Brazil COVID-19 Cases Top 4 Million

Brazilian soldiers take part in the cleaning and disinfection of the Municipal Market in Belo Horizonte: Brazil topped four million Covid-19 cases on September 3. AFP
Brazilian soldiers take part in the cleaning and disinfection of the Municipal Market in Belo Horizonte: Brazil topped four million Covid-19 cases on September 3. AFP
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Brazil COVID-19 Cases Top 4 Million

Brazilian soldiers take part in the cleaning and disinfection of the Municipal Market in Belo Horizonte: Brazil topped four million Covid-19 cases on September 3. AFP
Brazilian soldiers take part in the cleaning and disinfection of the Municipal Market in Belo Horizonte: Brazil topped four million Covid-19 cases on September 3. AFP

Brazil surpassed four million coronavirus cases on Thursday, as an international panel looking into the global response to the pandemic vowed to uncover how it was able to spread worldwide.

"This is a strong panel poised to ask the hard questions," said former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR), which will rake over the heavily criticized World Health Organization-led response.

There were almost 44,000 new cases over the previous 24 hours alone, and 834 fatalities.

"In the last two months, we have seen a curve that mixes regions that are increasing, with others that are decreasing," said Paulo Lotufo, professor of epidemiology at the University of Sao Paulo, pointing to spikes in the south and center-west, while cases were falling in the major cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, as well as in the north, AFP reported.

But experts warned the situation could suddenly worsen again if local and regional governments give in to pressure from business groups to reopen the economy too soon, and if social distancing measures are abandoned.

As the death toll rose, the IPPR said its members would have unfettered access to the WHO's files.

The WHO "made it clear that their files are an open book. Anything we want to see, we see," said former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, who co-heads the panel with Sirleaf.

"We can't count on it being another century until a pandemic like this comes around," Clark said. The WHO has been accused of being slow off the mark to react to the initial Covid-19 outbreak in China.

"If another took off like this in short order, how devastating that would be, now that we know the extent of damage that can be done," Clark said.



Ukraine Urges Investigation into Alleged Russian Chemical Weapons Use

The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
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Ukraine Urges Investigation into Alleged Russian Chemical Weapons Use

The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

Ukraine asked the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague on Tuesday to investigate the alleged use of banned toxic munitions by Russia against its forces.

A request to establish an investigation was submitted by Kyiv to the governing body of the organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

It followed Dutch and German intelligence agencies on Friday saying they had evidence of widespread use of illegal weapons by Russia along the frontline.

Agency chief Fernando Arias said in a statement to the OPCW's Executive Council that in view of the alleged frequent use of dangerous chemical agents his office would step up monitoring of activity along the Russia-Ukraine conflict line, Reuters reportf.

He invited Ukraine to discuss its proposal with member states, a majority of whom may be needed to support such an investigation.

The OPCW created a similar team in 2018 to examine accusations of chemical weapons use in Syria. The Investigation and Identification Team found that Syrian government forces and Islamic State militants had used banned chemical weapons in the civil war that began in March 2011. The United States first accused Russia in May last year of using chloropicrin, a chemical compound more toxic than riot control agents and first used by Germany during World War One. The OPCW, a disarmament agency in The Hague with 193 member states, said last year that initial accusations levelled by both countries at each other were "insufficiently substantiated".

Both sides have denied using chemical weapons in the conflict, which escalated when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

"Ukraine hereby requests the Director-General of the OPCW to take steps towards establishing an independent and impartial mechanism (to) investigate cases of alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine," a copy of the request shared with Reuters said.

It asked that the mechanism be empowered to "collect additional evidence and identify perpetrators, organisers, sponsors of such use."

It was submitted at the beginning of four days of closed-door meetings by the 41-country Executive Council of the OPCW. The disarmament body had no immediate comment on the request.

At least three Ukrainian deaths have been tied to chemical weapons use, the Dutch Military Intelligence Agency said, while more than 2,500 people injured on the battlefield reported chemical weapons-related symptoms to Ukrainian health authorities.

On Monday, Britain targeted two Russian individuals and one Russian entity as part of its chemical weapons sanctions regime, in its latest effort to punish Moscow for the war in Ukraine.