Ecuadorean health authorities have reported that the new FLiRT (KP.2) variant of Covid-19 had reached the country after two individuals -a 24-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman- tested positive in the Cotopaxi province. Both patients were vaccinated, the Health Ministry also noted. Local experts recalled that although not lethal, FLiRT was highly contagious, and therefore insisted on the importance of personal hygiene.
Sir Keir Starmer's new cabinet will meet for the first time on Saturday morning - the first full day of Labour being in power, points out a BBC report. Rachel Reeves is the UK's first female chancellor, while Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is also among a record 11 women in the team of 25. Sir Keir appointed his cabinet on Friday after Labor's landslide election win, and in his first speech as PM said the work of change “begins immediately”.
There seems to be no love lost between former Argentine President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich after Thursday's events at the Propuesta Republicana (PRO) Party Assembly the latter was supposed to chair but was sidelined. The rift between Macri and Bullrich has been going on for months, it was also reported in Buenos Aires.
Studies published this week corroborate that Argentines are fairing worse off under President Javier Milei, with people sinking into poverty despite having formal jobs which showed in a dwindling consumption of red meat, among other items, in a country that used to top the world's lists.
Heart surgeon and former Health Minister Masoud Pezeshkian has been confirmed Saturday as the winner of Iran's presidential election. The 69-year-old Reformist politician is expected to open up the country after seizing 53.6 % of the vote against the ultraconservative Saeed Jalili's 44.3 % amid a 49.9% turnout.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attended this week the laying of the foundation stone for the Orion Project, a laboratory complex specialized in disease-causing pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites to be built in Campinas, in the State of São Paulo. According to Agencia Brasil, the facility is expected to be the most advanced in Latin America and one of the most important in the world.
Published in the National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, with the contribution of the following, Alice Wynne; Thomas Bale; Rebecca Edwards; Natalie Wright and Petra Manley
The elected Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly extends its congratulations to the Labour Party on their victory in the UK General Election. We also extend our congratulations to The Right Honorable Sir Keir Starmer on his election as an MP, and subsequent appointment this as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by His Majesty The King Charles III.
After leaving at least three people dead in Jamaica, Beryl made landfall as a Category 2 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale Friday on the Mexican coast. It eventually downgraded to a tropical storm, although it continued to pose a serious risk with heavy storms and damaging waves, authorities warned residents. According to Mexico's National Water Commission (Conagua), Beryl winds reached 175 km/h with peaks of 220 km/h. Classes were suspended as of Thursday.
Bolivia's Deputy Communications Minister Gabriela Alcón announced Friday that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva would be arriving in Santa Cruz de la Sierra next Monday for meetings with local authorities and businessmen. It will be the first visit of a foreign head of state since Bolivia's full Southern Common Market membership President Luis Arce Catacora signed into law this week.