International

• Thursday, March 18th 2021 - 09:20 UTC

  Argentine economy minister to meet IMF in Washington; no deal expected in May

  

  Argentina's Economy Minister Martin Guzmán traveled to New York on Wednesday night to meet investors before heading to Washington for talks with the International Monetary Fund, a government source said.

• Wednesday, March 17th 2021 - 09:50 UTC

  EU regulatory body convinced that AstraZeneca vaccines benefits outweigh possible risks

  

  The EU regulatory body is “fully convinced” that the vaccine's benefits outweigh possible risks. Global health experts have been under growing pressure to answer questions over the safety of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot. “There is ”no indication'' that AstraZeneca vaccines are the cause of blood clots reported in some shot recipients, the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) chief said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, March 17th 2021 - 08:55 UTC

  UK's overhaul of foreign and defense policy: Democracy is in retreat around the world, Minister Raab

  

  Democracy is in retreat around the world, British foreign minister Dominic Raab will warn on Wednesday in a speech setting out the danger that autocratic regimes pose to global stability and prosperity.

• Wednesday, March 17th 2021 - 08:39 UTC

  Regular booster vaccines will be needed against Covid-19, because of mutations

  

  Regular booster vaccines against the coronavirus will be needed because of mutations that make it more transmissible and better able to evade human immunity, the head of Britain's effort to sequence the virus' genomes said.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2021 - 09:53 UTC

  WHO insists that AstraZeneca vaccine is safe; EU countries suspend jabs on isolated cases of blood clots

  

  REUTERS – The World Health Organization's director-general said on Monday that systems meant to protect public health were working, as several countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine to investigate possible side-effects.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2021 - 09:26 UTC

  Defeat in regional elections tarnishing German chancellor Merkel exit from active politics

  

  A collapse in support for Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats in two regional elections on Sunday signaled that a widening corruption scandal and missteps during the pandemic may threaten the party’s hold on power in a national election this September.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2021 - 09:14 UTC

  EU launches legal action against Britain over Northern Ireland and alleged Brexit accord breach

  

  The European Union launched legal action against Britain on Monday for unilaterally changing trading arrangements for Northern Ireland that Brussels says breach the Brexit divorce deal agreed with London last year.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2021 - 08:40 UTC

  Britain's Johnson to announce review of defense and foreign policy: more nukes and military presence worldwide

  

  Britain is to announce an increase to its nuclear weapons stockpile as part of a wide-ranging review of security, defense, and foreign policy, two newspapers anticipated on Monday. The Guardian and The Sun said in their online editions that the UK would look to raise the number of warheads from 180 to 260 by the middle of the decade.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2021 - 08:37 UTC

  German doctors call for an “immediate return” to lockdown to avoid third wave of Covid-19

  

  Intensive care doctors in Germany warned on Monday that the country would need to make an “immediate return” to partial lockdown if it is to avoid stumbling into a dangerous third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2021 - 08:25 UTC

  Saudi US$ 100 million “gift” to Spain's Juan Carlos I investigated by Swiss prosecutor

  

  Swiss prosecutor is probing whether the late Saudi king broke any laws when he transferred US$100 million to a fund controlled by fellow royal Juan Carlos I of Spain in 2008.