The Royal Navy seems to be copying some of its Latin American peers. In effect the shortage of spares for Royal Navy warships and submarines has forced the Ministry of Defense (MoD) to strip parts from the rest of the fleet, the National Audit Office (NAO) has found.
A special religious service is being held in the German town of Wittenberg to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. On this day, 31 October, in 1517, Martin Luther is said to have nailed 95 theses to the door of All Saints' Church in the town.
Jets in Europe will soon run on eco-fuel produced from vegetable oil and animal fat. The new fuel will be mixed with traditional kerosene. According to latest reports, planes running on the mixture of renewable and traditional fuel will start flying next year from Geneva in Switzerland.
The British Labour party is seeking to up the pressure on ministers over their refusal to release a series of Brexit impact studies. The government has confirmed that 58 reports looking at different sectors of the economy have been prepared, but is resisting calls to publish them; saying to do so would undermine the UK's negotiating position.
By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com - On a historic auction for deepwater oil assets in Brazil, the oil majors showed up on October 27 and bought several offshore blocks, indicating a high level of interest in the country after a major policy overhaul allowed private investment.
Bank of England is expected to reverse emergency action taken following the Brexit referendum, when it cut rates from 0.5% to 0.25% to avert a recession. While a slump has not materialized, the British economy appears in worse health than most other major countries, with potential to be blown further off course by faltering talks to leave the EU.
Sacked Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has gone to Belgium, a lawyer he has hired there says. The lawyer, Paul Bekaert, did not comment on reports that Puigdemont could be preparing an asylum claim.
HMS Queen Elizabeth has sailed from Portsmouth Naval Base for the first time since arriving at her home port in August. The Royal Navy’s future flagship has embarked on the next set of sea trials to test the £3 billion ship’s capability.
Canada has urged the World Trade Organization to block attempts by Brazil to trigger a detailed investigation of its aerospace industry to buttress its case that subsidies to Bombardier caused “serious prejudice” to Brazil’s Embraer. The procedural move by Canada comes a month after the WTO agreed to set up a panel to investigate Brazil’s claim that Canada provided harmful aid to the CSeries jet.
By Matthew Offord MP for Hendon - UK leadership on ocean conservation has won international acclaim. The landmark Blue Belt policy to work with the UK Overseas Territories to “create the largest marine sanctuaries anywhere in the world” has only furthered this standing, with commitments to create large protected areas around Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha in 2019 and 2020 respectively already widely welcomed.