International

• Sunday, August 26th 2018 - 01:26 UTC

  Central banks reviewing “phasing out cash” because of IT failures, hacking and alienation

  

  Europe’s central bankers are warning that a gradual phase-out of cash in many countries poses a serious threat to the financial system, as relying too heavily on digital payment systems exposes them to catastrophic failures in the event of cyber attacks.

• Friday, August 24th 2018 - 08:55 UTC

  Uruguay players support FIFA's decision to take temporary control of AUF

  

  Several Uruguayan international players used their social media channels to share a letter in support to FIFA's decision to take temporary control of the country's soccer federation because of governance concerns. The letter, tweeted out by team stars such as Luis Suarez and Diego Godin, says it would bring “transparency, democracy and plurality” to the federation, known as the AUF.

• Friday, August 24th 2018 - 08:32 UTC

  African swine fever in China: fourth outbreak in a 2.000kms radius in three weeks

  

  China which is home to the world’s largest pig herd, reported its fourth outbreak of the deadly African swine fever on Thursday, with more than 400 pigs infected as the disease entered a fourth province, fanning worries about its rapid spread. The infection killed 340 hogs on three farms in the coastal city of Wenzhou in eastern Zhejiang province, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 09:02 UTC

  Labour leader Corbyn to propose tax on tech giants to pay for public interest journalism

  

  A windfall tax could be levied on tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Facebook to pay for public interest journalism, Jeremy Corbyn is expected to announce. The Labour leader will call for radical reform of the media landscape in a speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 08:40 UTC

  Scotland urges London to rule out a “deeply damaging and disruptive” no deal Brexit

  

  Scotland's Brexit secretary has urged the UK government to rule out a “no deal Brexit”, arguing that it would be “deeply damaging and disruptive”. Michael Russell was speaking ahead of a major speech by his UK government counterpart Dominic Raab.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 08:33 UTC

  First container vessel attempting the melting Arctic sea route north of Russia

  

  Danish vessel setting sail from Vladivostok this week is set to become the first container ship to tackle the Arctic sea route north of Russia. The Venta Maersk, owned by Maersk Line, and carrying 3,600 containers, hopes to reach St Petersburg by late September. That could be up to 14 days faster than the southern route via the Suez Canal.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 08:21 UTC

  Despite trade talks, US and China will impose fresh tariffs beginning Thursday

  

  United States and China are expected to impose fresh tariffs on US$ 16bn of each other's goods on Thursday as their tit-for-tat trade war rages on. The second round of tariffs will see a total of US$ 50bn worth of goods from each side that will now be taxed. Since the opening salvo in July, tensions between the world's two largest economies have escalated, hurting their companies and economies.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 06:44 UTC

  FIFA taking temporary control of the Uruguayan Football Association

  

  World football’s governing body FIFA is taking temporary control of the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) due to governance concerns. FIFA, acting on information from Conmebol, South America's football association confederation announced it will set up a “normalization committee” to run the AUF until Feb. 28 of next year.

• Wednesday, August 22nd 2018 - 08:59 UTC

  Jeremy Corbyn’s blunder may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back

  

  It sounds like a tempest in a teapot, but it could bring down Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain’s Labour Party — and that could end up meaning that Britain doesn’t leave the European Union after all.

• Wednesday, August 22nd 2018 - 08:49 UTC

  Oil price war to begin: Saudi Arabia and Iran reignites the market

  

  The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran is becoming increasingly evident in the oil pricing policies of the two large Middle Eastern producers. The two countries are currently reigniting the market share and pricing war ahead of the returning U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil.