Stories for January 22nd 2019

Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 10:13 UTC
Brazil plans to privatize airports and railways; Chinese investment would be “well received”

Brazil’s government will announce the privatization of southern airports, including Curitiba, in the second quarter of this year, according to Adalberto Vasconcelos, head of the PPI government program tasked with luring private investment in the country’s infrastructure.
Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 10:11 UTC
Brazilian government trying to recover control over its overloaded prison system

Police and soldiers are being deployed in large numbers to Brazil's northeast to fight a wave of gang violence fueled by the overloaded, collapsing prison system. More than 400 elite federal troops have been sent to the city of Fortaleza and the rest of Ceara state to reinforce overwhelmed local cops, who face a dramatic rash of attacks on government buildings, buses, police stations, banks and bridges by well-armed gang members.
Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 10:09 UTC
Brazilian 2019 coffee production forecasted to decline 11.5/18%

Brazilian food supply and statistics agency Conab has reported that Brazil’s coffee production is expected to decline in 2019 to between 50.48 and 54.48 million bags. Conab attributes the 11.5 to 18% drop from the 61.65 million bags the agency reported for the year prior to Brazil’s coffee plants recovering from an increased output in 2018, which is affecting Arabica in particular.
Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 10:06 UTC
Beware EU consumers: scheme to sell horse meat lasagna

Four people are going on trial in Paris over an alleged scheme that fed consumers across Europe frozen foods containing cheap horse meat fraudulently labelled as pricier beef.
Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 10:03 UTC
Escalating trade tensions and financial markets could undermine global growth, says IMF's latest report

The International Monetary Fund has warned that escalating trade tensions could undermine global economic growth. In a new report on the world economic outlook, the IMF also warns of risks from a no-deal Brexit. For the world economy, the IMF is now predicting growth of 3.5% in 2019. In October, it forecast 3.7%.
Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 09:59 UTC
French data regulator fines Google 50 million Euros for “lack of transparency”

Google has been fined 50 million Euros by the French data regulator CNIL, for a breach of the EU's data protection rules. CNIL said it had levied the record fine for “lack of transparency, inadequate information and lack of valid consent regarding ads personalisation”.
Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 09:56 UTC
Falkland Islands Government appoints new Head of Finance

The Falkland Islands Government announced the appointment of Debbie Ferriby as Head of Finance. Debbie is an experienced and qualified accountant, and is currently the Chief Finance Officer at Sure South Atlantic, based in Stanley.
Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 09:51 UTC
Cameron was warned about the referendum by EU leaders: “get real” over “this stupid referendum”

The European Council President Donald Tusk told David Cameron to “get real” over his “stupid referendum” before the 2016 Brexit vote, a BBC documentary reveals. Mr Tusk tells the three-part show that he warned the then prime minister there was no “appetite for revolution in Europe” and he “could lose everything”.
Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 09:45 UTC
Albatrosses ‘Bird-borne’ radar project to enhance UK Overseas Territories environment

Seventeen innovative new projects will receive UK Government funding through the Darwin Plus initiative, to help protect and enhance the environment in the UK Overseas Territories. The seventh round of funding under the initiative, worth around £3.75m, will be shared amongst 17 projects around the globe. The funding will support international nature and help to achieve many of the commitments in the UK Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.
Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 09:04 UTC
Australian firm will use revolutionary blockchain platform to track its toothfish

WWF-Australia and BCG Digital Ventures launched a revolutionary new digital platform that uses blockchain and other technologies to track food and products, and that will help people and business to avoid illegal, environmentally-damaging or unethical products.