Stories for July 20th 2019

Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 18:05 UTC
Buzz Aldrin, second human to walk on the moon, tells Trump he is disappointed with current lunar agenda

When President Donald Trump asked Buzz Aldrin, the second human ever to walk on the moon, what he thought about the United States' current ability to operate in space 50 years after the Apollo 11 mission, the ex-astronaut had a ready response.
Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 18:02 UTC
Iran Guards seize British flagged tanker; foreign secretary Hunt warns of serious consequences

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz for breaking “international maritime rules” as tensions mount in the highly sensitive waterway.
Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 11:43 UTC
Pompeo in Buenos Aires at counter-terrorism summit offers US$ 7 million for info on Hezbollah leader

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed on Friday in Argentina that the United States has imposed financial sanctions against a Hezbollah militant group leader suspected of directing a deadly bombing in 1994 of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and injured hundreds.
Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 09:52 UTC
Bolsonaro again denies Amazon deforestation and says Brazilian official data “I'm convinced, is a lie”

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday accused the state body responsible for tracking deforestation levels of disclosing false data, after preliminary numbers showed a dramatic rise in July.
Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 09:50 UTC
Strong contraction of Uruguay's economy: GDP forecasted to grow 0.6% this year

Uruguay's Economy minister admitted on Friday that the country will end 2019 with a “very modest growth”, in the range of 0.6%, but was confident the economy would pick up in 2020 when the construction of a new pulp mill, with an investment of at least two billion dollars, is scheduled to start.
Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 09:40 UTC
US sanctions four Venezuela military officers for torturing to death a navy captain

The United States on Friday stepped up its response following the death of a Venezuelan navy captain, sanctioning four top officials in Venezuela's military counterintelligence agency, the US Treasury Department said.
Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 08:30 UTC
Meeting in Buenos Aires of the Scientific Sub Committee of the South Atlantic Fisheries Commission

The elected government of the Falkland Islands reported on Friday that the Scientific Sub Committee of the South Atlantic Fisheries Commission met in Buenos Aires on 17 and 18 July 2019. The SAFC was first established in 1990 and this was the third meeting to take place since the reestablishment of regular meetings in 2018.
Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 08:11 UTC
UK Full-blown recession in a no deal exit from the EU?

Britain might be entering a full-blown recession that a no-deal exit from the European Union would compound, blowing a 30 billion-pound hole in the public finances, a budget watchdog said. The Office for Budget Responsibility said the economy probably flat-lined or might have contracted in the second quarter.
Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 07:59 UTC
One of the great contemporary architects, Argentine Cesar Pelli dies at 92

César Pelli, the Argentine designer behind the iconic Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia, has died aged 92, state media and officials said on Friday, marking the passing of one of the contemporary architectural greats.
Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 07:47 UTC
Bolsonaro denies hunger in Brazil; FAO says 5.1 million are “undernourished”

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday there was no hunger in the country, citing the lack of “poor people in the street with a skeletal physique” as evidence. Speaking to foreign journalists, Bolsonaro blamed “populists” for propagating “a big lie” that some of Brazil's 209 million people did not have enough to eat.