Stories for February 2020

Saturday, February 22nd 2020 - 09:10 UTC
Brazil distributes 128 million condoms ahead of Carnival festivities

Brazil’s Ministry of Health has begun to distribute the 128.6 million condoms purchased to guarantee the protection of those who participate in Carnival 2020 later this month. Officials said that by the beginning of the Carnival period, all states in the country will have been supplied.
Saturday, February 22nd 2020 - 09:03 UTC
Dengue in Paraguay: 20 deaths and 5.766 cases confirmed

Paraguay's Health Minister Julio Mazzoleni announced on Friday the latest information on the dengue fever outbreak in the country. “We want to start the conference with good news: the epidemic has slowed in the area of Asunción and Central, at this time we have not reached peak and we are currently on a plateau and we even have a tendency of a decline in most of the hospitals, stating this will be corroborated next week”.
Friday, February 21st 2020 - 08:40 UTC
Argentina pressing Uruguay on Falklands' RAF flights landing in Carrasco

Argentina is again putting pressure on Uruguay, this time on the incoming government which takes office next March first, insisting no UK military aircraft linked to the Falkland Islands be allowed to land in the country's airports and Falklands should not be treated as state with which Uruguay has extensive trade and business exchanges.
Friday, February 21st 2020 - 08:33 UTC
US government expects China to honor its commitment to buy more US goods despite COVID-19

The US government expects China to honor its commitments to buy more US goods under a trade deal signed by the world's two largest economies in January despite the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, a senior US official said on Thursday.
Friday, February 21st 2020 - 08:32 UTC
European human rights chief against extraditing Assange: “chilling effect on press freedom”'

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States because it would have a chilling effect on press freedom, a European human rights chief said on Thursday. Assange, 48, is in prison in London, where an extradition hearing begins next week. The US authorities want to try him on 18 counts including to hack government computers and violating an espionage law.
Friday, February 21st 2020 - 08:30 UTC
Falklands will have a new port in three/four years; FIG can afford the “indicative pricing”

The Falkland Islands Government (FIG) last week announced that it has chosen BAM-Nutall as its development partner to build a new port with a lifetime of fifty years. This week more details of the major project, to be developed in three stages and which is expected to be completed in three/four years were revealed by members of the local government.
Friday, February 21st 2020 - 08:30 UTC
China again changes the method of counting COVID-19 patients

China said on Thursday it has again changed the method of counting patients with COVID-19 and will now include only those diagnosed by sophisticated laboratory testing.
Friday, February 21st 2020 - 08:30 UTC
Ireland unable to form government: resigned PM, is acting as interim leader

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar resigned on Thursday but stayed on as interim leader while the country's three main parties battle out coalition talks after an inconclusive election.
Friday, February 21st 2020 - 08:29 UTC
Suspects of killing 7-year old girl that triggered massive protests in Mexico, arrested

Mexican law enforcement has arrested suspects in the killing of a seven-year-old girl whose murder rocked the capital with protests, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum wrote in a post on Twitter. The body of Fatima Cecilia Aldrighett was discovered over the weekend in a plastic garbage bag, sparking outrage over growing violence against women in Mexico.
Friday, February 21st 2020 - 08:25 UTC
Public school teachers strike in Colombia: seven million children without classes

Public school teachers in Colombia launched a two-day strike on Thursday to protest violence against the profession and killings of activists and other community leaders, leaving more than 7 million children without classes.