Politics

• Tuesday, May 12th 2020 - 08:18 UTC

  Beijing disappointed with Australia: suspends meat imports from four abattoirs

  

  China has suspended meat imports from four Australian abattoirs, fuelling concerns that escalating tensions between the two nations are damaging Australia's most important trading relationship.

• Tuesday, May 12th 2020 - 08:15 UTC

  Chinese official sacked in Wuhan for reporting confirmed new cases of Covid-19

  

  An official has been sacked in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province after the city recently reported six new confirmed Covid-19 cases, local authorities said on Monday.

• Tuesday, May 12th 2020 - 08:00 UTC

  President Trump cuts short press briefing after an exchange with CBS reporter

  

  US President Donald Trump abruptly ended his coronavirus press briefing on Monday after getting into a testy exchange with an Asian-American reporter. CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang asked Trump why he continued to insist that the US was doing better than other countries when it came to testing for the virus.

• Tuesday, May 12th 2020 - 07:49 UTC

  Trump opposes renegotiating US-China Phase 1 trade deal despite Beijing concerns

  

  US President Donald Trump said on Monday he opposed renegotiating the US-China “Phase 1” trade deal after a Chinese state-run newspaper reported some government advisers in Beijing were urging fresh talks and possibly invalidating the agreement.

• Tuesday, May 12th 2020 - 07:47 UTC

  Charles Darwin HMS Beagle unearthed dock in Essex under Historic England protection

  

  The remains of a rare 19th Century dock built for Charles Darwin's ship HMS Beagle has been recognized as a site of national importance. The submerged mud berth on the River Roach in Rochford, Essex, will now be protected against unauthorized change.

• Tuesday, May 12th 2020 - 07:24 UTC

  “No mandate to invite Taiwan” to WHO assembly; Beijing warns New Zealand “to stop making wrong statements”

  

  The World Health Organization's director-general has “no mandate” to invite Taiwan to take part in its assembly next week, the body's lawyer said on Monday, adding member states had “divergent views” on the self-ruled island's participation.

• Tuesday, May 12th 2020 - 07:18 UTC

  White House staff must wear masks in the West Wing, except Trump

  

  White House staff have been ordered to wear masks when entering the West Wing after two aides tested positive for coronavirus. The White House personnel office has said that staff must cover their faces at all times except when seated at their desks, socially distant from colleagues.

• Monday, May 11th 2020 - 08:40 UTC

  Argentina expected to make official the extension of debt offer deadline

  

  Argentina is preparing to extend the deadline to its debt offer to May 22. The government will publish an extension to its debt offer in the official Gazette this Monday, part of President Alberto Fernandez’s next steps in its debt restructuring after extending a deadline over the weekend for creditors to accept an initial offer to exchange $65 billion in overseas bonds.

• Monday, May 11th 2020 - 08:40 UTC

  Pandemic: Brazil reports over 11,000 deaths on Sunday and 162,699 positive cases

  

  Brazil, the hardest-hit Latin American country in the coronavirus pandemic, has surpassed 11,000 deaths, according to figures released on Sunday by the Ministry of Health.

• Monday, May 11th 2020 - 08:35 UTC

  China and US clash over reference to WHO in a UN global cease fire statement

  

  China and the United States both supported a draft United Nations Security Council resolution confronting the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, and it was “shocking and regretful” that Washington changed its mind on Friday, a Chinese diplomat said.