Argentines mobilized outside Congress in the capital Thursday to protest against a $45 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Many of those who marched through the streets of Buenos Aires belonged to leftist organizations and held placards, shouting "No to the IMF!”

The protestors decried what they regard as the potentially negative impact of the recently agreed deal between the IMF and Argentina's government, which still needs to be approved by Congress.

Some incidents of violence and confrontations with police were reported in the afternoon.

A few people set fire to car tires and rubbish in the area, with some reports of Molotov cocktails being set off.

Some threw stones at Congress which struck the office of Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and other offices belonging to lawmakers.

The incidents took place as lawmakers in the lower house debated the IMF bill, which is expected to be eventually approved.

Security forces detained a number of protestors during the day.

In 2022, Argentina will need to repay around $18 billion to the IMF as the country seeks to resolve its deep financial crisis with high inflation and the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19.

The new deal between Argentina and the IMF will replace a historic $57 billion deal and will help the country avoid a potential default, with a range of targets oriented towards lowering Argentina’s fiscal deficit and reducing energy subsidies.

Earlier in the day, presidential spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti described the IMF deal as the "best possible solution" to resolve issues which she said Argentina did not create "but that we have the political responsibility to resolve.”

In Argentina, some regard the multilateral credit organization as a catalyst for driving austerity measures and increasing poverty, notably following the financial crisis that hit the country hard between 2001-2002.

Thursday was the second day of large-scale protests in the capital as protestors answered calls by trade unions and social movements, mobilizing to protest the deal in the city center and marching from Avenida de Mayo to the Palace of the Argentine National Congress./aa

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday that he fears Russian President Vladimir Putin might use chemical weapons in Ukraine.

"The stuff that you're hearing about chemical weapons is straight out of their playbook," Johnson said in an interview with Sky News.

"They start saying that there are chemical weapons that have been stored by their opponents or by the Americans.

"And so when they themselves deploy chemical weapons, as I fear they may, they have a sort of maskirovka -- a fake story -- ready to go,” he said.

"You've seen it in Syria. You saw it even in the UK. That's what they're already doing. It is a cynical, barbaric government."

Johnson said it "depends on Putin and it's up to him and to him alone" with regards to whether a compromise could be struck to end the war in Ukraine.

"I think he needs to understand that he's made a disastrous miscalculation and that everybody can see that things aren't progressing in the way that he hoped," he said.

"His best bet, I think, is to withdraw, to cease the violence and to allow a peaceful negotiation to begin."

He added that Putin “needs to understand that his options are not good” but Putin has “made it very difficult to find an offer.”/aa

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed victory in the country's most populated and politically significant province of Uttar Pradesh, according to the final vote count by the Election Commission of India.

The party has also retained power in the states of Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa in the provincial polls. In the border state of Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which governs the nation’s capital New Delhi, has swept the polls.

According to the Election Commission of India, the BJP won more than 250 seats out of 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

In Goa, the party won 20 seats out of a total 40 seats, while in Uttarakhand, it got 47 seats out of a total 70 seats. In Manipur, it won 32 seats.

In Punjab, the AAP, however, scored a landslide win and got 92 seats out of the total 117 seats.

On Thursday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed party workers in New Delhi, said the "2024 general election results can be glimpsed" in the results of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh election.

Modi also wrote on Twitter that "in all five states that went to the polls, our Party Karyakartas (party workers) worked tirelessly among the people."

"They spoke about our good governance agenda and highlighted our pro-people efforts. I salute each and every Party Karyakarta for their exceptional efforts," he said.

Analysts believe that the BJP retaining power in the key state of Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2024 general election is perceived as a significant victory for Prime Minister Modi./aa

American stock exchanges closed lower Thursday as US inflation climbed to its highest level in more than 40 years.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 112 points, or 0.34%, to 33,174. The S&P 500 was down 18 points, or 0.43%, at 4,259.

The Nasdaq was off 125 points, or 0.95%, to 13,129.

