Stories for September 2019

Friday, September 13th 2019 - 07:07 UTC
UK names preferred bidder for Type 31 frigates: first one should be delivered in 2023

The race to design and build a new generation of Royal Navy frigates has been won by engineering firm Babcock. It has been named preferred bidder for the £1.25bn contract for five Type 31 warships. The deal secures hundreds of jobs at Rosyth in Fife, where the ships will be assembled, with construction work expected to be spread between yards across the UK.
Thursday, September 12th 2019 - 22:37 UTC
US unearths cold war inter-American defense treaty to warn Venezuela's military and political threats

The government of Venezuela has denounced the US invocation of a Cold War-era mutual defense treaty on behalf of the opposition in Caracas, a move which clears the way for military intervention in the Latin American country.
Thursday, September 12th 2019 - 19:34 UTC
US Supreme Court rules in favor of Trump's asylum policy for immigrants at US/Mexico border

The US Supreme Court granted a request by President Donald Trump's administration to fully enforce a new rule that would curtail asylum applications by immigrants at the US-Mexico border, a key element of his hardline immigration policies.
Thursday, September 12th 2019 - 19:31 UTC
US and Beijing agree a brief “cease fire” on 70th anniversary of “red” China

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States has agreed to delay increasing tariffs on US$250 billion worth of Chinese imports from Oct 1 to Oct 15 “as a gesture of goodwill.”
Thursday, September 12th 2019 - 19:28 UTC
Scientists reveal discovery of exoplanet with Earth-like temperatures and water

Water has been discovered for the first time in the atmosphere of an exoplanet with Earth-like temperatures that could support life as we know it, scientists revealed on Wednesday. Eight times the mass of Earth and twice as big, K2-18b orbits in its star's “habitable zone” at a distance - neither too far nor too close - where water can exist in liquid form, they reported in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Thursday, September 12th 2019 - 19:20 UTC
China to tap strategic frozen reserves to help contain pork prices

China is considering tapping into its strategic frozen reserves of meat, its top economic planner said on Wednesday, as it grapples with a swine fever outbreak that has ripped through its massive pig-farming industry.
Thursday, September 12th 2019 - 19:00 UTC
Mexico to apply sales tax on Netflix, Apple, Spotfy, Amazon Prime

A Mexican sales tax on foreign digital businesses providing audio or visual services could generate tax revenue of about 3.6 billion pesos (US$ 185 million) a year, a senior lawmaker in Mexico’s ruling party said on Tuesday.
Thursday, September 12th 2019 - 18:56 UTC
The Mexican Treasury to the rescue of debt-laden oil company Pemex

Mexico's US$5 billion rescue package to pay down debt at Pemex is a one-of-a-kind transaction that should give the struggling state oil company breathing space to focus on output and costs, Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio said.
Thursday, September 12th 2019 - 18:40 UTC
“Operation Yellowhammer” released: what can be expected in a “no deal” Brexit

A 'no-deal' Brexit could snarl cross-Channel trade routes, disrupting supplies of medicines and fresh food while protests spread across Britain, according to a worst-case scenario reluctantly released by the government on Wednesday.
Thursday, September 12th 2019 - 15:46 UTC
Thousands camping in downtown Buenos Aires waiting for Congress to pass the food emergency bill

Thousands of protesters camped on Wednesday in downtown Buenos Aires to demand that Argentina declare a food emergency as the economic crisis deepened just weeks ahead of the presidential election.