by Gillian Horne, Guatemala Solidarity Network - Who will be the next president of Guatemala? The first run off takes place tomorrow Sunday,November 4th.

by Seloua Luste Boulbina, Eurozine, Austria - Algerians, including writers, were in exile in Algeria before independence. That is why exile should be regarded as a movement rather than a location.

by Jessica Hanson, Worldwatch Insititute, USA - Prices are expected to remain high as global food production struggles to keep pace with the rising demand for commodities such as wheat and corn.

by Megan Rowling, Reuters Alertnet - The Darfur peace talks in Libya may have got off to a disappointing start with a boycott by key rebel factions. But activist Safaa Elagib Adam made sure she was there to push for better representation for women from the outset.

by Vesna Peric Zimonjic, The Independent, Belgrade - The PM of Bosnia-Herzegovina resigned yesterday, claiming that interference from the international community had made his job impossible. "For 12 years, foreigners have run this country and this is not good," Mr Spiric said. "I resign and this is the only right decision."

by Harinder Baweja, Tehelka, India - The Indian magazine Tehelka has done a groundbreaking investigation of the forces behind the mass killing of Muslims in Gujarat 2002.

by Amy Goodman, Alternet.org/Democracy Now! - Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, the World Bank and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change also support carbon trading as a viable market-based solution to fight global warming.

by Melissa Hahn, PINR, USA - One of the reasons the oppositions won was the desire of many Poles to improve the relationship with the EU in general and their German neighbor in particular.

by Celeste Hicks, BBC Network Africa, Mali -
Mali's south-eastern town of Sikasso is the perfect transit point for diamonds smuggled out of Ivory Coast.

by Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, UK - The French debate whether the 300 or so French families were the willing victims of an adoption racket or whether they were well-meaning but hopelessly naive.

by Marina Kozlova, Transitions Online, Uzbekistan - Friends mourning the killing of Alisher Saipov in Kyrgyzstan say his death may be linked to his reporting on the Uzbek regime.

by Hilla Medalia, The Boston Globe, USA - When the US, Arab, and Israeli leaders now meet, they might bear in mind that they are not representing political or military factions, but mothers, daughters, fathers, and sons who yearn to have their humanity recognized.

by Ronda Hauben, Ohmynews, South Korea -
Historic document entitled 'Peace, security and reunification on the Korean peninsula' was passed in the Security Council.

by Susan Bassnett, openDemocracy, UK - An obsession with targets, league-tables and competitiveness stifles the imaginative, critical development of the young person that is at education's heart.

by Ramata Sore, Global Voices, Burkina Faso - In a country where there is still so much secrecy, blogs free minds. In Burkina Faso, blogging is more than a pastime. It is the eyes and ears of thousands of net users.

by Jane Novak, Worldpress.org - "Only profound reforms can save Yemen from descending into a total chaos similar to that experienced by Somalia and Lebanon before that."

by Elitsa Vucheva, EU Observer, Belgium - The EU will not give the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the green light for starting accession talks next week as the Balkan country had hoped, with the European Commission citing political shortcomings for the delay.

by Anna Smolchenko, The Moscow Times, Russia - Putin's visit to Butovo, south of Moscow, where more than 20,000 people were killed during the peak years of Stalin's terror in 1937 and 1938, was the first time he has attended ceremonies on the official day of remembrance for the victims of political repression.

by Bronwen Maddox, The Times, UK - US presidential candidates are doing a superb job of confusing the world about the US’s future intentions towards Iran after next year’s elections. They have adopted every position on the spectrum between them, although with a bias towards the belligerent.

by Aida Edemariam, The Guardian, UK - The vast tar sands of Alberta in Canada hold oil reserves six times the size of Saudi Arabia's. But this 'black gold' is proving a mixed blessing for the frontier town of Fort McMurray, fuelling both prosperity and misery.

by Jale Özgentürk, Turkish Daily News, Turkey - Economic embargo is being imposed on firms connected to Iraqi Kurdish leader and flights to the northern Iraqi city of Arbil have been stopped.

by Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post, Israel - As the First Lady, Laura Bush is an American symbol. By having her picture taken wearing an abaya in Saudi Arabia - the epicenter of Islamic totalitarian misogyny - Mrs. Bush diminished that symbol.

by Katy Glassborow, IWPR, The Hague - The International Criminal Court, ICC, prosecutor has expressed concern that food aid supplied to the Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA, is being sold by them so that they can rearm if current peace talks fail.

by Michela Wrong, The New Statesman, UK - Michela Wrong reports on the tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea and the war brewing on the new frontier.

by Anne-Marie Slaughter, On The Ground, USA - I was reminded that in a flat world with Asia rising, the US can simply fall off the map.

by Mariana Baabar, Outlook India, India - Benazir has to prove she's not the civilian face of a US agenda.

by Anita F. Hill, The Boston Globe, USA - Even as private citizens we represent the face of America. Outside our borders, whether deliberately or not, we engage in civic diplomacy. Where we travel and what we say and do all matter.

by Deborah Haynes, The Times, Northen Iraq - Any move by Turkish troops into Kurdish territory would be a declaration of war, the region’s leader said.

by Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, Russia - "Clans" are fighting for control of smuggling and money-laundering operations. Putin is merely a referee trying to prevent one group from prevailing over the other.

by Emily Dugan, The Independent, UK - Gap barred thousands of clothes in transit to their shops amid fears that children in India as young as 10 were making them.

by Cecilia Sardenberg, openDemocracy - A long campaign by feminists in Brazil to reform the country's highly restrictive abortion laws is facing strong opposition from Catholic and conservative groups.