Politics

• Friday, December 8th 2017 - 06:18 UTC

  Chinese government oil company suing Venezuela's PDVSA in US courts

  

  China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., the state-controlled oil company, is suing Petroleos de Venezuela SA in U.S. courts for unpaid bills. Sinopec, as the Chinese company is known, also filed a request for arbitration against PDVSA at the International Chamber of Commerce, as it alleges damages of at least $23.7 million, according to court papers.

• Friday, December 8th 2017 - 01:26 UTC

  UN Environment Assembly pledges to stop plastics seeping into the oceans

  

  The world's environment ministers have pledged to stop plastics seeping into the planet's oceans in a step “towards a pollution-free planet”. Delegates at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya, have called for a radical change in how goods are consumed and produced to tackle the world's rubbish problem.

• Friday, December 8th 2017 - 01:10 UTC

  UK disagrees with US: Jerusalem should be the shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states

  

  Prime Minister Theresa May has said Great Britain disagrees with the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem, as the Israeli capital, and underlines that Jerusalem should be the shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states. She added that the UK embassy to Israel is based in Tel Aviv and there are no plans to move it.

• Friday, December 8th 2017 - 00:38 UTC

  British Embassy in Buenos Aires celebrated centenary of ambassador's residence

  

  The British Embassy in Buenos Aires celebrated the first 100 years of the Ambassador’s Residence, a building that is on Argentina’s national heritage list and regarded as one of the most beautiful British diplomatic residences in the world.

• Friday, December 8th 2017 - 00:13 UTC

  The Queen commissions UK's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth

  

  Queen Elizabeth II has commissioned the UK’s new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth into the Royal Navy. The Queen spoke at a ceremony in Portsmouth’s naval base on Thursday morning, attended by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson and military chiefs.

• Thursday, December 7th 2017 - 09:01 UTC

  Mercosur and EU confident a framework agreement will be announced this month

  

  Mercosur is confident a framework agreement with the European Union will be announced next week despite resistance from farmers in Europe to permit tariff-free beef imports, a Mercosur official said. “There is more than a 70% chance of reaching a deal,” said the official close to the negotiations that have dragged on for almost two decades.

• Thursday, December 7th 2017 - 08:52 UTC

  Chavista heavyweight purged by Maduro, and blamed for PDVSA corruption

  

  Venezuela's former oil czar resigned as ambassador to the United Nations, on what he said were orders from President Nicolas Maduro, a sign of growing divisions in the ruling socialist party amid a deepening economic crisis.

• Thursday, December 7th 2017 - 08:35 UTC

  Brazil cuts rates to an all-time low, 7%, and hints at another reduction

  

  Brazil’s central bank cut interest rates to an all-time low on Wednesday and hinted at a smaller reduction early next year, although it said it would be extra cautious going forward. The bank’s nine-member monetary policy committee, known as Copom, cut the benchmark Selic rate by 50 basis points to 7.00%, capping a 725 basis-point decline since October 2016.

• Thursday, December 7th 2017 - 08:04 UTC

  Russia offering Argentina MIG-29 aircraft, reveals Moscow top official

  

  Russia has sent Argentina all the necessary materials for taking part in a tender for fighter jets with its Mikoyan MiG-29 aircraft, Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation Anatoly Punchuk told TASS news agency.

• Thursday, December 7th 2017 - 07:56 UTC

  Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and calls it a new approach to the Palestinian conflict

  

  In a momentous shift of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Wednesday and initiated the process of relocating the U.S. embassy to the city from Tel Aviv.