International

Thursday, October 18th 2018 - 08:31 UTC
Beware of Chinese manufactured vaccines: this time human rabies

A Chinese vaccination firm has been fined US$ 1.3bn after it was found to have illegally produced the human rabies vaccine. Changchun Changsheng had blended different batches of vaccine fluid and used expired fluid to produce some of the batches, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Thursday, October 18th 2018 - 08:30 UTC
Tasmania “fairy” penguins mauled to death by dogs

Australian Wildlife officials are investigating a suspected dog attack in Tasmania, after 58 penguins were found mauled to death. A member of the public alerted rangers to the dozens of penguin bodies strewn across a beach on the north coast of Australia's island state.
Thursday, October 18th 2018 - 08:24 UTC
Despite grumblings, US refrains from labeling China a “currency manipulator”

United States has refrained from labeling China a “currency manipulator” in a move which may help defuse escalating tension over trade between the two countries. President Trump has previously accused China of keeping its currency weak to make its exports more competitive.
Thursday, October 18th 2018 - 08:13 UTC
Left hand fingers' test and a propensity to be lesbian

Women whose left index and ring fingers are different lengths are more likely to be lesbians, a study suggests. Scientists measured the fingers of 18 pairs of female identical twins, where one was straight and the other gay.
Thursday, October 18th 2018 - 08:12 UTC
US targets China on international rates for parcels sent by post service

The United States has announced plans to withdraw from a 144-year-old postal treaty, which the White House says lets China ship goods at unfairly low prices. The United Nations treaty sets lower international rates for packages from certain countries, a move originally designed to support poorer nations.
Thursday, October 18th 2018 - 07:04 UTC
Brussels No deal: Brexit transition could be extended full year? Brexiteers furious

Brexit-backing MPs have reacted angrily to the idea that the United Kingdom's transition out of the European Union could be extended for another year, to the end of 2021. Downing Street refused to rule out an extension after a Wednesday summit of EU leaders in Brussels failed to make progress.
Wednesday, October 17th 2018 - 11:41 UTC
Women allowed in for first time as Iran defeat Bolivia in football friendly

The friendly football match between Iran and Bolivia Wednesday in Tehran marked the first time women were allowed to attend a stadium since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The Iranian squad defeated Bolivia 2-1.
Wednesday, October 17th 2018 - 09:16 UTC
Germany urges responsibility on Brexit ahead of European Council summit

Germany has urged UK's Theresa May to “take responsibility” for Brexit, as a crunch summit approaches with no sign of any breakthrough in negotiations. The Prime Minister was briefing senior ministers in an extended session of Cabinet ahead of Wednesday’s European Council meeting at which it had initially been hoped to conclude the UK’s withdrawal deal.
Wednesday, October 17th 2018 - 09:04 UTC
Global streaming shock: over an hour outage of YouTube

YouTube, the second most visited website in the world, had experienced an outage across its various platforms on Tuesday night for more than an hour. The Google-owned streaming site took to Twitter to thank users for “your reports about YouTube, YouTube TV and YouTube Music access issues.”
Wednesday, October 17th 2018 - 08:52 UTC
Another headache for the EU: Italy and its populist budget

Italy's government on Tuesday pushed the country closer to a showdown with the European Union after submitting its latest budget for review. The budget proposes increases both Italy's overall government debt and its deficit in the short run pushing the deficit as high as 2.4% of GDP over the coming years. This means Italy will fall foul of a previously mandated maximum deficit level of 0.8% of GDP.