South America

Chile inaugurates Latin America’s first thermosolar plant

SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Chile on Tuesday inaugurated Latin America’s first-ever thermosolar energy plant, a vast complex dubbed Cerro Dominador in the Atacama desert that gives a boost to the country’s quest for carbon-neutrality by 2050. In an area exceeding 700 hectares, 10,600 mirrors surround a 250-meter-high tower topped with a receiver onto which the Sun’s rays are reflected. Molten salts in the receiver absorb the heat and are then used to generate electricity — […]

Brazil braces for third wave of Covid-19

by Jordi MIRO BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Already reeling from one of the highest death tolls in the pandemic, Brazil is bracing for the threat of a third wave of Covid-19, fueled by vaccination delays and a lack of containment measures. So far, each pandemic wave has been successively worse in Brazil, peaking at a weekly average of around 1,000 deaths per day in July 2020 during the first wave and 3,000 deaths per day […]

Chile limits use of AstraZeneca after clot case

SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Chile on Thursday became the latest country to limit use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, linked to rare blood clots, when a 31-year-old man developed thrombosis after being immunized. Pending further investigation and as a “preventative and proactive measure,” the shot will in future be administered only to people 45 and over, the health ministry of the South American country said. It did not give details on the condition of the […]

Peru leads global mortality rate after adjusting Covid toll

  LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru on Monday more than doubled its official coronavirus death toll, becoming the country with the highest Covid-19 mortality per capita anywhere in the world. The government said it had raised the count from 69,342 to 180,764 on the advice of a panel of health experts, which found there had been an undercount. With the adjustment, Peru now has the highest coronavirus mortality per capita of any country, with 5,484 […]

Mexico sees glimmer of light at end of Covid tunnel

by Jennifer Gonzalez Covarrubias MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — A steady decline in coronavirus cases and rising levels of immunity from vaccination or infection suggest that the worst of the pandemic may be over for hard-hit Mexico, experts say. The improvement has led to a gradual loosening of lockdown measures, paving the way for children to go back to classrooms and spectators to return to sports stadiums and wrestling tournaments. The outlook “is hopeful,” said […]

Chile rolls out mobility pass for the vaccinated

SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — People in Chile who have been vaccinated and are fully immunized against the coronavirus could from Wednesday obtain a pass to move about more freely, a move criticized by health professionals. The pass, which can be downloaded on a person’s mobile phone two weeks after receiving their second shot, gives the bearer permission to move about freely in cities under lockdown to go to the supermarket, pharmacy, or for open air […]

Chilean Jesuits recognize 64 cases of sexual abuse

  SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — The Jesuit congregation of Chile has acknowledged that its priests sexually abused 64 people, including 34 children, between 2005 and 2020, according to a report from the Catholic order obtained by AFP Tuesday. Eleven Jesuit priests were found guilty following an internal investigation of “abusive situations with a sexual connotation” involving underage victims, according to the report by the Society of Jesus, known colloquially as the Jesuits. Of the perpetrators, […]

Brazil Covid death toll surpasses 450,000

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s Covid-19 death toll surpassed 450,000 on Tuesday, as delays plague the hard-hit country’s vaccine rollout and epidemiologists warned a brutal new surge of the virus could be coming. The health ministry reported 2,173 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the official number of lives lost to the coronavirus in Brazil to 452,031, second only to the United States. The situation has stabilized somewhat, with an average of […]

Panama temporarily closes land, sea, and river borders with Colombia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjNBkdnIM2A     (Eagle News) — In Central America, Panama has closed the door to travelers trying to enter the country from Colombia. The Panama national government, through a statement released by its foreign ministry, said it had to “temporarily suspend the entry into the national territory by land, sea and river routes of any person coming from the border with the Republic of Colombia, as of May 20, 2021.” Panama only has a total […]

Brazil confirms first cases of Indian Covid variant

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil has detected its first six cases of the so-called Indian variant of the Covid-19 virus, in crew members who arrived aboard a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship, officials said Thursday. Tests “identified the B.1.617.2 variant of the Covid-19 virus in samples taken from crew of the MV Shandong Da Zhi,” which arrived from South Africa, the health ministry for the northeastern state of Maranhao said in a statement. “In […]

Death toll from Colombia protests climbs to 42: ombudsman

BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — At least 42 people have been killed in near-daily protests against the government of Colombian President Ivan Duque since April 28, the country’s human rights ombudsman said Tuesday. All but one — a member of the armed forces — were civilians, the ombudsman’s office said. The updated toll made these the bloodiest demonstrations since Colombia signed a peace agreement with the FARC guerilla group in 2016 to end decades of civil […]

25 killed in police raid on Rio slum

by Mauro PIMENTEL RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — A massive police operation against drug traffickers in a Brazilian favela Thursday left 25 people dead, turning the impoverished Rio de Janeiro neighborhood into a battlefield and drawing condemnation from rights groups. A policeman was among those killed in the early morning raid on Jacarezinho, on Rio’s north side, where residents awoke to explosions, heavy gunfire and helicopters overhead. Police confirmed the toll — and investigators […]