
Brazil is expected to pass 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday, as the virus continues to ravage Latin America's largest country even as cities reopen bars, restaurants, and gyms sparking fears infections will keep rising.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday watered down a law requiring the wearing of face masks in public places to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The far-right leader used his veto power to remove articles obliging people to wear masks in shops and churches.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said he would veto a bill regulating fake news, which has also been criticized by social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter, if it comes to his desk from Congress in its present shape.

French president, Emmanuel Macron, declared his opposition to the free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur. In addition, 265 civil society organizations were also mobilized against the agreement. The decision follows the defeat of Macron in the municipal elections and the strong advance of the Greens.

Brazil still faces a big challenge to curb the coronavirus pandemic and should do more to integrate its efforts at different levels of government, a top World Health Organization official said on Monday.

Some 75% of Brazilians support the country's current democracy, a poll by Datafolha released on Sunday showed, while just 10% of citizens support a dictatorship, the highest and lowest levels of support for the two forms of government in at least 30 years.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro appealed a court ruling on Friday that requires him to wear a face mask in public during the coronavirus pandemic, calling it unnecessary. The attorney-general's office, which represents the government in legal matters, said the ruling was redundant since face masks are already mandatory in Brasilia.

A federal judge in Brazil ordered President Jair Bolsonaro to wear a face mask in public after the far-right leader repeatedly flouted the coronavirus containment measures in place in Brasilia.

Brazil on Sunday said it had registered more than 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus outbreak as well as about one million infections, as the second worst-affected country in the world struggles to control the disease.

Major European investment firms have said they will divest from beef producers, grains traders, and even government bonds in Brazil if they do not see progress in resolving the surging destruction of the Amazon rainforest.