South America

SANTIAGO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Chilean leftist candidate Gabriel Boric was leading conservative Jose Antonio Kast in the latest polls released on Sunday ahead of the second round of the presidential election on Dec. 19.

The polarized run-off vote will set the political tone in the Andean country for the years ahead, with the two candidates pushing wildly different visions for the future of the world's top copper-producing nation.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.5 struck northern Peru early Sunday, damaging some buildings and blocking several roads with rubble.

While the quake was extremely strong, it was relatively deep — measured at 112 kilometers (70 miles) — which usually reduces the possibility of damage and casualties.

The quake occurred at 5:52 a.m. (1052 GMT) and its epicenter was in the Amazon region, 42 kilometers (26 miles) north northwest of the city of Barranca. It had a magnitude of 7.5, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

ON THE RIO MADEIRA, Brazil (AP) — Hundreds of barges of illegal miners dredging for gold were navigating along the Madeira River in the Brazilian Amazon on Friday, and researchers said they posed a threat of pollution — including toxic mercury — for the broader environment.

The barges were spotted this week by the municipality of Autazes, some 120 kilometers (70 miles) from Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state.

SAO PAULO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Brazilian health regulator Anvisa recommended on Friday that travel be restricted from some African countries due to the detection of a new COVID-19 variant, but President Jair Bolsonaro appeared to dismiss such measures.

Anvisa said its recommendation, which would need government approval to be implemented, was to immediately suspend flights from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

The EU and Britain are already tightening border controls as researchers look into whether the new mutation is vaccine-resistant. 

SAO PAULO (AP) — Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee for more than two decades, was sentenced to 30 years and 11 months in jail for allegedly buying votes for Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympics.

The ruling by Judge Marcelo Bretas became public Thursday.

Nuzman, who also headed the Rio 2016 organizing committee, was found guilty of corruption, criminal organization, money laundering and tax evasion. The 79-year-old executive won’t be jailed until all his appeals are heard.

He and his lawyer did not comment on the decision.

QUITO, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso has pardoned prisoners jailed for minor traffic crimes and others suffering terminal illnesses to alleviate overcrowding in penitentiaries across the country, his press office said.

A wave of violence has beset Ecuador's prisons in recent months, leaving scores of prisoners dead as gangs fight for control of drug trafficking routes.

As well as violence, Ecuador's prisons are plagued by overcrowding of around 30% and poor living conditions for the system's 39,000 inmates.

SANTIAGO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - After two years of dramatic street protests and the election of a left-wing body to re-write the nation's constitution, Chileans surprised analysts, markets and even themselves on Sunday night by favoring a right-wing presidential candidate and delivering significant gains to conservatives in Congress.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Under the scrutiny of international observers, Venezuelans cast ballots for thousands of local races in elections that for the first time in four years included major opposition participation, a move that divided the already fractured bloc confronting President Nicolás Maduro.

BRASILIA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazil has administered more than 300 million shots of COVID-19 vaccines since launching its vaccination campaign in January, the Health Ministry said Friday.

Some 157.6 million people have received a first dose, and 129.8 million are fully vaccinated, having received either both doses or a single-dose vaccine, representing 73.3 percent of the target population.

"With this milestone, we can say that the COVID-19 vaccination campaign is the largest this country has ever seen," Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said.

CARACAS, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Felix Plasencia on Thursday condemned the decision by the Council of the European Union (EU) to renew sanctions against officials of the South American country for another year.

"We strongly condemn this new attack on our people and we consider this insolent renewal an act of hostility," Plasencia said on Twitter.

According to Plasencia, the move is aimed at undermining the ruling socialist party in the lead-up to regional and local elections on Nov. 21.