Oct 29 - Every week, Reuters journalists produce scores of multimedia features and human-interest stories from around the world.

Below are some engaging stories selected by our editors, as well as explanatory context and background to help you understand world events. For a full schedule of news and events, please go to our editorial calendar on Reuters Connect https://www.reutersconnect.com/planning.

Japan Ink: Growing tribe proudly defies tattoo taboo, hopes for Olympian boost

TOKYO, Oct 26 - Shodai Horiren got her first tattoo as a lark on a trip to Australia nearly three decades ago. Now, tattooed head to foot, even on her shaven scalp, she is one of Japan's most renowned traditional tattoo artists. (JAPAN-TATTOOS/ (PIX, TV, WIDER IMAGE), by Kim Kyung Hoon and Elaine Lies, 522 words)

Catalan cat shelter gets smart to help COVID orphans

BARCELONA, Oct 27 - Overflowing with aging cats who lost their owners to the COVID-19 pandemic, Barcelona's cat sanctuary El Jardinet dels Gats has launched an online campaign to get them adopted. (HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/SPAIN-CATS (PIX, TV), moved, 264 words)

In Armenia, war refugees sleep rough in the diamonds

ABOVYAN, Oct 27 - In a factory where diamonds are cut, Anna Osipyan and her two grandchildren found something even more precious after fleeing their homes in the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh: shelter from the region's worst fighting in almost 30 years. (ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN/REFUGEES (PIX, TV), by Maria Tsvetkova and Nvard Hovhannisyan, 435 words)

Cabbies and office workers: Meet Singapore's ordinary royals

SINGAPORE, Oct 26 - In the modern republic of Singapore, several seemingly ordinary people working in offices or driving taxis can claim to be of royal blood, descendants of a 19th century monarch who ceded control of the Southeast Asian island to the British. (SINGAPORE-ROYALS/ (moved), by Chen Lin, Edgar Su and John Geddie, 748 words)

Bitter rivals, familiar faces and fears as Ivory Coast votes for president

ABIDJAN, Oct 28 - Residents of Ivory Coast's biggest city Abidjan are stocking up on provisions and sending loved ones to rural villages ahead of a contentious presidential election on Saturday many fear could turn violent. (IVORYCOAST-ELECTION/ (TV, PIX), by Loucoumane Coulibaly and Aaron Ross, 641 words)

Pandemic transforms some Americans into voting rights activists in raft of lawsuits

Oct 27 - Fear of the novel coronavirus has cast some Americans into an unfamiliar role: litigants in an unprecedented wave of court battles over voting procedures. (USA-ELECTION/VOTER-LAWSUITS (PIX, TV, GRAPHICS), by Tom Hals, 678 words)

Food workers, rural Americans go hungry despite U.S. government farm aid

GREEN BAY, Oct 27 - Yessenia Cendejas pulled up to a moving truck filled with donated food in northeastern Wisconsin, arriving at the mobile food bank straight from her job at a pizza-crust factory, to get sustenance for herself and five children. (USA-ELECTION/RURAL-HUNGER (PIX, TV), by Christopher Walljasper and Gabriela Bhaskar, 1018 words)

Couple divided over Trump united in saving illegal immigrants in desert

Oct 28 - A die-hard Trump supporter and his wife, who despises the U.S. president, are united in a rare mission. (USA-ELECTION/BORDER-COUPLE (PIX, TV), by Norma Galeana, 334 words)

Too hard to vote? Fired-up Black voters are doing it anyway

Oct 28 - In the historically black neighborhoods of Waco, Texas, the usual get-out-the-vote activities in this presidential election year were upended by the pandemic. (USA-ELECTION/BLACK VOTERS (INSIGHT, PIX), by Joseph Tanfani and Michael Martina, 1615 words)

Why the Pennsylvania vote count might throw U.S. into political crisis

PHILADELPHIA, Oct 23 - Here in the birthplace of American democracy, election officials are scrambling to prepare for a presidential vote they fear could plunge the nation into a historic political crisis. (USA-ELECTION/PENNSYLVANIA (SPECIAL REPORT, GRAPHICS, PIX), by Jarrett Renshaw, Simon Lewis and Brad Heath, 2596 words)

UNDERSTANDING THE U.S. ELECTION

GRAPHIC-State of the battlegrounds (https://tmsnrt.rs/34wmzDT)

GRAPHIC-Best of times, or the worst? A voter's guide to U.S. GDP

EXPLAINER-Can Trump call in troops to quell Election Day unrest?

FACTBOX-From abortion rights to "magic mushrooms," U.S. voters will decide

FACTBOX-These states could decide the U.S. presidential election

FACTBOX-A look at the 44 competitive races in the U.S. House of Representatives

FACTBOX-Wall Street banks and their staff are leaning left

FACTBOX-Where do Trump and Biden stand on tech policy issues?

FACTBOX-How a Biden presidency would transform the U.S. energy landscape

EXPLAINER-What are the likely implications of a Biden presidency for Canada?

FACTBOX-Court battles shape the presidential election

FACTBOX-The 2020 U.S. presidential election calendar: Day by day

GRAPHIC-What is voting by mail (https://tmsnrt.rs/3iE94H6)

GRAPHIC-How the Electoral College works (https://tmsnrt.rs/2TfSBik)

GRAPHIC-How vote counting works (https://tmsnrt.rs/3dS4AvK)

GRAPHIC-Poll closing times across the U.S. (https://tmsnrt.rs/3dyzbOE)

GRAPHIC-Polling Explorer (https://polling.reuters.com/)

GRAPHIC-Biden and Trump on key issues (https://tmsnrt.rs/3kjFOqT)

TRACKING COVID-19

FACTBOX-Back to lockdown: the new French measures to contain COVID-19 spread

GRAPHIC-Weekly U.S. COVID-19 deaths up 15%, new cases rise 24% (https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR)

GRAPHIC-Spared early on, 'Trump country' now leads in coronavirus cases, deaths

FACTBOX-COVID-19 vaccine frontrunners

Global tracker (https://tmsnrt.rs/32CyMHu)

U.S. tracker (https://tmsnrt.rs/2ySIhG0)

The Lifeline Pipeline: the drugs, tests and tactics that may conquer coronavirus (https://reut.rs/3bhMUaE)

Prominent people diagnosed with COVID-19 (https://reut.rs/38zyAtI)

OTHER EXPLANATORY CONTENT

EXPLAINER-What's in the U.S. law protecting internet companies - and can it be changed?

FACTBOX-Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot merger: how it would work

FACTBOX-How Samsung's ownership may change as heirs take over from late Chairman Lee

EXPLAINER-What to watch at the fifth plenum of China's Communist Party

EXPLAINER-Why South Africa's public wage bill is a problem

FACTBOX- Who are the candidates vying for Ivory Coast's presidency

FACTBOX-Legal hurdles faced by LGBT+ people in Africa

EXPLAINER-Malaysia's political crisis leaves Muhyiddin with make-or-break budget challenge (Compiled by Leela de Kretser, Patrick Enright, Janet Lawrence and Tiffany Wu)