Lima, July 13 (RHC)  Latin America and the Caribbean must brace for the impact of a deepening crisis in the Eurozone, which could revert the decreasing unemployment rate of the past two years in the region, alerted the International Labor Organization (ILO).

United Nations, July 13 (RHC)  The UN Security Council continued its debates on the Syrian conflict on Friday amidst pressures by the United States and its allies to achieve a resolution against Damascus.

Caracas, July 13 (RHC) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on his supporters around the country to unite to ensure victory in the October 7th elections and the continuity of the Bolivarian project.

Mexico City, July 13 (Xinhua-RHC) -- Leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has demanded the invalidation of the results of the July 1st presidential election, citing various voting irregularities.

Damascus, July 13 (RHC)-- Syrian authorities are denying that a massacre was committed by government troops in the village of Tremseh, a rural area in the province of Hama.  In Damascus, officials said armed gangs entered the town, killing local residents, looting and destroying houses in the area before authorities arrived to the area.

Moscow, July 13 (RHC)-- United Nations and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, will discuss the crisis in that country with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday, July 16th.  According to a report by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the talks will address the current situation in the Middle Eastern nation, where government forces face armed groups financed and supplied from foreign countries.

Asuncion, July 13 (RHC) -- Paraguayan intellectuals, artists and journalists have denounced attacks and censorship by the government, as well as a plan to close down several community radio stations.

Madrid, July 13 (RHC)-- European Central Bank loans to Spain's battered banks shot up 17.2 percent to a record 337.2 billion Euros in June.  According to the Bank of Spain, the country's banks' debts to the European Central Bank, the ECB, have racked up record highs each month of this year as the banks struggle to raise money on interbank and debt markets.

Caracas, July 13 (PL-RHC) -- The National Assembly of Venezuela has made public an agreement to reject all actions and statements that may encourage violence during the electoral campaign, with the October 7th presidential elections so close.

Santiago de Chile, July 13 (Xinhua-RHC) -- Chilean President Sebastian Piñera has signed into law a bill against racial, sexual and religious discrimination.

Rome, July 13 (RHC)-- Credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Italy's government bond rating two notches on fear that deteriorating financial conditions in Europe will lead to a sharp rise in borrowing costs.

Tegucigalpa, July 13 (PL-RHC) -- At least 67.6 percent of the Honduran population live in poverty, 46.9 percent of them in extreme poverty, according to official data.

Caracas, July 13 (ANDINA-RHC) -- Peru’s Ambassador to Caracas Luis Enrique Raygada Souza-Ferreira said that trade between his country and Venezuela is on the rise and expected to total 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2012, a 54-percent increase compared to the previous year.

Houston, July 13 (RHC)-- One day after Mitt Romney was booed at the NAACP convention in Houston, Vice President Joe Biden received a friendlier reception on Thursday when he delivered an address urging support for President Obama’s re-election.

San Francisco, July 13 (RHC)-- The U.S. banking giant Wells Fargo Bank has agreed to pay a settlement of at least $175 million for discriminating against African-American and Hispanic borrowers.