World & Politics
US Missouri sues China over COVID-19 - 04/22/2020
The US state of Missouri filed a lawsuit against Beijing in connection with the COVID-19, and is seeking damages to compensate for the "enormous human losses, human suffering, and economic turmoil" caused by the pandemic, reports The Hill. "COVID-19 has done irreparable damage to countries around the world, causing illness, death, economic turmoil and human suffering," reads a statement published...
Chinese GDP loses 6.8% in Q1 - 04/21/2020
China has become the first country to report a sharp drop in business activity due to COVID-19. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of the PRC, the country's GDP in the first quarter of 2020 fell immediately by 6.8% in annual terms. At the same time, the decline in retail sales in China was more significant than that in industrial production. Experts believe that, despite the PRC's...
Argentina authorities ask to delay debt and interest payments - 04/17/2020
The Argentinean government is proposing to holders of a public debt a plan for its restructuring, which provides for the absence of payments for three years, said Minister of Economy Martín Guzmán. "Argentina cannot pay today... And it will be unable to pay for a certain number of years. There must be a serious reduction in the debt burden," the minister said at a meeting between President and...
Fall in Chinese exports and imports in March slows down significantly - 04/15/2020
Fall in Chinese exports and imports slowed significantly in March, the PRC Main Customs Administration said. Exports in dollar terms decreased in March by 6.6% year on year. Analysts expected a drop of 14%, Trading Economics notes. Imports decreased by 0.9% with a forecast of a decline of 9.5%. In January-February, the volume of Chinese exports collapsed by 17.2%, imports - by 4%. The...
Europe is getting ready to lift COVID-19 restrictions - 04/14/2020
This week, the European Commission is going to present a plan to ease restrictive measures in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides for a series of steps: from returning people to schools and universities to resolving public events. However, not every EU member state is waiting for instructions from Brussels to lift quarantine: some take decisions on their own after consulting with...
Iran unlocks $1.6B of funds frozen by USA - 04/13/2020
Tehran won a trial in a case of $ 1.6 billion of Iranian funds that had previously been frozen in Luxembourg’s jurisdiction at the request of the United States, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at a meeting of the headquarters against coronavirus. His words are quoted by the Fars agency. Rouhani said the country was able to triumph in a European court over Washington’s attempt to block and...
IMF expects the worst economic downturn since Great Depression - 04/10/2020
For 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression due to the situation with the coronavirus COVID-19, said IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. More than 170 countries will face declining incomes, the IMF head said during a speech in Washington on the eve of the spring session of the governing bodies of the IMF and the World...
UN sends COVID-19 aid to Venezuela - 04/09/2020
A plane with 90 tons of assistance from the UN arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday to help the country fight the coronavirus pandemic. The cargo includes 28 thousand sets of personal protective equipment for medical workers, oxygen concentrators, baby beds, water quality control equipment and hygiene kits, the organization said. “This is the first United Nations humanitarian aid in support of...
Labor market is experiencing the largest crisis since World War II - 04/08/2020
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has stated that the labor market is facing the worst crisis since World War II due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Quarantine measures led to the fact that temporary full or partial closures of enterprises affected 2.7 billion people, that is, 81% of the total workforce in the world. The most affected are the hotel business, administrative...
Venezuela: We do not support US-proposed political settlement plan - 04/01/2020
The Venezuelan government criticized the plan proposed by the US authorities to resolve the domestic political conflict in the country. Washington believes that it is necessary for Caracas to create an interim government, which would include representatives of the opposition. Head of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, Jorge Arreaza, called this plan an attempt to intervene in the country's internal...
