
Brazil's Central Bank (BCB) Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) decided once again Wednesday to increase the basic Selic interest rate from 6.25% to 7.75% annually, in what turned out to be the sharpest rise since December 2002, it was announced.

Brazil's much-criticized anti-COVID-19 vaccination drive has already reached 53% of the population with full treatment, while 72% of patients have at least taken the initial dose, according to a health report released Wednesday.

The European Union already has 11 electoral experts in Caracas for the upcoming Venezuelan elections. Then the number is to grow to 44 long-term observers while by Nov. 21 -voting day- the team is to surpass 100 members, the Electoral Observation Mission of the European bloc announced Tuesday.

The UK COP26 Presidency has published a Climate Finance Delivery Plan to provide clarity on when and how developed countries will meet the US$ 100 billion climate finance goal pledged.

The Government of the United States has issued the first gender-neutral passport marked with an X, it was announced Wednesday.

French naval authorities have detained one British trawler and issued a verbal warning against another for operating off its coast, the Maritime Ministry announced.

Groups of native Ecuadorians Wednesday staged their second straight day of protests against the government of conservative President Guillermo Lasso barely six months into his term in office.

Brazil's Senatorial Committee (CPI) investigating President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic Tuesday recommended the head of state be prosecuted for crimes against humanity and that he is denied access to social media for having spread false information about the disease.

Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture estimated this week 1 million hectares per year will suffer deforestation until the year 2030, despite Vice President Hamilton Mourão's announcement Monday that plans to avoid it would be announced at the upcoming 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP-26) in Glasgow.

Citizens of Nicaragua, which according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) ranks among the six countries in the region with the lowest vaccination rates, have been crossing over the border to neighbouring Honduras even on horseback and in rafts to receive a COVID-19 immunizer, it was reported.