Health & Science

• Wednesday, December 16th 2020 - 08:32 UTC

  British scientists trying to determine if Covid-19 mutation is linked to other strains

  

  British scientists are trying to establish whether the rapid spread in southern England of a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 is linked to key mutations they have detected in the strain, they said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, December 16th 2020 - 08:20 UTC

  Rio do Janeiro cancels its annual New Year's Eve beach bash

  

  Rio de Janeiro's annual New Year's Eve beach bash, already reduced in scope and format, has been canceled due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, the mayor's office said Tuesday.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 18:10 UTC

  Mass inoculation against Covid-19 in Brazil “only possible” in March with the AstraZenca vaccine

  

  In Brazil, a mass inoculation campaign against Covid 19 will only be possible from March and will rely on the Astra Zeneca vaccine, a senior health official at the country’s leading public biomedical institute told Reuters.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 15:20 UTC

  In live stream at several US cities, vaccination started, “healing is coming”

  

  New York City intensive care unit nurse on Monday became the first person in the United States to receive a coronavirus vaccine, calling it a sign that “healing is coming,” as the nation’s COVID-19 death toll crossed a staggering 300,000 lives lost.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 15:03 UTC

  Lack of confidence, Argentine government main challenge in its first year

  

  Argentina's current government has had a wild ride in its first year of government: a sovereign default, huge debt restructurings together with sliding reserves, a currency crisis, a weak economy battered by COVID-19, and massive money printing.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 12:47 UTC

  BAS to study impact of giant A'68 iceberg and fresh water on South Georgia's ecosystem

  

  A research mission to determine the impact of the giant A-68a iceberg on one of the world’s most important ecosystems gets underway next month. A team of scientists, led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), will set sail on the National Oceanography Centre’s (NOC) ship bound for the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 09:05 UTC

  New variant of Covid-19 has emerged in UK, reports WHO

  

  The World Health Organization is aware of a new variant of Covid-19 that has emerged in Britain, but there is no evidence the strain behaves differently to existing types of the virus, it said on Monday.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 08:58 UTC

  Some 47 Chinese workers in Uganda inoculated with the Sinopharm vaccine allegedly tested positive

  

  Despite apparently being inoculated with China's vaunted coronavirus vaccines, 47 Chinese workers in Uganda have been diagnosed with the virus, raising questions about the efficacy of the China-made products.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 08:29 UTC

  Long food queues in Italy's financial capital and richest city of the country

  

  Long queues have been forming outside food banks and help centers in Italy's financial capital Milan as the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus has deepened before Christmas.

• Monday, December 14th 2020 - 09:39 UTC

  Tax reform in Brazil stalled in the midst of political dispute and “fiscal abyss”

  

  Brazil is heading into a “fiscal abyss” and a serious crisis next year, following the decision to postpone parliamentary debate on a bill extending emergency aid spending, lower house speaker Rodrigo Maia said on Friday