International

• Tuesday, February 2nd 2021 - 09:10 UTC

  UK will formally apply to join the Trans Pacific Partnership

  

  The United Kingdom will formally apply to join one of the world’s largest free-trade areas, deepening trade ties with some of the fastest-growing markets in the world. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss will speak to ministers in Japan and New Zealand to request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), with formal negotiations set to start this year.

• Tuesday, February 2nd 2021 - 03:38 UTC

  FIFA and WHO promoting fair access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatments

  

  FIFA and the World Health Organization (WHO) will team up to promote the need for fair access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics, and to encourage people to keep practicing life-saving, everyday public health measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and to protect health.

• Monday, February 1st 2021 - 09:21 UTC

  Lufthansa Airbus A350 en route to Falklands, on its longest non-stop flight

  

  This Sunday, January 31, an Airbus A350-900 takes off on the longest non-stop flight in Lufthansa's history under flight number LH2574: 13,700 kilometers from Hamburg to the Mount Pleasant Complex in the Falkland Islands.

• Monday, February 1st 2021 - 08:54 UTC

  Covid-19 WHO-probe mission in Wuhan has to keep to agenda and visits organized by Beijing

  

  Reuters – Under tight control by its Chinese hosts, the World Health Organization-led team investigating the origins of COVID-19 in Wuhan province, visited a hospital on Saturday that treated early patients.

• Monday, February 1st 2021 - 08:24 UTC

  Bolivia will be among the first to benefit from WHO's Covax vaccine program

  

  The United Nations mission in Bolivia celebrated the fact that this country will be one of the first to receive vaccines from the multilateral Covax system, promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to guarantee access to these drugs in the world's poorest countries.

• Monday, February 1st 2021 - 08:22 UTC

  World medics call for cooperation in fighting Covid-19, and an end to egotism and nationalism

  

  The World Medical Association called for cooperation to fight egotisms and nationalism in the fight against Covid-19. Speaking at a ceremony this Sunday in Vienna, where the WMA was presented with an award honoring physicians around the world for their fight against the pandemic, Dr. Otmar Kloiber, Secretary-General of the WMA, stressed the need for international co-operation.

• Monday, February 1st 2021 - 05:12 UTC

  New Zealand unveils ambitious carbon neutral plan: end of fossil fuel powered cars and 15% less cows

  

  The government of New Zealand unveiled a blueprint Sunday to phase out gasoline cars while it's dairy and beef industry, a key pillar of the economy, must slash cow numbers under the ambitious plan to be carbon neutral by 2050.

• Monday, February 1st 2021 - 04:40 UTC

  Pope Francis instates the World Day for Grandparents, fourth Sunday in July

  

  Following the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis announced the institution of World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which will take place each year on the fourth Sunday in July, close to the feast of Sts Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.

• Saturday, January 30th 2021 - 09:14 UTC

  EU will monitor (and block) coronavirus vaccine exports out of the continent

  

  The European Commission will monitor and in some cases block coronavirus vaccine exports out of the bloc since it installed a new mechanism on Friday. The move comes amid a row with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca over vaccine deliveries.

• Saturday, January 30th 2021 - 09:09 UTC

  Novartis to help Pfizer with manufacturing capacity to boost production

  

  The Swiss drugmaker Novartis has signed an initial agreement to provide manufacturing capacity for Pfizer and Biontech's COVID-19 vaccine, a move aimed at helping boost production as supplies fall shy of demand.