News Headlines - 22 May 2020

▽Argentina Defaults on Sovereign Debt Amid Coronavirus Crisis - WSJ

Argentina defaulted on sovereign debt for the ninth time in its history, as Latin America’s third-biggest economy grapples with a new cycle of economic contraction, runaway inflation and a hard-currency squeeze exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The cash-strapped country officially entered into default on Friday after failing to make a $500 million interest payment on foreign debt.
The default is Argentina’s third this century as the government of nationalist President Alberto Fernández failed to reach a deal with bondholders to restructure about $65 billion in foreign debt. The debt includes bonds issued as part of previous restructurings after the country. The debt includes bonds issued as part of previous restructurings after the country defaulted in 2001.

▽China to introduce new Hong Kong security law amid protests, coronavirus

China is poised to impose a new national security law on Hong Kong after months of anti-government protests in the territory. The move has sparked concerns the law will give Beijing more control over Hong Kong and incite further pro-democracy protests.
The draft legislation was announced as China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) - the country’s parliament - held its annual session, which was delayed for months due to the coronavirus outbreak. The event kicked off on Friday.

▽Japan's core consumer prices show first fall in 40 months | The Japan Times

Core consumer prices fell from a year earlier in April, recording the first decline in 40 months, government data showed Friday.
Prices are thought to have been dragged down by the lower cost of oil and weak travel demand in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with further declines expected in coming months.
The nationwide core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food items, fell 0.2 percent after rising 0.4 percent in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said - a far cry from the Bank of Japan’s 2 percent inflation target.

▽Khashoggi’s Son Says Family Pardons His Father’s Killers - The New York Times

A son of the slain Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi said on Friday that he and his siblings had forgiven the men who killed their father, effectively extinguishing the prospect that the killers will be executed for the crime... In December, a Saudi court convicted eight men in connection with the crime, sentencing three to prison terms and five to death, which is usually carried out in the kingdom by beheading. The men, whose names the Saudis have never released, were identified recently in a Turkish indictment that included extensive notes from the Saudi trial.

▽UK researchers hope dogs can be trained to detect coronavirus | The Guardian

Dogs are to be trained to try to sniff out the coronavirus before symptoms appear in humans, under trials launched with ￡500,000 of government funding.
Dogs have already been successfully trained to detect the odour of certain cancers, malaria and Parkinson’s disease, and a new study will look at whether labradors and cocker spaniels can be trained to detect Covid-19 in people.
Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will carry out the first phase of a trial in collaboration with Durham University and the charity Medical Detection Dogs.