International

• Monday, February 10th 2020 - 08:55 UTC

  France, Brazil's biggest military threat over the next 20 years and an Amazon invasion?

  

  France is expected to be Brazil's biggest military threat over the next 20 years and could invade the Amazon in 2035, according to a secret report published by Brazilian media on Friday. Although the French embassy jokingly “saluted” its “limitless imagination”, the military document is aimed at redefining the country's foreign policy strategy and could add yet another chapter to its troubled relations with France.

• Monday, February 10th 2020 - 08:37 UTC

  Korean satire makes history by winning Oscar's Best Picture award

  

  South Korean satire Parasite scored a stunning upset and made Oscars history when it won the Best Picture award– the first film in a foreign language to do so. Oscar's watchers had considered the Best Picture category a three-way race between independent social satire Parasite, British director Sam Mendes' immersive World War One movie 1917 from Universal Pictures, and Quentin Tarantino's love letter to show business, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, from Sony Pictures.

• Monday, February 10th 2020 - 08:34 UTC

  Ex political wing of IRA shocks Irish elections and political system

  

  Left-wing Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein on Sunday demanded to be part of the next Irish government after tallies indicated it secured the most votes in an election that leader Mary Lou McDonald described as a ballot box “revolution”.

• Monday, February 10th 2020 - 08:20 UTC

  WHO warns coronavirus outside of China could be “the tip of the iceberg”

  

  The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that confirmed cases of coronavirus being transmitted by people who have never travelled to China could be the “tip of the iceberg”.

• Monday, February 10th 2020 - 08:12 UTC

  WHO team of experts in Beijing; Coronavirus death toll is over 900 and over 40.000 confirmed infections

  

  In advance team of international experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) has left for Beijing to help investigate China’s coronavirus epidemic, which authorities said on Monday had now claimed 908 lives on the mainland.

• Monday, February 10th 2020 - 08:03 UTC

  Chinese group takes control of major lithium project in Argentina

  

  China’s Ganfeng Lithium Co said it will take control of an Argentina lithium project it has been developing with Lithium Americas Corp, cementing its control over a key source of the white metal for electric vehicle batteries.

• Monday, February 10th 2020 - 07:55 UTC

  Apple fined in France for deliberately slowing down older iPhone model, unaware to customers

  

  Apple has been fined 25 million Euros (US$ 27m) for deliberately slowing down older iPhone models without making it clear to consumers. The fine was imposed by France's competition and fraud watchdog DGCCRF, which said consumers were not warned.

• Saturday, February 8th 2020 - 11:30 UTC

  Lavrov denounces US foreign policy towards Venezuela in Mexico and puts hosts in an awkward position

  

  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday denounced U.S. foreign policy in Venezuela, criticizing U.S. “provocations” and attempts to create what he called a pretext for military intervention.

• Saturday, February 8th 2020 - 11:09 UTC

  Greenpeace blames global warming for record temperatures in Antarctica

  

  Global warming is to blame for Argentine Antarctica recording its hottest day since readings began, Greenpeace said on Friday. Temperatures climbed to 18.3 degrees Celsius (64.9 degrees Fahrenheit) at midday Thursday at the research station Esperanza base, the highest temperature on record since 1961, according to the National Meteorological Service.

• Saturday, February 8th 2020 - 10:27 UTC

  New IMF chief Georgieva reshuffling top jobs: deputy Lipton to be replaced

  

  The top American serving at the International Monetary Fund will leave his post at the end of the month amid a reshuffling of the top leadership, the fund said Friday. David Lipton, 66, who has been in the number two position at the Washington-based lender since September 2011, will be replaced by newly installed IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva “in the context of changes she will be making to the leadership team,” the IMF said in a statement.