International
Rio to hold New Year’s party, after all
AFP
Rio de Janeiro will hold its famed New Year’s Eve party after all, Mayor Eduardo Paes announced Thursday, five days after canceling the celebration over concerns about Covid-19.
The iconic Brazilian beach city will go ahead with its annual fireworks display, though the huge concert that usually follows remains canceled, Paes told a news conference.
“The city is open. The city is going to celebrate,” he said.
“Rio de Janeiro has low (Covid-19) infection rates, low numbers of hospitalizations, and thanks to God and the vaccine, a very low number of deaths. That enables us to hold this event in complete safety.”
The mayor had tweeted Saturday that Rio had to cancel the festivities “with sadness,” amid concerns over the new Omicron variant.
But he said Thursday that Governor Claudio Castro told him he may have spoken too soon.
After further meetings with Rio state and city health officials, authorities decided to go ahead with a reconfigured event, Paes said.
In addition to the world-famous fireworks show on Copacabana beach, the city will hold fireworks displays in nine other spots, and encourage revelers to go to the nearest one to avoid excessive crowds.
Copacabana will be closed to car traffic and public transportation, and tour buses will not be allowed into the city after the evening of December 30.
Paes said officials would set up spots where people could be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Brazil has registered more than 615,000 deaths in the pandemic, second only to the United States.
But with 65 percent of the country’s 213 million people now fully vaccinated, the number of infections and deaths has plunged.
Rio’s announcement came amid cautious optimism from world health authorities over Omicron.
The variant is spreading fast, but early evidence suggests it causes less severe disease, according to the World Health Organization.
Paes did not address another famed Rio party threatened by Covid-19, the annual carnival celebration scheduled to kick off on February 25.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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