South America

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 6 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Fracking activity in Vaca Muerta, Argentina shot up in January to its highest level in 17 months, according to the Argentine unit of Houston-based services company NCS Multistage.

Demand for oil in Argentina is recovering from an eight-month lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic, plus pricing incentives spur drilling for natural gas.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 5 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Russia has again approached the Argentine government to offer defense equipment, including military planes for the air force.

The information was released by the InfoDefensa website, which cited a recent meeting between the Russian ambassador to Argentina, Dmitry V. Feoktistov, and the commander of the Argentine Air Force (FAA), Major-Brigadier Xavier Isaac.

According to a statement by the Russian embassy, the meeting addressed “prospects for bilateral technical-military cooperation between the two nations.”

BOGOTA, Feb 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 12 people have died, including seven children, after two vessels sank close to a port on Colombia’s Pacific coast.

Naval authorities say the causes of the incident are still being investigated.

The vessels sank on Saturday close to Tumaco, Colombia’s second most-important Pacific port, Admiral Jose David Espitia, commander of the Poseidon anti-drugs task force, said.

“Unfortunately, there are 12 deceased,” he said.

CARACAS, Feb 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — About 200,000 protestors stormed the streets in Venezuela, to demand the release of Alex Saab, a special envoy for the South American country, who is under house arrest in Cape Verde, Africa on charges of money laundering.

The protests held across numerous cities of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela including the capital Caracas were largely organized through social media. This follows comments by the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia that it “did well” in arresting Saab.

SANTIAGO, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Chilean government received a second shipment of nearly 2 million vaccines developed by Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech on Sunday, which will be used to begin the mass vaccination in Chile, scheduled to start on Wednesday.

Chilean Deputy Health Minister Paula Daza said at a press conference that the arrival of the two shipments of Sinovac vaccine CoronaVac will allow for the vaccination of about 4 million people in February.

SAO PAULO, Jan 31 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil reported 1,279 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, taking its death toll to 223,945, the Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, 58,462 new cases of COVID-19 were detected, bringing its nationwide tally to 9,176,975.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populated in the country, is the hardest hit, with 1,773,024 cases and 52,954 deaths.

Brazil has the world’s second-highest COVID-19 death toll, second only to the United States, and the third-largest outbreak, after the United States and India.

SANTA CRUZ (Bolivia), Jan 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A nurse on Friday became the first person in Bolivia to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, receiving a shot of Russia’s Sputnik V.

Sandra Rios Villarte, 40, sat for her first dose at a public hospital in Santa Cruz, followed by dozens of other health workers.

“I feel good, excited… a bit nervous, but positive,” said Rios, adding she “did not feel” the jab.

Bolivia on Thursday received the first 20,000 of 5.2 million doses of Sputnik V it has ordered from Russia.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Brazil reported on Friday 1,119 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, taking its death toll to 222,666, the Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, 59,826 new cases of COVID-19 were detected, bringing its nationwide tally to 9,118,513.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populated in the country, is the hardest hit, with 1,759,957 cases and 52,722 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 516,868 cases and 29,563 deaths.

Brazil has the world's second-highest COVID-19 death toll, after the United States.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell but remained at a historically high 847,000 last week, a sign that layoffs keep coming as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage.

Last week’s claims dropped by 67,000, from 914,000 the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday. Before the virus hit the United States hard last March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000.

BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Argentine President Alberto Fernandez on Wednesday called for Latin American unity to tackle the challenges posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"The pandemic is much more than a disease that has claimed lives. The pandemic has exposed the inadequacy of a system," Fernandez said in an address during a visit to the headquarters of the Santiago, Chile-based Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).