International

• Monday, November 2nd 2020 - 06:25 UTC

  Following New Zealand norm, next government will include two Green ministers

  

  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's Labour Party on Sunday signed an agreement with the Green Party to form government in the Pacific nation of nearly five million.

• Saturday, October 31st 2020 - 18:14 UTC

  Madame Tussauds in Berlin removes the effigy of president Trump

  

  The waxwork museum Madame Tussauds in Berlin loaded its effigy of TV star-turned Republican president Donald Trump into a dumpster on Friday, a move apparently intended to reflect its expectations of next Tuesday's presidential election.

• Saturday, October 31st 2020 - 16:34 UTC

  UK bars sale of South Korean fighter jets for the Argentine air force

  

  United Kingdom has effectively barred the sale of the FA-50 Fighting Eagle to Argentina, with the South Korean manufacturer informing Buenos Aires that it is unable to supply the light fighter and strike jet since it has British-made parts.

• Saturday, October 31st 2020 - 09:00 UTC

  Mrs Louise de Sousa appointed UK Ambassador to Chile

  

  Mrs Louise de Sousa has been appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Chile in succession to Mr Jamie Bowden CMG OBE MVO. Mrs de Sousa will take up her appointment in February 2021. She is married to Allan Rivail de Sousa and they have two children.

• Saturday, October 31st 2020 - 08:42 UTC

  Expanding marine protected areas by 5% could boost fish yields by 20% – but there’s a catch

  

  By Peter JS Jones and Rick Stafford - Marine protected areas, or MPAs as they’re more commonly called, are very simple. Areas of the sea are set aside where certain activities – usually fishing – are banned or restricted.

• Saturday, October 31st 2020 - 08:33 UTC

  Brazilian vice-president contradicts Bolsonaro, ”of course we will buy the (Chinese) vaccine”

  

  Brazil's government will “of course” buy a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine that is being tested in the country, Vice President Hamilton Mourão said on Friday, in the latest example of him contradicting President Jair Bolsonaro.

• Saturday, October 31st 2020 - 08:07 UTC

  Cruise industry: CDC drops the “No Sail” in favor of a strict Conditional Sailing Order

  

  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has dropped its controversial “No Sail” order in favor for a so-called Conditional Sailing Order. In short, the “No Sail” order has been lifted and the industry will work with the CDC on a realistic, phased-in return to service.

• Friday, October 30th 2020 - 09:43 UTC

  Climate change: the Arctic Ocean sea ice has yet to start refreezing

  

  By Gwynne Dyer – Historically, the Arctic Ocean would freeze right out to its edges (the northern coasts of Canada, Greenland, Russia, and Alaska) each winter — 14-million square kilometers of ice — and then melt back to about half that area over the following summer. Not this year.

• Friday, October 30th 2020 - 08:58 UTC

  World Medical Association blasts leaders who discredit science and sponsor fake news on coronavirus

  

  The spreading of fake news and discredited science by world leaders has led to many people dying and others being exposed to Covid-19, according to the departing President of the World Medical Association. In his valedictory address to this week’s WMA’s annual Assembly, Dr. Miguel Jorge, a psychiatrist from Brazil, mentioned both the Presidents of Brazil and the United States as contributing to more people being exposed to the virus and more deaths.

• Friday, October 30th 2020 - 08:56 UTC

  Catalonia closes borders and extends shutdown of bars and restaurants: hospitals overwhelmed

  

  Catalonia announced on Thursday a 15-day ban on entering and exiting its territory, the latest in a series of restrictions taken by Spanish regions to try and contain rampant COVID-19 contagion.