International
World can end Covid emergency this year: WHO chief
AFP
The head of the World Health Organization said on Monday that the planet can end the Covid-19 emergency this year, although the virus last week killed someone every 12 seconds.
“We can end Covid-19 as a global health emergency and we can do it this year,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the UN health agency’s executive board.
To do so, countries need to work harder to ensure equitable access to vaccines and treatment, track the virus and its emerging variants, and keep restrictions in place, he warned.
The WHO has for months demanded that countries do more to accelerate the distribution of vaccines in poorer nations, calling on all countries to vaccinate at least 70 percent of their populations by the middle of this year.
Half of the WHO’s 194 member states missed the previous target of vaccinating 40 percent of their people by end-2021 and 85 percent of people in Africa were yet to receive a single jab, Tedros said.
“We simply cannot end the emergency phase of the pandemic unless we bridge this gap,” he said.
“On average last week, 100 cases were reported every three seconds, and somebody lost their life to Covid-19 every 12 seconds,” he added.
Covid-19 has killed more than 5.5 million people since it first emerged in late 2019 and case numbers have been driven to record levels by the new Omicron variant.
Since the strain was first detected in southern Africa nine weeks ago, Tedros said 80 million cases had been reported to the WHO — more than in all of 2020.
Omicron appears to cause less severe disease than previous variants and Tedros confirmed that “the explosion in cases has not been matched by a surge in deaths”.
The WHO chief said the world would need to learn to live with Covid.
“We will need to learn to manage it through a sustained and integrated strategy for acute respiratory diseases,” he said, emphasizing it was “dangerous to assume that Omicron will be the last variant, or that this is the end game.”
“On the contrary,” he said, “globally the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge.”
“The potential for a more transmissible, more deadly variant remains very real.”
International
Peruvian Court Orders Definitive Dismissal of Money Laundering Case Against Keiko Fujimori
A court of Peru’s National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice ordered the definitive dismissal of the criminal proceedings for alleged money laundering and criminal organization against presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, authorities reported on Tuesday, January 13, 2026.
The ruling was issued by the Tenth National Preparatory Investigation Court in compliance with a previous decision by the Constitutional Court (TC). The decision was confirmed by Fujimori’s attorney, Giuliana Loza, who said on social media platform X that “there was no money laundering nor criminal organization.”
According to the defense, the case was closed for lacking legal grounds and for violating due process. “The proceedings concluded because they lacked a legal basis and constituted clear prosecutorial persecution,” Loza stated.
Judge Wilson Verastegui, whose ruling was reported by local media, said the Constitutional Court determined that the facts alleged in the so-called ‘Cocktails Case’ do not constitute a criminal offense under the principle of legality. The court noted that the crime of illegal financing of political organizations was not in force at the time the alleged acts occurred.
The dismissal also applies to other leaders of the Fuerza Popular party, including Pier Figari, Ana Rosa Herz, Jaime Yoshiyama and José Chlimper, as well as the party itself.
Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000), had been under investigation for the alleged irregular financing of her 2011 and 2016 presidential campaigns, a case that exposed her to a possible 30-year prison sentence. However, one year ago the National Superior Court annulled the trial and returned the case to the intermediate stage.
Fujimori is currently pursuing her fourth presidential bid, ahead of Peru’s general elections scheduled for April.
International
Colombian Defense Chief Meets U.S. Officials to Advance Bilateral Narcotics Strategy
Colombia’s Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez Suárez, is in the United States this Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking, Colombian officials said, in a visit that comes as ties between Bogotá and Washington begin to ease after a period of diplomatic tension.
The trip is seen as a prelude to a scheduled visit by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to Washington, where he is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time in early February. Sánchez will remain in Washington through Wednesday, according to Colombian government sources.
During his stay, Sánchez is slated to meet with senior U.S. officials, including representatives from the Department of Defense, members of the U.S. Senate, and White House advisors, to outline a joint strategy to “defeat drug trafficking” and expand cooperation on intelligence against transnational crime.
According to a statement from the Colombian Defense Ministry, the agenda will include strengthening collaboration on technology, intelligence sharing, and efforts to disrupt criminal networks that operate across borders. Officials said the discussions will also help set the stage for Petro’s upcoming talks with Trump.
The visit follows a period of strained U.S.–Colombia relations last year, when Washington revoked Petro’s visa and withdrew Colombia’s certification as a key partner in anti-drug efforts — moves that coincided with disagreements over counter-narcotics strategy and broader diplomatic frictions. However, a recent phone call between Petro and Trump, described as cordial by officials, helped lower tensions and reopened channels for dialogue ahead of the presidential meeting.
International
Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case
A Dominican court on Monday postponed until March a preliminary hearing against the owners of a nightclub that collapsed last year, killing more than 200 people.
The roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed in the early hours of April 8, 2025, during a concert by popular merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who died along with 235 other people.
Jet Set owner and manager Antonio Espaillat and his sister Maribel, who served as the club’s administrator, were arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter but were later released on bail after posting approximately $842,500.
Both appeared at the Palace of Justice, where they were met by a small protest from relatives and friends of the victims.
“Thirty years in prison is not enough” and “President, we want JUSTICE,” read signs held by demonstrators.
The preliminary hearing determines whether there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. The court decided to reschedule the hearing for March 16.
“We don’t want money and we’re not demanding anything else, only justice for those who died,” said Secundino Pérez, a 75-year-old shopkeeper who lost 12 friends in the Jet Set tragedy.
“Antonio and his family celebrated Christmas sitting at a table, celebrating their freedom,” said Edgar Gómez, who lost his daughter in the collapse.
The Dominican Republic’s Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the defendants “significantly altered” the structure of the nightclub. Prosecutors filed formal charges in November and requested that the case proceed to trial.
The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of three months to two years in prison.
“May your conscience never let you sleep. I lost my son,” a woman shouted through tears before the hearing, while others chanted, “Murderers, murderers, murderers.”
Peruvian Court Orders Definitive Dismissal of Money Laundering Case Against Keiko Fujimori
Colombian Defense Chief Meets U.S. Officials to Advance Bilateral Narcotics Strategy
Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case
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