Politics

• Thursday, January 28th 2021 - 09:51 UTC

  Over a million people have died from Covid-19 in the Americas

  

  More than one million people have died from COVID-19 in North and South America, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported. Last week two million more cases were reported in the Americas, with the United States the main driver of the outbreak.

• Thursday, January 28th 2021 - 09:42 UTC

  Brazil on the brink of financial default, points out the Financial Times

  

  Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been s skeptical of the coronavirus pandemic and the effectiveness of different vaccines to contain it, arguing that the economy, jobs and activity, were the priority above sanitary recommendations. As a result of this approach, his administration's federal spending jumped almost 40% between January and November, according to the Institute of International Finance. And Bolsonaro had even admitted the country is “broke.”

• Thursday, January 28th 2021 - 09:23 UTC

  Secretary of State Blinken: US-China is “arguably the most important relationship in the world”

  

  The United States-China relationship is “arguably the most important relationship that we have in the world,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during his first full day in office.

• Thursday, January 28th 2021 - 09:15 UTC

  Johnson off to Scotland to confront growing support of independence referendum

  

  Prime Minister Boris Johnson is traveling on Thursday to Scotland to confront growing support for another independence referendum. Ahead of his visit, Johnson said that Scotland, as a part of the UK, gained access to a coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, and they are being administered by their shared armed forces, who are creating 80 new vaccine centers in Scotland.

• Thursday, January 28th 2021 - 09:14 UTC

  Putin criticizes “digital giants” that challenge “legitimate democratic institutions”

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the growing influence of U.S. social media companies and said their impact on society now puts them in competition with elected governments.

• Thursday, January 28th 2021 - 09:11 UTC

  Colombian defense minister and respected politician dies of Covid-19

  

  Colombia's defense minister has died in hospital after contracting coronavirus, the government announced. Carlos Holmes Trujillo, 69, was taken to hospital with Covid-19 earlier this month and had developed viral pneumonia.

• Thursday, January 28th 2021 - 08:55 UTC

  China has begun using anal swabs for high risk population

  

  AFP – Anal swabs are being used in China to test those it considers at high risk of contracting Covid-19, state TV reported. According to doctors, the invasive procedure is said to be more effective in detecting the virus.

• Thursday, January 28th 2021 - 08:33 UTC

  Climate change becomes a national security issue for the Pentagon

  

  Reuters – The risk of climate change in military theatre simulations and war games was confirmed by the Pentagon following a raft of executive actions signed by US president Joe Biden to tackle the climate issue.

• Wednesday, January 27th 2021 - 20:39 UTC

  Director of Sinovac's intermediary institute said it did not close a deal with Uruguay for vaccine

  

  The Director of the Butantan Institute on Tuesday contradicted the words of Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou, assuring that there is not yet a closed agreement between the Uruguayan government and the Chinese laboratory Sinovac for the purchase of the vaccine against Covid-19. However, the institute affirmed that there is a pre-agreement and talks are still ongoing. Lacalle Pou announced on Saturday at a press conference the purchase of 1.75 million doses from this laboratory.

• Wednesday, January 27th 2021 - 09:45 UTC

  Chilean president ratifies support for Argentina claims in the Falklands' dispute

  

  Chilean President Sebastián Piñera ratified his administration's support for “Argentina's sovereignty claims over the Falklands/Malvinas and other South Atlantic islands,” and called for Argentina and UK to resume talks to find a peaceful solution to the controversy in the framework of UN resolutions on the issue.