![We are skeptical [on the trade agreement]. The Amazon affects the whole world, said Merkel's spokesman.](/data/cache/noticias/77648/260x165/merkel.jpg)
After Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel stated on Friday “considerable doubts” over whether to keep backing the European Union’s (EU) trade deal with the Mercosur due to environmental threats that represent the deforestation in Brazil’s Amazonia, the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) responded defending the agreement that was reached last year.

Chilean President Sebastian Piñera highlighted an attack in the country´s Araucania region that resulted in the injury of a 9-year-old girl, saying it was a reason to crack down on violent unrest in Chile's south.

Illegal, unregulated fishing mainly in the waters adjacent to the disputed South Atlantic islands of the Falklands, South Georgia and South Sandwich costs Argentina an estimate of anywhere from one to two billion dollars, according to CEO Eduardo Pucci, from OPRAS, an Organization for the Protection of Fishery Resources.

The Chief Medical Officer from Magallanes Region, extreme south of Chile resigned following an outbreak of Covid-19 cases in Punta Arenas and serious statements from the Chilean minister of Health which were interpreted as criticisms towards the management of the pandemic

The chief medical officers of the United Kingdom have said children should return to school after the summer holidays, warning that missing out on their education posed much bigger risks to them than catching COVID-19.

Bloomberg’s Misery Index, which tallies inflation and unemployment outlooks for 60 economies shows that almost all of the economies surveyed are projected to be more miserable this year amid Covid-19, with analysts expecting increased joblessness and tepid growth.

Argentina is extending a price freeze for TV, Internet, and mobile service until the end of the year, deeming them “essential public services.”

Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he regretted protecting communist militant Cesare Battisti from extradition to his native Italy after the ex-fugitive confessed to four murders.

Two of South America's wealthiest brothers, the Bolivian-born airline magnates German and Jose Efromovich, were arrested this week in Brazil as part of the country's sweeping anti-corruption probe, Operation Car Wash.

The coronavirus crisis in Brazil appears to be leveling off, if not easing, the World Health Organization said on Friday, offering a glimpse of light for the world's second-biggest COVID-19 hot spot.