Party loses mayoral vote

Brazil's ruling Workers' Party failed to capture the mayor's office in financial capital Sao Paulo in elections on Sunday, a result seen as boosting an opposition state governor likely to challenge President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's pick in the 2010 elections.

In another race in the second round of nationwide local elections held on Oct 6, a former guerrilla fighter who helped kidnap the US ambassador in 1969 was narrowly beaten in the mayoral election in Rio de Janeiro.