Free Republic

CARACAS, VENEZUELA - Unemployed bus driver Rafael Lira recently landed an unlikely job amid the high-rises of downtown Caracas. He's now a farmer. Mr. Lira and eight others tend an acre plot wedged between the Hilton Hotel and a pair of busy avenues, where lettuce, mint, beets, and other crops thrive. Lira says he has become self-sufficient from his steady share of vegetable sales. "[This farm plot] shows that this is viable," he says. "That one can live from this and obtain independence." Urban farming's success here is rooted in an unlikely source: visiting agronomists from Cuba. But in a...

¡URGENTE! - Una explosión sacude la embajada española en Caracas - 7.45 h.

DOZENS KILLED IN NIGHTCLUB FIREAn estimated 47 people were killed after fire swept through a nightclub in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. The city's fire chief said most died of smoke inhalation.More than 500 people were inside the Guajira nightclub when the fire broke out.An investigation is under way to find out the cause.More follows...