Mexico's Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the revised U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal that includes tougher enforcement of worker rights and the elimination of a patent provision for biologic drugs.

Another Scottish independence referendum would damage Scotland and the United Kingdom even if Scots have overwhelmingly voted for the nationalists that favour such a poll, British minister Michael Gove said on Thursday.

A March fire at a petrochemical terminal that spread a blanket of black smoke across Houston began when part of a manifold, which includes a pump and motor, on one storage tank broke, according to a report by local and federal agencies.

The government will take into account its plan to make Canada carbon neutral by 2050 when it considers whether to approve Teck Resources Ltd's plan for a giant oil sands mine, the new environment minister said on Thursday.

The deadly collapse of a Vale SA's mining waste dam in Brazil was partially triggered by "a persistently high water level" that caused the structure to lose strength and stability, according to a report by a panel of experts appointed by the company's lawyers.

German prosecutors are investigating whether employees of inspection company TÜV Süd acted illegally by allowing the German firm to sign off on a dam owned by iron ore miner Vale SA in Brazil before it burst in January, killing 300 people.

* Shares down 6.5% in late Frankfurt trade (Adds CEO quote, details on outlook)

More than 100 new trade restrictions imposed during the year to mid-October affected goods and services worth an estimated $747 billion, the highest level for a 12-month period since 2012, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Thursday.

There is an about 70% chance of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions prevailing during the 2019-20 Northern Hemisphere winter, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday.

Chile's top law enforcement official on Thursday detailed deep reforms to a police force dogged by allegations of human rights abuses ranging from torture to rape during nearly two months of protests in the South American nation.