International
Two atypical cases of mad cow disease detected in Brazil
AFP
Two atypical cases of mad cow disease have been detected in Brazil, resulting in suspension of its exports of beef to China, the Agriculture Ministry said Saturday.
That temporary step was taken under an existing bilateral protocol between the two countries although the ministry stressed that there was “no risk to human or animal health.”
The two cases were “atypical” since the disease appeared “spontaneously and sporadically, unrelated to the ingestion of contaminated food,” a ministry statement said.
The two bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) cases were identified during health inspections in Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso states in aged cattle, it added.
“Brazil has never recorded a classic case of BSE,” said the ministry, which officially notified the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
In June 2019 Brazil also temporarily suspended its exports of cattle to China after an atypical case of BSE was detected in Mato Grosso in a 17-year-old cow.
Mad cow disease first appeared in Britain in the 1980s and spread to many countries in Europe and around the world, causing consumer alarm and triggering a serious crisis in the beef industry.
The disease was spread widely by farmers feeding cattle with the meat and bone meal of dead and infected animals.
And then people died after contracting the human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, understood to be passed along by consuming infected beef.
International
Migrants in Ciudad Juárez brave subzero temperatures with donations of warm clothing
Several jackets, gloves, hats, and scarves are helping migrants on the streets of Ciudad Juárez, a border town in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, to withstand the subzero temperatures recorded in the past days in northern Mexico.
“We wear three or four jackets to be able to walk like this, face masks, ear covers, we put on three or four sweatshirts,” said Jorge Peñalver, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, on Friday to AFP.
Northern Mexico is suffering from its second winter storm. Thermometers dropped to -3°C in Ciudad Juárez on Wednesday, where migrants are waiting to enter the United States legally.
In addition to the cold, there is the “uncertainty” ahead of the inauguration of the next U.S. president, Donald Trump, who has promised to use the military to carry out a mass deportation of migrants, added Carlos Mayorga, a pastor and volunteer with the group Ángeles Mensajeros. The organization provides clothing, food, and coffee to migrants, mostly from Venezuela and Central America, where they are “not used to” freezing temperatures.
“Thank God the people here in Ciudad Juárez see us working and give us coats,” added Peñalver, who cleans windshields and car windows.
The National Weather Service predicted that subzero temperatures will continue in northern Mexico, reaching -15°C in mountainous areas of Chihuahua and Durango states.
International
Álvaro Uribe calls for international military intervention to oust Maduro
Former President Álvaro Uribe, one of the most popular politicians in Colombia, called on Saturday for an international military intervention in Venezuela “to oust” Nicolás Maduro from power following his controversial swearing-in for a third consecutive term on Friday.
“Let that fraud know that what we advocate for is an international military intervention with the Venezuelan army to remove the dictatorship,” said the right-wing former president from the Colombian side of the border in Cúcuta.
In front of dozens of people on the streets of the city, Uribe led his announced “protest for the freedom of Colombia and Venezuela,” in support of Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado, the leaders of the Venezuelan opposition.
“We are calling for an international intervention, preferably endorsed by the United Nations, to remove those tyrants from power and immediately call for free elections,” he insisted amid applause.
International
Venezuela’s Interior Ministry confirms arrest of María Corina Machado’s driver
Venezuela’s Ministry of the Interior confirmed on Monday the arrest of the motorcyclist who transported María Corina Machado after the opposition protest last Thursday, and stated that he will be charged with the alleged crimes of conspiracy and simulating a criminal act.
As Machado had reported, the motorcyclist, identified as Roalmi Alberto Cabeza, was arrested after being shot in the leg, a claim that the Ministry denies, asserting that he was apprehended at a well-known hotel in Caracas “without injuries,” and that the charge of simulation will be pressed against him.
In a statement shared on Instagram, the Ministry stated that, in response to Machado’s “serious accusations,” the Public Prosecutor’s Office and state security agencies conducted “a thorough investigation to clarify the events.”
The Ministry explained in the statement that Cabeza stated, at the time of his arrest at the hotel, that he was “under protection by Machado’s order.”
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