Rio de Janeiro, Dec 10 (EFE).- Brazilian police on Wednesday busted a violent gang comprising at least five police officers that controlled three Rio de Janeiro shantytowns.Authorities said 15 suspected gang members were arrested in the first few hours of the operation, among them Rio de Janeiro state police Pvt. Carlos Roberto Bernardo.The gang, according to authorities, employed torture, homicide, ...

Caracas, Dec 10 (EFE).- Venezuelan Penitentiary Services Minister Iris Varela confirmed Wednesday the deaths of 48 inmates in a prison in the western part of the country after they consumed a cocktail of medications during a riot or strike on Nov. 26.“I don’t like to speak about that figure. I prefer to say that more than 100 people who ingested ...

Santiago, Dec 10 (EFE).- Latin America is on course to reduce hunger by half ahead of the target date established in the Millennium Development Goals, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Wednesday.The FAO’s 2014 report on food and nutritional security in Latin America and the Caribbean, released in Santiago, says the region has reduced the proportion of the population ...

By Natalia BonillaSan Juan, Dec 10 (EFE).- Taiwan is losing ground in the Caribbean, one of its traditional strongholds, as global economic powerhouse China expands its presence in the region, experts told Efe on Wednesday.“Globalization has changed the rules because the financial capabilities of each country are like night and day,” University of Puerto Rico economist Paul Latortue said in ...

Washington, Dec 10 (EFE).- The Cuban Interests Section in Washington announced Wednesday a three-month extension of passport-renewal services in the United States, which have been hampered by the mission’s lack of a local bank.Cuba’s diplomatic mission said that while it “continues searching for a solution” to the banking issue, through March 31, 2015, the interest section will renew passports for ...

Washington, Dec 9 (EFE).- U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the use of torture by the CIA on suspected terrorists during the past decade did not help the efforts against terrorism or the country’s national security interests, after the release of a Senate report on the issue.The report on CIA practices published Tuesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee “documents ...

Vatican City, Dec 9 (EFE).- The Vatican intends to consult Roman Catholic dioceses about the possibility of making the marriage annulment process free of charge and eliminating “unfair discrimination” against homosexuals, with a survey whose contents were made public on Tuesday.The questions included in the survey are addressed to episcopal conferences worldwide, in preparation for next year’s Synod of Bishops, ...

Caracas, Dec 9 (EFE).- Venezuelan authorities seized “at least $3 million” hidden in a vehicle being transported on a Lebanese-flagged vessel that arrived in the capital’s port from the United States, the state-run press reported Tuesday.“The vehicle arrived in the country on Sunday, Dec. 7, on board a vessel from the United States, and it was detected at dock No. ...

Chicago, Dec 9 (EFE).- A study released on Tuesday warns that President Barack Obama’s recent executive action on immigration offers only “minimal benefits” to immigrants who work in agriculture in the U.S. Midwest, most of whom are of Mexican origin.Moreover, the measures could worsen the critical scarcity of agricultural workers in the region, said Michele Wucker, the vice president for ...

Rio de Janeiro, Dec 9 (EFE).- Brazil celebrated 3,701 gay weddings in 2013, the first year a judicial decision authorized same-sex marriage, officials announced Tuesday.Of all gay marriages last year, 52 percent were between women and 48 percent between men, according to figures of the civil registry published by the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute, or IBGE.Same-sex marriages were pronounced ...