Pope Francis has presided over one of the most solemn rites of the Catholic Church, a procession re-enacting Christ’s crucifixion that received a Broadway-like treatment befitting its improbable location, Rio’s hedonistic Copacabana beach.

President Sebastian Pinera joined most of Chile’s 33 rescued miners at a celebratory Mass, a year after the San Jose mine collapsed, trapping the men half a mile below the surface.

Heavily armed attackers opened fire on a group of people in a Colombian farmhouse, killing 14 of them – including a toddler and a pregnant woman.

The death toll in El Salvador's earthquake has reached 255 with at least 2,261 reported injured

More than 200 people have been killed and 2,000 injured in the second earthquake to hit El Salvador this year.