Politics

• Wednesday, November 7th 2018 - 08:30 UTC

  EU and Brexit: Far from an agreement “to guarantee peace in Ireland”

  

  A deal on the Irish border to break the Brexit deadlock is not close, the EU’s chief negotiator said on Tuesday. Michel Barnier was speaking as Theresa May briefed the Cabinet on her plans to achieve a breakthrough in time to secure a special Brexit summit to seal an agreement in November.

• Wednesday, November 7th 2018 - 08:23 UTC

  Pro-Brexit campaign and insurance company face fines of £135,000 over breaches of data laws

  

  Pro-Brexit campaign group Leave.EU and an insurance company owned by its founder Aaron Banks face total fines of £135,000 over breaches of data laws. It follows an Information Commissioner investigation into the misuse of personal data by political campaigns.

• Wednesday, November 7th 2018 - 08:17 UTC

  UK ministers want a Brexit deal by end of November and plan campaign to sell the deal to MPs and public

  

  Senior British ministers have agreed they want to reach a Brexit deal with the EU by the end of November, sources say. “Everyone saw the difficulties of leaving it longer,” a senior cabinet source told the BBC. Meanwhile, the BBC has seen a detailed suggested timetable of how the government could try to sell a deal to MPs and the public.

• Wednesday, November 7th 2018 - 06:48 UTC

  Democrats take control of Representatives, but Republicans will strengthen grip on the Senate

  

  The US Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections. Taking control of the lower chamber of Congress for the first time in eight years will enable Democrats to thwart the president's agenda. But Mr Trump's Republicans are set to strengthen their grip on the Senate.

• Wednesday, November 7th 2018 - 06:29 UTC

  Spanish concern with Brexit's consequences for the fishing fleet in UK and Falklands' waters

  

  Growing concern in Spain about the consequences of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, with or without a deal, and its impact on the country's strong fishing industry. The issue has been debated in Spain's congress.

• Tuesday, November 6th 2018 - 20:21 UTC

  World Medical Association supports physicians involvement in combing air pollution

  

  The World Medical Association has echoed a high-powered call for health professionals to be more involved in the management of childhood exposure to air pollution. The call has come at the first World Health Organization conference on air pollution being held in Geneva.

• Tuesday, November 6th 2018 - 18:27 UTC

  More Venezuelans apply for residence in Uruguay, Foreign Ministry says

  

  The number of Venezuelans who applied for residence in Uruguay this year went up 25%, the Foreign Ministry reported Monday.Two months from the end of 2018, a total 8,897 permanent residences were processed. The majority were Venezuelans, followed by Brazilians and Argentines.

• Tuesday, November 6th 2018 - 15:46 UTC

  Bolsonaro stands by pensions reform bill, says it's a step in the right direction

  

  Brazil's president-elect Jair Bolsonaro was supportive Monday of a pensions reform bill already in the Lower House which is expected to be passed into law before his inauguration January 1.

• Tuesday, November 6th 2018 - 08:58 UTC

  Cuban economy again on the downturn; austerity measures to continue into 2019

  

  Communist-run Cuba’s economic growth will come in at around 1% this year, compared with the 2% previously forecast, due to a fall in exports and tourism revenue, state-run media reported over the weekend. The Caribbean island’s gross domestic product grew 1.8% last year and 0.5% in 2016.

• Tuesday, November 6th 2018 - 08:36 UTC

  Brexit deal on the Irish border must be agreed and shared, Dublin tells London

  

  Irish premier Leo Varadkar has told Theresa May that he will not accept a Brexit deal which gives the UK the unilateral power to halt “backstop” arrangements for the border with Northern Ireland. In a phone conversation with the Taoiseach, Mrs. May said that any agreement would have to include a mechanism to bring an end to the backstop – designed to ensure there is no hard border in Ireland if the UK and EU fail to reach a broader trade deal.