South America

BRASILIA, June 30 (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's political career was in tatters on Friday as Brazil's federal electoral court (TSE) barred the far-right nationalist from public office until 2030 for his conduct during last year's fraught election.

Five out of seven justices voted to convict the 68-year-old Bolsonaro for abuse of power and misuse of the media when, in July, before the 2022 election, he summoned ambassadors to vent unfounded claims about Brazil's electronic voting system.

CHUAO, Venezuela (AP) — Long before sunrise, dozens of people gather around more than 50 boats along this portion of Venezuela’s vast Caribbean coast, their tanned bodies showing scars and maimed hands from years of fishing. Most of them are men, but women are increasingly among them.

The women may be joining a family tradition of fishing, or in some cases launching new careers after losing jobs during Venezuela’s economic crisis, enlisting in the physically demanding work that may pay $8 after five consecutive 12-hour shifts.

SAO PAULO (AP) — A panel of judges voted Friday to render far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ineligible to run for office again after concluding that he abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system.

The decision, once all judges have voted, will forbid Bolsonaro from running until 2030, upending the 68-year-old’s political future and likely erasing any chance for him to regain power.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 29. /TASS/: The Bolivian state-owned lithium company YLB and Uranium One, an affiliate of Russia’s Rosatom, signed an agreement on lithium carbonate production in the southwestern region of the country.

"The agreement unveils new prospects of long-term cooperation between Russia and Bolivia. This is the first large-scale overseas projects in the lithium production sphere for Rosatom," First Deputy CEO of the Russian company Kirill Komarov said.

CARACAS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela denounced the "negative impact" of sanctions on the development of Caribbean countries, an official said Thursday, calling for more support for climate-vulnerable countries in the region.

Raul Li Causi, Venezuela's deputy foreign affairs minister for the Caribbean, made the remarks during the annual meeting of the board of governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) held in Saint Lucia.

CARACAS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela denounced the "negative impact" of sanctions on the development of Caribbean countries, an official said Thursday, calling for more support for climate-vulnerable countries in the region.

Raul Li Causi, Venezuela's deputy foreign affairs minister for the Caribbean, made the remarks during the annual meeting of the board of governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) held in Saint Lucia.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s top electoral court on Thursday began hearing a case that could torpedo the political future of former President Jair Bolsonaro by rendering him ineligible for public office for eight years.

Judges are evaluating a case filed by Brazil’s Democratic Labor Party, which claims the far-right leader abused his power by using government communication channels to promote his campaign and cast unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system.

BRASILIA, June 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazilian authorities said they confiscated nearly 29 tonnes of illegal shark fins bound for Asia, in what they described as possibly the largest such seizure ever.

Environmental protection agency Ibama estimated around 10,000 shortfin mako and blue sharks were killed to harvest the fins, which are considered a delicacy in Asia.

“It is possibly the largest seizure in history of this type of product,” Ibama environmental protection director Jair Schmitt said in a statement.

BRASILIA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's financial market has upgraded forecast for the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year from 1.84 percent to 2.14 percent, the Central Bank of Brazil said on Monday.

This marks the sixth week in a row that analysts have improved projections for Brazil's 2023 economic growth.

Analysts consulted by the bank for its weekly survey, however, cut growth expectations for next year from 1.27 percent to 1.2 percent.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A federal judge in Argentina has called on Interpol to detain four Lebanese citizens, so they can be questioned for their suspected role in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center that killed 85 people.

“Regarding these individuals, there are well-founded suspicions that they are collaborators or operational agents of the … armed wing of Hezbollah,” judge Daniel Rafecas wrote in a resolution dated June 13 that the Associated Press obtained Thursday.