Brazilians are voting in local and presidential elections today, and the favorite is Dilma Rousseff, the former chief of staff of the current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The vote marks Brazil’s longest period of successive free elections. Many Brazilians have been apathetic during the campaign.

The streets of Rio de Janeiro have been taken over by cars, vans and bicycles making noisy pitches for a bewildering array of candidates.  

At Rio’s Leblon beach, the promenade is cluttered with placards showing larger than life pictures of politicians with very sincere faces.

Ana Paula Vale de Santos sits on a beach chair under a propped up sign.  

The resident of a nearby slum, or favela, says she is paid 150 Brazilian reals, or about 90 dollars a week, to sit there. All she has to do is guard the sign.

“I’ve never had any problems, but some friends of mine went to the bathroom and when they came back their sign was gone,” she said.

Despite all the efforts by the candidates, many Cariocas – as Rio’s residents are known – are blasé about the vote.  

Suntanned men with skimpy bathing suites and deep tans play volleyball on Rio de Janeiro’s LeBlon beach. Helio Rocha says he resents that he is obliged by law to vote.

” I have to wake up early. It’s one thing more to do,” Rocha said.

Brazil endured two long dictatorships during the twentieth century, in the thirties and forties and again from 1964 to 1985.

Rocha – an engineer – says he does appreciate that democracy lets citizens choose their leaders.

But he adds: “I don’t like anybody so why should I be obligated to vote for someone that I don’t like.”

Many Brazilians have little faith in government. Despite the many promises of politicians, crime is commonplace, corruption is endemic and the infrastructure is in danger of collapsing.

Francisco Carlos Teixeira is a professor of contemporary history at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

There are groups, and not only in the elite, but also among the general public, who are frightened by the levels of crime and living standards and believe that dictatorship is better at guaranteeing welfare and safer streets, he says.

Texeira says democracy is here to stay. But he says around 10 percent of the electorate vote for odd candidates – like singers and soccer players. And there are dozens of them in this election – including a clown named Tiririca who is running for Congress.

Some people call it a protest vote. Teixeira characterizes it differently.

I don’t think it’s a protest or an anti-establishment vote,he says. It’s a vote of indifference. People are thinking, ‘I don’t want to vote. But since they are obliging me to vote, I’ll vote for a clown’, he adds.

Whether it is a joke or a protest, the historian says it has a long tradition. In Sao Paulo’s city council election in 1959, the top vote getter among hundreds of candidates was Cacareco – a rhinoceros from the zoo.

A drummer called on tens of thousands of protesters to converge onto the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial.

Speeches took place around the National Mall, including one against war by a group called the United National Antiwar Committee.

A group called Code Pink chanted “I like justice with my tea, but funding war is not for me”, in reference to the anti-big government but mostly pro-military movement called the Tea Party.

The conservative grassroots movement held their own march called ‘Restoring Honor’ at the same location several weeks ago. So-called Tea Party candidates have won several important primary opposition Republican elections, worrying both their Democratic Party competition in November as well as some members of the Republican Party establishment.

Saturday’s march for liberal principles was called ‘One Nation’. Participant Lance Pyburn explained, saying “We have all these different people from all these different organizations coming out for this rally, and I think that it is really important for us to realize that we are one nation, we have one voice, and we just want really similar things to come about.”

Protesters said they wanted an end to U.S. military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, more government spending on job creation programs, renewable energy initiatives and public education, a new immigration law and more extensive health care reform than what the Democrats have been able to pass.

Many wore tee-shirts of the unions they represented.

A retired automobile industry worker from Detroit, Al Glaeyck, said he has been trying to help Democratic candidates in the state of Michigan. “They are afraid.  They think they are twenty points down. It will be an interesting thing to see but I think whoever wins, we fight on,” he said.

Another protester, Kimberly Greene, had some advice for President Obama. “He is trying to be a centrist and make sure the Democrats and Republicans get along,” she said. “But I mean when we have the Republicans opposing you on everything you do, and the Democrats are not really proving that people can depend on them, that is why people are running to the Tea Party and back to the Republicans. Basically, in a nutshell he needs to stand up to them and let people know, ‘hey, I can run this country, you do not need the Tea Party.’”

Artist Gio Andollo sang peace songs under a tree as protesters filed by. He said he was neither a Republican, a Tea Party activist, nor a Democrat.

Andollo said he was looking forward to another rally at the end of October, this one called the ‘Rally to Restore Sanity’.  It is being organized by U.S. television comedian Jon Stewart, who says not just the loudest voices should be the ones being heard as the United States faces lingering war abroad and high unemployment and deficits at home.

