International

• Tuesday, December 1st 2020 - 08:23 UTC

  “Pandemic”, the 2020 prize for Merriam-Webster Word of the Year

  

  The 2020 prize for Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year went to an obvious choice: pandemic. The term had the most online dictionary lookups of any word, Merriam-Webster said on its website, after a year in which at least 1.4 million people globally have died from the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Tuesday, December 1st 2020 - 08:22 UTC

  Strong recovery in Asian factories during November spurred by China

  

  Asian factories continued to recover steadily in November thanks to a boom in economic powerhouse China, private surveys showed on Tuesday, offering hope the region was shaking off the drag from the COVID-19 crisis.

• Tuesday, December 1st 2020 - 08:00 UTC

  Wheat prices fell after Australia forecasted its second highest crop ever

  

  Wheat prices fell after Australia forecast its second-highest crop ever and Russia proposed curtailing grain exports next year. Wheat futures fell as much as 3.3% in Chicago trading, the lowest for the contract in almost eight weeks. Corn and soybeans also fell following rainfall in South America during the weekend.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 09:55 UTC

  Argentina in no rush to sign an agreement with IMF, says minister Guzmán

  

  Argentine Economy Minister Martin Guzman played down the chances of an early agreement with the International Monetary Fund to repay a US$ 44 billion loan, the Financial Times reported.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 09:36 UTC

  UK's NHS Test and Trace system inaccurately informed 1,300 people they were infected with coronavirus

  

  Over 1,300 people in Britain were inaccurately informed they were infected with coronavirus after a laboratory error at the government's NHS Test and Trace system, the Department of Health and Social Care admitted on Saturday to Reuters.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 09:34 UTC

  Oil-rich Middle East and its inevitable declining power

  

  By Gwynne Dyer – The only officials present were American and Saudi,” tweeted the Saudi Arabian foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, but he was lying. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu really did fly in to Saudi Arabia to spend a few hours with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 09:27 UTC

  Britain and EU on the “last leg of negotiations” for a post Brexit trade deal

  

  The UK is in the “last leg of negotiations” with the EU over a post-Brexit trade deal, the foreign secretary has said. Dominic Raab told the BBC it was likely the talks were entering the “last real major week”, and an agreement remained possible if the EU showed “pragmatism”.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 09:12 UTC

  Francis names 13 new cardinals, including the first Afro-American

  

  Pope Francis on Saturday installed 13 new cardinals, including the first African-American to hold the high rank, further expanding the pontiff’s impact on the group that will one day elect his successor.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 09:00 UTC

  Biden strains an ankle while playing with his dog Champ

  

  President-elect Joe Biden twisted his ankle after slipping while playing with his dog, his office said on Sunday.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 08:52 UTC

  UK-Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council 2020 communiqué

  

  In a Saturday communiqué of the latest UK-Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council 2020, the UK government reiterated support for the OTs self-determination, its commitment to supporting the OTs in building successful and resilient economies, with “reasonable assistance needs of Territories where financial self-sufficiency is not possible”, and referring to UK's withdrawal from the EU, acknowledges it will impact on OTs, particularly in the areas of funding and trade.