The death toll from the collapse of a Brazilian dam rose to 84 yesterday as mining giant Vale announced that moves to dismantle similar structures would hit production.

Grief over the hundreds of Brazilians feared killed in a mining disaster has quickly hardened into anger as victims' families and politicians say iron ore miner Vale SA and regulators have learned nothing from the recent past.

Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro rejected an international ultimatum to call elections within eight days and said opposition leader Juan Guaido had violated the country's constitution by declaring himself leader.

Brazil entered a new era yesterday after electing its next president, Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right congressman who vowed a fundamental change in direction for the giant Latin American country.

Brazil began voting yesterday in a divisive presidential run-off election whose front-runner, far-right former army captain Jair Bolsonaro, is vowing to rescue the country from crisis with a firm grip. Bolsonaro faces leftist Fernando Haddad, a former Sao Paulo mayor, who is trailing Bolsonaro by at least 10 points margin. The results are expected around 2300 GMT.

Allegations of a dirty tricks campaign on WhatsApp dominated Brazil's presidential election race on Thursday, turning attention to social media manipulation following abuses uncovered in the US election and Britain's Brexit referendum two years ago.

Colombia recognized Palestine as a sovereign state in the days before new President Ivan Duque took office, according to a letter from the foreign ministry made public on Wednesday.

A super-legislative body loyal to President Nicolas Maduro revoked the immunity of two Venezuelan opposition lawmakers Wednesday, in order to put them on trial for allegedly masterminding a drone "assassination" bid on the leader.

Six "terrorists and hired killers" have been arrested in Venezuela accused of trying to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro in an alleged

Cambodia's strongman Premier Hun Sen yesterday rejected claims the results from last month's widely criticised election had been falsified, saying he would stake his life on their accuracy.

Remedios Rosas was walking down a Mexico City street Saturday when she saw seven tutu-clad dancers tiptoe to the sidewalk, their chins held high, and join pedestrians waiting to cross the road. When the light changed, music started and the dancers leaped into the street, twirling and twisting in front of surprised drivers.

Bolivia is to build an underwater museum in its sacred Lake Titicaca, the culture minister says.

Anti-establishment leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sweeps to victory in Mexico's presidential election, in a political sea change driven by voters' anger over endemic corruption and brutal violence.

A Boeing 737 plane crashed shortly after taking off from Havana's main airport, carrying 104 passengers on a domestic flight, Cuban state-run media reports.

Seven inmates are killed and at least 17 others seriously injured amid fighting between prisoners inside a maximum security prison in South Carolina.

At least 21 people died Tuesday in an attempted breakout from a prison in northern Brazil aided by an armed group on the outside trying to blow up a wall, officials said.

Leftist icon Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spent yesterday as Brazil's first ex-president to be imprisoned for a common crime -- and his cell

Renowned senior lawyer and human rights activist Asma Jahangir passes away at the age of 66 in Lahore. She is survived by a son and two daughters.

A Brazilian appeals court Wednesday upheld ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's conviction for corruption, dealing a body blow to his hopes of running for re-election this year.

Congress put the US government back in business by voting to end a three-day shutdown, as President Donald Trump claimed victory in his standoff with Democrats in Washington.