
Britain appointed a commander on Sunday to lead its response to illegal small boat crossings across the Channel and said it was exploring tougher action after a spate of migrant arrivals.

A US cabinet member was due to meet Taiwan's leader this Monday during the highest-level visit from the United States since it switched diplomatic recognition from the island to China in 1979, a trip that Beijing has condemned.

The huge chemical explosion that hit Beirut's port, devastating large parts of the Lebanese capital and claiming over 150 lives, left a 43-metre (141 foot) deep crater, a security official said on Sunday.

The UK's official COVID-19 daily death count could be scrapped following an investigation into Public Health England's method of counting the toll, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

The Spanish bishop Pedro Casaldaliga, a fervent defender of the indigenous people of the Amazon, died Saturday at the age of 92 in Brazil, where he had been living since 1968, his office said.

The United Nations has not received any requests to investigate the deadly explosion in Beirut’s port, a U.N. spokesman said on Friday after French President Emmanuel Macron called for an international inquiry.

The Falkland Islands Executive Council has agreed to double the yearly quota of permanent residence permits (PRP) to 90. According to a paper published last week, the figure has been set to target a 3% yearly population growth.

Brazilian billionaire Jorge Lemann's foundation and other business interests will fund the building of the factory to produce the Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Argentina is planning to intensify its policy to claim sovereignty over the Falklands and other South Atlantic Islands with a road map that contemplates three immediate objectives, reinstate in the Organization of American States the claim, resurface the legal threat against oil companies operating in South Atlantic (Falklands) waters and put pressure on the European Union so that a post-Brexit trade agreement with the UK does not include the Falklands in the list of Overseas Territories.

Argentina aims to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund over a new financing program before the end of March, a time frame that Fund veterans say is realistic if both sides show commitment. The news was reported by the economic media from Buenos Aires.