International

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2020 - 08:06 UTC

  Putin approves a US$ 4bn loan to Venezuela

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law ratifying the protocol to the intergovernmental agreement on providing a loan to Venezuela by Moscow, which guarantees timely debt repayment to Russia.

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2020 - 07:54 UTC

  Johnson holds his first face-to-face cabinet meeting since March 17

  

  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was holding his first face-to-face Cabinet meeting of top ministers since Mar 17 on Tuesday, underlining his push to encourage others to go back to work and boost an economy hurt by the coronavirus crisis.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2020 - 11:37 UTC

  Cruise & Maritime Voyages placed into administration in UK; affiliate in Germany faces similar scenario

  

  Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) has been placed into administration in the UK, while TransOcean Tours (owned by CMV) is facing the same scenario in Germany. All departures have been cancelled for CMV and TransOcean.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2020 - 09:02 UTC

  River cruises on the Danube are making a quiet comeback

  

  River cruises are making a quiet comeback on the Danube after the COVID-19 pandemic brought global tourism to a standstill and forced companies to suspend voyages.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2020 - 08:53 UTC

  Chevron buys Noble Energy in a US$ 5 billion all stock deal

  

  Chevron said Monday it would buy Noble Energy in a US$ 5 billion all-stock deal, bolstering its shale presence as a plunge in crude prices have made assets cheaper. The deal, the largest in the U.S. energy sector this year, comes more than a year after Chevron abandoned its offer for Anadarko Petroleum, outmaneuvered by Occidental Petroleum higher bid.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2020 - 08:44 UTC

  Climate change starving polar bears to extinction, according to latest report

  

  Climate change is starving polar bears into extinction, according to research published on Monday that predicts the apex carnivores could all but disappear within the span of a human lifetime.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2020 - 08:41 UTC

  Italian frogmen try to free a sperm whale caught in abandoned fishing net

  

  The Italian coastguard has been working for days to free a massive sperm whale caught in an abandoned fishing net in open sea off the Sicilian Aeolian Islands. The whale was spotted on Saturday struggling to get free of a net usually used for fishing illegally for swordfish.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2020 - 08:20 UTC

  Bahamas Paradise Cruise delays resumption of operations to October first

  

  Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line announced on Monday an extended delay to the resumption of its sailing operations.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2020 - 08:03 UTC

  Gentoo penguin in South Georgia 50 penny coins

  

  The gentoo penguin is featured on the second coin in the 2020 50-penny Penguin Series for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands from the Pobjoy Mint. The coin’s release follows the recent release of the series’ first issue, featuring the chinstrap penguin.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2020 - 07:26 UTC

  China will “resolutely respond” UK's interference in Hong Kong internal affairs

  China will resolutely respond to acts of interference in its internal affairs, a spokesman for the country's embassy to the United Kingdom said on Tuesday, after Britain announced it would suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong.