
More than one million people have died from COVID-19 in North and South America, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported. Last week two million more cases were reported in the Americas, with the United States the main driver of the outbreak.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is traveling on Thursday to Scotland to confront growing support for another independence referendum. Ahead of his visit, Johnson said that Scotland, as a part of the UK, gained access to a coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, and they are being administered by their shared armed forces, who are creating 80 new vaccine centers in Scotland.

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the growing influence of U.S. social media companies and said their impact on society now puts them in competition with elected governments.

AFP – Anal swabs are being used in China to test those it considers at high risk of contracting Covid-19, state TV reported. According to doctors, the invasive procedure is said to be more effective in detecting the virus.

Reuters – The risk of climate change in military theatre simulations and war games was confirmed by the Pentagon following a raft of executive actions signed by US president Joe Biden to tackle the climate issue.

The Director of the Butantan Institute on Tuesday contradicted the words of Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou, assuring that there is not yet a closed agreement between the Uruguayan government and the Chinese laboratory Sinovac for the purchase of the vaccine against Covid-19. However, the institute affirmed that there is a pre-agreement and talks are still ongoing. Lacalle Pou announced on Saturday at a press conference the purchase of 1.75 million doses from this laboratory.

The world has reached 100 million COVID-19 infections, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center statistics. More than 2,155.00 people have died from the virus.

IMF projects China's economy will grow 8.1% in 2021 and 5.6% in 2022. The global growth is expected to be 5.5% in 2021 and 4.2% in 2022 after an estimated 3.5% contraction in 2020, according to the latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) released on Tuesday.

China and New Zealand signed the upgrading protocol of their free trade agreement (FTA) via video link on Tuesday with new commitments in trade market entry, investment, and other key aspects.

A.P.Moller-Maersk announced the arrival of Douglas Piagentini as its new commercial director for the East Coast of Latin America made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.