International

• Friday, December 18th 2020 - 08:20 UTC

  Cemetery in Germany temporarily stores the bodies of Covid-19 victims in metal containers

  

  A cemetery in the German city of Hanau has started to temporarily store the bodies of people who have died from COVID-19 in a metal shipping container because hospital mortuaries are already full.

• Friday, December 18th 2020 - 08:14 UTC

  CBI calls on the EU for a customs grace period after Brexit: UK firms “still on the dark”

  

  Britain's biggest business lobby group called on the European Union to delay introducing new customs checks after Brexit because firms haven't had enough time to prepare amid the coronavirus pandemic.

• Friday, December 18th 2020 - 08:05 UTC

  Ireland expects a “serious increase” in Covid-19 cases following relaxation of restrictions

  

  Ireland, which has the second-lowest COVID-19 infection rate in Western Europe, is set for a “serious increase” in cases following the relaxation of restrictions, its health minister said on Thursday, as officials called for new curbs.

• Friday, December 18th 2020 - 06:33 UTC

  UNICEF support to feed UK children, first time since end of WW2

  

  UNICEF has launched a domestic emergency response in the UK for the first time in its more than 70-year history to help feed children amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Thursday, December 17th 2020 - 23:26 UTC

  UK government coordinating plans to deploy Covid-19 vaccines to Overseas Territories

  

  The UK Government will supply the Overseas Territories with a proportionate share of the vaccines that the UK procures, and together with the UK Vaccine Taskforce are coordinating plans to deploy vaccines to the BOTs.

• Thursday, December 17th 2020 - 10:50 UTC

  IMF working constructively with Argentina until the country “has clarity about its medium term objectives”

  

  The managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, highlighted that “they are working constructively with Argentina” and ratified the commitment so that the country ”has clarity about its medium-term objectives.”

• Thursday, December 17th 2020 - 10:18 UTC

  Argentina and UK hosted seminar on access to Covid-19 vaccines in Latin America and the Caribbean

  

  Argentina and the UK hosted a virtual seminar on access to vaccines in Latin America and the Caribbean addressing the portfolio of emerging vaccines against COVID-19, the challenge of equitable distribution and how best to tackle vaccine disinformation.

• Thursday, December 17th 2020 - 10:08 UTC

  US and UK in talks to seal a mini-deal to reduce trade tariffs

  

  The outgoing US administration is in talks with the UK to try to seal a mini-deal to reduce trade tariffs, Trump's trade chief has told the BBC. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said he was hopeful for a deal that could see punitive tariffs on Scottish whisky lowered.

• Thursday, December 17th 2020 - 10:00 UTC

  IMF chief says 62% of lending has gone to 21 countries in Latin America

  

  Sixty-two percent of the International Monetary Fund’s lending in response to the coronavirus pandemic has gone to 21 countries in hard-hit Latin America, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.

• Thursday, December 17th 2020 - 09:59 UTC

  Trump administration designated Switzerland and Vietnam as currency manipulators; China in monitoring list

  

  U.S. Treasury Department designated Switzerland and Vietnam as currency manipulators for the first time, while keeping China on a watch list, in the Trump administration’s final foreign-exchange policy report.