Uruguay

— Switzerland and Slovakia earned Europe's final two automatic berths for next year's World Cup on Wednesday night, while Argentina tried to beat out Uruguay and Ecuador for South America's last certain spot in the 32-nation field.

Costa Rica played at the United States, which clinched its sixth straight berth last weekend, and the Ticos hoped to stay ahead of Honduras and gain the final automatic place from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Ukraine finished second in their groups and joined Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Ireland and Russia in the European playoffs. They will be drawn into four pairs on Monday, and the winners of home-and-home, total-goals matches on Nov. 14 and 18 will qualify for next year's 32-nation field.

By the end of Wednesday, 23 of the 32 nations will have been determined for next year's tournament in South Africa.

In addition to the U.S., Mexico had ensured a berth in CONCACAF, while Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia and Spain had clinched automatic berths in Europe. Brazil, Chile and Paraguay had earned berths from South America, and Australia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea won Asia's spots. Ghana and Ivory Coast joined host South Africa, which qualified automatically as host.

ASUNCION, Paraguay — Human rights activists gained access Wednesday to a dictatorship-era military archive that appears to contain long-held secrets about Paraguay's persecution of opponents during Alfredo Stroessner's 1954-1989 rule.

The basement archive in the Ministry of Defense appears to hold some records about Operation Condor, a coordinated campaign by South American military governments against leftists during the 1970s and 80s, according to rights activist Martin Almada.

The discovery was announced hours after Almada gained access the rows of boxes and yellowed ledgers on Wednesday morning. He said the documents apparently contain names of Argentine opponents of Stroessner's government.

"In skimming through them, we uncovered some interesting information regarding Operation Condor," said Almada, who directs a museum about past government repression and torture.

Several South American military governments are accused of working together to crack down on leftist dissidents beginning in the mid-1970s.

Transsexuals in Uruguay will soon be able to legally register to change their name and gender. ...

Brazil's president says he hopes that ousted President Manuel Zelaya's surprise return to Honduras will bring the coup leaders to the negotiating table.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for patience over the stand-off that has Zelaya holed up inside the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras, and says he has agreed to discuss the situation with President Barack Obama.

Silva said the Honduras coup d'etat could send a dangerous signal to other countries in the Central America if allowed to stand.

Uruguay is experiencing, as it does every 5 years, an electoral process that will be decided on Sunday, October 25. However, if one candidate does no...