U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the international community to support the Venezuelan people and recognize the interim government of opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
VOA's Margaret Besheer reports from the U.N.
Secretary Pompeo called the Maduro regime an "illegitimate mafia state" and criticized countries including Russia, China, Iran and Cuba for supporting him.
Several European governments, including Britain, Spain, Germany and France, said Saturday that they would recognize 35-year-old opposition leader and head of the democratically-elected National Assembly Juan Guaidó as president if no election is called within eight days.
Guaidó declared himself interim president on January 23. But powers, Russia and China, and several left-leaning Latin states have expressed support for Maduro, who was sworn in for a second six-year term on January 10 following elections that many voters boycotted and whose results have been challenged both domestically and internationally.
Margaret Besheer, VOA news, the United Nations.
The United States and the Taliban may have reached an agreement on a plan for American troops to leave Afghanistan.
Reuters correspondent Gavino Garay has details.
As part of the deal, the Taliban's sources said they offered assurances that Afghanistan will not be allowed to be used by al-Qaeda and Islamic State militants to attack the United States and its allies, a key demand of Washington.
News of progress on the deal comes as the Taliban, a hardline Islamic group that controls nearly half of Afghanistan, continues to stage nearly daily attacks against the Western-backed Afghan government and its security forces.
The Taliban says they will finalize a timeline for a cease-fire in Afghanistan but will only open up talks with Afghan representatives once the cease-fire is implemented.
It is not known if a draft acceptable to both sides has been completed or when it might take effect.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that there was encouraging news from U.S. talks.
This is VOA news.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday flew over a disaster area following a dam burst in an iron ore mine. The death toll has now grown to 34.
Reuters Matthew Larotonda has details.
The torrent is said to have hit at lunchtime on Friday and tore through the mine's cafeteria and offices.
This is not the first major disaster linked to the mine's owner, either, a corporation called Vale SA. Three years ago, Brazil suffered the worst environmental catastrophe in its history when another dam burst at a mining project that Vale was partnered in poured toxic waste into a river. Nineteen people were killed in that incident.
Vale's chief executive said from Rio de Janeiro that Saturday's disaster was a "human tragedy" but may have worse environmental damage this time.
Matthew Larotonda of Reuters.
Pope Francis celebrated Mass Saturday in the centuries-old colonial Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria la Antigua, telling Panama's priests and nuns to try to find joy in their work despite what he called "the wounds of the church's own sin."
In his homily, Francis spoke frankly about the pressures, frustrations and anxieties facing priests and nuns dealing in a rapidly changing world where sometimes the Catholic message seems to have no place.
He said, "The weariness of hope comes from seeing a Church wounded by her own sin, which so often failed to hear all those cries that echoed the cry of the Master: 'My God, why have you forsaken me?'"
The pope made his address as part of World Youth Day, the Catholic Church's international youth rally held every two to three years.
Now that the U.S. government shutdown is over, economists say that the U.S. economy will likely resume its steady growth. But AP correspondent Ben Thomas reports some scholars will take time to heal.
Most analysts estimate that the partial shutdown shaved a few tenths of a percentage point from economic growth in the first quarter. While growth should rebound, they say some of the money federal workers and contractors didn't spend on items such as movie tickets, restaurants and travel will never be made up. Federal workers will receive backpay. However, some contractors may not.
S&P Global Ratings estimates the economy lost $6 billion thanks to the shutdown, and while that sounds sizable in a $19 trillion-plus economy, it's a relatively negligible sum.
Ben Thomas, Washington.
And a government-appointed panel on Saturday recommended that Germany stop burning coal to generate electricity by 2038 at the latest as part of efforts to curb climate change.
