* With 65 votes in favour, El Salvador’s 84-seat legislative assembly has approved a new legislative initiative, which designates the US company Google as a strategic partner of the government of El Salvador. According to the bill, Google plans to establish operations in El Salvador to help the digital transformation, modernise government services and improve various sectors such as healthcare and education. According to a statement from Google, the law forms part of a “multi-year agreement to support the country in its journey to become a technological hub in Central America”. Under the plan, Google plans to establish a Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) in the country, as well as a Google Cloud Office and a Cloud Centre of Excellence to offer technical guidance to businesses and organisations on how to achieve the greatest benefits from cloud technology and innovations.