International

• Wednesday, August 9th 2017 - 15:15 UTC

  Australia recalls 73 Commonwealth experience and offers UK advice on Brexit: don't be gloomy

  

  Britain is “a bit gloomy” about Brexit and can achieve success outside the European Union, Australia’s high commissioner to the UK has said. Alexander Downer said the UK could be “cautiously optimistic” about achieving a new free trade deal with the EU, and could forge a new and successful economic policy if it pursued the right path domestically.

• Wednesday, August 9th 2017 - 12:15 UTC

  Scotland to discuss new post Brexit powers for Holyrood, but warns of Westminster “power grab”

  

  The possibility of releasing new powers to Holyrood after Brexit will be discussed in talks between the UK and Scottish ministers scheduled for this Wednesday. First Secretary of State Damian Green will meet Deputy First Minister John Swinney and Scotland's Brexit Minister Michael Russell in Edinburgh.

• Wednesday, August 9th 2017 - 07:48 UTC

  UN Secretary General urges Venezuelan government and opposition to relaunch negotiations

  

  Highly concerned that recent developments in Venezuela could lead to further escalation of tensions and hamper a peaceful solution to the crisis, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres again on Tuesday urged the Government and the opposition to relaunch negotiations for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.

• Wednesday, August 9th 2017 - 07:10 UTC

  UK Supreme Court calls for clarity on the EU Court of Justice after Brexit

  

  The president of the UK’s Supreme Court has called on the UK Government to provide greater clarity over the role of the European Court of Justice after Brexit. Lord Neuberger said it would be “unfair” to blame judges for making the law “when Parliament has failed to do so”.

• Wednesday, August 9th 2017 - 06:45 UTC

  Ten years from the 2007 financial crash, Lord Darling identifies “complacency” as the biggest danger

  

  Regulators must remain “very very” vigilant about the risks to the economy, former chancellor Lord Darling has told the BBC - 10 years on from the start of the financial crisis. He said a rising level of consumer debt in the economy was a growing concern.

• Wednesday, August 9th 2017 - 06:39 UTC

  Beef and ethanol back in the EU/Mercosur agenda in October meeting

  

  Beef will be back on the menu this October as the European Union seeks to finalise a trade deal with Mercosur. The European Commission will offer Mercosur new beef import quotas at reduced tariff rates during a formal round of trade talks in the first week of October in Brussels, EU sources confirmed.

• Tuesday, August 8th 2017 - 20:08 UTC

  UK big business lobby calls for a Brexit “transitional, interim or bridging” deal

  

  Britain should consider pushing back the 2019 Brexit deadline as the simplest way to managing all the trade deals and other arrangements for leaving the European Union, business leaders urged on Friday.

• Tuesday, August 8th 2017 - 18:37 UTC

  Eggs with finopril scare in Europe: minimum risk in UK say authorities

  

  A very small number of eggs contaminated with a toxic insecticide reached the UK earlier this year. Some of the eggs, which originated from the Netherlands, were also found in France, the country's agricultural ministry said.

• Tuesday, August 8th 2017 - 17:46 UTC

  Uruguay:British companies and agri-tech experts presented solutions for the agricultural sector.

  

  On 28 July, British agri-tech experts and companies presented their work, products and services to Uruguayan companies and institutions at an event hosted at the British Residence.

• Tuesday, August 8th 2017 - 16:25 UTC

  Gibraltar does not rule out a third sovereignty referendum, if the need arose

  

  The Gibraltar Government would consider holding a third referendum on the issue of sovereignty if the need arose, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said in an interview with the Gibraltar Chronicle, even as he acknowledged “a change of tone” in Spain’s approach to the Rock.