Stories for June 2018

Thursday, June 14th 2018 - 21:49 UTC
Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada fined in Brazil for rigging foreign exchange rates

Brazil’s competition authority Cade has reached a settlement with Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada, fining them a combined 42.9 million reals (US$11.6 million) for forming a cartel manipulate FX markets.
Thursday, June 14th 2018 - 21:23 UTC
Legal abortion bill in Argentina faces an even steeper up hill in the Senate

The lower house of Argentina’s Congress on Thursday narrowly passed a Bill to legalise abortion through 14 weeks of pregnancy after a tight vote on a proposal that has divided the South American nation.
Thursday, June 14th 2018 - 08:59 UTC
Pompeo sets terms of Trump/Kim accord: no lifting of sanctions until complete denuclearization

North Korea will not see any economic sanctions lifted until it has demonstrated “complete denuclearisation”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said. Pompeo was speaking at a press conference in Seoul with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts.
Thursday, June 14th 2018 - 08:54 UTC
UK inflation steady at 2.4% in May, but fuel prices are climbing fast

Inflation in the UK remained at 2.4% in May, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), after its fall was halted by a sharp rise in fuel costs. The ONS said that fuel prices increased by the biggest monthly amount since January 2011, rising by 3.8%.
Thursday, June 14th 2018 - 08:49 UTC
Sturgeon “proud” of MSPs: relation between Scottish and UK governments on Brexit, no longer “business as usual”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she is “proud” of SNP MSPs who staged a mass walkout of the House of Commons in a row over the EU Withdrawal Bill. The MPs acted after the party's leader at Westminster Ian Bralckford was thrown out of the chambler by the Speaker. The row was prompted by a “lack of debate” on what Mr Blackford said was a “power grab” by the UK government.
Thursday, June 14th 2018 - 08:23 UTC
Miami media says US$ 800 million in assets of Diosdado Cabello frozen in the US, but he flatly denies the version

The U.S. government has frozen about US$ 800 million in assets from senior Venezuelan leader Diosdado Cabello Miami journalist Oscar Haza reported Tuesday during his morning radio show on Miami’s Spanish-language Zeta 92.3.
Thursday, June 14th 2018 - 08:13 UTC
Fed raises basic rate to 2%; anticipates further increases amid strong economic growth

The US Federal Reserve raised the benchmark lending rate on Wednesday, the second increase of the year, and signaled it will be more aggressive about rate increases this year and next amid “strong” economic growth. The unanimous vote brings the federal funds rate to a range of 1.75 to 2%, but the quarterly economic forecasts show central bankers now expect the rate to end the year at 2.4% rather than the 2.1% projected in March.
Thursday, June 14th 2018 - 07:51 UTC
New conflict brewing with Brazilian truckers

Talks on new prices for truck freight in Brazil, following a nationwide truckers strike in May, have yet to be concluded and the lack of a deal is hurting goods transportation, Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said.
Thursday, June 14th 2018 - 07:24 UTC
Antarctica ice sheet melting faster than expected, adding 0.6mm to sea level every year

The Antarctic ice sheet has lost more than 2,500 billion tons of ice in the past 25 years and nearly half of that has happened since 2012. An international team of polar scientists found that melting in Antarctica has jumped sharply from an average of 76 billion tons per year prior to 2012, to around 219 billion tones each year between 2012 and 2017.
Thursday, June 14th 2018 - 07:01 UTC
Turmoil in the Spanish national team: coach fired

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) sacked head coach Julen Lopetegui two days before Spain’s opening match in the World Cup against Portugal. One day earlier Lopetegui agreed to succeed Zinedine Zidane as the new Real Madrid boss after the World Cup. This decision was made without the knowledge of RFEF.