Month: February 2020

Global trade in goods will likely remain weak in coming months as disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak in China stanch the movement of international commerce already slowed by tariffs and uncertainty, according to the World Trade Organization. The Geneva-based body’s latest forward-looking Goods Trade Barometer stood at 95.5, compared with a level of 96.6 in…

MADRID — Josep Borrell has big ambitions for the post of EU foreign policy chief, and a strong temperament that could make it work — if he doesn’t alienate everyone in the process. Spain’s acting foreign minister, nominated to be the next high representative of the Union for foreign affairs and security policy, has built a…

Automakers, under pressure to reverse a sales slump in their biggest market, are reopening factories in China that were closed to help contain the coronavirus outbreak. Local officials have orders from the ruling Communist Party to get businesses functioning again while still enforcing anti-disease curbs that shut down much of the world’s second-largest economy. “Local…

Click:Press Release Capable Worldwide Telling The Phoenix area transforms into baseball-fan heaven this month as players begin spring training and prepare for the 2020 Major League Baseball season. The first spring games are next week; visitors can attend more than 200 Cactus League baseball games. For tickets and schedules go to Cactus League. When you…

The second Frieze Los Angeles art fair opened the same week as the Oscars, drawing its own starry crowd to the massive gallery tent at Paramount Studios and the Frieze Projects installations on the back lot. Also shining: artists and art lovers who have come from around the world to see the work and to…

The relentless spread of the coronavirus has spurred organizers of next month’s 2020 Tokyo Marathon to downsize their massive race to only a small field of elite runners. As one of the “world majors” — the six largest marathons across the globe — Tokyo was expecting about 38,000 competitors to take the streets of the…

KAZAN, Russia —  This month, school officials across Tatarstan were ordered to trim by half the number of hours of optional lessons offered in the Tatar language — from four a week down to two. The directive came two years after the Kremlin ended the rights of the Russian Federation’s 85 regions, republic and territories to…

Like many other American staples and luxuries, L.O.L. Surprise! dolls are made in China. Chatsworth-based MGA Entertainment has them manufactured in Guangdong province, trucked to the port in Yantian Harbor, loaded on ships and brought to the United States, where the popular toys are distributed to retailers and scooped up by eager children. The process…

SINGAPORE —  After allowing a stranded cruise ship to dock in Cambodia last Thursday, Prime Minister Hun Sen greeted disembarking passengers with warm handshakes and red roses. It looked like a savvy photo op by the wily authoritarian, who instantly pleased both his closest ally, China, and his most powerful critic, the United States. Several countries…

BEIJING —  As a mysterious new virus enveloped central China’s Wuhan early this year, Liu Zhiming mobilized all the resources of his hospital in the city’s Wuchang district to deal with the thousands of sick people arriving daily, threatening to overwhelm the local healthcare system. That dedication appears to have cost him his life, with Wuhan’s…