate in the Women's World Softball Championship going on in Beijing for visa delay.

• Irish Woman Jailed in Ecuador Hires Saddam Lawyer. [Irish Examiner] A Dublin TD campaigning for the release of an Irish woman imprisoned in Ecuador has called for her to rely on the Government to bring her home rather than controversial lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano who has taken on the case. Roisín Savage was jailed for eight years in 2004 after two and a half kilos of cocaine was found in her suitcase. The married Dublin mother of two young children, who has only one kidney, has consistently claimed the drugs were placed in the bag by a friend.

• World's Oldest Person Dies at 116. [Reuters] The world's oldest person, a 116-year-old Ecuadorean woman, died on Sunday less than a month before her birthday, her relatives told local newspapers. Maria Esther de Capovilla was declared the world's oldest person in December by Guinness World Records, lifting the title from a U.S. woman. Capovilla was born in Guayaquil in western Ecuador on September 14, 1889, and lived with her daughter-in-law and son. She had five children, 11 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren, local media said.

• President to be Inaugurated. [Men's News Daily] The inauguration in the capital, Lima, is to be attended by the presidents of Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador. On Thursday, the president-elect announced his new government, naming women to head six of 16 cabinet ministries. Women will lead the ministries of women’s affairs, the interior, foreign commerce, labor, justice, transportation and communications.

• Peru Confronts Escalating Violence Against Women. [CNN] More than half of all Peruvian women over the age of 15 say they have suffered sexual or physical violence by men during their lifetime -- one of the world's highest rates. Sexual violence against women in Peru is now so bad that Peru's President-elect Alan Garcia, who takes office Friday, made it one of his central campaign issues and has vowed to tackle the problem and give women a greater say in government.

Uruguay

• Refugees Fight to Keep Status. [Toronto Star, Canada] Veronica Ines Perez Vega and her kids were granted status as refugees by the Immigration and Refugee Board in February 2004. But almost a year later, a representative of the immigration minister convinced a judge to send the case back for a second hearing, arguing the board hadn't considered what Uruguay does to protect victims of abuse.