International

Monday, May 21st 2018 - 09:06 UTC
Boris Johnson, first foreign secretary to visit Peru in fifty years

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson spent the first of his five-day visit to Latin America in Peru on Saturday 19 May. In the first visit of a British Foreign Secretary to Peru in over 50 years, Mr. Johnson joined Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra and other high level Peruvian officials on a visit to Iquitos, located in the Amazon.
Monday, May 21st 2018 - 08:52 UTC
US/China trade war “on hold”; Beijing agrees to “substantially reduce” surplus

The United States and China are pulling back from the brink of a trade war after the world's two biggest economies reported progress in talks aimed at bringing down America's massive trade deficit with Beijing. “We are putting the trade war on hold,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday.
Monday, May 21st 2018 - 08:26 UTC
UK and Spain discuss Brexit and Gibraltar in Madrid: “constructive meeting”

Gibraltar was discussed in Madrid on Saturday during a wide-ranging meeting on Brexit between the UK’s Minister for the Cabinet Office, David Lidington, and Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alfonso Dastis. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Lidington expressed confidence that a constructive agreement would be reached on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relations with Spain and the wider EU.
Monday, May 21st 2018 - 08:17 UTC
Commons report: “Moscow's Gold: Russian Corruption in the UK”

The UK has been accused of turning a “blind eye” to Russia's “dirty money”, putting national security at risk. The House of Commons foreign affairs committee said London was being used to hide the “corrupt assets” of President Vladimir Putin and his allies.
Saturday, May 19th 2018 - 09:27 UTC
China/US trade talks on a more positive track; Beijing dumps sorghum levy

Beijing has dropped an anti-dumping investigation into imported U.S. sorghum, which it had accused the United States of unfairly subsiding. It has also given approval for a U.S. private equity firm to buy Toshiba's memory chip business. Those gestures could suggest a thaw with the U.S. as trade talks went on in Washington in an atmosphere of hopefulness but hardly assurance of a breakthrough in the impasse.
Saturday, May 19th 2018 - 09:21 UTC
Priests sex-abuse in Chile: all bishops offered to resign after meeting the Pope

In an unprecedented move, all of Chile’s bishops offered to resign on Friday after attending a crisis meeting this week with Pope Francis about the cover-up of sexual abuse in the country.
Saturday, May 19th 2018 - 09:18 UTC
Italy readies for a populist euro skeptic coalition; challenge for Brussels and the Euro

Italy’s two anti-establishment parties promised on Friday to ramp up spending in a program for a new coalition government, putting them on a collision course with the European Union despite having dropped some of their most radical proposals.
Saturday, May 19th 2018 - 09:09 UTC
Theresa May nominates new Tory peers; government has suffered a series of defeats in House of Lords

Downing Street has nominated nine new Conservative peers, including a number of former ministers, to sit in the House of Lords. Among those put forward for a peerage are former communities secretary Sir Eric Pickles and former trade and industry secretary Peter Lilley.
Saturday, May 19th 2018 - 07:48 UTC
Jet airliner carrying 105 crashes after takeoff from Havana airport: three survivors

A Boeing 737 passenger jet carrying 105 people on a domestic flight in Cuba crashed on Friday shortly after takeoff from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, officials and news media reported.
Saturday, May 19th 2018 - 07:12 UTC
Harry and Meghan marriage: keeping the pomp but a new chapter for the monarchy

Britain’s Prince Harry weds US former actress Meghan Markle on Saturday in a pomp-filled ceremony at Windsor Castle, a globally-watched event overshadowed in the build-up by her fractious family’s feuding.