Stories for 2020

Thursday, March 12th 2020 - 07:35 UTC
Coronavirus: Bank of England cuts interest rate 50 basis points to 0.25%

The Bank of England (BOE), the UK's central bank, cut interest rates by 0.5 percentage points on Wednesday morning as part of an emergency response to the coronavirus, or COVID-19.
Thursday, March 12th 2020 - 07:31 UTC
Brazilian lawmaker sponsors bill to punish corrupt politicians with amputation of both hands

A lawmaker who says Brazil is not doing enough to fight rampant political corruption put forward a bill on Tuesday that would punish any politician convicted of the graft with amputation of both hands.
Thursday, March 12th 2020 - 07:15 UTC
NBA suspends all matches following on Rudy Gobert testing Covid 19 positive

The National Basketball Association has announced that it will suspend all games after Wednesday night until further notice, following a player on the Utah Jazz testing positive for COVID-19. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in response to the coronavirus pandemic,” the association said in a statement.
Wednesday, March 11th 2020 - 10:09 UTC
Paraguay reports that five cases have tested positive to Covid-19, and 25 are under quarantine

Paraguay confirmed that five cases have tested positive to Covid-19, and announced it was closing all schools and universities, public and private, and suspending all public and private activities that involve crowding people, for the next fifteen days.
Wednesday, March 11th 2020 - 10:00 UTC
Falklands updates its Travel Advisory concerning COVID-19

The Government of the Falklands updated its advice on travelling to the Islands, in response to a further change in the global COVID-19 situation. The Italian Government this week announced emergency measures across the entire country in response to the virus.
Wednesday, March 11th 2020 - 09:11 UTC
Uruguay abandons Unasur and rejoins the TIAR reciprocal assistance treaty

The Uruguayan government announced on Tuesday that it was withdrawing from the Union of South American Nations, Unasur and returning to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, TIAR.
Wednesday, March 11th 2020 - 08:55 UTC
Brazil downplays the threat of coronavirus: “it is overstated”

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro minimized the threat of the new coronavirus - which has killed nearly 4,000 people in more than 60 countries and tanked global financial markets, saying its destructive power has been “overstated”.
Wednesday, March 11th 2020 - 08:50 UTC
Venezuelan riot police break up an opposition led demonstration in Caracas

Venezuelan riot police fired tear gas on Tuesday to break up a demonstration in Caracas called by opposition leader Juan Guaido as he seeks to ramp up demands for elections to replace populist President Nicolas Maduro.
Wednesday, March 11th 2020 - 08:49 UTC
Oil prices with slight recovery on Tuesday but market volatility remains

Oil, which plunged about 25% on Monday, rebounded on Tuesday along with equities and other financial markets. Brent futures rose US$2.69, or 7.8%, to US$37.05 a barrel by 2:24 p.m. EDT (1824 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose US$2.73, or 8.8 percent, to US$33.86.
Wednesday, March 11th 2020 - 08:46 UTC
Bolsonaro promotes a demonstration criticized by the Legislative and Judiciary

Brazil's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro called on his backers to take to the streets next weekend to show their support for him, even as critics said such a demonstration would be anti-democratic.