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The number of Covid-19 vaccinations globally has surpassed the total number of confirmed cases, underscoring progress made in controlling the pandemic despite mounting concern over new variants.

According to the Financial Times vaccine tracker, the number of doses administered climbed to 105m late on Wednesday while the number of confirmed cases was 103.5m.

While vaccination rates are accelerating rapidly, the rise in cases is slowing, although that is because of measures other than vaccines as they have not yet affected transmission in most places.

The figures are incomplete because of the fragmented nature of reporting. The actual number of infections is likely to be many times higher than the total verified by diagnostic tests. (FT)

Coronavirus digest

• The World Economic Forum, set to be held in Singapore, has delayed its annual meeting by another three months due to the ongoing pandemic.

• Tokyo Olympics organisers have laid out a “playbook” to enable the Games to go ahead. One of the rules: no cheering.

• World Health Organization investigators have visited a Wuhan laboratory at the centre of theories suggesting a leak was responsible for the pandemic.

• Research has found that people who have previously had coronavirus are unlikely to be reinfected for at least six months.

• The UK’s GlaxoSmithKline and Germany’s CureVac will work together on a new generation of vaccines to tackle emerging variants of the virus.

Keep up with the latest on our live blog and follow the global race to vaccinate with our tracker.

In the news

Myanmar police press charges against Aung San Suu Kyi Police charged Aung San Suu Kyi with breaking Myanmar’s export-import law after finding “illegally imported” walkie-talkie radios at the deposed leader’s home. However distasteful, negotiations are needed to avert a bloodbath and to restore Aung San Suu Kyi, writes Gwen Robinson, Nikkei Asia’s editor at large. (FT)

India threatens Twitter with legal action New Delhi has warned Twitter to re-block access to around 200 accounts on its platform that had used a hashtag connected to a farmers’ protest, or to face penalties under Indian law. The social media giant originally complied with a government request on Monday, but Twitter unblocked the accounts following uproar from free speech proponents. (FT)

Draghi accepts mandate to form new Italian government Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank, has accepted a request from Italy’s president to attempt to form a national unity government as the country battles to contain the pandemic and the most severe economic crisis in its postwar history. (FT)

Exclusive: McKinsey fires researchers after policy breaches The consultancy has fired or suspended several members of its investment banking research team as it investigates violations of its policies, in an embarrassing blow for the firm’s fledgling attempt to become a dominant provider of industry insights to Wall Street. (FT)

Ant Group strikes restructuring deal Jack Ma’s Ant Group has reached a deal with Chinese regulators to restructure its business after they raised issues that halted its $37bn initial public offering last year, according to several people familiar with the situation. Separately, Alibaba will raise up to $5bn from international debt markets this week. (FT)

South Korea partially lifts short-selling ban South Korea will allow the short selling of large-cap shares from May 3, following heavy criticism from hedge funds and other financial institutions against a year-long ban. (FT)

Trump’s private banker left Deutsche over real estate deal Rosemary Vrablic left Deutsche Bank as a result of allegations of “undisclosed activities related to a real estate investment”, a regulatory filing shows, in the lender’s first public confirmation of the circumstances of her departure. (FT)

ByteDance files lawsuit against Tencent ByteDance has launched a new lawsuit against its main rival Tencent over alleged monopolistic practices, immediately eliciting a promise of retaliation from China’s largest tech company. (FT)

Sony raises forecasts as PS5 is smash hit Sony boosted its annual guidance for the second time in three months as a pandemic-driven gaming boom led to a blockbuster launch of its new PlayStation 5 console and an increase in digital downloads. (FT)

The day ahead

Earnings round-up Companies reporting results on Thursday include Ping An Insurance, Royal Dutch Shell, Snap, Unilever, SoftBank, Ford Motor, Peloton Interactive, Deutsche Bank, News Corp, Carlyle Group, Yamaha, The New York Times, Gilead Sciences and Total.

US House to vote to eject Greene from committees The US House of Representatives will vote on Thursday on a resolution to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments as scrutiny intensifies over the Republican lawmaker’s comments on everything from QAnon to school shootings.

BoE quarterly report The Bank of England is expected this week to hold back on providing further stimulus for the economy amid the coronavirus crisis, even as the central bank is also poised to downgrade its forecast for growth in gross domestic product in 2021. (FT)

What else we’re reading

What comes next for Amazon? Investors have been reassured by the ecommerce giant’s succession plan as Andy Jassy prepares to take the helm. Further, Mr Jassy’s ascent could also help in Amazon’s defence against calls for a break-up. (FT)

Meet the man taking on Jack Ma The crackdown on Ant has cemented Chinese regulator Guo Shuqing’s status as China’s second most powerful finance official after vice-premier Liu He, one of Mr Xi’s most trusted lieutenants. “Xi, Liu and Guo share a belief that the weaknesses of the market economy can be addressed through strong regulation,” one central bank adviser said. (FT)

Washington struggles with Robinhood politics The outrage against Robinhood for blocking users placing bets on companies such as GameStop has united politicians from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Ted Cruz. But the episode is a reminder that what ordinary investors see of the financial markets is just the tip of an iceberg, writes Gillian Tett. (FT)

Can Biden deliver for black voters? “You’ve always had my back, and I’ll have yours,” Joe Biden said when he was declared the presidential election victor. He is now under pressure to show that he can deliver for the African-Americans who proved so crucial to his win. (FT)

Inside India’s crackdown on the press As prime minister Narendra Modi chips away at his country’s free press, the issue became personal for Vidya Krishnan this week when the government opened investigations into the editors of The Caravan political magazine for covering protests by farmers. It’s a sign of the country’s war on truth, she writes. (Atlantic)

Lex in depth: how carbon prices will transform industry With freak weather, crop failure and forced migration, climate change is imposing ever-higher costs, particularly on carbon. Putting a price on emissions will supercharge investment in greener technologies — and cripple businesses that cannot adapt. (FT)

Cartoon of the day

‘He searches for silver at the weekends to bring down Western capitalism’