Stories for August 31st 2019

Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 17:57 UTC
Brazil planning to privatize public TV and radio network

Brazil will add public TV and radio network Empresa Brasil de Comunicação to government-owned companies to be privatized, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 17:54 UTC
The “Amazon fires of uncertainty” in Argentina: can they get worse?

Argentina’s battered bonds were driven still lower on Friday after a credit rating cut from Standard & Poor’s triggered automatic selling mechanisms at big pension funds. Risk spreads blew out to levels not seen since 2005 while the local peso currency extended its year-to-date slide to 36%, forcing renewed central bank market intervention and intensifying worries about Argentina’s ability to honor its dollar-denominated debt.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 09:55 UTC
Brazil thanks Trump for being “on the same page” in the Amazon controversy: no foreign interference

Brazil and the United States believe the international community should have no say in confronting fires raging in the Amazon rainforest, Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said on Friday after meeting President Donald Trump.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 09:40 UTC
Colombia sends “clear message” to dissident FARC: in a raid nine narco-terrorists are killed

Colombian troops killed nine FARC dissidents in a raid on Friday in what the president said was “a clear message” to their leaders who have formally rejected a 2016 peace agreement and announced a return to arms. President Ivan Duque said he had authorized the military operation in rural areas of Colombia's south.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 09:26 UTC
Thousands of new fires ignited in the Amazon; Bolsonaro says Europe has nothing to teach Brazil on environment

President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that Europe has “nothing to teach” Brazil about preserving the environment, as data showed thousands of new fires were ignited on the first day of a ban on burning.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 09:20 UTC
Trump: US economic pressure helping Hong Kong protestors; steeper tariffs on Chinese goods “are on” as of this Sunday

US economic pressure on China was responsible for preventing the authorities from carrying out a harsher crackdown against demonstrators in Hong Kong, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 09:09 UTC
Bolsonaro bans the use of Bic pens because they are French

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday he will stop using disposable pens made by France's Bic to sign official documents, while a diplomatic spat continues over fires in the Amazon basin.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 08:55 UTC
Factory activity in China shrinks in August for the fourth month running

Factory activity in China shrank in August for the fourth month in a row, official data showed on Saturday, as the United States ramped up tariff pressure and domestic demand remained sluggish.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 08:50 UTC
Trump again blasts the Fed over inaction as the Euro slides against the dollar

United States President Donald Trump on Friday accused the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of inaction as the Euro slid in value against the dollar, something he said gave European countries a big trade advantage.