Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who repeatedly called COVID-19 “mild flu,” refused to impose a national quarantine and defiantly ignored recommendations for wearing masks. Recently, he became infected with a coronavirus. He was added to the list of more than 1.6 million cases in Brazil, which ranks second after the United States in this indicator. Moreover, in a number of regions of the...

Ecuador, whose economy is in the midst of an economic crisis, has agreed to restructure its external debt with major lenders, said President Lenin Moreno. "We have reached an agreement with the most important group of debt holders, which will reduce debt by $ 1.5 billion, reduce the interest rate from 9.3 to 5.2%, extend the payout period by another 10 years and get a 5-year grace period," he...

European Union countries agree that the European Commission needs to borrow money on the market for a new anti-crisis fund, said Ursula von der Leyen, Head of the European Commission, at a press conference. According to her, the Union countries agree that the European Commission is allowed to borrow money for the fund in the market and transfer it through European programs to support the region’s...

According to the estimates of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the working hours in the world have decreased due to the coronavirus pandemic by 14%, which is comparable to the loss of 400 million jobs. Such data, however, may reflect new ways of adapting of the the global labor market to a crisis by reducing staff time instead of firing people. As follows from the new release of labor...

The USMCA, a new free trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada, comes into force on Wednesday. The deal covers one of the world's largest free trade zones with a turnover of more than a trillion dollars. The new agreement was reached by the leaders of the three countries in November 2018 at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. It is replacing the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), which...

One of the largest airlines in the world, Lufthansa, offered passengers at the airports of Frankfurt and Munich to undergo a coronavirus test before departure. The result will be available in three hours, and will be entered into the boarding pass. Lufthansa Airlines has launched coronavirus testing for its passengers at Frankfurt and Munich airports so that they can avoid quarantine upon...

COVID-19 pandemic and the quarantine measures associated with it have resulted in a significant reduction in harmful emissions into the atmosphere. However, other side effects of the pandemic were less positive for the environment: in particular, the use of plastic, and, consequently, the amount of plastic waste have significantly increased. For now, there is no exact data about the number of...

In a situation of record unemployment, Donald Trump stopped issuing several types of American work visas until the end of the year. Restrictions on green card issuance have also been extended. On Monday, June 22, US President Donald Trump signed a decree to stop issuance of certain types of work visas until the end of the year. In particular, the decree refers to the H1-B type of visas, which...

The Indian and Chinese military began to withdraw forces from the control line in East Ladakh, where was the most serious clash of border guards in half a century. According to recent reports, 20 Indian soldiers, including their commander, were killed during the incident. The PRC did not disclose information about its losses. However, the Indian military, referring to the radio interception,...