International

• Tuesday, August 27th 2019 - 07:38 UTC

  PM Johnson pledges £10 million to restore Amazon rainforest; UK wants to host 2020 climate change conference

  

  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday pledged £10 million (US$12.3 million) to help restore the Amazon rainforest that has been ravaged by fires, sparking a wave of global concern. The money would be made available immediately to help restore the habitat, including areas that have been hit by the fires, the British government said in a statement released at the G7 summit in the French resort of Biarritz.

• Monday, August 26th 2019 - 20:35 UTC

  Hamas condemns Paraguay for designating the group as an “international terrorist organization”

  

  In its press statement on the Paraguayan decision, the group said: “This decision runs against international law which ensures peoples’ right to resist the aggression and occupation with all possible means including the armed struggle”

• Monday, August 26th 2019 - 19:13 UTC

  Brazilian warplanes dumpling water on the Amazon forest, but will it be enough?

  

  Brazilian warplanes are dumping water on the burning forest in the Amazon state of Rondonia, responding to a global outcry over the destruction of the world's largest tropical rainforest, according to a government video.

• Monday, August 26th 2019 - 19:02 UTC

  Trump to hold off from a further tariff escalation in the trade war with China, admits “second thoughts”

  

  President Donald Trump on Sunday denied that his trade war with China is causing friction at the G7 summit, but indicated he will hold off from a threatened further escalation for now. “I think they respect the trade war. It has to happen,” Trump told reporters in Biarritz, France, where he was meeting with other leaders of the G7 group.

• Monday, August 26th 2019 - 18:42 UTC

  EU divided on ratification of trade pact with Mercosur, warns Donald Tusk

  

  The European Union Council president Donald Tusk said it was hard to imagine the bloc ratifying its trade pact with Mercosur as long as Brazil fails to curb the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest. The EU “stands by the EU-Mercosur agreement”, Tusk told reporters at a G7 meeting in Biarritz in southern France.

• Monday, August 26th 2019 - 17:56 UTC

  New fires raging in the Amazon; agriculture sector warns Bolsonaro: “nationalistic bravado will not win the game”

  

  Hundreds of new fires are raging in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, official data showed, as thousands of troops were made available to help fight the worst blazes in years following a global outcry. Multiple fires billowing huge plumes of smoke into the air were seen across a vast area of the northwestern state of Rondonia.

• Monday, August 26th 2019 - 17:48 UTC

  Pope Francis calls for the protection of “the lung of forests vital for our planet”

  

  Pope Francis on Sunday called for a global commitment to put out the fires in the Amazon, saying the area was essential for the health of the planet. “We are all worried about the vast fires that have developed in the Amazon. Let us pray so that, with the commitment of all, they can be put out soon.”

• Saturday, August 24th 2019 - 09:55 UTC

  G7 summit adds 'Amazon wildfires' to an already thorny agenda, which is scrapping a joint declaration

  

  G7 leaders gathering in France this weekend plan to hammer out “concrete measures” in response to the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest, putting them on a collision course with Brazil's rightwing leader.

• Saturday, August 24th 2019 - 09:54 UTC

  IMF mission arrives to Argentina this Saturday: US$ 5.3bn disbursement to be considered

  

  Delegates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) land in Buenos Aires Saturday as concerns about Argentina’s economy cast doubt upon the future of its record US$56 billion bailouts. The date of the trip was agreed with the Argentine central bank chairman, Guido Sandleris.

• Saturday, August 24th 2019 - 09:53 UTC

  Ireland will not sign EU/Mercosur deal unless Brazil takes action to protect the Amazon rainforest

  

  As wildfires rage through the Brazilian Amazon, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said Dublin will vote against a trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur unless Brazil takes action to protect the rainforest.