South America

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia’s former interim president said Friday that authorities are seeking her arrest as they move against officials who backed the ouster of former leader Evo Morales, which his party — now back in power — considers a coup.

“The political persecution has begun,” Jeanine Añez, who headed a conservative administration that took power after Morales resigned in November 2019, said on her Twitter account. “There is a complaint they are going to use to persecute me.”

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Brazil recorded 2,233 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the second highest daily increase, taking the national death toll to 272,889, the Health Ministry said Thursday.

The daily increase was only next to Wednesday's figure, which stood at 2,286.

In addition, 75,412 new COVID-19 infections were registered, the third highest number since the beginning of the pandemic,, bringing the country's accumulated caseload to 11,277,717.

LIMA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Peru's anti-corruption prosecutor Jose Domingo Perez said Thursday he requested a minimum 30-year prison sentence for presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, leader of the Popular Force (FP) party who stands accused of accepting illicit campaign funds in the past.

Another 41 members of the conservative FP have been accused as part of an investigation into alleged illegal contributions to Fujimori's failed past presidential campaigns.

Perez has also accused them of obstructing justice and making false statements during judicial proceedings.

BUENOS AIRES, March 11 (NNN-TELESUR) — Argentine authorities had to evacuate hundreds of people from the Andean Region due to six new forest fire outbreaks that have injured at least 20 people in the last 24 hours.

Local fire departments reported the blazes have also caused damage to vehicles and residences in the municipalities of El Lago Puelo, El Hoyo, El Maiten, and Cholila, in the Chabut province.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s hospitals are faltering as a highly contagious coronavirus variant tears through the country, the president insists on unproven treatments and the only attempt to create a national plan to contain COVID-19 has just fallen short.

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Brazil on Tuesday saw record high daily COVID-19 deaths at 1,972 in 24 hours, bringing the national toll to 268,370.

Meanwhile, the country reported 70,764 new COVID-19 cases, taking the nationwide tally to 11,122,429, said the Ministry of Health.

Brazil has the second highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the world, after the United States, and the third highest number of cases, behind the United States and India.

SAO PAULO (AP) — A Supreme Court justice on Monday annulled all convictions against former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a ruling that potentially would allow him to run again for the presidency next year.

The decision also laid bare the country’s political divisions, with leftists celebrating their 75-year-old leader’s return to the political arena as conservatives said the rulings were tantamount to impunity.

SAO PAULO, Mar 8 (NNN-CMA) – The Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, the largest grain producer in the country, announced yesterday that, its hospital network has begun to collapse, as there is a lack of intensive care beds, due to the increasing number of patients from COVID-19.

The health authorities of Mato Grosso said in a statement that, 59 patients needing intensive care beds have been turned away from the state’s hospitals, and the state has asked other areas to treat the patients.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Humans have degraded or destroyed roughly two-thirds of the world’s original tropical rainforest cover, new data reveals – raising alarm that a key natural buffer against climate change is quickly vanishing.

The forest loss is also a major contributor of climate-warming emissions, with the dense tropical forest vegetation representing the largest living reservoir of carbon.

SAO PAULO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Brazil reported an accumulative 11,019,344 COVID-19 cases as of Sunday amid a second wave of the outbreak of the disease, the Brazilian Ministry of Health said.

Meanwhile, a total of 1,086 people died in the last 24 hours, a record for a Sunday, bringing the national death toll to 265,411, the ministry said.

The country's hospital network was on the edge of collapse due to the second wave generated by the P1 variant, which is more contagious and lethal than the original strain.