South America

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — After being among the world’s hardest-hit nations with COVID-19, Chile is now near the top among countries at vaccinating its population against the virus.

With more than 25% of its people having received at least one shot, the country of 19 million on South America’s Pacific coast is the champion of Latin America, and globally it is just behind Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

That’s a far cry from the beginning of the pandemic, when Chile was criticized over its inability to trace and isolate infected people.

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 13. /TASS/: Brazil has passed India to claim the world’s second-highest coronavirus case tally after the United States. As many as 85,663 cases were recorded in Brazil in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 11,363,380, according to the Health Ministry.

The number of coronavirus fatalities rose by 2,216 to 275,105 in the past day. Brazil has the second-highest coronavirus death toll after the US.

Over ten mln patients have recovered in Brazil, there are currently more than one mln active coronavirus cases in the country.

BRASILIA, March 13 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved the basic text of a bill that revives a federal cash transfer program to help millions of poor families whose incomes have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The measure will allow emergency stipends totaling up to 44 billion reais (US$ $7.96 billion) to be paid to low-income Brazilians over the next four months, with recipients expected to get an average of 250 reais per month.

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.