Stories for August 17th 2020

Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:57 UTC
Climate change could trigger epidemics: malaria, dengue, zika, smallpox and pathogens from Siberian permafrost

The COVID-19 pandemic that has swept the globe and claimed more than 760,000 lives so far almost certainly came from a wild bat, highlighting the danger of humanity's constant encroachment on the planet's dwindling wild spaces.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:56 UTC
Half of Brazilians think Bolsonaro has “no responsibility at all” for the 100,000 pandemic's dead

Almost half of Brazilians think President Jair Bolsonaro bears “no responsibility at all” for the country’s more than 100,000 dead from the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s second-highest death toll, according to a new Datafolha poll.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:54 UTC
Falklands' Conservation Zone management could be undermined by unregulated longlining

A recent study has found that unregulated longline fishing for Patagonian Toothfish immediately outside the 200-mile Falkland Islands Outer Conservation Zone (FOCZ) is likely to be having significant impacts on deepwater seabed vulnerable marine ecosystems compared to the low impacts observed in licensed longline fisheries within Falklands' waters.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:53 UTC
Latin America coronavirus cases exceed six million and continue to accelerate

Coronavirus cases in Latin America, the region of the world worst-affected by the pandemic, exceed six million and continued to accelerate, according to the WHO figures, as most of its nations begin to relax lockdown measures.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:31 UTC
Argentina will formalize the bond restructuring offer to US Securities and Exchange Committee Monday

The Argentine government formalized its amended bond restructuring offer on Saturday night, confirming in a presidential decree that it would submit the new deal to the US Securities and Exchange Commission this Monday.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:19 UTC
Democrats accuse Trump of wanting to sabotage mail voting by denying funds for the Postal Service

Top Democrats in the US Congress on Sunday called on President Donald Trump's appointed postmaster general to testify this month on changes that have stoked fears they are aimed at holding up mail-in ballots ahead of the November election.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:12 UTC
Mexico besides AstraZeneca is also working with French, US and Chinese labs for a Covid-19 vaccine

Mexico will need up to 200 million coronavirus vaccine doses, according to a senior government official, and inoculation of its 120 million inhabitants could start as early as April if clinical trials and regulatory approvals for pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca go as planned.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:02 UTC
Spaniards march in Madrid chanting “freedom” to protest mandatory facemasks

Chanting “freedom”, hundreds of people rallied on Sunday in Madrid to protest against the mandatory use of facemasks and other restrictions imposed by the Spanish government to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 08:52 UTC
Indigenous people in Chile fighting to have top lithium miner permits revoked

Indigenous groups in Chile´s lithium-rich Atacama salt flat, fresh off a resounding legal victory earlier this week, said they will push to see top lithium miner SQM´s environmental permits revoked and its operations shut down.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 08:49 UTC
UN sends fact finding mission to Chile where Mapuches are on hunger strike

The United Nations has sent a fact-finding team to Chile's restive Araucania region where a jailed Indigenous Mapuche leader has spent more than 100 days on a hunger strike over his detention during the coronavirus pandemic.