International

China confirms top officials vaccinated as it seeks to reassure vaccine-sceptic

AFP

Chinese anti-Covid vaccines are safe and have been given to the country’s top leaders, Beijing’s health authorities said Saturday, in a bid to reassure the population about their quality in the face of dwindling inoculation rates.

Using snap lockdowns, long quarantines and mass testing, China is the last major economy still pursuing the goal of eliminating outbreaks, even as its zero-Covid strategy takes a heavy toll on the economy.

But it has struggled to convince many Chinese people to get vaccinated — especially the elderly — with the relatively stable health situation and widespread fears over the quality of Chinese vaccines often blamed.

A year and a half since beginning its vaccination campaign in the country, Saturday’s comments by Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health Commission, mark the first time that China has officially commented on the inoculation status of its leaders.

“All current leaders of the Communist Party and the state have been vaccinated against Covid-19 and they have all been vaccinated with vaccines produced in China,” Zeng said, in comments indicating that President Xi Jinping is included in the group.

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“This demonstrates that our leaders take the prevention and control of Covid-19 very seriously, and have great confidence in Chinese anti-Covid vaccines,” he added.

According to Zeng, among those over 60, only 67.3 percent of people over 60 have received three doses, a rate that drops to 38.4 percent among those over 80.

Authorities are also working to defuse fears fueled by misinformation circulated online.

“Covid vaccines do not cause leukemia, diabetes” and “do not cause tumors to proliferate”, Wang Fusheng, director of the infectious disease department at the 301 Military Hospital in Beijing, said Saturday.

The most used Chinese vaccines are those made by the private laboratory Sinovac and those made by state pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm. Beijing has yet to authorize the use of foreign Covid vaccines on its soil.

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China currently registers a few hundred new cases each day, with authorities moving quickly to quell outbreaks by instating localised confinements, and placing infected patients into mandatory quarantine.

International

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

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International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

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Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.