BRASIL:1ST UPDATE: Iran Cool To Lula's Offers Of Sanctuary To Iranian Woman Condemned To Death By Stoning.

GUARDIAN/ 1ST UPDATE: 02 Aug/    President Lula da Silva's offer of refuge is adding to the controversy over international human rights in Iran. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, was sentenced to death there by stoning for adultery. Her son Sajad said : "I don't think Iran can ignore Brazil as easily as it ignored other countries. It is very important that Brasil, as one of Iran's most significant allies in the world, has offered a haven for my mother."

UPDATE/NYTIMES: Iran's clerics are reportedly cool to Lula's plea and it may strain the two nation's relations. An ultra-conservative news service there called his offer a “clear interference in Iran’s domestic affairs.” They said she may not be stoned-- but hanged instead.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/world/middleeast/03iran.html

BRASIL/IRAN: Why Are Lula And Ahmadinejad BFFs?

GLOBAL POST/    At the recent nuclear security summit in Washington, President Lula da Silva urged President Barack Obama to hold back on more sanctions against Iran. Meanwhile his Minister of Development Miguel Jorge was in Tehran gifting Ahmadinejad with a Brasil soccer jersey. One commentator wrote: “But what is not tolerable is to cozy up with those who capture, torture and mistreat the opposition, who brutally limit public liberties … . The Brasilian government’s gesture covered the green-and-yellow team jersey with blood.” It seems that Brasil is Iran’s best remaining friend in the Western world. The question is...Why?

CUBA: Lula Meets With Fit-looking Fidel Castro.

GUARDIAN.UK /   A fit-looking Fidel Castro, at least 83-years old, met with Brasil's President Lula da Silva in a closed-door meeting in La Habana. It was Lula's third visit to Cuba in two years--and the last before Lula's term ends. Brasil's state-run bank has lent $300m to a corporation to build new roads, rail lines, wharves and warehouses at Mariel while Brasil's oil giant Petrobras researches drilling offshore.

BRASIL: Lula's Support Of Iran Baffles Many.

MIAMI HERALD/ Andres Oppenheimer/ OPINION/    "Brazil's key diplomatic support of Iran's increasingly isolated regime is baffling the international community. There are several theories about Brazil's behavior, some of them quite troubling."

Brasil's Lula Supports Unlimited Internet Campaigning.

MERCOPRESS/
“The use of the net in political campaigns must be free and unrestricted; people need to know who their candidates are” said Lula da Silva.“An election can’t be something so scary for people to want to limit or ban information”.