Stories for August 3rd 2019

Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 20:47 UTC
Amazon deforestation: Bolsonaro ready to sack official who exposed him

The head of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research said on Friday he was going to be sacked following a row with President Jair Bolsonaro over deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 20:31 UTC
Fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid painkiller poisoning US/China relations

President Donald Trump has repeatedly hit out at China for failing to curb the export of illegal fentanyl to the United States. The powerful painkiller is the primary synthetic opioid available in the US, a class of drug that was responsible for almost 32,000 overdose deaths last year.
Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 19:57 UTC
Record price for rare Assam tea: 2 kg of Maijan Orthodox Golden sold for US$ 2.035

A rare Assam tea has sold for a world record price at auction in India, highlighting a boom for speciality teas while the industry as a whole is in crisis. A 2kg lot of Maijan Orthodox Golden tea sold for 141,002 rupees (US$2,035) last Wednesday.
Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 19:40 UTC
The myth of the Mexican caballero defender of the downtrodden turns 100

Aug 9, 1919, US writer Johnston McCulley released a story titled The Curse Of Capistrano in a Californian pulp magazine – in it was a masked and caped character named Zorro. In conceiving the sword-wielding defender of the downtrodden, McCulley set the stage for a whole century of superheroes.
Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 18:07 UTC
Bolsonaro's haircut a coarse gesture from Brazil to France's FM

Brazil's authorities maintained Friday President Jair Bolsonaro's haircut was not the reason for leaving France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in the lurch and argued it was all a matter of agenda.
Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 17:07 UTC
Bulgaria's Kristalina Georgieva, EU's candidate for IMF chief

Known for rolling up her sleeves, Bulgaria's Kristalina Georgieva has been lauded as the life of the party, as well as for her tenacity. The guitar-playing environmental specialist, who was nominated on Friday as the EU's candidate to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 12:42 UTC
Illegal coca plantations in Colombia down slightly in 2018, but still the world's biggest producer

Illegal coca plantations in Colombia reduced slightly in 2018 but the country remains the world's biggest producer of the primary ingredient in cocaine production, the United Nations said on Friday.
Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 12:19 UTC
Ross and Bolton will attend Lima Group meeting to discuss Venezuela

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will attend a summit in Lima, Peru to discuss Venezuela on Tuesday, the US Commerce Department said. US national security adviser John Bolton has also confirmed attendance, two sources in Peru's foreign ministry said on Friday.
Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 12:00 UTC
Venezuela and opposition continue talks in Barbados, Norwegian minister reveals

The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition are continuing talks in Barbados to try to find ways to resolve the Latin American country's political crisis, the Foreign Ministry of mediator Norway said on Friday.
Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 11:54 UTC
Trump calls Hong Kong unrest “riots” and suggests it's an issue between HK and Beijing

President Donald Trump has labelled recent protests in Hong Kong as “riots”, adopting the language used by Chinese authorities and suggesting that the United States would stay out of an issue that was “between Hong Kong and China”.