Nigeria’s electoral commission has no power to extend voter registration itself.  So chairman Attahiru Jega is asking political leaders to work with the National Assembly to amend the electoral law to give the commission more time.

“The timeline for the implementation of this plan is very tight,” Jega said. “Consequently, the commission shall endeavor to engage all the relevant stakeholders with a view to exploring all legal avenues for extension of the time to enable the commission to deliver on the aspirations of Nigerians for credible voters’ register and free, fair, and credible elections.”

Victor Ume is the national chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance party. If the Independent National Electoral Commission – or INEC – says it needs more time, Ume says there is not really any choice but to give the process more time to ensure a good vote.

“INEC is the institution charged with the responsibility to conduct these elections by our constitution. So if they have said that it is impossible for them to deliver a good election with the program they have released based on legal constraints, there is no way you can proceed,” Ume said.  “It is a dead end.”

Commission chairman Jega says INEC was reluctant to ask for more time because it did not want voters to somehow think it was trying to manipulate the process.

Voter John Adamu says he sees nothing wrong with INEC asking for the delay.

“It is not just a delay. These are issue-based things. If we want to have things properly done, it must be done properly,” he said.  ”There is no reason why we should rush an election that we want to be free and fair. Let every process be properly put in place.”

Voter Ese Uvieghara says the two weeks in November currently planned for voter registration is not enough time for a country of more than 150 million people.

“They are not going to focus only on the big cities. They are going to go down to the grassroots because every human being in Nigerian matters as regards this registration,” he said.  “So they need to be well sensitized towards it and be part of it. For me, the 14 days is rather short.  It is a short period.”

Voter Mohammed Aminu agrees there is no need to rush the process.

“This is the popular demand for now. It is not only the political parties that are concerned over the short period available to INEC. Even the voters they will express reservations that INEC could hardly conduct credible elections as yearned by Nigerians within this short period of time given to INEC,” Aminu said.

Setting the timetable took months of debate in the National Assembly and weeks of review by President Goodluck Jonathan. But Aminu says political leaders should be able to amend the law quickly if they are committed to a good vote.

“If there is this commitment on the part of the National Assembly it is something that within a short period of time they can do it, and Nigerians will have credible elections,” he said.

Preparations for the vote are already well underway with the electoral commission training more than 360,000 people to register voters. Party primaries begin October 18.

People living in poverty in the United States in 2009 was 14.3 percent, according to the Census Bureau, nearly a full percentage point higher than the previous year.

In terms of overall numbers, the bureau says 43.6 million people last year were living in poverty, which is defined as a yearly income of less than $22,000 for a family of four.

Avis Jones-DeWeever of the National Council of Negro Women examined the data closely and says that more than one in four African Americans and Hispanics in the United States live in poverty as well as one in five children.

“Frankly, these statistics need to serve as a wake-up call for America,” said Avis Jones-DeWeever. “The time is now to once again mount a serious attack on poverty.  In fact, this imperative might be more critical now than ever, given what I would characterize as the tattered state of our safety net.”

But at a panel of poverty analysts meeting in Washington this week, the director of Deloitte Consulting, Wade Horn, warned that the U.S. political environment is not conducive to more government spending.

“I am not sure that we are in a political context at the moment in which it is an easy sell to dramatically increase government spending,” said Wade Horn. “In fact, given the focus on the debt and the deficit, I think we may be at the beginning of a retrenchment in government spending, not an expansion of government spending.”

Horn called for aggressive government economic policies to create job growth in the private sector, while pursuing anti-poverty strategies.

The high poverty rate comes amid high unemployment, particularly in male-dominated sectors of the economy, such as construction and manufacturing.

Avis Jones-DeWeever of the National Council of Negro Women says this makes equal rights issues regarding women even more pressing.

“I do think it is important that people look at how well women do because for many two-parent families, they are now the only ones working,” said Jones-DeWeever. “And so it is that much more important that women receive pay equity and get fair pay because it not only benefits them, it benefits their entire family.”

LaDonna Pavetti from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said several U.S. states have initiated programs to subsidize jobs in the private sector, with great success.

“What we have seen with these programs is that they have been a huge benefit, particularly to small businesses,” said LaDonna Pavetti. “And what has happened in those small businesses is that it has allowed them to be able to keep their businesses moving during times of low demand.  And it has allowed some businesses to expand so that they are actually creating new jobs by that.”

Pavetti said that many of these programs are running out of money, and that hundreds of thousands of people who have been employed might lose their jobs.

But Nicholas Eberstadt with the American Enterprise Institute warned against making government subsidized employment a permanent part of the U.S. economy.

“Many of the Western European countries that have pursued some of these programs, over time, you see labor force rigidities and barriers to entry actually developing there,” said Nicholas Eberstadt. “So I think you have to be very cautious about this.”

President Barack Obama says his economic policies, such as stimulus spending, are keeping millions more Americans out of poverty.  The president has blamed the policies by his predecessor, George W. Bush, for creating the current economic hardships of many Americans.  But opposition Republicans say huge government spending has made the situation worse.

The new poverty figures come only weeks before November’s Congressional midterm elections.   

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is calling on voters in Guinea to stay calm amid uncertainty over a second round of presidential elections that have been postponed without the announcement of a new date.

In a written statement, the Secretary General warns those who may attempt to disrupt an orderly and peaceful transition that they would be held accountable by Guineans and by the international community as a whole.

This vote was delayed, in part, because of two days of violence between supporters of former prime minister Cellou Diallo and long-time opposition leader Alpha Conde that killed one person and injured at least 50. The electoral commission suspended campaigning last Sunday after police used tear gas to break up those clashes.

The violence followed the conviction of two senior electoral officials accused of falsifying results from June’s first round of voting.

Conakry’s military governor Sekou Resco Camara told a meeting of local leaders that security forces will not allow that violence to be repeated. Camara said military patrols are now conducting a neighborhood-by-neighborhood search for illegal weapons in the capital because of last Sunday’s violence.

But it is not just the political violence that is delaying this presidential run-off. The electoral commission is still awaiting delivery of 450,000 new polling cards that are scheduled to arrive Sunday or Monday.

The process is further complicated by the destruction of an untold number of voter cards and ballot papers in a fire at an electoral commission warehouse Thursday. Authorities say the  fire was started accidentally by an electrician.

The electoral commission was to meet with interim prime minister Jean-Marie Dore Thursday to announce a new date for the vote, but that meeting never happened. So both candidates await not only the resumption of campaigning but an election date toward which to campaign.

Makale Traore is Conde’s campaign manager. Traore said it is not a question of an election date. What is important is that Conde’s party wants to organize elections in Guinea that, for the first time in history, are transparent. Traore says delaying the poll will give voters more confidence in its eventual outcome.

Traore says the entire world has seen the irregularities in the first round of the electoral process, so Conde’s party is insisting on certain conditions before the second round.

Among those conditions are additional polling stations in rural areas where some people had to travel too far to vote in the first round. The electoral commission is expanding the number of rural polling stations in consultation with both candidates, and that too is delaying the process.

Diallo is seen as the front-runner in this second round, having won more than 40 percent of the first-round vote compared to Conde’s less than 20 percent. Diallo says electoral delays may discourage private sector investment in mining, which is Guinea’s main source of foreign currency.

Diallo said everyone in Guinea should act democratically. They have all fought for people to be able to choose their leaders. But going into such a competition, Diallo says candidates should accept the fact that they might lose. And if they do, they should accept the results.

Acting military ruler General Sekouba Konate has been trying to return Guinea to civilian rule nearly two years after Captain Moussa Dadis Camara took power in a military coup. General Konate has reaffirmed his support for the electoral process and says the military will support whoever emerges as the winner.

Threat one is the Taliban. The militant group said Thursday it plans to attack polling stations throughout the country and urged Afghans to boycott the September 18 elections. More than 10 million people are eligible to vote for some 2,500 candidates.

Insurgents have already killed at least three candidates and several campaign workers in the run-up to the vote.

Amnesty International said Thursday that female candidates are at particular risk.  It says some women have told the rights group that local security forces refuse to offer them protection or investigate incidents of violence.

More than a thousand of the planned 6,800 polling places will remain closed due to security fears, thereby disenfranchising many of Afghanistan’s voters.

More than 250,000 Afghan police and troops will be deployed to protect polling centers.  They will be backed by international troops.

Fazil Ahmad Manawi, the chief of Afghanistan’s Independent election Commission, said “Security is the first challenge, it’s also the second challenge and it will also be the third challenge.” He added, “If you ask me, the other problems are solvable”

Not so, says Afghanistan’s main opposition leader.  Abdullah Abdullah said “People are worried, people are concerned about the possibility of massive fraud and unfortunately, in spite of the experience that we all went through in the presidential elections, measures have not been taken in order to provide an opportunity for free and fair general elections. There are lots of shortcomings,”

That view is reinforced by Candace Rondeaux. She is a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group who is in Kabul. “There’s no doubt that there will be massive electoral fraud this time around,” she said.”We will definitely see a repeat of last year’s election fraud, perhaps even on a larger scale.”

The difficulty will be, however, because there will be so many candidates this time around and because the results are quite localized, that ultimately, it will hard to tell just how much fraud is taking place until several months from now.