Annual consumer inflation in the US rose 7.9% in February, the largest 12-month increase since January 1982, according to the Labor Department.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, fell 6.8% to 30.23.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes, on the other hand, rose 2.1% to 1.990%. The dollar index added 0.61% to 98.57.

Precious metals were up, with gold adding 0.24% to $1,996 per ounce and silver rising 0.54% to $25.92.

Oil prices dipped after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is fulfilling all obligations to supply energy resources to Europe and other regions of the world. He made the remarks at a meeting with government members, according to state-owned news agency Tass.

Brent crude was trading at $109 a barrel with a 1.9% loss, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was at $105.6 -- down 2.8%./aa

Russia’s stock market will continue to suspend trading operations on Friday, the country’s central bank announced on Thursday.

Trading sessions on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) equity market will not be resumed, and only negotiated buyback trades with settlements in rubles will be available.

The derivatives market, other than foreign currency pairs, and commodity and precious metals instruments will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 06:45 p.m. local time (0700-1545 GMT), the Bank of Russia said in a statement.

MOEX plummeted a whopping 33.3% on Feb. 24 when Russia launched a war on Ukraine. On Feb. 28, trading was suspended until further notice./aa

The White House continued to push back on allegations from Russia that the US has biowarfare labs in Ukraine, maintaining on Thursday that it is Moscow that has a biological weapons program.

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said not only does Russia have the "capacity" to use chemical and biological weapons but it also has a "history of using" them.

"In this moment we should have our eyes open for that possibility," she told reporters.

The warning comes in response to claims by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova who said that documents suggest "components of bioweapons were being developed in Ukraine."

Speaking at a weekly briefing in Moscow, Zakharova said the Russian Armed Forces received evidence of the development of biological weapon components by Ukraine under US guidance from employees of Ukraine's biological labs.

Psaki on Wednesday took to Twitter to dismiss the suggestions, saying that the US is in full compliance with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention, adding Washington "does not develop or possess such weapons anywhere."

"It’s Russia that has long maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law," she said.

Psaki demurred when asked by reporters if a potential use of chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine would result in a US military response, saying US President Joe Biden does not intend to send the "US military to fight in Ukraine against Russia."

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow and spurred an exodus of global companies from Russia.

At least 516 civilians have been killed and 908 others injured in Ukraine, according to UN figures, with the real toll feared to be higher.

More than 2.1 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency./aa

Russia and Ukraine are having talks to sign a "comprehensive peace agreement," the Turkish foreign minister said on Thursday after a three-way meeting amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

"There are a lot of topics which Russia and Ukraine are discussing, including neutrality, and the signing of a comprehensive peace treaty is also on the table,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told a news conference in Antalya on Turkiye's Mediterranean coast following a meeting with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts.

He said the meeting was not held in an "easy environment" and "a miracle should not be expected from such meetings."

During the talks, Turkiye stressed that humanitarian corridors in Ukraine should be kept open without any obstacles, Cavusoglu said.

He pointed out that Russia and Ukraine have met for the first time at the ministerial level since the war started on Feb. 24.

The top diplomats also discussed a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, Cavusoglu said./aa

President Joe Biden blamed Vladimir Putin on Thursday for last month's record inflation in the US.

"Americans‘ budgets are being stretched by price increases and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin’s price hike," Biden said in a statement released by the White House. "A large contributor to inflation this month was an increase in gas and energy prices as markets reacted to Putin’s aggressive actions."

"As I have said from the start, there will be costs at home as we impose crippling sanctions in response to Putin’s unprovoked war, but Americans can know this: the costs we are imposing on Putin and his cronies are far more devastating than the costs we are facing," he added.

Annual consumer inflation in the US rose 7.9% in February, the largest 12-month increase since January 1982, according to the Labor Department.

On an annual basis, the indices for energy, gasoline, natural gas and electricity were up 25.6%, 38%, 23.8% and 9%, respectively.

Amid Russia's war in Ukraine, crude oil prices climbed to their highest level in almost 14 years earlier this week.

Biden noted that the US has agreed to the release of 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves last week in coordination with allies.

He also stressed that he will promote competition to make sure large US corporations offer American consumers a fair price./aa