Politics

• Monday, October 15th 2018 - 14:34 UTC

  Key Naseed-Jaber, Quneitra crossings reopened as Syria reaches out to neighbours

  

  The strategic Naseeb crossing between Syria and Jordan on the Damascus-Amman international highway was reopened Monday, just one day after both countries agreed to it. The crossing had been closed since 2015 when the rebels took over that area in Syria's southern province of Daraa. Also Monday the only crossing point near the Syrian border town of Quneitra between Syria and the Golan Heights, under Israeli occupation since 1967, was reopened for United Nations observers, four years after closing due to the civil war, following a deal between Israel, Syria and the UN.

• Monday, October 15th 2018 - 08:04 UTC

  UK economic low growth anticipated for next three years, with or without a Brexit no deal

  

  United Kingdom can expect low economic growth for the next three years, while a no-deal Brexit could dent growth even further, says a forecasting body. The EY Item Club predicted GDP growth of 1.3% this year and 1.5% in 2019, down from 1.4% and 1.6% respectively in its previous outlook three months ago.

• Monday, October 15th 2018 - 07:38 UTC

  Countdown for Mrs. May: EU Brexit talks on Sunday faltered on Irish “backstop”

  

  The UK can still make progress in Brexit talks despite serious unresolved issues, Downing Street has said. Talks between Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and EU negotiator Michel Barnier faltered on Sunday over the so-called Irish “backstop”, which could see the UK remaining in the customs union. However Number 10 said the government was still “committed to making progress”.

• Monday, October 15th 2018 - 07:17 UTC

  Bavaria's CSU loses its majority in regional election; blow for Merkel's coalition

  

  Angela Merkel's sister party has suffered massive losses in Bavaria's state elections, exit polls suggest, in a blow to the German chancellor. The CSU is set to lose its absolute majority in the state parliament, while the Greens surged into second place and the anti-immigration AfD entered the state parliament for the first time.

• Sunday, October 14th 2018 - 23:34 UTC

  Nigeria: Abducted ICRC health care workers' execution imminent

  

  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Sunday made a public appeal to the Nigerian Government in a last attempt to save the lives of Hauwa and Alice, two health care workers abducted in March by ISWAP (Islamic State's West African province group).

• Sunday, October 14th 2018 - 23:27 UTC

  David Davis calls for Cabinet to rebel against May over Brexit deal

  

  Prime Minister Theresa May's former Brexit chief negotiator David Davis Sunday wrote in a newspaper column that the entire British Cabinet should drop any plan and seek a free trade deal in the style of Canada.

• Saturday, October 13th 2018 - 20:49 UTC

  UK assumes Chairmanship of the Community of Democracies

  

  As of 15 September 2018, the United Kingdom has taken up the rotating 6-month chairmanship of the Executive Committee of the Community of Democracies, CoD, which is described as a global inter-governmental coalition that aims to promote democratic values.

• Saturday, October 13th 2018 - 12:46 UTC

  Court of appeals upholds prison sentences for Menem and Cavallo

  

  A Court of Appeals Friday upheld a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for former Argentine President Carlos Menem for undue bonuses paid to government officials during his administration. His then Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo was sentenced to three and a half years.

• Saturday, October 13th 2018 - 11:06 UTC

  Student leader banished from Venezuela; pressures rise by case Alban

  

  Activist Lorent Gomez Saleh has been freed and secretly transferred by Venezuelan authorities to the international airport of Maiquetía, one hour from Caracas, to be “referred” to Spain.

• Saturday, October 13th 2018 - 08:15 UTC

  Falklands: forensic team identifies remains of the 101th Argentine combatant

  

  The Argentine government announced on Friday that the number of identified combatants fallen during the 1982 South Atlantic conflict and whose remains are buried in the Falkland Islands has risen to 101. That means 101 gravestones at the Argentine military cemetery in Darwin now have a full name.