International

• Wednesday, October 31st 2018 - 08:49 UTC

  Foreign Office plans major embassy and staff expansion ahead of post-Brexit

  

  Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced on Tuesday announced a major expansion of Britain's diplomatic network around the world, five months before it leaves the European Union. For the first time, people from outside the civil service will be eligible to become ambassadors as the Foreign Office seeks to swell its numbers by almost 1,000.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2018 - 08:29 UTC

  People in UK dump some 295 billion pieces of plastic every year

  

  People in the UK throw away around 295 billion pieces of plastic every year, much of which is single-use and cannot be recycled, a report suggests. Campaigner Daniel Webb has revealed the extent of the plastic waste an individual gets through in the UK, and how little of it is recycled in this country.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2018 - 08:17 UTC

  Foreign Secretary tells Parliament Falklands will remain part of UK, even after Brexit

  

  Britain's foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt told Parliament that the Falkland Islands will remain part of the UK for years to come despite Argentina's plans, after Brexit, to enhance dialogue with the Islanders and hopefully with a positive result for its claim over the Malvinas.

• Tuesday, October 30th 2018 - 17:21 UTC

  Argentine deputies to seek foreign minister's impeachment over statement regarding Falklanders

  

  Argentine FPV legislators filed a motion to impeach Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie for failing to fulfill his duties as a public official when he called for the Falkland Islanders to be respected and to generate a bond with them “as two peoples” who live in the South Atlantic.

• Tuesday, October 30th 2018 - 11:00 UTC

  Bolsonaro pledges to help the Venezuelan people end the dictatorship but through peaceful means

  

  The president elect of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro in his first television interview as president elect said it was necessary to solve the problem of the Venezuela dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro, but underlined “there will be no intervention in Caracas, it will be through peaceful means”.

• Tuesday, October 30th 2018 - 08:51 UTC

  More than 90% of the world’s children breathe toxic air every day

  

  Every day around 93% of the world’s children under the age of 15 years (1.8 billion children) breathe air that is so polluted it puts their health and development at serious risk. Tragically, many of them die: WHO estimates that in 2016, 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air.

• Tuesday, October 30th 2018 - 08:40 UTC

  UK Budget time: “Austerity coming to an end” announces Chancellor Hammond

  

  Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has said the “era of austerity is finally coming to an end”, in his last Budget before Brexit. He spent a windfall from better public finances on more money for universal credit and bringing forward planned income tax cuts by a year.

• Tuesday, October 30th 2018 - 08:39 UTC

  UK top surgeon proposes dexterity courses for medical students: top grades are insufficient

  

  A professor of surgery says students have spent so much time in front of screens and so little time using their hands that they have lost the dexterity for stitching or sewing up patients. Roger Kneebone, professor of surgical education at Imperial College, London, says young people have so little experience of craft skills that they struggle with anything practical.

• Tuesday, October 30th 2018 - 08:19 UTC

  Hundreds pay tribute to Leicester City owner who died in helicopter crash

  

  Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's wife and son have joined the English Premier League outfit's players and hundreds of fans at the club's stadium to pay tribute to the victims of a helicopter crash which killed Mr. Srivaddhanaprabha and four people.

• Tuesday, October 30th 2018 - 08:03 UTC

  End of an era: powerful Angela Merkel announces her exit from the world stage

  

  Marking the end of an era, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's announced on Monday her last term in office. The dominant figure in German and European politics for more than a decade said she will step down as party leader of her Christian Democratic Union, CDU, in December and not seek reelection as chancellor in 2021.