International

Brazil registers new record of daily Covid cases

AFP

Brazil registered a new record number of daily Covid-19 cases of more than 137,000, according to figures supplied by the health ministry on Tuesday.

The South American country of 213 million people is one of the worst affected in the world by the pandemic.

Its more than 620,000 deaths from the virus is second only to the United States.

Cases have been soaring in Brazil since the beginning of the year due to the arrival of the highly contagious Omicron variant and the festivities around Christmas and the New Year.

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The average daily new cases at the end of 2021 was only around 8,000.

The previous high from June 2021 was more than 115,000 cases within a 24-hour period.

“The peak should be reached in February when the situation should once again stabilize,” epidemiologist Ethel Maciel from the Espirito Santo Federal University told AFP.

There are concerns that the rising cases could impact on carnival celebrations at the end of February.

Street carnival celebrations in major cities Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador have already been scrapped over concerns.

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Both Rio and Sao Paulo still hope to maintain the colorful parades at their “Sambadrome” outdoor venues as those stadiums allow for tighter virus-control protocols than the open streets.

“The public health services are already under a lot of pressure and the next two weeks will be decisive to see what impact the infections from the New Year celebrations will have on hospital admissions,” said Maciel.

She does not expect the Omicron wave to prove as deadly as previous variants, though.

Close to 70 percent of Brazilians are fully vaccinated and the immunization of children as young as five started this week, despite objections from President Jair Bolsonaro.

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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.