France want “environmental and health standards” guarantees from Mercosur to sign the trade accord

PARIS, Feb 9 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Mercosur/European Union trade agreement signing delayed because of a demand from France for guarantees referred to as “environmental and health standards” from country members of the South American block. The French foreign trade minister Franck Riester said Paris will not sign, but “it does not…

Chagossian people claiming billions of dollars from the US government for loss of Diego Garcia island

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The Chagossian people are seeking billions of dollars in damages from the United States under the Foreign Claims Act. The United Nations General Assembly, African Union, and International Court of Justice have all found that the forcible deportation of the Chagos Islanders a generation…

Covid-19: Pres Bolsonaro preparing a new round of emergency cash transfer to millions of Brazilians

BRASILIA, Feb 9 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazil is preparing a fresh round of emergency cash transfers to millions of poor, President Jair Bolsonaro said. “I think there will be an extension,” Bolsonaro said in an interview with the TV program Brasil Urgente. The previous program expired Dec 31, which helped Bolsonaro…

Mexican president says he’s beaten COVID-19

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador MEXICO CITY, Feb 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that he had overcome the coronavirus as he resumed his daily news conference after more than two weeks in isolation. “I thank all Mexicans, men and women, who worried about my illness…

Covid-19: Study finds variant discovered in Britain spreading fast in US

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (NNN-XINHUA) — A new study finds that the morecontagious coronavirus variant first detected in Britain is spreading rapidlyacross the United States, US media said. Though the variant is “currently at a relatively low frequency” in thecountry, the study suggests that it is “doubling every week and a…

Panama defends hiring Cuban doctors to fight pandemic

PANAMA CITY, Feb 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Panama’s health minister defended the deployment of more than 200 Cuban doctors to help the Central American country battle the coronavirus. “We are eternally grateful” to the Cuban doctors because “they came here to save the lives of Panamanians,” Luis Francisco Sucre said during…

Colombia offer temporary protected status to 1mn Venezuelan migrants

BOGOTA, Feb 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Colombia will temporarily normalize thestatus of almost one million undocumented Venezuelan migrants, President Ivan Duque said during a visit by the UN Refugee Agency. Some 56 percent — around 950,000 — of the 1.7 million Venezuelans to have arrived in Colombia fleeing economic and political…

Sanctions hurt Venezuela economy, US government study says

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US sanctions have likely contributed to Venezuela’s economic deterioration and have caused obstacles for humanitarian workers, a study by a US government watchdog said. The assessment by the Government Accountability Office, requested by Democratic lawmakers, comes as President Joe Biden looks set to fine-tune Venezuela…

Haiti opposition names interim leader as presidency fight rages

Supreme Court Judge Joseph Mécène Jean Louis PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The struggle over Haiti’s presidency intensified as opposition politicians named their own leader of the country in an effort to drive out President Jovenel Moise, whose term they say has expired. The smouldering political crisis flared up Sunday,…

Covid-19: WHO says don’t dismiss AstraZeneca shot after South Africa delays jabs

GENEVA, Feb 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organization insistedthat the AstraZeneca vaccine was still a vital tool in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, after South Africa delayed the startof its inoculation program over concerns about the drug’s efficacy against avirus variant. As concerns rose over the AstraZeneca…