Stories for July 2020

Thursday, July 23rd 2020 - 09:54 UTC
Chilean private pensions' funds divestment anticipates major political challenge for the Piñera administration

Chilean senators on Wednesday voted to approve a controversial bill that allows citizens to withdraw 10% of their pension savings to help ease the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Thursday, July 23rd 2020 - 09:47 UTC
Pompeo confided to UK lawmakers that China had “bought” the head of WHO post

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo told a group of British lawmakers that China had “bought” the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), according to reports in the British media and news agencies.
Thursday, July 23rd 2020 - 09:38 UTC
Covid-19 deaths and infections in Texas force the contracting of refrigerated trucks to store bodies

Texas on Wednesday set one-day records for increases in COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations in the state, forcing one county to store bodies in refrigerated trucks and prompting a top health official there to call for new stay-at-home orders.
Thursday, July 23rd 2020 - 09:37 UTC
Argentina joins Pacific coastal nations to combat IUU fishing

Argentine specialized media is reporting that OPRA, a regional cooperation agreement, Organization for the Protection of Fisheries Resources in the South Atlantic has signed an accord with their Pacific counterpart, Calamasur, which is a Committee for the Sustainable Management of the giant squid in the South Pacific.
Thursday, July 23rd 2020 - 09:03 UTC
Brazil with new daily record of virus cases: 1,284 deaths and 67,860 infections

Brazil recorded a new daily record of coronavirus cases on Wednesday with nearly 68,000 infections, a sign COVID-19 is still far from being brought under control in the hard-hit country.
Thursday, July 23rd 2020 - 08:51 UTC
Beijing warns UK granting British citizenship to Hong Kong residents violates international law

A new British policy allowing Hong Kong residents to claim British citizenship is a violation of international law and interferes with China's internal affairs, China's embassy in London said on Thursday.
Thursday, July 23rd 2020 - 08:23 UTC
Chinese spy involved in visa fraud, holed up in the consulate in San Francisco, FBI claims

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) believes that a Chinese researcher, accused of visa fraud for hiding her affiliation with the Chinese military, has been holed up in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco for a month, according to court filings.
Thursday, July 23rd 2020 - 08:11 UTC
WHO cautions that despite good progress in developing Covid-19 vaccines, first use is still far, early 2021

Researchers are making “good progress” in developing vaccines against COVID-19, with a handful in late-stage trials, but their first use cannot be expected until early 2021, a World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on Wednesday.
Thursday, July 23rd 2020 - 07:47 UTC
Germany introduces strict measures in staff contracting for industrial abattoirs

Germany is introducing a new law compelling meatpackers to employ staff directly in industrial abattoirs rather than sub-contracting to avert further coronavirus outbreaks exacerbated by poor working conditions, a draft law showed on Wednesday.
Thursday, July 23rd 2020 - 07:34 UTC
Scientists confirm active methane seep from Antarctica's seabed

Scientists have discovered an active methane seep from Antarctica's sea bed that could shed light on the potent greenhouse gas trapped beneath frozen continent. Marine ecologist Andrew Thurber first glimpsed what a colleague described as a “microbial waterfall” during a dive in the icy waters of the Ross Sea in 2012.