
The Red Ensign Group is to carry out a trial of electronic oil record books across the thirteen British shipping registries. It was agreed by the REG’s Technical Forum, with the Isle of Man Ship Registry taking the first steps and providing industry guidance for the rest of the group.

A World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel has ruled against complaints brought by several countries concerning Australia’s tobacco packaging law, which implements the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and its Guidelines. The panel decided that Australia’s policy on plain packaging is consistent with WTO law.

On 27 June 2018, the conditions for the entry into force of the first legally binding instrument adopted under the WHO FCTC were met, paving the way to eliminate illicit trade of tobacco products

Consistent high performance by the UK Ship Register has seen it rise four places in the world under standards set by the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
It means the UKSR is now fifth under an assessment based on the total number of inspections and detentions by the Paris MoU and is effective from next month. These are based on the total number of inspections and detentions over a certain length of time.

Data sent from penguins to space and back to University of British Columbia could help researchers determine why the species’ breeding population fluctuates so dramatically. UBC researchers visited the South Atlantic in April to attach small transmitters to the backs of 66 Gentoo penguins from two colonies in the Falkland Islands

The Falklands has achieved a satisfaction rating of 8.9 out of 10 on travel-based social media site TripAdvisor, up from 8.8 last year, according to the Falkland Islands Tourist Board (FITB).

British Airways' owner IAG is expanding its low-cost long-haul airline Level further by launching short-haul routes from a base in Austria. The move puts it further in competition with rivals EasyJet and Ryanair. IAG launched the Level brand more than a year ago as a low-cost rival to challenger Norwegian.

British defense giant BAE Systems has won a multi-million pound contract from the Australian government to build nine new warships, marking a significant victory for British military exports. BAE beat Italian and Spanish rivals to win a large slice of the £20bn spending program.

Influential EU states such as Germany, France and Spain will block any attempt by the UK to remain within the single market for goods without freedom of movement, the Spanish Foreign Minister has said. Josep Borrell said that some smaller EU states might privately be willing to negotiate reform of the bloc’s free movement rules in order to keep easy access to UK products.

China has ended a two-decades-long ban on exports of beef from the UK, first introduced after the outbreak of BSE - or “mad cow disease” - in the 1990s. The government said the development will be worth £250m to British producers over the next five years.