Stories for 2019

Wednesday, January 9th 2019 - 08:30 UTC
Government shutdown persists as Trump and Democrats clash over US/Mexican border wall funding

United States president Donald Trump has demanded funding for his long-promised US-Mexico border wall to halt “a growing humanitarian and security crisis”. But in his first TV address to the nation from the Oval Office, Mr Trump did not declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and build the barrier.
Wednesday, January 9th 2019 - 08:26 UTC
EU claims Trump administration has downgraded the block's diplomatic status

EU says the US government has changed the bloc's diplomatic status in Washington, in practice downgrading it. The Trump administration did not notify the EU about the change. The EU has asked the US to explain the move, EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic says.
Wednesday, January 9th 2019 - 08:09 UTC
Ocean Cruises orders two new Allura class ships: €575 million per ship

Oceania Cruises has announced an order for two new ships from Fincantieri. The ships will be delivered in 2022 and 2025. The two 67,000 gross ton Allura-Class ships will each accommodate approximately 1,200 guests.
Wednesday, January 9th 2019 - 08:07 UTC
London City airport with record of annual passengers last year

London City has published its official passenger figures for 2018, showing the number of travellers passing through the airport last year totalled a record-breaking 4,800,190.
Wednesday, January 9th 2019 - 07:00 UTC
Volatile cruise market: regular lines with rebates of up to 19%, but premiums can be 60% higher

Good news: prices for many cruises in January 2019 are significantly lower than they were a year ago. However, there are major differences by cruise line. While the analysis found that the average cruise price per day actually increased by around 3% – from US$ 397 to US$ 407 per person per night – it also showed substantial price discounts for certain cruise lines.
Tuesday, January 8th 2019 - 10:11 UTC
Financial sector leading firms plan to launch an equities exchange: “Members Exchange”

A group of nine leading retail broker-dealers, banks, financial services firms, and global market makers, have agreed to launch an equities exchange, MEMX, or Members Exchange. The new exchange will be owned entirely by its founding members and will seek to deliver benefits to retail and institutional investors by introducing greater competition to the marketplace. MEMX will file an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission in early 2019 for approval to operate as a national securities exchange.
Tuesday, January 8th 2019 - 09:28 UTC
Brazilian government and Petrobras in dispute over billions of dollars

Brazil’s Economy Ministry denied that the government would pay US$ 14 billion to state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA to settle a dispute over an oil-producing zone off the Brazilian coast known as the transfer-of-rights area.
Tuesday, January 8th 2019 - 09:25 UTC
US taxpayers will receive refunds, pledges Trump despite government shutdown

Millions of US taxpayers will still receive refunds despite an ongoing partial government shutdown, the White House has said. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has previously delayed tax refunds during a government shutdown.
Tuesday, January 8th 2019 - 09:21 UTC
France plans hooligan-type legislation to crackdown “yellow vest” violent protests

France plans to introduce legislation to toughen sanctions on undeclared protests in response to violent “yellow-vest” demonstrations, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Monday in a hardening of the government’s stance on the unrest.
Tuesday, January 8th 2019 - 09:15 UTC
Magellanic penguins: among the most faithful couples in animal kingdom

Mark Waghorn, writing for The London Economic, and based on a paper on Magellanic penguins published in the January edition of Current Biology, gives us access to some fascinating facts about this breed which is most common along the Atlantic Patagonia coast and the Falkland Islands.