Stories for January 18th 2018

Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 20:23 UTC
EU sanctions against Venezuelan officials

Among the sanctioned are the number two of the government, Diosdado Cabello; Néstor Reverol, minister of Justice and Maikel Moreno, president of the Supreme Court of Justice. These are new individual sanctions, which include the freezing of assets and the prohibition to travel to the countries of the European bloc to at least seven senior Venezuelan officials.
Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 10:23 UTC
Francis calls on Mapuches to shun violence, which “turns a most just cause into a lie”

Pope Francis urged Chile’s indigenous Mapuche people on Wednesday to shun violence, saying unity was the best weapon against “the deforestation of hope,” as they struggle to defend their culture and reclaim ancestral lands.
Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 09:48 UTC
Juncker renews offer to UK to stay in EU; Brexit is a catastrophe and “the blame is on many”

The European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker renewed an offer to Britain on Wednesday to stay in the European Union and said he hoped that even if it goes through with Brexit it would apply to rejoin the bloc.
Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 09:44 UTC
China and Japan slow down purchase of US Treasury securities

China cuts its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities in November 2017 after adding US$ 8.4bn in October. China's holdings of U.S. treasuries dropped by US$ 12.6bn to US$ 1.1766 trillion in November last year. China remained the largest holder of U.S. treasuries.
Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 09:39 UTC
Merkel stands firm in the terms agreed for the coalition with Social Democrats

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on Wednesday ruled out further political concessions in the preliminary coalition agreement between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU) and German Social Democrats (SPD).
Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 09:36 UTC
Brazil willing to admit US ethanol, if US opens market to fresh beef exports

Brazil is studying the removal of a 20% tariff on ethanol imports from the United States, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Wednesday, in a decision that could depend on Washington lifting a ban on fresh beef exports from Brazil. Last year, Brazil imposed a 20% tax on ethanol imported from the U.S. that exceeds a 600 million liter annual quota to protect local producers as imports spiked.
Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 09:32 UTC
Brigitte Bardot calls the MeToo movement “hypocritical and ridiculous”

French film legend Brigitte Bardot attacked the #MeToo movement on Wednesday, claiming that actresses who complain of sexual harassment were just looking for publicity. “The vast majority are being hypocritical and ridiculous,” she told the French magazine Paris Match.
Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 09:28 UTC
Lula followers anticipate “killings” if the ex president is banned from running

Brazilian Senator and president of the Workers Party, PT, Gleisi Hoffmann said that jailing ex president Lula da Silva, indicted on corruption charges, once the final ruling is known will mean “killing many people”.
Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 09:25 UTC
Apple will pay US$ 38bn in tax following recent changes to US fiscal rules

Apple will pay about US$38bn in tax on the roughly US$ 250bn cash pile it holds outside the US following recent changes to American tax rules. The sum is expected to be the biggest payment under the reforms, which slash the US corporate tax rate.
Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 09:21 UTC
Advanced research shows how cancer cells interfere with DNA genetic instructions

“Incredible” images of DNA in action have been captured by scientists who will use them to design cancer drugs. Researcher Dr Alessandro Vannini said the pictures were “beautiful” and in artistic comparisons were “definitely a Van Gogh”, since they capture a fundamental part of all plant and animal life, called RNA polymerase III, reading the genetic instructions contained in DNA. It is a process that gets hijacked by cancer.