The singers of global hit Despacito have lashed out against the Venezuelan president, accusing him of using their song for political gains. President Nicolas Maduro presented an altered version during his weekly television show on Sunday. The reworked lyrics promoted his plans for a controversial new citizen's assembly, which will be elected on Sunday to rewrite the constitution. Puerto...

A Venezuelan violinist who has become a renowned presence at the front of the country's anti-government protests has been taken to hospital during the latest violent clashes in Caracas. Wuilly Arteaga is often seen playing his instrument among demonstrators. "Neither rubber bullets nor pellets will stop us," he wrote on Twitter, posting a video of his swollen, bandaged face. President...

Millions of Venezuelans have joined a general strike called by the opposition as pressure mounts on President Nicolás Maduro to cancel elections for a new constituent assembly. Clashes between police and protesters killed at least three people. More than 300 others were reportedly arrested. Mr Maduro said the strike was minimal and that its leaders would be arrested. Since April, when...

Senators in Chile have voted in favour of a proposal which would end the country's total ban on abortions. The measure would allow abortion in cases of rape, if the mother's life was at risk or if the foetus would not survive the pregnancy. Currently, women can be prosecuted if they have an abortion. The bill, which has the backing of President Michelle Bachelet, will now go back to the...

A nurse aged 61 has been shot dead while waiting to vote in an unofficial, opposition-organised referendum in Venezuela's capital, Caracas. Men on motorbikes fired at a queue, killing her and wounding three others. The opposition blamed a "paramilitary" gang. Video from the scene showed people rushing away from the gunshots. Many fled to a church. Venezuela is in crisis, and more than 100...

A rare snowfall in the Chilean capital Santiago has caused disruption and blackouts, leaving thousands of residents shivering in the dark. About 250,000 people were hit by power cuts, officials said, mostly caused by snow-laden trees falling on cables. One death was reported - of a worker trying to clear ice - and two other people were injured by a fallen power line, Chilean media...

A New Zealand woman has died on the Caribbean territory of Sint Maarten after the blast from a powerful jet engine knocked her to the ground. The incident happened at the famous Princess Juliana International Airport, which is just metres from the beach. Beachgoers can walk up to the airport fence as planes take off. Police said the 57-year-old woman had been holding on to the fence before...

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been convicted of corruption charges and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. The judge ruled he could remain free pending an appeal. Lula has rejected claims that he received an apartment as a bribe in a corruption scandal linked to state oil company Petrobras. He says the trial is politically motivated and has strongly...

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has praised the decision to release from prison one of the country's main opposition leaders, Leopoldo Lopez. Mr Lopez has been moved to house arrest after more than three years in jail. He left a prison near Caracas and was reunited with his family on Saturday. Mr Lopez was serving a 14-year sentence for inciting violence during anti-government...

A teenager in El Salvador has been sentenced to 30 years in jail for aggravated homicide after delivering a stillborn baby in a toilet. Prosecutors argued Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez Cruz had avoided antenatal care, tantamount to killing the child. Her lawyers said she did not know she was pregnant and no crime had occurred. They said the pregnancy was as a result of repeated rapes she did not...