World

Nationwide elections in Venezuela have provided some breathing room for President Nicolas Maduro, who has been struggling with skyrocketing inflation and shortages of basic goods. Opposition parties had hoped to deal a stinging blow to Maduro, but instead he proclaimed victory and pledged to deepen the socialist revolution, including more government measures to control the economy.

Editor's Note: Roberto Schmidt, the Agence France-Presse staffer who took the photographs discussed in this blog post, has now weighed in on the discussion and provided context. In his own blog post, Schmidt wrote "photos can lie. In reality, just a few seconds earlier the first lady was herself joking with those around her, Cameron and Schmidt included. Her stern look was captured by chance."

Uruguay will become the world's first country to approve the growing, selling and use of marijuana, after the country's Senate voted for the change, which the president has promised to sign into law.

Reuters describes the move as "a pioneering social experiment that will be closely watched by other nations debating drug liberalization."

Sen. Constanza Moreira, who voted with the majority, called the vote on Tuesday "an historic day."

"Many countries of Latin America, and many governments, will take this law as an example," she said.

Hundreds of riot police have stormed an anti-government camp in the capital's Independence Square, with police dismantling barricades amid shouts of "Shame!" and "We will stand!" from protesters.

As we reported on Monday, it follows a similar move by police against a protester camp near City Hall.