International

• Tuesday, December 1st 2020 - 08:58 UTC

  US sanctions Chinese company supporting Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro

  

  The United States imposed sanctions on Monday on Chinese firm China National Electronics Import & Export Corporation (CEIEC), accusing it of supporting Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro efforts to undermine democracy.

• Tuesday, December 1st 2020 - 08:44 UTC

  OPEC and allies postpone talks amid disagreements on how much oil to pump

  

  OPEC and allies led by Russia postponed talks on oil output policy for 2021 to Thursday, sources said on Monday as key players still disagreed on how much oil they should pump amid weak demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

• Tuesday, December 1st 2020 - 08:31 UTC

  A new home for the Falkland Islands Maritime Authority

  

  From Tuesday 1 December 2020 the Falkland Islands Maritime Authority will sit within the Directorate of Emergency Services and Island Security (DESIS). For over 30 years the Directorate of Natural Resources (formally Fisheries) was the home of the maritime function. However, in recent years, the government has been working towards meeting both its national and international obligations, leading to the establishment of the Maritime Authority in 2018.

• Tuesday, December 1st 2020 - 08:23 UTC

  “Pandemic”, the 2020 prize for Merriam-Webster Word of the Year

  

  The 2020 prize for Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year went to an obvious choice: pandemic. The term had the most online dictionary lookups of any word, Merriam-Webster said on its website, after a year in which at least 1.4 million people globally have died from the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Tuesday, December 1st 2020 - 08:22 UTC

  Strong recovery in Asian factories during November spurred by China

  

  Asian factories continued to recover steadily in November thanks to a boom in economic powerhouse China, private surveys showed on Tuesday, offering hope the region was shaking off the drag from the COVID-19 crisis.

• Tuesday, December 1st 2020 - 08:00 UTC

  Wheat prices fell after Australia forecasted its second highest crop ever

  

  Wheat prices fell after Australia forecast its second-highest crop ever and Russia proposed curtailing grain exports next year. Wheat futures fell as much as 3.3% in Chicago trading, the lowest for the contract in almost eight weeks. Corn and soybeans also fell following rainfall in South America during the weekend.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 09:55 UTC

  Argentina in no rush to sign an agreement with IMF, says minister Guzmán

  

  Argentine Economy Minister Martin Guzman played down the chances of an early agreement with the International Monetary Fund to repay a US$ 44 billion loan, the Financial Times reported.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 09:36 UTC

  UK's NHS Test and Trace system inaccurately informed 1,300 people they were infected with coronavirus

  

  Over 1,300 people in Britain were inaccurately informed they were infected with coronavirus after a laboratory error at the government's NHS Test and Trace system, the Department of Health and Social Care admitted on Saturday to Reuters.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 09:34 UTC

  Oil-rich Middle East and its inevitable declining power

  

  By Gwynne Dyer – The only officials present were American and Saudi,” tweeted the Saudi Arabian foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, but he was lying. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu really did fly in to Saudi Arabia to spend a few hours with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

• Monday, November 30th 2020 - 09:27 UTC

  Britain and EU on the “last leg of negotiations” for a post Brexit trade deal

  

  The UK is in the “last leg of negotiations” with the EU over a post-Brexit trade deal, the foreign secretary has said. Dominic Raab told the BBC it was likely the talks were entering the “last real major week”, and an agreement remained possible if the EU showed “pragmatism”.