Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela are closer to ensuring their citizens have the chance to break the cycle of poverty than many of their neighbours in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the World Bank

Peru: They have quarreled over the 1880's pillaging of Peru's national library by Chilean troops. They have squabbled over who has the naming rights to pisco, the fiery grape brandy. Now, Peru and Chile are arguing over another hot-button issue: the origins of the potato. Peruvian agronomists, historians and diplomats are chafing at an assertion by Marigen Hornkohl, Chile's agriculture minister, who said on Monday, "Few people know that 99% of the world's potatoes have some type of genetic link to potatoes from Chile.' Peru, where the potato is a

» Authorities in Pakistan have confirmed one more polio case in Sindh province, bringing the total number of cases to eight in 2008. The country has reported 19 polio cases in the past six

Four people were killed and close to 5,000 forced out of their homes amid heavy rain and flooding in central and southern Chile, and the evacuation figure could rise further, the government said on Thursday. Of those killed, two died in landslides, one was struck by a boulder and another was hit by a falling tree. Television images showed streets turned into rivers in the port town of Valparaiso, where 93 mm (3.7 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours during two storm fronts.

A paper and pulp mill, operating in southern Chile, has pitted a group of fisherfolk against its neighbours and is trying to get away by installing a controversial pipeline to dump waste water from

A towering cloud of hot ash, gas and molten rock spewed miles into the air by a volcano in southern Chile has partially collapsed, raising fears it could smother surrounding villages, an expert said on Tuesday. Luis Lara, a scientist with the government's geology and mining agency, said the column of ash, which had soared as high as 20 miles (30 km), was now about 4.5 miles (7 km). The column of debris, kept aloft by the pressure of constant eruptions, could collapse entirely, smothering the ghost town of Chaiten 6 miles (10 km) away with hot gas, ash and molten rocks.

Experts believe Chile's Chaiten volcano could continue belching out vast clouds of ash for months but distraught residents evacuated from nearby towns say they yearn to return as soon as possible. Ash that has reached as far as Argentina continued to spew for a sixth day on Wednesday, disrupting flights to the southern Patagonia region with no sign of let-up. "Everything is so uncertain," said Patricio Ide, 40, who was evacuated from the remote village of Chaiten to Puerto Montt, 125 miles (200 km) away from the volcano.

Crackling with explosions, Chile's Chaiten volcano began spitting lava on Tuesday following its first eruption in thousands of years, and Navy warships were deployed to evacuate nearby residents in the southern region of Patagonia. Chaiten erupted last Friday, sending a towering plume of ash into the sky that has since coated the surrounding area of southern Chile and reached into neighboring Argentina.

Chile prepared to evacuate another town in its remote Patagonian south on Monday, as ash spewed from a snowcapped volcano for a fourth day after its first eruption in thousands of years. President Michelle Bachelet made her way to the small town of Futaleufu, the second town to be evacuated, as residents packed what belongings they could carry. Futaleufu lies around 810 miles (1,300 km) south of the capital Santiago and 100 miles (160 km) southeast of the erupting Chaiten volcano, which is some distance from Chile's vital mining industry further north.

Covered in thick ash, the Patagonian community of Chaiten was a ghost town on Saturday as a volcano spewed ash a day after its first eruption in thousands of years forced nearly 4,500 people to flee. Authorities have evacuated most of the southern Chilean town's residents since Friday, sending many by boat to Chiloe Island farther north and to Puerto Montt on the mainland. Some are staying in guesthouses, while schools have been turned into makeshift shelters packed with stores of bottled water after a blanket of volcanic ash contaminated ground water.