International

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 18:04 UTC

  Brazil risks losing its vote in UN if it doesn't pay US$ 113 million of its debt

  

  Brazil once again risks losing its vote at the United Nations if it doesn’t pay a portion of what it owes to the global organization, which is facing a growing cash crunch as the Covid-19 crisis puts pressure on budgets worldwide.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 14:54 UTC

  China will upgrade Argentina's railway system with a US$ 4,7bn contract

  

  Rail companies from China have signed agreements worth US$ 4.7bn with the government of Argentina, aimed at improving the country’s rail system.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 12:26 UTC

  Mercosur ready to address EU environmental concerns that have stalled trade deal

  

  Mercosur countries will address environmental concerns raised by the European Union that have stalled ratification of a free trade deal between the two trade blocs, Argentina’s foreign minister said on Monday.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 09:55 UTC

  Distrust of Bolsonaro is holding up the EU/Mercosur trade deal, says EU ambassador in Brasilia

  

  Distrust in Europe of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's government is holding up ratification of a trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur, the EU ambassador to Brasilia said.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 09:14 UTC

  As airlines reactivate planes, regulators and insurers call for extra attention to conditions and training

  

  Regulators, insurers and experts are warning airlines to take extra care when reactivating planes left in extended storage during the Covid-19 pandemic, citing potential pilot rustiness, maintenance errors and even insect nests blocking key sensors.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 09:08 UTC

  WTO fails to agree rules on over-fishing; billions of dollars spent subsidizing fishing fleets

  

  World Trade Organization negotiators have failed to reach a deal by a year-end deadline to cut the subsidies that have helped decimate the world’s fish stocks, but will try again next year, the chairman of the talks said on Monday.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 09:05 UTC

  New variant of Covid-19 has emerged in UK, reports WHO

  

  The World Health Organization is aware of a new variant of Covid-19 that has emerged in Britain, but there is no evidence the strain behaves differently to existing types of the virus, it said on Monday.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 09:00 UTC

  A third of the world population with no government aid during the pandemic, Oxfam

  

  More than a third of the world's population - some 2.7 billion people - has not received government aid during the coronavirus pandemic, Oxfam said on Tuesday, with gaping differences between rich and poor countries.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 08:59 UTC

  Twenty Venezuelan “boat people” drown fleeing from the country

  

  The bodies of at least 20 migrants who were travelling by boat from Venezuela to the nearby Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago were found over the weekend, officials said.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 08:58 UTC

  Some 47 Chinese workers in Uganda inoculated with the Sinopharm vaccine allegedly tested positive

  

  Despite apparently being inoculated with China's vaunted coronavirus vaccines, 47 Chinese workers in Uganda have been diagnosed with the virus, raising questions about the efficacy of the China-made products.