Argentina will revamp as much as US$ 68.8 billion in foreign law bonds as it restructures its debt, the government said in a decree on Tuesday, paving the way for tense negotiations as the country looks to strike a deal with creditors this month.
Argentine risk spreads on Monday shot to levels not seen since 2005 and sovereign bond prices fell 7.5%, as the coronavirus slammed global markets and the cash-strapped country prepared to restructure debt.
World oil prices crashed on Monday, fuelling a vicious selloff on stock markets that were already buckling from the spreading coronavirus outbreak. Stocks tanked as the global oil market nosedived 30% at one stage after top exporter Saudi Arabia slashed the prices it charges customers following a bust-up with Russia over crude production cuts.
Argentina's health ministry announced on Monday five new confirmed cases of coronavirus, taking the total number to 17. All of them were described as imported cases since they involved people who arrived from overseas. They include a patient in Buenos Aires City, two from Chaco province, one from San Luis and the fifth in Patagonia Rio Negro province.
Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou had his first contact with US President Donald Trump last Saturday, reported White House, special advisor, Judd Deere in a tweet.
Concern that president Donald Trump himself could be exposed to the coronavirus through contact with two Republican lawmakers loomed on Monday, on a day when US stocks plummeted, feeding growing national anxiety. Trump, who flew back to Washington after a weekend golfing at his Florida resort and having dinner with Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro, has spent weeks dismissing the seriousness of the threat.
On Monday members of the royal family attended a service at Westminster Abbey to celebrate Commonwealth Day. As well as a message from Queen Elizabeth II, the service also featured speeches from heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua and performances by singers Craig David and Alexandra Burke.
All of Italy under lockdown, reeling financial markets, and rioting prisoners made clear on Monday how the global coronavirus epidemic was extending its reach into all aspects of social and economic life.
The Irish government will cancel this year's St Patrick's Day Parade because of the coronavirus outbreak, state broadcaster RTE and other media said on Monday. The annual parade celebrating the country's patron saint regularly attracts hundreds of thousands of people to the Irish capital and was to have been held on Mar 17.
Heineken NV will invest 865 million reais (US$183.14 million) to expand its Ponta Grossa brewing plant in Brazil, the company said on Monday, as competition between the world's two largest beer makers bubbles up.