South America

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A Venezuelan court has sentenced two former U.S. special forces soldiers to 20 years in prison for their part in a blunder-filled beach attack aimed at overthrowing President Nicolás Maduro.

Lawyers for the former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, said they were barred from the secretive jailhouse proceedings Friday night in what they consider a violation of their constitutional rights to a defense.

Maduro’s chief prosecutor announced the surprise decision late Friday night.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. hiring slowed in July as the coronavirus outbreak worsened, and the government’s jobs report offered signs Friday that the economic damage from the pandemic could last far longer than many observers originally envisioned.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The challenge in ousting President Nicolás Maduro has only increased, Juan Guaidó said Tuesday as the Trump administration vowed its continued recognition of the opposition leader as the nation’s interim president, even if his coalition loses control of congress — its last major stronghold.

BRASILIA, Aug 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s chief of staff, Army General Walter Souza Braga Netto, has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said, becoming the seventh Brazilian minister to have contracted the disease.

Braga Netto is doing well and has no symptoms, the office said in a statement. He will remain in isolation until a new examination and medical evaluation is carried out, and will continue to work remotely.

BUENOS AIRES/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A battle is brewing for control of Latin America’s main development bank.

On one side, U.S. President Donald Trump is looking to combat the rising influence of China; on the other, there is a quiet rebellion of countries chafing at losing control of their regional lender.

BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Argentina will pursue a debt refinancing program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if its current debt renegotiation with private creditors fails to lead to an agreement, Economy Minister Martin Guzman said on Sunday.

To avoid defaulting on more than 66 billion U.S. dollars in foreign debt, Argentina's government has proposed some debt alleviation and a longer repayment schedule.

So far, creditors have rejected Argentina's terms, but the country "does not have the capacity to offer more," Guzman told a local daily.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A coalition of political parties in Venezuela led by U.S.-backed Juan Guaidó said Sunday that it won’t participate in upcoming congressional elections called by officials loyal to President Nicolás Maduro.

A group of 27 opposition parties rejected the Dec. 6 election as “fraud.”

The vote would determine control of the National Assembly led by Guaidó and the only branch of Venezuela’s government that Maduro doesn’t control.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 1 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil yesterday reported a daily increase of 1,212 COVID-19 deaths, taking the national death toll to 92,475.

Health authorities also detected 52,383 new cases in the past 24 hours, raising the total caseload to 2,662,485.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous in the country, is also the most affected, with 542,304 cases and 22,997 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 165,495 infections and 13,477 deaths, and Ceara, with 173,882 positives and 7,668 deaths.

BOGOTA, Aug 1 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – Colombia registered 295 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking its total to 10,105, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection said yesterday.

The country has so far reported a total of 295,508 cases, up 9,488 from the previous day, including 3,717 in the capital Bogota, 2,073 in Antioquia and 668 in the city of Barranquilla.

According to the ministry, 154,387 people have recovered so far.

TEHRAN, Aug 1 (NNN-TASNIM) – Iran’s defence ministry said, the Etka Company, affiliated with the ministry, opened Iran’s first supermarket in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, yesterday.

The supermarket, called Megasis, offers more than 2,500 Iranian products, including food, clothing, detergents, plastic and disposable products, nuts and even tractors.

It was built on a land of 20,000 square metres, with the purpose of boosting production and export of Iranian commodities.