International

• Tuesday, January 29th 2019 - 10:19 UTC

  EU quotas for farming produce post Brexit trigger controversy

  

  The European Union on Monday adopted quotas for farming produce it will accept from third countries after Britain leaves the bloc and acknowledged this could happen before it has concluded talks with them on the subject.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2019 - 09:31 UTC

  African swine fever scare in Europe; Denmark builds a 70km fence in the border with Germany

  

  Denmark has started building a 70km fence along its border with Germany in an effort to control the migration of wild boar. There are fears that African swine fever, which has been found in two dead wild boars in Belgium, could threaten Denmark's huge pig industry. If the disease spreads, it could jeopardize almost US$ 1.7bn in pork-product exports from Denmark.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2019 - 09:25 UTC

  Rough times ahead: US Justice files several criminal charges against Huawei and the owner's daughter

  

  The United States Justice Department has filed a host of criminal charges against Chinese telecoms giant Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. The charges against the world's second largest smart-phone maker include accusations of bank fraud, obstruction of justice and theft of technology.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2019 - 09:01 UTC

  Mrs. May willing to support amendments but insists in no delay for the Brexit withdrawal date

  

  The United Kingdom government will support a backbench amendment to the Brexit deal that calls for the planned Irish backstop to be replaced by “alternative arrangements”. Tory MPs will be told to vote for Sir Graham Brady's proposal when the Commons votes on a series of amendments to Theresa May's plan on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2019 - 09:00 UTC

  EU mocks UK parliament: withdrawal agreement debate was “uninhibited by any knowledge” of what it actually contained

  

  There is a high risk of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal by accident, the EU's deputy chief negotiator Sabine Weyand has said. She added there was “full ownership of what was agreed” in the EU, but “no ownership” of it in the UK Parliament. And it was a challenge to see how a majority for any deal could be built among MPs, she added.

• Monday, January 28th 2019 - 09:31 UTC

  UK Parliamentarians remain firm on Gibraltar

  

  Gibraltar has intensified its contact on Brexit with senior United Kingdom parliamentarians both in the House of Commons and the House of Lords in order to put across the position of Gibraltar. The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia took advantage of their visit to London last week to meet opinion-formers on the Remain and the Leave sides of the argument.

• Monday, January 28th 2019 - 09:21 UTC

  Maduro rejects elections but gives US diplomats 30 days to leave; Guaidó calls for protests on Wednesday and Saturday

  

  The US has warned Venezuela that any threats against American diplomats or opposition leader Juan Guaidó will be met with “a significant response”. National Security Adviser John Bolton said any such “intimidation” would be “a grave assault on the rule of law”.

• Monday, January 28th 2019 - 09:18 UTC

  Oil prices fall on Monday as US crude production is anticipated to increase

  

  Oil prices fell on Monday after U.S. energy firms added rigs for the first time this year in a sign that crude production there will rise further. U.S. spot crude oil futures CLc1 were at US$ 53.37 per barrel at 0027 GMT, down 32 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their last settlement.

• Monday, January 28th 2019 - 09:15 UTC

  Huawei telecom dispute: Trudeau sacks Canadian ambassador in Beijing

  

  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has fired Canada's ambassador to China, John McCallum. It follows controversial comments Mr McCallum made about an extradition case involving a senior executive from the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. Mr Trudeau said in a statement he had asked John McCallum to step down, but did not offer a reason.

• Monday, January 28th 2019 - 09:13 UTC

  Parliament debates amendments to Mrs. May Brexit deal but the Irish backstop remains insurmountable

  

  Theresa May is being urged to secure changes from the EU to the Northern Irish backstop element of her Brexit deal to get it past parliament. Ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson says winning a “freedom clause” would be “unadulterated good Brexit news”.