Venezuela upholds ban on opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado

Venezuela's Supreme Justice Tribunal on Friday upheld a ban which prevents presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado from holding office, upending the opposition's plans for elections planned later this year.

Machado, who won the opposition's October primary by a huge margin, had asked the court to clarify whether she was subject to a public office ban. Though a letter confirming the ban was shared publicly in June, Machado had said she was never formally informed of it and it was therefore illegitimate.