Politics

• Saturday, March 13th 2021 - 08:28 UTC

  Minneapolis City agrees to pay US$ 27 million to George Floyd family

  

  The city of Minneapolis on Friday agreed to pay US$27 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of George Floyd over his death in police custody, a case that stirred national protests over racial injustice and police brutality. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in May as Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes

• Saturday, March 13th 2021 - 08:05 UTC

  China represented 17% of the global economy in pandemic plagued 2020

  

  China's economic output is forecast to account for more than 17% of the world's economy in the coronavirus-plagued 2020. As the sole economy recording positive GDP growth last year, China will ramp up efforts and strive to achieve higher quality, more efficient, sustainable and safer development in 2021, a senior government official revealed in Beijing.

• Saturday, March 13th 2021 - 08:00 UTC

  German ruling coalition lawmakers resign for brokering face mask procurement deal

  

  Lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling party and coalition had to declare by writing that they hadn't received money for consulting or procurement related to the Covid 19 situation, following claims several of them were involved in face mask purchases. Party officials said that all 240 conservative lawmakers had sent back their declaration as requested.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 17:58 UTC

  ECB keeps interest rates at historic low and pledges to step up bond buying

  

  The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday kept interest rates at historic lows and said it was stepping up its bond-buying stimulus in the coming months. The steps are aimed at halting what is regarded as a premature rise in borrowing costs in the 19 countries that use the Euro currency.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 13:43 UTC

  April 30, a critical date for when Falklands first squid catches are landed in Spain

  

  April 30 is a critical date for when the South Atlantic squid catches reach Vigo in Spain. It will also be a Brexit test since tariffs involving third countries such as the UK do not apply to catches from British waters, except for increased customs paperwork, but do apply for fish produce from British territories overseas.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 13:24 UTC

  Falklands tighten up vessel entry policy

  

  The Falkland Islands’ Executive Council this week agreed to tighten the policy governing the entry of vessels into the islands’ territorial waters and ports. Under the new policy, any vessel which has suspected or reported cases of Covid-19 “should not seek to enter Falkland Islands territorial waters and ports,” the Falklands government has confirmed.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 10:08 UTC

  Argentina promises Bolivia's incorporation to Mercosur for the next bloc's summit

  

  Argentina pledged on Thursday to manage Bolivia's entry into Mercosur, after both countries relaunched their trade relationship during the official visit of the Argentine Foreign Minister, Felipe Solá, who sees the need to approve the full entry of the Andean country at the next Mercosur summit to be held on March 26.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 09:55 UTC

  Brazil's hospitals overwhelmed and in main cities stops receiving pandemic patients

  

  Hospitals in Brazil's main cities are reaching capacity, health officials warned, as the country recorded the world's highest COVID-19 death toll for the second day running, 2,233, triggering restrictions in the main and richest states.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 09:06 UTC

  All US surviving presidents (except Trump) release video of their inoculation; CDC says 92 million vaccinated

  

  All surviving former US presidents except Mr Donald Trump have teamed up in a video urging Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Mr Jimmy Carter, Mr George W. Bush, Mr Bill Clinton and Mr Barack Obama - and the former First Ladies, appear in the one-minute spot released on Thursday, endorsing the US vaccination campaign and sharing what they miss about pre-pandemic life.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 09:06 UTC

  Brazilian congress passes US$ 8 billion bill to help millions of poor families

  

  Brazil's lower house of Congress approved the basic text of a bill on Thursday that revives a federal cash transfer program to help millions of poor families whose incomes have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.