Stories for January 4th 2021

Monday, January 4th 2021 - 05:36 UTC
Brazil health regulator approves import of 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

Brazil's health regulator Anvisa said over the weekend it had approved the import of 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, although the jab is not yet approved for use in the country.
Monday, January 4th 2021 - 05:15 UTC
Argentina's grain inspectors' union expect to reach a salary agreement this Monday

Argentina's grain inspectors' union, Urgara, said on the last day of 2020 that its members will continue to strike over the weekend after failing to strike a wage deal despite two meetings with the Chamber of Private and Commercial Ports (CPPC).
Monday, January 4th 2021 - 05:03 UTC
China calls on meat processors to tighten sanitary measures before exporting

China’s meat importers and processors have asked exporters in countries with Covid-19 outbreaks to step up disinfection procedures before shipping them to the Asian country.
Monday, January 4th 2021 - 05:00 UTC
Johnson, Scottish independence referendum a “once in a generation” vote; Sturgeon, “we'll be back soon”

Boris Johnson has reiterated his position that a Scottish independence referendum should be a “once-in-a-generation” vote. Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr program, the prime minister said the gap between referendums on Europe - the first in 1975 and the second in 2016 - was “a good sort of gap.”
Monday, January 4th 2021 - 04:55 UTC
Opec meeting via videoconference to decide on February production level

Members of the Opec group of oil producers and their partners will meet via videoconference next Monday to decide on production levels for February, hoping to turn the corner on a difficult year. The Opec+ ministerial meeting comes after oil consumption tanked in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Monday, January 4th 2021 - 04:39 UTC
Tuesday's Georgia Senate vote will decide the fate of Joe Biden's legislative agenda

Control of the U.S. Senate – and with it, the likely fate of President-elect Joe Biden's legislative agenda – will be on the ballot on Tuesday when voters in Georgia decide twin runoff elections.
Monday, January 4th 2021 - 04:34 UTC
Political prisoner dies in Venezuelan jail: fears for the lives of twelve others

Venezuelan member of the Pemon indigenous group accused of aiding a raid on a military post in late 2019 died on Sunday in a jail close to Caracas, rights group Penal Forum said in a tweet.
Monday, January 4th 2021 - 04:30 UTC
Trump vetoes bill to gradually end the use of large mesh drift gillnets off California

President Donald Trump vetoed a bill that would have gradually ended the use of large-mesh drift gillnets deployed exclusively in federal waters off the coast of California, saying such legislation would increase reliance on imported seafood and worsen a multibillion-dollar seafood trade deficit.
Monday, January 4th 2021 - 04:27 UTC
US Congress leaders homes vandalized over failed vote to increase relief checks

Vandals lashed out at the leaders of the U.S. House and Senate over the holiday weekend, blighting their homes with graffiti and in one case a pig’s head as Congress failed to approve an increase in the amount of money being sent to individuals to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Monday, January 4th 2021 - 04:06 UTC
People killed in large commercial airline crashes higher in 2020 than 2019

The number of people killed in large commercial airplane crashes rose in 2020 to 299 worldwide, even as the number of crashes fell by more than 50%, a Dutch consulting firm said.