VENEZUELA Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez looks on as Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva greet each other on Venezuela’s Margarita Island on September 26. South American leaders signed a document to establish the Bank of the South with an initial investment of $20 billion (XINHUA/AFP)

NORTH KOREA A South Korean man cries with his North Korean sister during a family reunion at North Korea’s Mount Kumgang resort near the north-south border on September 26. Hundreds of Koreans from both sides of the 38th parallel joined relatives for reunions between September 26 and October 1, following a two-year halt to the program (XINHUA/AFP)

THE PHILIPPINES A Filipino boy is carried to safety through floodwaters brought by tropical storm Ketsana near Manila on September 26. At least 140 people had been reported dead in the massive floods as of September 28 (XINHUA/AFP)

IRAN This satellite image shows an alleged underground uranium enrichment facility near the Iranian city of Qom. Tehran announced on September 25 that it would admit International Atomic Energy Agency officials to inspect the newly disclosed nuclear plant (XINHUA/AFP)

KAZAKHSTAN A Russian Soyuz rocket is transported to its launch pad at Kazakhstan’s Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 28. Guy Laliberte, founder of the Canadian circus troupe Cirque du Soleil, traveled aboard the Russian rocket to the International Space Station on September 30, along with astronauts, becoming the world’s seventh space tourist

BELARUS Belarusian soldiers participate in the Belarus-Russia joint military exercise West-2009 near a village southwest of Minsk on September 24 (XINHUA/AFP)