Rondeax said “Last year, with the provincial council elections, there was massive fraud, of course, and it’s only just now, one year later, that we’re finding out about the real meaning of that fraud and how it affected certain candidates in certain areas of the country. So that will be really problematic and that will also cause some delays in finding out if this parliament is really, truly legitimate.”

And that, says analyst Rondeaux, will leave Afghanistan where many say it has been for decades, unable to move forward.

“Given the number of candidates who are backed by Mafia warlords, drug traffickers and other power brokers; it seems very unlikely that this new parliament, whenever it comes to fruition, will be able to confront the many challenges here in terms of corruption and insecurity. So that’s really unfortunate and it really, I think, ultimately affects the way Afghans view democracy and the democratic experiment,” she said.

Last year’s presidential election was marred by allegations of widespread fraud, with one-third of ballots cast for President Hamid Karzai thrown out.

Saturday, Muslims across the United States took part in volunteer service and attended interfaith discussions about the meaning of September the 11th, before returning to gatherings in their hometowns with their families, as is the tradition.

Eid marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, and usually involves big parties.

But many Islamic centers in the United States scaled down festivities on the day of the September the 11th anniversary.

Imam Ben Abdul-Haqq from Washington saw the coincidence of dates as an opportunity.

“The reality is some Muslims are uneasy but I believe that that is God’s will. I really believe that some of us feel, Muslims and non-Muslims, because I have talked to some of my non-Muslim friends, and they feel that what is happening with all these situations, the mosque in New York situation, the Florida situation with Pastor [Terry] Jones all of these things, if we continue to take them with the right spirit, it will bring us closer and make us more sensitive,” he said.

He also called on those supporting the Reverend Jones’ now dropped plans to burn Qurans in Florida and those opposed to the proposal for a mosque near the site of the terrorist attacks in New York to better understand Islam.

“Those individuals have to come to understand what Islam is about, and understand that Islam is not anti-American, to be Muslim is not anti-American,” said Imam Ben Abdul-Haqq.

Ide Bilo, a nursing student from Niger at the University of the District of Columbia, said he felt Islam was being manipulated by many American politicians before important congressional elections in November.

“These topics are hot topics here, topics that some politicians use to get people to vote for them,” said Bilo. “Because of all the terrorist actions that are going on in the world, the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, all these issues come together, because Islam is misunderstood, and most Americans do not even have a Muslim friend, most of them they do not understand Islam.”

He said it was also up to him and other Muslims to reach out and better educate Americans to show them Islam is a religion of peace, and not the religion of terrorism.

After Saturday, Eid-related events will pick up again, with several Islamic centers organizing unity walks as well as family celebrations, but many of these events will be held at locations other than mosques.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told reporters that the balloting is just for the benefit of the foreigners who he says are occupying the country. And he urged the Afghan people to boycott the election.

Some 2,500 candidates are competing for 249 seats in Afghanistan’s lower house of parliament.

The Taliban’s threat to derail the election follows plans by the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to open peace talks.

On Saturday, Mr. Karzai called the creation of the High Peace Council a “significant step” in efforts to end a war that is nearing the end of its ninth year. The council is to include former members of the Taliban, leading Afghan civilians and women.

The council’s formation was approved by Afghan leaders and tribal elders in June. But so far the Taliban has shown little interest in any peace negotiations.

And Taliban attacks continue. NATO says two coalition soldiers have been killed in insurgent violence in southern Afghanistan.

One of them belonged to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The second was not identified.

A Japanese journalist, freelancer Kosuke Tsuneoka, who was reportedly detained by insurgents in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz several months ago has been released and is now at the Japanese embassy in Kabul. He is said to be in good condition.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told reporters that the balloting is just for the benefit of the foreigners who he says are occupying the country. And he urged the Afghan people to boycott the election.

Some 2,500 candidates are competing for 249 seats in Afghanistan’s lower house of parliament.

The Taliban’s threat to derail the election follows plans by the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to open peace talks.

On Saturday, Mr. Karzai called the creation of the High Peace Council a “significant step” in efforts to end a war that is nearing the end of its ninth year. The council is to include former members of the Taliban, leading Afghan civilians and women.

The council’s formation was approved by Afghan leaders and tribal elders in June. But so far the Taliban has shown little interest in any peace negotiations.

And Taliban attacks continue. NATO says two coalition soldiers have been killed in insurgent violence in southern Afghanistan.

One of them belonged to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The second was not identified.

