Venezuela

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The World Has a New Lightning Capital

Sorry, Congo Basin

(Newser) - Like watching lightning? Book your next vacation for Venezuela. NASA has determined that country's Lake Maracaibo is the new lightning capital of the world. Using 16 years of data from the satellite-based Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS), scientists determined Lake Maracaibo averages about 233 lightning flashes per square kilometer every...

Beleaguered Venezuela Moves to New Time Zone

And there is only a week of beer left

(Newser) - "This is not life." That's what a fed-up resident of the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo tells Vice News . Residents of that country, which is being ravaged by an economic downturn and serious energy shortage, have already had their workweek slashed to two days (at least the 2...

Venezuela Is Now Down to a 2-Day Workweek

Though if you're a glass-half-full person, you could consider it a 5-day weekend

(Newser) - Venezuela just cut its workweek once again, and not because someone has been reading Timothy Ferriss . Earlier this month, President Nicolas Maduro gave Fridays off to the public sector to minimize power usage in the ongoing energy crisis. Now, VP Aristobulo Isturiz has announced those same workers—numbering about 2...

Venezuela Declares Fridays Are Holidays

At least for a while, to save money on energy

(Newser) - In the US workplace, we have "casual" Fridays; in Venezuela, they now have "don't bother coming in" Fridays. President Nicolas Maduro announced that Fridays for the next 60 days will be official state holidays to save energy in a country that's been plagued by blackouts and...

Socialists Seethe: Venezuela Votes for 'Counter Revolution'

Crowds celebrate as Maduro blames 'economic war'

(Newser) - Venezuela's opposition won control of the National Assembly by a landslide, trouncing the ruling party and altering the balance of power after almost 17 years of socialist rule. The opposition coalition won at least 99 seats in the incoming 167-seat legislature, electoral authorities announced after midnight Sunday. The ruling...

DEA Busts Relatives of Venezuelan President

First lady's nephews were flown to US

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro regularly accuses the US of plotting against him, and the arrest of two family members by American authorities is unlikely to soften his stance. The two men were arrested in Haiti on Tuesday and flown to New York the same day to answer charges of plotting...

Venezuela Bikers Gunned Down for Spare Parts

Motorcycle parts are hot commodity in recession-hit country

(Newser) - Venezuela is running low on motorcycle parts, which is, in turn, likely only making its coffin shortage worse. Motorcycle riders are being gunned down for their bikes as a recession wreaks havoc on the South American country, reports Reuters . "They're killing those of us in the street to...

Want to Visit Venezuela? Now You'll Need a Visa

President blames 'US meddling' in decision

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he will limit the number of US diplomats allowed to work in the socialist South American country and also will require US citizens to apply for visas if they want to visit. Maduro said today that US meddling in the internal affairs of his country...

Cops Haul Off Anti-Government Caracas Mayor

Venezuela tensions soar after Ledezma arrest

(Newser) - Police broke into Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma's office yesterday and carted off the longtime critic of Venezuela's socialist government, adding to tensions on the anniversary of the outbreak of protests that paralyzed the nation a year ago. President Nicolas Maduro took to television and radio to say that...

McDonald's Venezuela: No Fries, Want Yuca?

All franchises are out of potatoes

(Newser) - Forget the French fries. How about a side of yuca with that Big Mac? Venezuela's more than 100 McDonald's franchises have run out of potatoes and are now serving alternatives like deep-fried corncakes or yuca, a starchy staple of traditional South American cooking. McDonald's is blaming a...

Dozen-Plus Inmates Die After Gulping Down Drugs

145 injured after Venezuela prisoners riot, break into penitentiary pharmacy

(Newser) - At least 13 inmates are dead after prisoners in a Venezuelan prison rioted, stormed the on-site pharmacy, and swallowed whatever drugs they could get their hands on. The deceased inmates at the David Viloria correctional center in Lara state had all been part of a hunger strike that began Monday...

Why Venezuelans Are Scanned Before Buying Milk

Oil-rich country has started rationing food, using fingerprint scanners

(Newser) - In Venezuela's western border state of Zulia, residents are restricted to buying no more than 2.2 pounds of "gold" a week—"gold" being a nickname for powdered milk. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the seemingly improbable rationing that was last month enacted in...

Newly Found Dinosaur Survived 'Horrific' Extinction

Tachiraptor fossils discovered in Venezuela

(Newser) - A newly discovered dinosaur in Venezuela may help us understand how species survived a mass-extinction event about 200 million years ago, phys.org reports. Based on two leg-bone fossils, paleontologists say Tachiraptor admirabilis was fairly small (5 or 6 feet, tip to tail), ran on two feet, and ate meat....

Venezuela to Fingerprint Grocery Shoppers

Maduro says move will foil smugglers

(Newser) - Venezuelan grocery shoppers won't be able to buy food without a fingerprint scan under tough new anti-smuggling measures unveiled by President Nicolas Maduro. Subsidies and price controls keep food in Venezuela a lot cheaper than in neighboring countries and Maduro says the new biometric system will be an "...

&#39;World&#39;s Tallest Slum&#39; Evicted
 'World's Tallest Slum' Evicted 
Jul 23, 2014 1:49 AM CDT

'World's Tallest Slum' Evicted

45-story Venezuelan tower housed thousands of squatters

(Newser) - The beginning of the end came for the world's tallest slum yesterday as officials began evicting thousands of squatters from a haphazard community inside a half-built skyscraper in Caracas known as the Tower of David. Soldiers and riot police stood by as dozens of residents boarded buses for their...

Venezuela Running Low ... on Coffins

Production down 20% to 30% in country with high murder rate

(Newser) - Now even in death, Venezuelans are afflicted by shortages. Coffin production has dropped between 20% and 30% this year for lack of materials, industry officials say, forcing funeral and burial delays and boosting coffin prices. In especially short supply is the metal leaf used in coffin-building, says Pedro Navarro, former...

Man Finds Lost Mom Living in Amazon Tribe
Man Finds Lost Mom
Living in Amazon Tribe
in case you missed it
May 31, 2014 6:59 AM CDT

Man Finds Lost Mom Living in Amazon Tribe

David Good seeks new life with mother in Venezuela

(Newser) - Imagine reconnecting with your long-lost mother—in a tribe that has no written language, electricity, or medicine. Or word for "love." That's what David Good experienced when he found his mother, Yarima, in the Yanomami tribe in Venezuela, the New York Post reports. He had long claimed...

US Expels 3 Venezuela Diplomats in Retaliation

Caracas did the same to three Americans last week

(Newser) - The State Department said today it has expelled three Venezuelan diplomats in response to last week's expulsion of three US consular officials from Caracas. Venezuelan envoys First Secretary Ignacio Luis Cajal Avalos, First Secretary Victor Manuel Pisani Azpurua, and Second Secretary Marcos Jose Garcia Figueredo, have 48 hours to...

Maduro Cries Coup as Venezuela Toll Hits 13

Maduro accuses opposition of plotting with US to oust him

(Newser) - Protesters trying to force out Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have blocked main roads in Caracas with burning barricades to try and ban access to the capital, reports the BBC . At least 13 people have now been killed in the wave of opposition protests, and hardline demonstrators in the capital and...

Amid Protests, Venezuela Silences CNN Reporters

It revokes credentials of 4 in the country

(Newser) - Venezuela's government has revoked the press credentials of journalists from CNN after President Nicolas Maduro blasted the television network's coverage of political protests. The network said four of its journalists were notified by the Information Ministry that they are no longer allowed to report in the country. Maduro...

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