Tunisia political crisis
The Tunisian president has appointed former national security adviser Ridha Garsalaoui to run the Interior Ministry. Kais Saied also pledged to implement the constitutional text and safeguard people’s rights and freedoms. On Sunday, the president dismissed the government and suspended the parliament for a month. Saied said he made the move to save his country from corruption and plots to sow civil strife amid a surge in misgovernance, faltering economy, and a spiraling COVID-19 outbreak. Tunisians are awaiting the appointment of a new prime minister and the announcement of a plan to end the political and economic crisis in the country.
Covid vaccine disparities
The World Trade Organization has warned that global disparities in coronavirus vaccine rates could impact worldwide economic recovery. WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said failure to ensure global access to vaccines poses a serious threat to the world’s economy. She especially warned about the case for low-income countries where barely over one percent of the population has received even one dose. The International Monetary Fund also issued a similar warning on Tuesday, saying vaccine access emerged as the principal fault line along which the global recovery splits into two blocs.
Brazil Covid toll
Brazil has recorded over 42,000 daily COVID-19 infections and more than 13,000 fatalities. The figures bring the country’s total confirmed cases to more than 19.8 million and the death toll to over 554,000. The Latin American nation has been grappling with the world's second-deadliest outbreak after the United States. Meanwhile, Mexico logged over 19,0000 new cases and 381 deaths. The country has so far reported more than 2.8 million cases and just shy of 240,000 deaths. Mexico’s national statistics institute, however, estimates the death toll from the respiratory disease to be 35,000 higher than the official figures.