A Japanese journalist, freelancer Kosuke Tsuneoka, who was reportedly detained by insurgents in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz several months ago has been released and is now at the Japanese embassy in Kabul. He is said to be in good condition.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told reporters that the balloting is just for the benefit of the foreigners who he says are occupying the country. And he urged the Afghan people to boycott the election.

Some 2,500 candidates are competing for 249 seats in Afghanistan’s lower house of parliament.

The Taliban’s threat to derail the election follows plans by the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to open peace talks.

On Saturday, Mr. Karzai called the creation of the High Peace Council a “significant step” in efforts to end a war that is nearing the end of its ninth year. The council is to include former members of the Taliban, leading Afghan civilians and women.

The council’s formation was approved by Afghan leaders and tribal elders in June. But so far the Taliban has shown little interest in any peace negotiations.

And Taliban attacks continue. NATO says two coalition soldiers have been killed in insurgent violence in southern Afghanistan.

One of them belonged to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The second was not identified.

A Japanese journalist, freelancer Kosuke Tsuneoka, who was reportedly detained by insurgents in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz several months ago has been released and is now at the Japanese embassy in Kabul. He is said to be in good condition.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

In a national address from the White House, the president says the “historic moment” comes at a time of great uncertainty for many Americans, after nearly a decade of war and a “long and painful” recession.

He says the United States intends to “sustain and strenghten” its leadership in this young century.

He says much has changed since then-President George W. Bush announced the start of the war in March 2003, saying the war to disarm a state became a fight against an insurgency.  

He says terrorism and sectarian fighting threatened to tear apart Iraq.  He says thousands of Americans died in the war and tens of thousands have been wounded.

In the White House Oval Office address, President Obama declared an end to the American combat mission in Iraq and that Iraqis now have the lead responsibility for the security of their country.  

In doing so, the president noted that the conflict in Iraq has been one of America’s longest wars.  But he said at every turn, America’s men and women in uniform have served with courage and resolve.  

The president said that as commander-in-chief, he is incredibly proud of their service and that like all Americans, he is awed by their sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families.

He said the Americans who have served in Iraq completed every mission they were given and defeated a regime that had terrorized its people.  The said U.S. forces, together with Iraqis and coalition partners who made huge sacrifices of their own, troops fought block by block to help Iraq seize the chance for a better future.  President Obama noted they shifted tactics to protect Iraqis, trained Iraqi security forces and took out terrorist leaders.

He said Iraq has the opportunity to embrace a new destiny, even though many challenges remain.

Mr. Obama says he is following through on his pledge as a candidate to end the war in Iraq.

He says his administration has removed nearly 100,000 U.S. troops from Iraq, closed or transferred hundreds of bases to the Iraqis and have moved millions of pieces of equipment out of Iraq.

He says that even though Iraq continues to have terrorist attacks, security incidents have been near the lowest on record since the war began.  He says Iraqi forces have “taken the fight to al-Qaida,” removing much of its leadership in Iraqi-led operations.

He encouraged Iraq’s leaders to “move forward with a sense of urgency” in forming an inclusive government.  Iraq has been in a political deadlock, after general elections in March produced no clear winner.

The president said that going forward, a transitional force of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq with a different mission: advising and assisting Iraq’s Security Forces; supporting Iraqi troops in targeted counter-terrorism missions; and protecting American civilians.

He said that consistent with a U.S. agreement with the Iraqi government, all U.S. troops will leave Iraq by the end of next year.

Mr. Obama said that as the U.S. military draws down, America’s dedicated civilians -diplomats, aid workers, and advisors -are moving into the lead to support Iraq as it strengthens its government, resolves political disputes, resettles those displaced by war, and builds ties with the region and the world.  He said that is a message that Vice President Biden is delivering to the Iraqi people through his visit there.

The president said this new approach reflects our long-term partnership with Iraq – one based upon mutual interests, and mutual respect. He said violence will not end with the U. S. combat mission.  He said extremists will continue to set off bombs, attack Iraqi civilians and try to spark sectarian strife.  But he said ultimately, these terrorists will fail to achieve their goals.

The president said Iraqis are a proud people, saying they have rejected sectarian war, and have no interest in endless destruction. He said only Iraqis can resolve their differences and police their streets and that only Iraqis can build a democracy within their borders.  He said America will provide support for the Iraqi people as both a friend and a partner.
The president says ending the war is not only in Iraq’s interest, it is in the interest of the United States as well.

He says the United States has paid a “huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people.”  Mr. Obama said the United States has met its responsibility in what he called a “remarkable chapter” in the history of the United States and Iraq.

He says it is now time to move forward.

The president said he spoke to former President George W. Bush earlier Tuesday, saying it is well known that he disagreed with the former president on the decision to go to war.