International

• Thursday, April 18th 2019 - 09:42 UTC

  Red Cross humanitarian aid begins to flow into Venezuela; first shipment was flown in from Panama

  

  A second shipment of Red Cross humanitarian aid will arrive in Venezuela in around three weeks, the charity organization said on Wednesday, reiterating its plea for the issue not to be politicized.“There's a shipment coming by sea that we expect to be in the country on May 8,” said Hernan Bongioanni, the Red Cross commissioner for this mission.

• Thursday, April 18th 2019 - 09:40 UTC

  China's growth stabilizes 6.4% year-on-year in first quarter

  

  The growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in China stabilized 6.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, despite falling global demand and the trade war with the United States. The figure was announced on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (BNS), along with other rather optimistic indicators on the health of the world's second largest economy.

• Thursday, April 18th 2019 - 09:05 UTC

  Toyota Brazil to build a Corolla sedan that runs on electricity, ethanol and gas

  

  Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it will begin building a new version of the Corolla sedan in Brazil that will run on electricity, ethanol and gas, which it says will be the first vehicle of its kind in the world.

• Thursday, April 18th 2019 - 08:33 UTC

  Spain's Repsol suspends swaps of refined products for crude from Venezuela

  

  Spain’s Repsol has suspended its swaps of refined products for crude with Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA, as U.S. officials weigh penalties for foreign firms doing business with Venezuela.

• Wednesday, April 17th 2019 - 10:04 UTC

  Nancy Pelosi visiting Ireland warns about “any weakening” of the Good Friday Agreement

  

  US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has begun an official visit to the Republic of Ireland. Speaking on the eve of her visit, she said there would be “no chance whatsoever” of a post-Brexit trade deal between the US and UK if there were any weakening of the Good Friday Agreement.

• Wednesday, April 17th 2019 - 09:57 UTC

  Galicia calls on Madrid for a fisheries agreement with UK to ensure access to Gran Sol and Falklands fisheries

  

  The regional Xunta of Galicia has called on Madrid to ensure that Brexit negotiations, and in the event of a hard withdrawal, access to the North Atlantic Gran Sol and Falklands fisheries is guaranteed.

• Wednesday, April 17th 2019 - 09:56 UTC

  Qatar Petroleum wins five offshore blocks in Argentina's South Atlantic basins

  

  Qatar Petroleum (QP) has won exploration rights in five offshore blocks in the North Argentina, and Malvinas West basins in Argentina. The winning bids were announced on Tuesday by Argentina’s Secretariat of Government of Energy (“SGE”) at the end of a public tender process that started in November 2018.

• Wednesday, April 17th 2019 - 09:55 UTC

  China interested in more Brazilian meat and increasing investment

  

  China is planning to allow more Brazilian meat imports following high-level talks set for May, the Chinese ambassador to Brazil said on Monday. Yang Wanming declined to comment on how many meat processing plants could be approved to export to China but said the issue would be discussed when Brazil Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias travels to China in May.

• Wednesday, April 17th 2019 - 09:54 UTC

  Five years to rebuild Notre Dame, says Macron: “people will join to repair the national symbol”

  

  President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Tuesday that France would rebuild the fire-devastated Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, saying he hoped the work would be done in five years and the French people would pull together to repair their national symbol.

• Wednesday, April 17th 2019 - 09:49 UTC

  Dissident Labour and Tory MPs register as “Change UK”, and plan to participate in EU elections

  

  The Electoral Commission has approved The Independent Group's application to register as a political party. The group - made up of 11 former Labor and Tory MPs who their parties in February, will become Change UK. The approval means they can put forward candidates in the European elections due to take place on 23 May - if the UK has not left the EU by then.