Stories for December 19th 2017

Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 12:50 UTC
Second chapter of Buenos Aires battle over pension overhaul; 24 hour general strike

Police and protesters clashed on Monday outside Argentina’s Congress as lawmakers debated a proposed pension overhaul that has angered retirees and prompted union leaders to wage a general strike.
Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 12:48 UTC
May admits that during the Brexit transition period, UK would still be bound by EU rules

Theresa May has acknowledged that Britain will be unable to implement any new trade deals during a Brexit transition phase, telling MPs that although the country would have left the customs union it would still be bound by its rules.
Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 12:28 UTC
Hard Brexit, soft Brexit, and the Irish question

By Gwynne Dyer - Politicians never lie. Well, hardly ever. They're not into full disclosure, as a rule, but they know that if you lie, sooner or later you will be caught out, and then you are in deep trouble. So just change the subject, or answer a different question than the one you were asked, or just keep talking but saying nothing until everybody gets bored and moves on.
Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 12:06 UTC
Any UK/EU trade agreement will not include financial services, warns Barnier

The European Union has dashed the British government's hopes of carving out a special arrangement to allow City firms to trade freely in the EU if Britain leaves the single market. Michel Barnier, the European Commission's chief Brexit negotiator, said he was not open to a free trade agreement including financial services.
Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 11:59 UTC
Odebrecht family leaders will step down from the scandal plagued conglomerate

Emílio Odebrecht will resign as chairman of the board of the scandal-plagued Brazilian engineering conglomerate Odebrecht SA in the first half of next year, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported. Emilio Odebrecht is one of 77 executives of the engineering conglomerate to sign a plea deal.
Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 11:48 UTC
Royal Navy's largest ever vessel leaks: some 200 liters of water per hour

The Royal Navy's new multi-billion pound aircraft carrier has a leak so big that hundreds of liters of seawater pour into it each hour which could cost millions to fix. HMS Queen Elizabeth reportedly has a major defect with the stern seal which surrounds its huge propeller shafts.
Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 11:38 UTC
Venezuela awards Russia's Rosneft two major offshore gas fields

Venezuela has awarded licenses to a unit of Russian oil major Rosneft to develop two offshore gas fields, Rosneft said in a statement.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signed the deal during a visit to Venezuela by Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, it said.
Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 11:21 UTC
Markets and investors cheer Piñera, but he faces a determined opposition in Congress

Billionaire conservative Sebastian Piñera will begin a second term as Chile's president in March with a strong mandate after trouncing his center-left opponent in Sunday's election, and local markets soared on hopes of more investor-friendly policies.