Stories for March 6th 2019

Wednesday, March 6th 2019 - 10:30 UTC
Guaido talks to public sector unions to stage strikes and held bring down Maduro

Opposition leader Juan Guaido held talks with Venezuela’s public sector unions on Tuesday about staging strikes to help bring down the government, as President Nicolas Maduro said a “crazed minority” bent on destabilizing the country would be defeated.
Wednesday, March 6th 2019 - 10:15 UTC
Colombia to begin oil exploration offshore in the Caribbean

Colombia and its state-run oil company, Ecopetrol, announced they have signed an offshore exploration and production deal for a nearly 400,000-hectare (988,000-acre) bloc in the Caribbean, the country's first new oil and gas contract in more than four years.
Wednesday, March 6th 2019 - 09:43 UTC
Japanese awarded the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honor

Japanese architect Arata Isozaki has been awarded the Pritzker Prize, considered architecture's highest honor, for a lifetime of work that found global resonance while mining local traditions.
Wednesday, March 6th 2019 - 09:26 UTC
Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are the world's wealthiest persons

Jeff Bezos remains the world's richest person, ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, according to the latest Forbes list of the ultra wealthy, while far behind President Donald Trump jumped 51 spots in the ranking.
Wednesday, March 6th 2019 - 09:20 UTC
Theresa May's “Stronger Towns Fund” described by Labour as “Brexit bribery”

British Prime Minister Theresa May will on Monday, March 11 set out plans for a £1.6 billion (US$2.11 billion) fund to help to boost economic growth in Brexit-supporting communities with ministers denying it was a bribe to win support for her EU exit deal.
Wednesday, March 6th 2019 - 09:00 UTC
Northern Ireland warns of “grave” consequences of a no-deal Brexit

Northern Ireland's chief civil servant has warned a no-deal Brexit could have “grave” consequences for the region. In a letter to Stormont's political parties, David Sterling comes close to suggesting there may have to be some hardening of the Irish border.
Wednesday, March 6th 2019 - 08:44 UTC
S&P slashes credit rating of several leading Mexican companies including national oil Pemex

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) slashed the credit rating for Mexico’s national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, piling more pressure on the government to tighten up the debt-laden oil firm’s finances.
Wednesday, March 6th 2019 - 08:26 UTC
Brazil posts a fiscal surplus in January, but public finances remain fragile

The Brazilian government posted a fiscal surplus of 46.9 billion reais (US$ 12.5 billion) in January, the central bank said, above forecasts but unchanged from a year earlier. In Brazil, January is traditionally marked by higher tax revenues and lighter spending, so these figures do not change the fragile outlook for public finances, analysts said.
Wednesday, March 6th 2019 - 08:20 UTC
China's National Congress told the economy faces a “tough struggle ahead”

China's number two leader Li Keqiang has warned the country faces “a tough struggle,” as he laid out plans to prop up the world's second-largest economy. Opening the annual session of China's parliament, he forecast a slower growth of 6% - 6.5% this year, down from a target of around 6.5% in 2018.
Wednesday, March 6th 2019 - 08:20 UTC
Cruise industry catering specifically for Chinese market with the delivery of “Costa Venezia”

The Italian brand of Carnival Corporation & plc, this week officially took delivery of Costa Venezia, its first ship designed specifically to offer the best of Italy to the Chinese market. Costa Venezia is part of an expansion plan that includes a total of seven ships being delivered to the Costa Group by 2023.