International

• Wednesday, February 12th 2020 - 09:25 UTC

  The Danish central bank experience with record negative interest rate could be coming to an end

  

  Denmark and Switzerland have long shared the world record in negative interest rates, at minus 0.75%. But that may be about to change. Economists at some of the biggest Nordic banks say Denmark, which pegs the krone to the euro, is likely to raise its key rate in the coming months.

• Wednesday, February 12th 2020 - 09:20 UTC

  Coronavirus, COVID-19, “Public Enemy Number 1” and more powerful than a terrorist attack, WHO chief

  

  China's coronavirus outbreak poses a “very grave threat for the rest of the world” and should be viewed as “Public Enemy Number 1”, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, February 12th 2020 - 08:58 UTC

  US and German intelligence services had direct access to secret communications from governments

  

  US and German intelligence services raked in the top-secret communications of governments around the world for decades through their hidden control of a top encryption company Crypto AG, US, German and Swiss media reported on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, February 12th 2020 - 08:41 UTC

  Brazilian and Indonesia billionaires clash over the sale of a US$ 3.5bn pulp mill

  

  The business dispute between the disgraced billionaire Batista brothers in Brazil and the heir to an Indonesian pulp and paper fortune is throwing a wrench in meatpacker JBS SA’s plans to list its international operations in the United States.

• Wednesday, February 12th 2020 - 08:40 UTC

  Chinese company confident it will start its US$ 2,1 billion iron ore project in Brazil

  

  Chinese mining company Sul Americana de Metais (SAM), a unit of China’s Honbridge Holdings, is confident it will receive the necessary permits to start up its US$ 2.1 billion iron ore project in Minas Gerais, its chief executive said.

• Wednesday, February 12th 2020 - 07:43 UTC

  World's largest oil traders investing in climate friendly projects, but profits remain a big question mark

  

  The world's largest oil traders are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into climate-friendly projects: including wind farms, cow manure plants, and blue hydrogen: as they seek to match the profits they make from trading oil.

• Tuesday, February 11th 2020 - 08:10 UTC

  Major companies pull out of world business fairs because of coronavirus risks

  

  Sony and Amazon are the latest major companies to pull out of one of the world's largest tech shows because of risks posed by coronavirus. Sony said it would no longer take part in Mobile World Congress in Barcelona after “monitoring the evolving situation” after the coronavirus outbreak.

• Tuesday, February 11th 2020 - 08:01 UTC

  Trump plans to slash foreign aid and invest funds to counter threats from China and Russia

  

  President Donald Trump will propose cutting billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid in his fiscal 2021 budget while seeking an increase in funds to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia, senior administration officials revealed.

• Tuesday, February 11th 2020 - 07:43 UTC

  Scotland taking steps to hold a referendum on independence, First Minister Sturgeon tells Brussels

  

  Scotland is already taking steps to hold a referendum on independence and believes it is a matter of when rather than if the country separates from the rest of Britain, Scotland's First Minister said on Monday.

• Tuesday, February 11th 2020 - 07:40 UTC

  Germany reports outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus

  

  Germany has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus in a backyard in the southwestern part of the country, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Monday.