International

Tuesday, May 17th 2022 - 09:40 UTC
Stockholm will try to lift Turkey's objection to Sweden's NATO membership

NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has said that Sweden and Finland's applications to join the alliance will be fast-tracked. Explaining the decision behind her country's intention to become a member, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said abandoning decades of political neutrality was a direct result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Tuesday, May 17th 2022 - 09:20 UTC
Macron picks France's Prime Minister

French President Emmanuel Macron Monday announced he had picked Elisabeth Borne as the country's new Prime Minister following Jean Castex's resignation.
Tuesday, May 17th 2022 - 09:00 UTC
Monkeypox in UK, apparently from Nigeria: extensive contact tracing in Britain

On 7 May 2022, WHO was informed of a confirmed case of monkeypox in an individual who travelled from the United Kingdom to Nigeria. The case developed a rash on 29 April 2022 and returned to the United Kingdom on 4 May. Monkeypox was suspected and the case was immediately isolated.
Monday, May 16th 2022 - 10:17 UTC
Vanessa Estol is the first Uruguayan person to reach the summit of Mount Everest

The mountaineer and climber Vanessa Estol became on Saturday the first person of Uruguayan nationality to reach the summit of Mount Everest (8,848.86 meters above sea level).
Monday, May 16th 2022 - 09:49 UTC
Shaky weekend as Santiago mourned slain reporter

Riots rocked the Chilean capital city of Santiago as protesters demanded justice for slain reporter Francisca Sandoval, who died recently after being fatally shot while covering the May 1 Labor Day demonstrations.
Monday, May 16th 2022 - 09:32 UTC
Finland, Sweden confirm they would seek full NATO membership

Finland Sunday confirmed it would apply for membership to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), thus changing the geopolitical scenario in Europe less than three months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Monday, May 16th 2022 - 09:29 UTC
Argentina preparing to become a BRICS member with support from China and Brazil

Argentina has been invited by Chinese president Xi Jinping to participate in three BRICS events taking place in the coming four weeks. The first will be a get-together of political parties, social organizations and think tanks, a second on May 20th, is a summit of foreign ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, BRICS full members, and the Argentine minister guest. Finally, on June24 a summit of the five-plus one leaders is scheduled.
Monday, May 16th 2022 - 09:26 UTC
Weighting SDR's currency basket, Dollar and Yuan up; Euro, Yen and Pound down

IMF increased the Chinese Yuan's weighting in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) currency basket to 12.28% from 10.92% in its first regular review of the SDR valuation since the Chinese currency was first included in the basket in 2016, the Chinese central bank, PCB, reported on Sunday.
Monday, May 16th 2022 - 09:22 UTC
Turkey conditions Finland and Sweden NATO memberships: “they harbor terrorists”

Finland and Sweden allegedly are determined to become full members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, dropping decades of full or observant neutrality regarding the powerful neighbor Russia and its current leader Vladimir Putin.
Monday, May 16th 2022 - 09:13 UTC
China cuts mortgage rates for first home buyers; combats real estate giants speculation

China wants to inject more dynamism to the housing market and the Central bank plus the insurance regulator announced on Sunday a significant interest rate cut for first home buyers. This follows on almost two years of rampant speculation among giant real estate companies that almost led to a collapse of the market.