World & Politics
China's economic growth slows down amid COVID-19 outbreaks and floods - 08/16/2021
China's industrial production and retail sales growth slowed sharply and fell short of expectations in July. The economy and business were hampered by new COVID-19 outbreaks and floods. Industrial production in China rose 6.4 percent year on year in July and retail sales rose 8.5 percent. This was reported by China's National Bureau of Statistics. Both figures were less than expected and June's...
Oxfam calls for withholding 99% of excess income tax from billionaires during pandemic - 08/12/2021
A one-time emergency tax on billionaires would raise $5.4 trillion and provide vaccinations for the entire world and a $20,000 benefit for all the unemployed, Oxfam, the Alliance Against Inequality, the Institute for Policy Studies and Patriotic Millionaires calculated. A one-time 99 percent tax on billionaire income gains during a pandemic could provide vaccinations for the entire world and a...
U.S. sets to refuse fossil fuels for aircraft by 2050 - 08/11/2021
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is discussing eliminating the use of fossil fuels in aviation by 2050 as part of an effort to combat climate change. In a joint statement with the European Union in March this year, the U.S. reaffirmed its intention to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and called on other countries to take steps to keep temperature rise within 1.5 degrees...
Dominican Republic may lose half of its livestock - 08/06/2021
The Dominican Republic could lose its source of food - about half its livestock. More than half a million pigs will have to be slaughtered because of an outbreak of African swine fever, writes Bloomberg. Hundreds of thousands of Dominicans depend on pig farming, according to Francisco Brito, president of the Dominican Pig Federation. The Republic has one of the highest pork consumption rates in...
China restricts travel in the country once again - 08/05/2021
Chinese authorities have severely restricted movement of citizens around the country to stop the spread of the coronavirus infection, Xinhua reported. Authorities across mainland China, 31 provinces, have urged citizens not to travel to regions with moderate or high risk of COVID-19 infection or not to leave the region of residence at all unless absolutely necessary. On Tuesday, August 3, 71...
IMF makes historic decision for economic recovery after COVID-19 - 08/03/2021
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made a historic decision to boost recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and allocated $650 billion in additional reserve assets. The statement is published on the organisation's website. It is noted that the Executive Board approved the allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) - that is, the IMF's non-cash unit of account, the value of which is...
Moderna, Pfizer raise prices for COVID-19 vaccines - 08/02/2021
US pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna are raising the prices of their coronavirus vaccines for EU countries, reports the Financial Times (FT) citing supply contracts. According to the newspaper, Pfizer has upped the price of its vaccine by over 25%: a dose now costs €19.50 versus €15.5 previously. As for Moderna, the manufacturer has increased the price by more than 10%: in the...
US pension funds are found to sponsor global pollution - 07/29/2021
Top ten US pension funds remain significant investors in the big corporations contributing the most to pollution, Bloomberg writes. Thus, it appears that organisations claiming to pay attention to environmental issues are sponsoring damage to the planet. Analysts put the associated investment at around $40 billion, meaning that nine percent of the total investment is made by the 20 high-carbon...
WSJ: Tokyo Games to become most expensive summer Olympics in history - 07/26/2021
The cost of hosting the Tokyo Olympics, according to Japanese government auditors, exceeds $20 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. Thus, the current games will be the most expensive summer Olympics in history. Previously, Japanese authorities reported that the Olympics cost $15.4 billion. The final sum is almost three times bigger than the original forecast of the cost of the Olympics,...
World's biggest tobacco company says the UK should ban cigarettes - 07/26/2021
Executives at Philip Morris International, the world's largest tobacco company, said the UK should act on cigarettes as it does on petrol-powered cars - ban them in the next ten years. According to The Daily Telegraph, this was announced by CEO André Calantzopoulos and chairman Jacek Olzak. At the same time, they praised the UK government's "progressive" approach to regulating the market for...
