Patagonians protest against isolation, fraud in Russia's elections, and more...

STORY 1: CHILE

Our first stop today is Patagonia, the mythical region at the bottom of South America known for its pristine mountains, huge skies... and sparse population. But there are people who live there, and in the Chilean part of Patagonia, they've had enough. Enough of being ignored by the central government 2,000 kilometres to the north. They've launched protests that have virtually shut down the local economy.

Our Observer Alonso Nuñez is in Puerto Aysén.

STORY 2: RUSSIA

Now to Russia, and the election that saw Vladimir Putin return to the presidency for a third term. The opposition said there was widespread fraud. Our Observer Roman Dobrokhotov was watching closely, as an official election observer. He said that while there was less obvious ballot-stuffing than in December's parliamentary election, there were new techniques in the presidential vote, notably one known as carousel voting.

STORY 3: WORLD

Now for our weekly roundup of the best stories and images sent in by our Observers.

First stop, Chianoccho, in the north of Italy, with our Observer Emmanuel Coux.

Emmanuel says he has nothing against trains in general, but he's fighting tooth and nail against a new high-speed TGV line that's going to connect Lyon and Turin. He says the huge project costs too much, and will have a terrible effect on the environment. Emmanuel has been demonstrating - peacefully - against the project. But other protesters have shown less restraint. Anarchist groups have joined in, and things got out of hand.

Next stop, Benghazi, the cradle of the Libya revolution, with our Observer Fatima Agiela. You might have seen this video before. A group of hooded men, some carrying weapons, vandalising a cemetery... the graves of British soldiers killed during World War II. Britain's Foreign Office was quick to blame Salafists - extremists who advocate a fundamentalist form of Islam. But Fatima says things aren't that simple. The men, she believes, were reacting to news that American soldiers had destroyed Korans in Afghanistan. Yes, they were angry, but there's no sign they were Salafists, Fatima says. For her, it wasn't ideology behind the vandalism, but plain old indignation, frustration, and gratuitous violence.

Our last stop is the Czech capital Prague, where someone has been messing with the traffic lights. Our Observer Petr Vidensky says that one morning, the good people of Prague woke up to find that someone had decapitated the little green and red men on their traffic lights. It turns out to be a sign of support for a local artist called Roman Týc. He is known for altering traffic lights himself - replacing the stop and go men with figures drinking, or hanging by a noose. Tyc has received awards abroad for his work, but in the Czech Republic he's been jailed for refusing to pay a fine. The artists' collective he co-founded say they know nothing about the new headless traffic men.