In the headlines: the United States, the internal war within the Republicans

Liz Cheney, number three in the Republican Party retains her post with a majority of elected officials who voted in her favor: 145 votes in favor and 61 against.

REUTERS - POOL

Text by: Achim Lippold Follow

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The

Politico

news site

speaks of a "tense" meeting of conservative parliamentarians in the House of Representatives, a meeting that lasted four hours and during which elected officials fought over whether or not to keep Liz Cheney , the number 3 of the party of this assembly, at his post.

The vote was finally final, an overwhelming majority of elected officials - 145 to 61 - voted in favor of the daughter of former defense minister Dick Cheney.

Now, Politico continues, House Conservative Leader Kevin McCarthy " 

hopes to end this internal debate and focus on his party's real objective, which is to fight President Joe Biden's political agenda 

."

Rise in arms sales after the Capitol attack

The political tensions and uncertainties in Washington have direct consequences on the behavior of the Americans: they rush to the guns.

You can read it in the

Washington Post

.

Since the start of January alone, 2 million guns have been sold in the United States, an increase of 80% from last year.

According to the

Washington Post

, the explosion in sales is directly linked to the attack on the Capitol in Washington on February 6.

Another reason is Americans' uncertainty about the gun control policy the new administration will follow.

Some fear that the legislation will become tougher and want to complete their collection of weapons.

Another motivation put forward by "first buyers", as they are called in the United States, that is to say those who obtain a weapon for the first time: the lack of confidence in the capacity of the police to protect them. .

This increased demand leads to an unprecedented situation, writes the

Washington Post 

: some gun shops no longer have bullets in stock.

According to the

Washington Post

, the phenomenon is not new: every time a Democratic president takes the reins of the White House, the sale of firearms increases drastically, it was also the case when Barack Obama is became president in 2008.

Last day of presidential campaign in Ecuador

The sixteen candidates take advantage of this last day before the election on Sunday to organize rallies especially in the provinces, writes

El Comercio

.

Pandemic requires, the number of people who can attend meetings is limited.

No more than 200 people and 50 cars per election meeting.

Since voting is compulsory in Ecuador, any voter who does not go to the polls must pay a fine of 10% of the minimum wage, according to

El Universo

, which in its editorial calls on Ecuadorians to vote.

With sixteen candidates, we are necessarily heading for a second round, estimates the newspaper

La Hora

.

No opinion poll foresees the victory of a candidate in the first round.

The favorite in the polls is Andrés Arauz, runner-up to former socialist president Rafael Correa.

At 35, if he wins, he could become the youngest Ecuadorian president, provided he beats the one who comes in second in the polls, the former right-wing banker Guillermo Lasso.

The popularity of the Russian vaccine in Latin America

The other news on the American continent is of course the Covid-19.

Brazil is also turning to Russia to buy the Sputnik V vaccine. This decision was made possible thanks to a simplification of the procedure for health authorities to study emergency requests.

According to

Carta Capital

, the Anvisa agency no longer requires that the phase 3 trials (therefore the efficacy and safety tests of the vaccine) be carried out in Brazil.

This will be the case for the Russian vaccine, the purchase of which will be facilitated, writes the G1 news site.

The Brazilian government also intends to complete the purchase of 30 million doses of Sputnik V tomorrow Friday.

This drug has long been viewed with suspicion, writes Argentinian newspaper

La Nacion

, because it was quickly developed without publication of scientific data.

And it was thanks to its approval by Argentina last December that Sputnik entered the South American market, Latin America, a continent that has already lost a million inhabitants due to the pandemic.

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