RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s health minister said Tuesday the country would add the Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine against Covid-19 to its national immunization program, despite a political and diplomatic row over whether to use it. Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello said the federal government had reached a deal with Sao Paulo state, which is helping test and produce the vaccine, to buy 46 million doses to be administered starting in January. “This vaccine will […]
Tag: Brazil
Brazil’s virus death toll passes 150,000 people: official
Brasilia, BRAZIL (AFP) — Brazil on Saturday passed the bleak marker of 150,000 deaths from Covid-19, the health ministry said, as the rate of coronavirus infections continues to slow in the South American country. The toll comes as Latin America and the Caribbean marked 10 million cases Saturday and more than 360,000 deaths. The region is the worst hit in terms of fatalities, according to official figures. With 212 million inhabitants, Brazil has accumulated […]
Brazil coronavirus cases pass five million
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil surpassed five million coronavirus infections on Wednesday and is approaching 150,000 deaths from the disease, amid optimism the virus is slowing in the hard-hit South American country. The Health Ministry reported 31,553 new infections in the previous 24 hours, registering a total of 5,000,694 cases overall, behind only the United States and India. Home to 212 million people, Brazil also counted 734 new deaths Wednesday, meaning the virus has claimed […]
Fires spike in Brazil’s Amazon, scientists say
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — The number of forest fires in Brazil’s Amazon increased sharply in September, figures released Thursday show, fueling growing criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro’s environmental policies. The National Institute of Space Research (INPE) said satellite imagery showed an increase of 61 percent in the number of fires in September, compared to the same period last year. Satellites used by the institute detected 32,017 outbreaks last month in the Amazon, compared […]
COVID-19 deaths worldwide breach 950,500, as global cases top 30.4 million
(Eagle News) – The COVID-19 death toll worldwide reached 950,500 on Saturday, Sept. 19, as fatalities continue to rise while scientists in various countries race to find a cure and a vaccine for the virus. As of Saturday noon, Sept. 19 (Philippine time), more than 30.4 million confirmed virus cases were recorded across the globe, or 30,406,197 cases to be exact, with the United States still leading countries with the most COVID cases and […]
Maduro has to leave, Pompeo says on South America trip
by Shaun TANDON Agence France Presse BOA VISTA, Brazil (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used a South American tour Friday to tell Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro he “has to leave,” drawing a furious accusation of “war-mongering” from the leftist leader. Touring a refugee center in the town of Boa Vista, Brazil, on the border with Venezuela, Pompeo emphasized the plight of the nearly five million Venezuelans who have fled the country’s […]
Environmental groups, big ag unite for Amazon in Brazil
BRASILÍA, Brazil (AFP) — An unprecedented coalition of 230 environmental groups and Brazilian agrobusiness companies have sent an open letter to President Jair Bolsonaro urging him to fight deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The Brazil Climate, Forests and Agriculture Coalition brings together a disparate group of members ranging from the World Wildlife Fund to the world’s biggest meat processing company, JBS, which has itself been accused of contributing to deforestation. The coalition sent Brazil’s far-right […]
As Brazil’s wetlands burn, rain is ‘only hope’
by Eugenia LOGIURATTO Agence France-Presse PORTO JOFRE, Brazil (AFP) — Lieutenant Silva’s face is grim as he watches his firefighters try — and fail — to control one of the thousands of wildfires ravaging Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s biggest tropical wetlands. “It needs to rain. We’ve got low moisture, intense heat. With that combination, rain is our only hope,” says Silva, even as new flames break out at the spot his team of six firefighters […]
Desperate race against fires in world’s biggest tropical wetlands
by Eugenia LOGIURATTO The smell of burnt vegetation and the red glow of flames welcome visitors these days to the Pantanal, the world’s biggest tropical wetlands — a biodiverse paradise that is now partly reduced to ashes by record wildfires. In the northern Pantanal, in central-western Brazil — a region that formerly had a thriving ecotourism industry — hotel employee Felipe Maia is hosing down a wooden bridge, hoping to stop the nearby flames from […]
In Brazil, pandemic forces ‘pink farm’ to get creative
SAO, PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — At a warehouse on the west side of Sao Paulo, fruits and vegetables grow within a tower stacked 10 storeys high with plants, all bathed in an ethereal pink light. This is Pink Farms, the first vertical farm in the teeming Brazilian city of 12 million people, where land is scarce and produce usually has to be shipped in from afar. The farm consists of two towers, each about the […]
New worry over August deforestation in Brazilian Amazon
RIO DE JANERIO, Brazil (AFP) — Last month was the second-worst August on record for deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, according to official figures released Friday, sparking new criticism of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s environmental policies. A total of 1,359 square kilometers (525 square miles) in the Brazilian Amazon — 23 times the size of Manhattan — were lost last month, according to satellite data from Brazil’s National Space Research Institute (INPE). The figure triggered […]
Why are Brazil’s wetlands engulfed in flames?
by Louis GENOT RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — The Pantanal, the world’s biggest tropical wetlands, is burning at record-shattering pace this year as drought-fueled fires devastate its vegetation and celebrated wildlife in an environmental catastrophe. The region, which sits at the southern edge of the Amazon rainforest, is known for its immense biodiversity, drawing wildlife lovers from around the world with its jaguars, jabiru storks, giant otters, caimans, toucans, macaws and monkeys. But in […]





