Stories for 2020

Friday, February 7th 2020 - 09:46 UTC
China halves punitive tariffs on US$ 75 billion of US imports next week

China said on Thursday it will halve punitive tariffs on US$75 billion in US imports from Feb 14, a month after Beijing and Washington signed a truce in their long-running trade war.
Friday, February 7th 2020 - 09:45 UTC
UK expanding fisheries protection to police territorial waters in a no-Brexit trade-deal scenario

The British government is hiring additional ships for the Royal Navy amid growing Brexit tensions - with reports as many as 24 extra boats could be drafted into service. The Times reports that “Ministers are getting ready to triple the number of boats in Britain’s fisheries protection squadron to police territorial waters in the event of a no-trade-deal Brexit”.
Friday, February 7th 2020 - 09:40 UTC
Bumblebees essential for pollinating, suffer drastic declines in North America

When scientist Peter Soroye first saw the figures showing estimated bumblebee populations in North America had fallen by nearly 50% in a single generation, he thought it must be a typo. He checked the numbers - the result of a long-term analysis of bumblebee populations published in the journal Science on Thursday, seven times to be sure they were accurate.
Friday, February 7th 2020 - 09:39 UTC
Fishing subsidies battle at WTO speared by the US

The United States said on Thursday it was pushing hard for the World Trade Organization to reach agreement on cutting fishing subsidies in coming months and viewed those talks as a test of whether the global body can still achieve multilateral deals.
Friday, February 7th 2020 - 09:37 UTC
Brazil approves quarantine rules for nationals returning from China

Brazil's lower house of Congress late approved a bill laying out rules for the quarantine of Brazilian nationals returning from China who may be infected with coronavirus, as well as other measures to combat the disease. The measures will be in force as long as the public health emergency declared by the World Health Organization is in place.
Friday, February 7th 2020 - 09:35 UTC
Brazil's development bank BNDES sells shares in Petrobras

Brazil's development bank BNDES sold US$5.2 billion in common shares it owned in state-controlled oil company Petrobras. The company priced the offering at 30 Reais per common share, a discount of 1.57% relative to Wednesday's closing price. BNDES sold 22 billion reais in shares.
Friday, February 7th 2020 - 09:35 UTC
Brazilian higher court for labor rules in favor of Uber: no employment relation between the company and drivers

A Brazilian higher court for labour ruled this week that there was no employment relationship between Uber and its drivers, siding with the ride-hailing company against a Sao Paulo driver. The federal judge in Brasilia ruled against recognizing an employer-employee link, arguing that Uber drivers can disconnect at any time from the app and have a flexible work schedule.
Friday, February 7th 2020 - 09:14 UTC
“Repentant” Popeye, Colombian Escobar's most notorious hit man dies at age 57

Pablo Escobar’s most notorious hit man, known by the nickname Popeye, died on Thursday at age 57 after a life of crime he celebrated on YouTube, Colombia’s prison authorities said.
Friday, February 7th 2020 - 09:01 UTC
Christina Koch shatters spaceflight record for female astronauts with eleven months in the Space Station

NASA's Christina Koch returned to Earth safely on Thursday after shattering the spaceflight record for female astronauts with a stay of almost 11 months aboard the International Space Station. Koch touched down at 0912 GMT on the Kazakh steppe after 328 days in space, along with Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency.
Friday, February 7th 2020 - 08:54 UTC
Chinese doctor who warned about coronavirus and reprimanded for “spreading rumors” has died of the infection

A Chinese doctor who was among the first to warn publicly about the new coronavirus outbreak - and was reprimanded by authorities for “spreading rumours” - died of the infection early on Friday, his hospital announced.