*** Ambassadors Manuel Rodríguez Cuadros and Harold Forsyth informed Wednesday that they resigned from their positions as representatives of Peru to the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of American States (OAS), respectively, although they did not detail the reasons for their resignation. "I confirm that last August 7 I proceeded to resign from the position of permanent representative of Peru to the United Nations," Rodriguez wrote on his Twitter account.
*** Spanish soccer club Real Madrid beat German side Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday to win the UEFA Super Cup for the fifth time thanks to goals from David Alaba and Karim Benzema." The match was played at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland. This is the fourth time that the club's Italian coach, Carlo Ancelotti, has won the title. The Spanish club is, along with Barcelona and Italy's Milan, the team that has won the most UEFA Super Cups.
*** Social, student and peasant organizations in Guatemala are calling for another day of marches and protests against corruption and criminalization in this Central American country, the second one this week. According to a joint communiqué, the Historic Center of the capital, Guatemala City, will be the center of convergence for the meeting and the mobilizations calling for an end to the complicity of the State with corruption and a solution to the economic crisis worsened under the mandate of Alejandro Giammattei.
*** The People's Liberation Army (PLA, Chinese Army) "will organize regular combat patrols" in the waters around Taiwan, announced the military spokesman Shi Yi, quoted Thursday 11 by the China Daily newspaper. Shi, spokesman for the Eastern Theater of Operations Command, said Wednesday that recent Chinese military maneuvers, both air and sea, "achieved their mission objectives" and "effectively tested the combat capability" of the command's troops.
*** Although geological research has demonstrated the existence of several supercontinents during the formation of our planet some 4.5 billion years ago, little is known about the processes that gave rise to them and how they evolved. In this context, a novel study suggests that the first landmasses emerged in areas impacted by giant meteorites during Earth's first billion years.
*** Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market value after bitcoin, has successfully implemented a new update to its test network at 01:45 GMT on August 11, reports CNBC. Published the news, the price of the token rose above $1,900 per unit. The current (9:00 GMT) value of the digital currency stands at $1,891.58 and, although lower than the peak cost reached after the update, it is 15% higher than last week.
*** In Europe and the U.S., where Lyme disease is endemic, a Phase III randomized double-blind trial of the vaccine candidate VLA15, jointly developed by pharmaceutical companies Valneva SE. and Pfizer Inc. will be conducted. The study will involve some 6,000 volunteers, aged five years and older, who will receive three doses of VLA15 or a placebo, to investigate the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of the product. It is currently the only candidate in clinical development. The start of the study was announced Monday, via a joint press release from the two companies.
*** Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and deputy department head of the Workers' Party Central Committee, blamed Seoul for the spread of covid-19 in North Korean territory and promised that Pionyang will respond by "exterminating not only the virus, but also the South Korean authorities" in case the situation is repeated.
*** The Venezuelan Government activated this Wednesday the risk management system for the control of emergencies and disasters, due to the heavy rains registered during the last hours in Caracas and wide regions of the country, such as Apure, Barinas, Lara, La Guaira, Mérida, Miranda, Portuguesa, Trujillo and Zulia.
*** Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov lamented that updates to his messaging platform "often" do not reach consumers in a timely manner because they have to undergo "the obscure 'review process' imposed on all mobile apps by tech monopolies." "For example, our next update, which is about to revolutionize the way people express themselves in messages, has been stuck in Apple's 'review' for two weeks, without Apple providing any explanation or comments," Durov denounced Wednesday via a post on Telegram.