International

• Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 12:28 UTC

  Hard Brexit, soft Brexit, and the Irish question

  

  By Gwynne Dyer - Politicians never lie. Well, hardly ever. They're not into full disclosure, as a rule, but they know that if you lie, sooner or later you will be caught out, and then you are in deep trouble. So just change the subject, or answer a different question than the one you were asked, or just keep talking but saying nothing until everybody gets bored and moves on.

• Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 12:06 UTC

  Any UK/EU trade agreement will not include financial services, warns Barnier

  

  The European Union has dashed the British government's hopes of carving out a special arrangement to allow City firms to trade freely in the EU if Britain leaves the single market. Michel Barnier, the European Commission's chief Brexit negotiator, said he was not open to a free trade agreement including financial services.

• Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 11:48 UTC

  Royal Navy's largest ever vessel leaks: some 200 liters of water per hour

  

  The Royal Navy's new multi-billion pound aircraft carrier has a leak so big that hundreds of liters of seawater pour into it each hour which could cost millions to fix. HMS Queen Elizabeth reportedly has a major defect with the stern seal which surrounds its huge propeller shafts.

• Monday, December 18th 2017 - 13:47 UTC

  Half of the world population without health services, says WHO/World Bank report

  

  At least half of the world’s population cannot obtain essential health services, according to a new report from the World Bank and WHO. And each year, large numbers of households are being pushed into poverty because they must pay for health care out of their own pockets.

• Monday, December 18th 2017 - 13:35 UTC

  Russia again becomes main supplier of oil for Cuban refinery

  

  Venezuela has pulled out of a partnership with Cuba in its Cienfuegos oil refinery and the Caribbean island has taken full ownership of the plant, Cuban state media said. Venezuela is grappling with an economic crisis that already forced it to slash cheap oil shipments to Cuba, which has had a knock-on effect on the island’s ailing economy.

• Monday, December 18th 2017 - 11:39 UTC

  Morales insists in involving the Pope in the ongoing sea outlet dispute between Bolivia and Chile

  

  Bolivian President Evo Morales implied in a Tweet that he and Pope Francis had discussed Bolivia’s territorial dispute with Chile during a meeting at the Vatican on December 15. According to the Vatican, the 30-minute private meeting “took place in a cordial atmosphere.”

• Monday, December 18th 2017 - 10:33 UTC

  Vigo launches “Fresco y Salvaje”, a registered brand to promote fresh and wild fish consumption

  

  The Organization of Products of Fresh Fishing of the Port of Vigo (OPPF-4), in collaboration with the Galician company specialized in fishing issues Sinerxia Plus, has begun to present the new fish brand ”Fresco y Salvaje” (Fresh and Wild), which it intends to start up among the ship owners forming part of the organization.

• Monday, December 18th 2017 - 06:56 UTC

  Theresa May and cabinet to discuss UK's future relationship with the EU

  

  Theresa May is due to meet her “Brexit cabinet” - about a dozen of her most senior ministers - to discuss for the first time what the UK's future relationship with the EU should be. The PM will later tell MPs the UK wants to sign trade deals during what she calls an implementation period.

• Saturday, December 16th 2017 - 17:19 UTC

  Hondurans take to the streets to demand proclamation of opposition leader as president

  

  Honduran protesters blocked roads and burned tires to press the authorities to cancel the election victory of incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez and to proclaim opposition leader Salvador Nasralla the winner.

• Saturday, December 16th 2017 - 17:18 UTC

  Argentina sacks the head of the Navy, first disciplinary action since the loss of ARA San Juan

  

  Argentina fired the head of its navy a month after a submarine disappeared in the South Atlantic with 44 crew members onboard, a government spokesman said on Saturday. Local paper La Nacion had reported earlier, citing anonymous sources, that Navy Admiral Marcelo Eduardo Hipolito Srur was let go by the defense minister.