Stories for August 2020

Tuesday, August 18th 2020 - 08:52 UTC
Peruvian economy contracts 18,06% in June year to year

Peru’s economy contracted 18.06% in June versus the same period a year earlier, the government of president Martin Vizcarra said on Sunday, the fourth straight month of contraction due to the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Tuesday, August 18th 2020 - 08:45 UTC
Brazilian congressional leader confident the tax reform will be approved this year

Brazil's lower house speaker Rodrigo Maia said on Monday he is convinced Congress will approve tax reform and that it should be done this year to avoid the debate from being influenced by the 2022 presidential election.
Tuesday, August 18th 2020 - 08:34 UTC
US opioid epidemic: US$ 2,2 trillion claim filed against Purdue Pharma and Sackler family

U.S. states claimed they are owed US$ 2.2 trillion to address harm from OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP’s alleged role in America’s opioid epidemic, accusing the drug-maker in new filings of pushing prescription painkillers on doctors and patients while playing down the risks of abuse and overdose.
Tuesday, August 18th 2020 - 08:33 UTC
Hottest temperature in at least a century on Sunday in Death Valley, Mojave Desert

One of the hottest air temperatures recorded anywhere on the planet in at least a century, and possibly ever, was reached on Sunday afternoon at Death Valley in California’s Mojave Desert where it soared to 130 Fahrenheit (54.4 Celsius).
Tuesday, August 18th 2020 - 08:20 UTC
Diageo adds Aviation American Gin to its gin portfolio, co-owned with actor Ryan Reynolds

Diageo (DGE.L) is paying up to US$ 610 million for Aviation American Gin, co-owned by Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, and a clutch of other spirits brands, adding to a gin portfolio which already includes Tanqueray and Gordon’s.
Tuesday, August 18th 2020 - 08:15 UTC
Belarus dictator facing widespread protests offers to hold new elections and hand over power

Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, said on Monday he would be ready to hold new elections and hand over power after a constitutional referendum, an attempt to pacify mass protests and strikes that pose the biggest challenge yet to his rule.
Tuesday, August 18th 2020 - 08:00 UTC
Paraguay had agreed in 1967 to receive 60,000 Palestinians from the West Bank

Israeli intelligence officials planned to transfer tens of thousands of Palestinians to Paraguay as part of a secret plan to tighten Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, according to newly discovered documents. A journalist from Israel’s state broadcaster, KAN, made the discovery in minutes of an Israeli cabinet meeting in 1969.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:57 UTC
Climate change could trigger epidemics: malaria, dengue, zika, smallpox and pathogens from Siberian permafrost

The COVID-19 pandemic that has swept the globe and claimed more than 760,000 lives so far almost certainly came from a wild bat, highlighting the danger of humanity's constant encroachment on the planet's dwindling wild spaces.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:56 UTC
Half of Brazilians think Bolsonaro has “no responsibility at all” for the 100,000 pandemic's dead

Almost half of Brazilians think President Jair Bolsonaro bears “no responsibility at all” for the country’s more than 100,000 dead from the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s second-highest death toll, according to a new Datafolha poll.
Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:54 UTC
Falklands' Conservation Zone management could be undermined by unregulated longlining

A recent study has found that unregulated longline fishing for Patagonian Toothfish immediately outside the 200-mile Falkland Islands Outer Conservation Zone (FOCZ) is likely to be having significant impacts on deepwater seabed vulnerable marine ecosystems compared to the low impacts observed in licensed longline fisheries within Falklands' waters.