International

Friday, February 5th 2021 - 08:50 UTC
UK in Covid-19 rare success: it has vaccinated 15% of the population (10 million)

The UK reached the milestone of vaccinating 10 million people, about 15% of the population, according to the latest official reports. “We are on a downward slope of cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said at a televised press conference. “This peak, at least, we are past.”
Friday, February 5th 2021 - 08:42 UTC
Uruguay, one the very few “full democracies” in the world, The Economist

Uruguay leads as one of four full democracies in the Americas, according to the Democracy Index 2020, published by The Economist. Uruguay scored 8,61 points out of a possible 10 and ranked fifteenth at world level, while the other “full” democracies in the region are Costa Rica, 8,16; Chile, 8,28 and Canada with 9,24 points.
Friday, February 5th 2021 - 08:21 UTC
Bank of England tells banks to prepare for negative interest rates

The Bank of England (BOE) told banks to start getting ready for negative interest rates but added that the message shouldn’t be taken as a signal that the policy is imminent. The BOE made the announcement as it held its key rate at a record low of 0.1%.
Thursday, February 4th 2021 - 23:23 UTC
Northern Ireland Protocol controversy forces new round of UK/EU talks

The government and the EU have vowed to “work intensively” to quell tensions over post-Brexit checks at Northern Ireland ports. In a joint statement, both sides said talks on Wednesday with Northern Ireland leaders were “constructive”.
Thursday, February 4th 2021 - 23:06 UTC
Russia has offered Argentina fighter aircraft and training jets, defense website reports

Russia has again approached the Argentine government to offer defense equipment, including military planes for the air force.
Thursday, February 4th 2021 - 09:46 UTC
Argentine president asks Putin to guarantee supply of the Sputnik V vaccine

Supply of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine and the possible elaboration of the shots in Argentina were among the issues addressed by Argentine president Alberto Fernandez and Russia's Vladimir Putin during a Tuesday phone conference.
Thursday, February 4th 2021 - 09:07 UTC
COVAX publishes first interim vaccine distribution forecast

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organization, as co-leads of the COVAX initiative for equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines, alongside key delivery partner UNICEF, are pleased to publish COVAX’s first interim distribution forecast.
Thursday, February 4th 2021 - 06:45 UTC
St Helena prepares to commemorate the bicentennial of Napoleon's death

By Nick Sundin – The United Kingdom commemorated in June 2015 the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo, marking the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte and the end of the Napoleonic Wars. In the months surrounding the bicentenary of 18th June 2015, battlefield visits abounded, with key sites in the vicinity of the battlefield and the town of Waterloo itself seeing large increases in tourism.
Wednesday, February 3rd 2021 - 09:25 UTC
Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is 91,6% effective, The Lancet

The Russian Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective against Covid 19 in its symptomatic manifestations, according to the medical journal The Lancet . “The trial results show a strong protective effect consistent across all age groups of participants,” the researchers explain.
Wednesday, February 3rd 2021 - 08:03 UTC
Russian dissident sentenced to 3,5 years in jail despite demands from Western countries

Russian dissident Alexei Navalny was sentenced to three and a half years in a penal colony after a Moscow court found him guilty of disobeying the terms of his probation over the 2014 money laundering case. In the Tuesday ruling, however, the court also took into account the time Navalny had spent under house arrest, meaning that the Kremlin critic would spend only two years and eight months behind bars.