Tag: COVID-19

• Tuesday, May 12th 2020 - 07:24 UTC

  “No mandate to invite Taiwan” to WHO assembly; Beijing warns New Zealand “to stop making wrong statements”

  

  The World Health Organization's director-general has “no mandate” to invite Taiwan to take part in its assembly next week, the body's lawyer said on Monday, adding member states had “divergent views” on the self-ruled island's participation.

• Tuesday, May 12th 2020 - 07:18 UTC

  White House staff must wear masks in the West Wing, except Trump

  

  White House staff have been ordered to wear masks when entering the West Wing after two aides tested positive for coronavirus. The White House personnel office has said that staff must cover their faces at all times except when seated at their desks, socially distant from colleagues.

• Tuesday, May 12th 2020 - 06:57 UTC

  Notorious Mexican drug lord dies in prison after contracting coronavirus

  

  Moisés Escamilla May, a notorious Mexican gang leader, has died in prison after contracting coronavirus. Escamilla, 45, was the leader of a group within the feared criminal cartel Los Zetas. He was serving a 37-year sentence for organized crime, including his role in the decapitation of 12 people in Yucatán.

• Monday, May 11th 2020 - 08:40 UTC

  Pandemic: Brazil reports over 11,000 deaths on Sunday and 162,699 positive cases

  

  Brazil, the hardest-hit Latin American country in the coronavirus pandemic, has surpassed 11,000 deaths, according to figures released on Sunday by the Ministry of Health.

• Monday, May 11th 2020 - 08:31 UTC

  Oil glut and lack of storage continues to weigh on oil prices

  

  Oil prices opened about one percent lower on Sunday as a persistent glut continued to weigh on prices and COVID-19 eroded global oil demand even as some governments began to ease lockdowns.

• Saturday, May 9th 2020 - 08:58 UTC

  Argentina extends mandatory lockdown in Buenos Aires and metropolitan area

  

  After 50 days in mandatory lockdown, Argentina's President Alberto Fernández announced on Friday that the quarantine will be extended until May 24th.

• Saturday, May 9th 2020 - 08:56 UTC

  Sao Paulo state with 41,000 Covid-19 cases extends stay-at-home measures

  

  The governor of Sao Paulo, the Brazilian state at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in Latin America, said on Friday he was extending stay-at-home measures until May 31, ignoring opposition from far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

• Friday, May 8th 2020 - 09:23 UTC

  Argentina's countdown to ninth default; some bondholders and IMF trust a last minute understanding

  

  Argentina's Economy Minister Martin Guzman has given the country's biggest bondholders until this Friday to accept the offer he has put on the table to suspend payments until 2023 and reduce interest rates thereafter. One of the largest of those creditors, the investment management firm BlackRock, rejected Guzman's proposal and immediately presented a counteroffer.

• Friday, May 8th 2020 - 08:49 UTC

  World Bank US$ 500 million loan to help Ecuador cover budget needs

  

  The World Bank Board of Directors approved a flexible US$500 million loan to help cover Ecuador's budget needs during the Covid-19 emergency and to promote economic recovery. The loan is the second in a series of three Development Policy Financing (DPF) operations. The first loan of this series was disbursed in June 2019. The operation has been adapted to the current context and to the country’s needs during the pandemic.

• Friday, May 8th 2020 - 08:45 UTC

  Governor praises the admirable public sector of the Falkland Islands

  

  The Falkland Islands' Nigel Phillips, CBE, this week praised the response of the Public Service to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 and associated restrictions. Speaking at the daily Covid-19 update on Wednesday, Mr. Phillips said, “lockdown, as it has become known, can be difficult and the government has introduced a range of measures that are targeted to support individuals and businesses in these unprecedented times.