International

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.
Thursday, December 17th 2020 - 09:16 UTC
Fears a fifth of world's population may not have access to Covid 19 vaccine until 2022, John Hopkins University

At least a fifth of the world's population may not have access to a COVID-19 vaccine until 2022, according to a study published on Wednesday, with wealthier nations reserving more than half of 2021's potential doses.
Thursday, December 17th 2020 - 09:05 UTC
Marshall Islands' record haul of drugs that drifted across the Pacific from Latin America

Police in the Marshall Islands have discovered a record haul of drugs thought to have drifted across the Pacific Ocean from Latin America. About 649kg of cocaine was found hidden inside a vessel that had run ashore.
Thursday, December 17th 2020 - 09:03 UTC
Merkel implores Germans to reduce social contacts during Xmas; lockdown until January 10

Chancellor Angela Merkel banged the podium in frustration as she implored Germans this month to reduce social contacts to curb the spread of COVID-19. At one point in her unusually passionate address to parliament, during which she was heckled, she brought her hands together as if in prayer. At others, she shook her fist.
Wednesday, December 16th 2020 - 09:29 UTC
Putin, Bolsonaro and Lopez Obrador finally congratulate Joe Biden

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday congratulated US president-elect Joe Biden on his victory, more than a month after the Nov 3 election.
Wednesday, December 16th 2020 - 09:08 UTC
Food companies and grocers urge commodity suppliers to refuse soybeans from deforested areas in Brazil

Some of the world’s largest food companies and grocers urged commodity suppliers including Archer-Daniels-Midland Co, Bunge Ltd, Cargill Inc and Louis Dreyfus Co. to stop trading soybeans associated with deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado region, a savanna that is a hive of biodiversity and one of the country’s most important carbon sinks.
Wednesday, December 16th 2020 - 09:00 UTC
Moderna vaccine is safe and effective for preventing Covid-19, US regulators

Moderna's vaccine is safe and effective for preventing Covid-19, US regulators said, clearing the way for a second shot to quickly gain emergency authorization and add to the country's sprawling immunization effort.