International

• Thursday, April 30th 2020 - 08:21 UTC

  Paraguay one of the countries to first bounce back after post coronavirus

  

  Mercosur member Paraguay has a high likelihood of bouncing back best once the novel coronavirus is contained, Rebeca Grynspan, head of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), told Radio Nacional del Paraguay on Thursday.

• Thursday, April 30th 2020 - 08:18 UTC

  Boris Johnson's fiancée Carrie gave birth to a boy; Queen sends a private message of good wishes

  

  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's fiancée, Carrie Symonds, gave birth to a baby boy at a London hospital on Wednesday, slightly earlier than had been expected. Symonds, 32, had said previously that their baby was due in the early summer. Johnson, 55, whose country is facing its worst health crisis since the 1918 influenza outbreak, will take a short period of paternity leave later in the year.

• Thursday, April 30th 2020 - 08:00 UTC

  F1 teams congratulate WW2 veteran on his 100th birthday; Captain Moore raised more than 29 million pounds for NHS

  

  Formula One teams and drivers have sent 100th birthday congratulations to Captain Tom Moore, the World War Two veteran whose own laps have raised more than 29 million pounds for Britain's National Health Service.

• Thursday, April 30th 2020 - 05:56 UTC

  EU and Mexico finalize upgrade of free trade deal with reciprocal market access

  

  The European Union and Mexico finalized a major upgrade to their free trade deal on Tuesday after the two sides agreed to grant reciprocal market access to each other’s tenders for public contracts.

• Wednesday, April 29th 2020 - 09:36 UTC

  Ozone layer hole over the Arctic has closed and has been linked to Europe's warmest winter

  

  The largest hole ever observed in the ozone layer over the Arctic has closed, says Copernicus' Atmospheric Monitoring Service. Scientists spotted signs in late March of a rare hole forming and it was thought to be the result of low temperatures at the north pole.

• Wednesday, April 29th 2020 - 07:55 UTC

  Mercosur beef sales to US on the rise, as American abattoirs are closing amid coronavirus complications

  

  Brazil's giant meatpacker Marfrig Global Foods CEO, Miguel Gularte, said the company has resumed sales of fresh beef to the US following a decision by US authorities to open their market to Brazilian beef. American slaughterhouses have been closing amid coronavirus social distancing rules and this has led to unmet demand within the US.

• Wednesday, April 29th 2020 - 07:54 UTC

  Argentine Coast Guard chases Chinese jigger operating in the country's EEZ

  

  The Argentine Coast Guard was finally unable to arrest a Chinese jigger operating in the country's EEZ, which managed to escape into international waters, the so-called mile 201. According to the force's report, the patrol vessel GC-27 “Prefecto Fique”, early Tuesday detected and pursued the jigger Lu Rond Yuan Yu 668, some 390 kilometers offshore Puerto Madryn.

• Wednesday, April 29th 2020 - 07:49 UTC

  Strenuous exercise by athletes makes their lungs more COVID-19 vulnerable, warns scientific research

  

  Research from Germany and Italy suggests that footballers and other athletes face a particular risk of the coronavirus infecting their lungs, raising major questions over attempts to restart professional soccer.

• Wednesday, April 29th 2020 - 07:41 UTC

  China's imports of Brazilian soybeans drop 24.8% during March over a year ago

  

  Brazilian soybeans imports to China during the month of March dropped 24.8%, over the same month last year. The data was released by the Chinese General Customs Administration last Sunday, April 26, and shows soy imports from Brazil reached 2.1 million tons in March, compared to 2.79 million tons in the same period last year.

• Wednesday, April 29th 2020 - 07:40 UTC

  Spain relaxes lockdown: professional athletes can begin to train next Monday

  

  Spain's professional footballers can start training again from next week, the prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said on Tuesday as he announced plans to relax the country’s COVID-19 lockdown and bring the country back to normality by the end of June.