By MarketsFarm

WINNIPEG, July 17 (MarketsFarm) – The following is a glance at the news moving markets in Canada and globally.

– Two United States Navy (USN) aircraft carriers and their escorts returned to the South China Sea on Friday. The U.S.S. Nimitz and U.S.S. Ronald Reagan had been deployed to the contested international waters just as China began naval exercises earlier this month. A spokesperson for the USN stated the return of the carriers was not in response to any political or world event. China claims 90 per cent of the South China Sea, which has extensive oil and gas reserves, as its territorial waters. The U.S. and five other countries in the region strongly dispute that claim.

– Cargill Inc. reported on Thursday that its revenue for fiscal year 2019/20 hit US$114.6 billion, up by one per cent from the previous year. The agriculture conglomerate said 80 per cent of its operating cash flow was reinvested into the company. With the COVID-19 pandemic Cargill closed some of its facilities, including meat packing plants. The company said all of its North American beef plants now have enhanced safety procedures.

– As the heated debate in the U.S. over wearing facemasks continues, the country broke its record for the number of reported cases of COVID-19 in one day. On Thursday there were 77,255 cases along with 943 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. In one example of the debate, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over her efforts to make mandatory the wearing of facemasks in public places. While Kemp has maintained the state’s pandemic restrictions, he has refused to make facemasks mandatory, and he has now limited local governments from implementing pandemic restrictions that would be stricter than the state’s.