Argentina, creditors agree on debt restructuring deal
Argentina said Tuesday it has reached an agreement with its main creditors to restructure $65 billion in foreign debt, offering some relief for a country hobbled by recession long before the pandemic.
The agreement will allow creditor groups “to support Argentina’s debt restructuring proposal and grant Argentina significant debt relief,” the Economy Ministry said in a statement. It said some payment dates will change without raising the total amount of capital and interest to be paid “while enhancing the value of the proposal for the creditor community,” according to the statement.
The reported deal followed seven months of talks and shifting deadlines, and coincided with another extended period of economic misery in Argentina, where unemployment and inflation are stubbornly high, and the peso has been declining for years. The pandemic made things worse, as Argentina imposed a lockdown that helped to curb the spread of the new coronavirus but paralyzed vast sectors of the economy.
Argentina has also been involved in talks with the International Monetary Fund about restructuring $44 billion in debt owed to the lender.
Woman with husband’s bones gets close look at Munich Airport
Police at Munich Airport got a surprise during their search of a wooden box being transported by a 74-year-old passenger that turned out to contain the bones of the woman’s dead husband, authorities said Tuesday.
Customs officials, a doctor and prosecutors were called in, and they determined that no crime had been committed, German news agency dpa reported.
After questioning the woman and her 52-year-old daughter, police learned that the pair were on their way from Greece back to their native Armenia via Munich and Kyiv.
The mother said her husband died in 2008 and was buried in Thessaloniki, Greece, and she and her daughter decided to bring his remains home to a final resting place in Armenia, police said.