Tag Archives: IN WORLD

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro postponed due to coronavirus

The traditional carnival in Rio de Janeiro was postponed due to the coronavirus. It was originally supposed to be held in February 2021, but new dates for the event have not been set. This decision was made by the independent league of samba schools in Rio de Janeiro (Liesa), reports the newspaper Globo.

The head of the association, Jorge Castaner, stressed that this is not about canceling the event, but about postponing it. “We are awaiting information on when we will have the vaccine and when the immunization will take place,”  Castaner said.

He noted that, according to some reports, favorable conditions for the carnival can come only in April. In addition, already in July it became known about the postponement of the carnival in Sao Paulo for an indefinite period.

IN WORLD

UN thanks Putin for offering vaccine against coronavirus

The United Nations (UN) has thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for the offer to provide its employees with the coronavirus vaccine.

The UN called the Russian head’s proposal generous and promised that the organization’s medical service would study it.

During his speech at the UN General Assembly session, Vladimir Putin offered the organization’s employees a Russian vaccine against coronavirus free of charge. “We are receiving such appeals from colleagues from the UN, and we will not remain indifferent to them,” the Russian head said.

The 75th session of the UN General Assembly opened on September 15 in New York. In connection with the coronavirus pandemic, its participants could not meet in person but recorded a video message from their countries.

On August 11, Vladimir Putin announced the registration of the world’s first coronavirus vaccine produced in Russia. The drug was named “Sputnik V”. Its production started on 15 August. The first will be vaccinated by doctors and citizens from risk groups, and later will begin mass vaccination of Russians. In parallel with post-marketing trials of this drug, clinical trials of another Russian vaccine developed by the Vector Center are also underway.

Banks launder doubtful money

A number of major banks, including Deutsche Bank and the Swiss branch of the British bank HSBC, appear to have entered into questionable transactions with customers already convicted of money laundering. This is evidenced by documents of the U.S. Agency for Financial Crimes FinCEN, which became public thanks to publications of journalists from ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists). What measures can prevent vicious practices in which banks are complicit in concealing criminal fraud and corruption?

We need a European Finance Sheriff!

According to the newspaper Taz, such a practice should be fought against at the European level:

“We need European financial policy, the creation of which is insisted on by a group of MEPs headed by Green Sven Gingold — and harsher penalties! Anyone who, figuratively speaking, carries suitcases of money to criminals is guilty of obstructing justice and aiding and abetting. And if these charges cannot be brought against individuals, then the entire organization must be punished, and so severely that money laundering as a business model is no longer possible. But to deprive banks of their licenses, as required by the SPD, is just a populist chatter, because criminal banks, operating on a global scale, due to their influence and confusion of the device are protected from this.

Obstacle — bank secrecy

Gazeta Wyborcza notes with regret that little is known about this practice in Poland — and it is unlikely to be made public:

“A great many reports have already been written about why Russian oligarchs are trying to legalize their dirty deals in Latvia or Estonia. All these reports emphasize that the Baltic states are such an attractive place for such machinations precisely because they have a well-developed banking system, stable economy, and — most importantly — a powerful Russian diaspora… The problem is that the first two signs are also evident in Poland. So, is there any reason to believe that this practice is not implemented in Poland either? One of the FinCEN documents, available to our editorial office, confirms that money from the former USSR countries is also laundered on the banks of the Vistula. We just don’t know much about it: everything is under a reliable cover of financial and bank secrecy.

IN WORLD