International

• Friday, April 24th 2020 - 08:28 UTC

  Swiss pharma giant warns about unreliability of blood tests to check for COVID-19 antibodies

  

  Some blood tests being marketed to tell people if they have had the new coronavirus are a “disaster”, Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan said as he prepares to launch the drug maker's own antibody test next month.

• Friday, April 24th 2020 - 08:25 UTC

  With oil royalties plummeting, Rio state challenged by investment funds

  

  Already grappling with one of Brazil’s most severe outbreaks of the novel coronavirus and a budget deep in the red, Rio de Janeiro state faces a potential threat to its solvency at the hands of investment giants PIMCO and Dodge & Cox.

• Friday, April 24th 2020 - 07:53 UTC

  More COVID-19 infections on board Costa Atlantica, docked in Japan for repairs

  

  Fourteen more coronavirus infections have been confirmed on the Italian cruise ship Costa Atlantica docked for repairs in Japan, a local official said on Thursday, bringing the total to at least 48.

• Friday, April 24th 2020 - 07:28 UTC

  Most wanted UK born ISIS terrorist caught basking in Spanish coast; linked to bombing campaign in France and Belgium

  

  The arrest in Spain of an infamous member of Islamic State from London who authorities thought had been killed in Syria has sparked fears among security officials that more foreign fighters survived the fall of ISIS-controlled territory than previously imagined.

• Friday, April 24th 2020 - 07:08 UTC

  Indonesia opens market for beef imports from Argentina and Brazil

  

  Indonesia has issued permits to import 20,000 tons of beef from Brazil or Argentina, the Trade Ministry’s director-general of domestic trade, Suhanto, told parliament on Thursday

• Thursday, April 23rd 2020 - 10:55 UTC

  China pork imports expected to reach 2.8 million tons this year

  

  China expects to import more soy and pork this year to supply domestic demand, after the coronavirus pandemic and the impacts of swine fever decimated its pig herds. Meanwhile, soy imports are estimated to reach 92.48 million tons this year.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2020 - 10:52 UTC

  Brazil orange juice 2019/20 harvest exports increased 18% in volume and 6% in value

  

  Total Brazilian orange juice exports (FCOJ Equivalent to 66º Brix) registered an 18% increase in the first nine months of the 2019/20 harvest compared to the same period in the previous harvest. A total of 861,700 tons were shipped during the period, compared to 732,048 tons during the same period of the 2018/19 harvest. Revenues increased 6% to a total of US$1.445 billion compared to US$1.369 billion in the previous harvest.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2020 - 09:06 UTC

  Pompeo pressing China to allow inspections of sensitive laboratories

  

  United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday pressed China to allow inspectors into sensitive laboratories, voicing concern about their security amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2020 - 09:01 UTC

  WHO warns, “Make no mistake: We have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time”

  

  World Health Organization on Wednesday warned that the coronavirus crisis would not end any time soon, with many countries only in the early stages of the fight, as the global death toll surpassed 180,000.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2020 - 08:51 UTC

  UK to test 20.000 households for COVID-19 to establish how fast the disease has spread

  

  Britain's government plans to test a sample of 20,000 English households for COVID-19 in the coming weeks to try to establish how far the disease has spread across the country.